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Phone use in Europe

clbkatz

By clbkatz,
in Celebrity Cruises

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clbkatz

clbkatz

Posted
Posted

I will be going on the 12 Night Med Cruise on Equinox on April 30. I will also be doing a 3 night prestay in Paris and then 1 night in Barcelona. I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 but it is not global ready so it is useless in Europe. I have Verizon and they told me about the program they offer to their customers where they send out a global ready phone to use while abroad, for a fee of course. Has anyone done this? I am interested to hear about someones' experience doing this.

 

I am so confused about which way I should go on this phone issue. I will be going with my mom and we need to stay in touch with family back home using phone & some texting. I also wanted to be able to have acces to email, facebook (I know I am on vacation, lol) and be able to utilize some helpful apps while in Europe too. Any input, helpful tips or other options would be GREATLY appreciated!

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Alg63

Alg63

Posted
Posted

There are Lots of threads on this, using yourUS phone is expensive and honestly you need to consider cell phones ESP surfing the webs, apps etc as a luxury. Switch off and enjoy. Buy yourself a phone at your first European stop,it is about Eur30, and buy SIM cards as you need them. You can text the number to your family but honestly tell them it is for emergencies and not chit chat. Load the apps and NGO before you leave onto an ipad if you have one.. Or buy some guide books.

That's about as basic as you need to know, too many people don't take advice about cell pens and end up with huge bills which the phone meanies do not adjust.

Truly... What s SO important that you can't live without FB for 2 weeks??

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shans

shans

Posted
Posted
I will be going on the 12 Night Med Cruise on Equinox on April 30. I will also be doing a 3 night prestay in Paris and then 1 night in Barcelona. I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 but it is not global ready so it is useless in Europe. I have Verizon and they told me about the program they offer to their customers where they send out a global ready phone to use while abroad, for a fee of course. Has anyone done this? I am interested to hear about someones' experience doing this.

 

I am so confused about which way I should go on this phone issue. I will be going with my mom and we need to stay in touch with family back home using phone & some texting. I also wanted to be able to have acces to email, facebook (I know I am on vacation, lol) and be able to utilize some helpful apps while in Europe too. Any input, helpful tips or other options would be GREATLY appreciated!

 

We just returned from a b2b med/transatlantic. We purchased a phone from Mobal and loved it since our US carrier did not offer an international plan. You get a UK phone number and only pay for minutes you use. Rates are not that much more than Verizon or ATT. Reception was incredible. Others had recommended it on this site. For us, it was a great investment..and reasonably priced. You may want to look at that option.

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CaroleLee

CaroleLee

Posted
Posted
I will be going on the 12 Night Med Cruise on Equinox on April 30. I will also be doing a 3 night prestay in Paris and then 1 night in Barcelona. I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 but it is not global ready so it is useless in Europe. I have Verizon and they told me about the program they offer to their customers where they send out a global ready phone to use while abroad, for a fee of course. Has anyone done this? I am interested to hear about someones' experience doing this.

 

I am so confused about which way I should go on this phone issue. I will be going with my mom and we need to stay in touch with family back home using phone & some texting. I also wanted to be able to have acces to email, facebook (I know I am on vacation, lol) and be able to utilize some helpful apps while in Europe too. Any input, helpful tips or other options would be GREATLY appreciated!

 

Verizon also has a Global Access program (find it on their website). They authorize your phone for Europe and charge a fee. We have done this with both Blackberry & I-Phone on both E & W Med. In 2011 was approx $78.00 on top of our monthly rate. We start it the day we leave & do not cancel until we are home. Verizon prorates the $. Personally I would nit use it to surf as this is $$$. Remember that your phone will not work in the middle of the sea (no cell towers-)so be sure to turn it off once out of port.

Have a great trip

Carole

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ghstudio "Live from...." Rare

ghstudio

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I am very surprised that your Samsung Galaxy S3 is not Global, as nowadays, all smartphones have worldwide coverage and can recieve on all bands.

I would check your smartphone manual again...

