Canadians: Cellular at Sea?

[TBone2K]

Hi everyone. I was specifically interested in Bell for this, but I thought we could mention the other major carriers as well so this thread might be useful to others in the future.

 

One of the senior managers in my comjpany will be sailing on Allure. She needs to be able to check the email on her Bell Blackberry to make sure some important paperwork is delivered on time.

 

The RCs website says that Cellular at Sea works with the major Canadian carriers (Bell, Telus, Rogers). However when I was enquiring with Bell about what international plan I need, they said the Bell phones won't work on cruise ships?

 

So does it work? For those who got it working, did it just work, or did you have to go to customer service to pay for it? Does the service also apply to data?

[mrell345]

I have never turned on my phone on a ship. However, most cruise ships do have cell service on board. This service is on usually while they are at sea, when they come within range of land based service they usually have to turn the service off so as not to cause interference. Data and Voice should work so long as the phone supports the cell frequencies in use. Most Quad band phones from Rogers will work almost anywhere in the world, Bell and Telus can be hit and miss.

The best bet if you have a phone from bell is to check its specifications and see what frequencies it supports.

 

I found this site

http://www.wireless.att.com/travelguide/coverage/coverage_details.jsp?CIDL=1584&MNC=CING

which states that RCI ships use GSM/GPRS 1900

 

So if your cell phone operates on the 1900 frequency band then there is a good chance it will work.

 

 

!!!! WARNING !!!!! VERY IMPORTANT !!!!!!!!!!

 

The ship gets its data and voice services from satellite providers. This means that if you use the service you may get charged quite a bit to use it. Any time you roam outside your country of origin you should know that data and voice services may cost you dearly. Some devices may even be pulling data when you think they are not. Unless you really need it, the best advice is to turn it off. Some people almost have heart attacks when they get the bill at the end of the month. Your normal voice and data plans DO NOT cover roaming outside your country of origin.

 

I suggest you call your cruise ship company and ask them if cell service is provided on the ship in question and most importantly, what are the voice and data rates.

[Kesstral]

The technology that the phone uses is where there could be an issue. AT&T and Rogers use GSM which, as the poster above provided a link for, is the same type of technology that the RCI ships use for their cell service. Bell uses CDMA and HSPA+ technology (CDMA doesn't use a SIM card last I checked and is a different frequency). Best to look up the specific brand and model of phone and see what technology and frequency it uses.

 

Remember using your cell phone outside of your home area will be VERY EXPENSIVE, especially data!

[FreshOffTheBoat]

If it is just emails, best thing to do is buy an internet package on the cruise ship. Then connect your phone to the Wifi on the ship and download the emails to the phone.

 

yes the phone will work but to make a call on the ship from your cell phone costs a lot of money.

[PinkLemonade]

I am from Canada and with Rogers and I have a blackberry...I was on a cruise last August and it seems I could not pick up a good signal...most of the time my cell was on SOS which means you can do nothing and sometimes it said searching for network...this seemed to happen mostly during sea days and when we got closer to a port it seemed to be okay....so I don't know if it was specifically a problem with my cell phone or what (we were also having bad weather and were basically trying to get away from a hurricane travelling behind us so the weather could have been an issue)

 

Anyways I also called to inquire about getting a caribbean plan while on the cruise and was told by the phone company it will not work on the ship because the cruise ship has their own service...so if I bought a texting or voice package I could use it while in port, but any calls or texts made while on the ship went through RCI and they would charge a ton for it...I think texts were like 75 cents each or something maybe more

[Davecanada]

On bells site they do have roaming rates for cruise ships. Choose the network and then cruise ships from the drop down. http://support.bell.ca/en-on/Mobility/Network_coverage/How_to_use_my_mobile_phone_while_travelling_abroad

[A&L_Ont]

On Oasis last summer I used my Bell World Wide BB. I have the ability to use it in almost every country, basically anywhere there is a signal. It can be costly like the others said. I would check my email on my net book and mostly communicate that way. I used the phone very limited as it is a vacation. It lived in the safe 95% of the time, if I had my way I would have checked it at security as I borded the ship.:D

 

Now if they could only explain why the signal cuts out in 2 exact spots 100% of the time on the 30 minute drive home :rolleyes: I might be happy with them.

 

Hope these ideas help your co-worker.

[TBone2K]

On bells site they do have roaming rates for cruise ships. Choose the network and then cruise ships from the drop down. http://support.bell.ca/en-on/Mobility/Network_coverage/How_to_use_my_mobile_phone_while_travelling_abroad

 

Ha! I didn't notice that before. At least they list the rate. I also found out there is no package available, where you can prepay a monthly charge to get a lower rate.

 

I have recommended to my co-worker that she use wi-fi on her phone or laptop. I was hoping for a more reliable alternative because my last two cruises I found wi-fi to be slow and constantly cutting out. Very frustrating when you pay by the minute.

 

And for the techies in the group... We use Citrix. So she can't connect, download the documents she needs and work on them offline.

[Cruisin'Kim]

We're with rogers, and we always bring our cell phones on the ship. I have kids at home, and need the piece of mind that they can contact me as needed. I don't carry it around with me, (I'm on vacation!) but I check it whenever we stop in our cabin. We just put roaming on them, I've spoke to my daughter from the ship while docked in St. Maarten when she was sick. If you're near American owned land, like the Virgin Islands, you're just charged U.S. long distance. The one thing that did bother me was every time you switched providers while at sea my phone would ring with a text message letting me know, even in the middle of the night.