using our Verizon cell phones from home on the Ruby Princess

[Maryr1]

Here is my limited input on this-I have a BB with Verizon as my carrier. I used it in Dubai last year and needed to activate the international service for that. I also used it in St. Thomas, Puerto Rico, Bermuda, Mexico,and Grand Turk. ( I have an elderly parent, a disabled child and when I was in Dubai we had travel isuues related to the ash cloud from the volcano, so thank God for that cell phone) Anyway, the cost of using the phone in Dubai was frightening! From the other areas, not so much. I never used it on the ship at sea but did use it on the ship when we were docked. I did not incur ship charges at the time. I did use it to text more than call, and it did update my email but I am not sure if that cost anything.

I am embarrased to say I never actually (other than Dubai)noted that my bill was unusually high when the bill came, so I guess all in all it was not a earth shattering expense.

I am not an avid cell phone user in real life, but I am glad that I had it as I would not of been able to travel this year.

[Coral]

I have been charged $2.50 a minute onboard the ship with Verizon to make a call.

 

I have used Verizon several times in Alaska with out any extra charges but it has been over a year since I have done that (not sure if they have changed anything).

 

Canada charged me $2/minute last year.

[Wecruise8]

I also have Verizon and talked to them last week about the charges to call home and check on my mother and the kids. They activiated (for free) the international thingie and said I could call from St. Thomas. We will arrange with one of the kids to receive a text every night that things are of (don't want to think about them not being OK) and I will call mid-week from St. Thomas. Hopefully Verizon wasn't pulling my leg but from listening to y'all they aren't.

[satxdiver]

Princess uses MCP (mcp.com) to provide cell phone services. They are supposed to turn off the cell towers when approaching land but I have heard that that is not always true. Caution is the keyword. Check your display to see which cell tower you are connected. Basic rates depending on your carrier for use on Princess ships is usually $2.49/minute or fraction thereof. Text messages are usually $.50/each sending and $.05/each receiving. Check with your carrier. If you have a smart phone (e.g. iPhone, Droid, etc) there is a charge per kilobyte transfer.

 

Verizon and Sprint uses CDMA technology for their cell phones. AT&T, TMobile and most of the rest of the world uses GSM. The two are not compatible. If you have a CDMA cellphone, check with your carrier to see it it will work in your foreign ports of call. Some ports do have CDMA coverage and others do not. Plus if you venture from the port the coverage could be diminished or non-existent.

[goldesq]

I agree with all of the posters. Be careful when using your cell phone. Some tips:

 

I traveled to the Caribbean many times last year on cruises and always emailed Verizon asking before I left for the charges for each port I was traveling to. As for calling in Puerto Rico, I learned first-hand that most of the island is included in your minutes with Verizon BUT there are some parts where the call will be considered roaming. You can check your phone and if it say roaming, you will be paying more. Don't rely on the roaming message though. It is not 100% accurate unfortunately.

 

I also did learn the hard way that sometimes on my balcony in port, my cell used the ships cell tower and sometimes it did not. I physically had to leave the ship to be 100% sure it was not using the ships cell tower. Costly mistakes.

 

Since I have a Blackberry, I also asked that they put me on their 'Global email plan' for the specific dates I was traveling. The Golbal email plan includes unlimited data in addition to unlimited email use wherever you travel to. It will be pro-rated (69.95 month) for the time you are gone.

 

Text messages were the best deal $-wise to communicate even though I never use them on land regularly. 50 cents outgoing and 5 cents incoming. Remember, you don't always have service on the ship so the texts will not sometimes leave/come to your phone until you are port so you cannot rely on them all the time.

 

Lastly, my phone usually did not work on sea days on my cruises. Every once in a while, if the ship cruised close to a shore line, I might get lucky and the Blackberry would download my email or voice mails but 90% of the time, I had to be about one hour to a half hour away from land to be able to call or send emails. I never understood that and it was very frustrating to me.

[VBnewcruiser]

when I went on a cruise to the Bahamas last October, I called Verizon and inquired about cell usage. I have an Android phone, so what I ended up doing was adding an unlimited international data only package... $60 or so for a month, but I canceled it as soon as I got back so it only cost me about $10 for the trip. I was able to use email, Facebook, and internet browsing but not text messages or phone calls. Of course, it didn't work in the middle of the ocean, but worked great at ports. The price for international roaming minutes varies depending on where you go. Your phone should have a symbol that pops up on the top of your screen that tells you when you are roaming. Also, make sure you dial *228 from your phone before you leave the US, to update your roaming on your phone.

[bconley351]

We have Verizon, and did nothing to make our phones usable on board our Tahiti cruise. Imagine my surprise when my dh's work called him at 2:30am, somewhere off Bora Bora. The guy calling him didn't know we were on a cruise and didn't believe him at first. The call did cost $2.50. If you don't want surprise charges make sure your phone is turned off!

[San10s]

I must say that having a cell phone with me while cruising was wonderful. :D

 

When we got back to port early in the morning from one of cruises, I called the airlines to check on our flight status. I was unhappy to hear that our flight had been cancelled due to equipment problems. :eek:

 

While hundreds of others found the bad news out when they arrived at the airport....then had to stand in hours long, frustrating lines to find other flights home (many who didn't get home for a few days), I had already been in touch with the airline and was able to be on a flight a couple hours later. With limited seating on planes...and delays and cancellations a possiblity when flying in the winter....I will always be happy to have my cell phone with me! :D

[obnurse]

If communication isn't emergent, the internet cafe may be a cheaper alternative to the cell phone. Having said that, I turned my cell on when we reached St Thomas to phone home and check on kids and grandma and my employer called me to ask if I could come in to work. We all had a chuckle and then the phone was turned off! Happy cruising! Next up for us: Emerald 3-8-11, southern Caribbean!