 

Very far from accurate. There are two fundamental phone standards in the world, GSM and CDMA. They do not talk to each other's towers. GSM is more of a worldwide standard with at least 4 different frequency bands...and because there are 4+ frequency bands, a GSM phone may or may not work in a specific area depending on whether it can work with all the bands. yes, most GSM smartphones work on the important bands worldwide. In the US, the major GSM carriers are ATT and T-Mobile.

 

CDMA phones are more limited in their worldwide capabilities. Some, actually only a few, have built in GSM as well, but most don't. CDMA phones will not work if there are not cell towers that recognize both the CDMA frequencies and the CDMA protocols. In the US, Sprint and Verizon are the major CDMA carriers.

 

CDMA phones can not be changed to GSM phones and GSM phones can't be changed to CDMA phones without a change of radios.

 

So the best bet would be not to check your cellphone and try to figure this out...it would be to call your phone company and ask them if your phone will work in whichever country you are going to visit.

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Despegue

Despegue

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Posted
Very far from accurate. There are two fundamental phone standards in the world, GSM and CDMA. They do not talk to each other's towers. GSM is more of a worldwide standard with at least 4 different frequency bands...and because there are 4+ frequency bands, a GSM phone may or may not work in a specific area depending on whether it can work with all the bands. yes, most GSM smartphones work on the important bands worldwide. In the US, the major GSM carriers are ATT and T-Mobile.

 

CDMA phones are more limited in their worldwide capabilities. Some, actually only a few, have built in GSM as well, but most don't. CDMA phones will not work if there are not cell towers that recognize both the CDMA frequencies and the CDMA protocols. In the US, Sprint and Verizon are the major CDMA carriers.

 

CDMA phones can not be changed to GSM phones and GSM phones can't be changed to CDMA phones without a change of radios.

 

So the best bet would be not to check your cellphone and try to figure this out...it would be to call your phone company and ask them if your phone will work in whichever country you are going to visit.

 

Apologies, I do stand corrected.

Here in Europe, we only work with GSM and this has indeed normally worldwide coverage depending on which model you choose.

Never heard of CMDA to be honest.

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clbkatz

clbkatz

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I have called Verizon to ask about the cost of getting the international plan and I was told I cannot get it because my phone is not a global ready phone so it will not work overseas. That is my problem. Otherwise I would just add the international plan for a month and be done with it.

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Jetswdo Great Review Rare

Jetswdo

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I totally agree with the posters regarding Mobal phones. I had purchased a few years back 2 phones from them on sale at $99.00 each. One for my husband and one for me. We had used them all over England and France. Our bill was far less than it would have been on the major carriors. You only pay for the actual calls. We plan on using them for our upcoming Italy/Greece journey. (9 days on land through Italy then 10 days on the Reflection for mainly Greece)

 

We wont have to worry on board the ship for data charges, etc. We will only use these phones when needed during the port days. Reluctantly we will purchase the most comprehensive plan on ship for our netbooks, mainly for the 2 sea days. Anita

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Charles4515

Charles4515

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Posted
I will be going on the 12 Night Med Cruise on Equinox on April 30. I will also be doing a 3 night prestay in Paris and then 1 night in Barcelona. I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 but it is not global ready so it is useless in Europe. I have Verizon and they told me about the program they offer to their customers where they send out a global ready phone to use while abroad, for a fee of course. Has anyone done this? I am interested to hear about someones' experience doing this.

 

I am so confused about which way I should go on this phone issue. I will be going with my mom and we need to stay in touch with family back home using phone & some texting. I also wanted to be able to have acces to email, facebook (I know I am on vacation, lol) and be able to utilize some helpful apps while in Europe too. Any input, helpful tips or other options would be GREATLY appreciated!

 

My sister used the program where they send a phone and it worked out fine. They send a phone that can be used for phone calls and text.

 

If you want email, Facebook and apps that is another question. Cellular Data roaming is expensive so I only use the WiFi on my smartphone and on my tablet.

 

I would suggest in any case if you don't have a global capable phone it is time to upgrade!

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THE WANDERER

THE WANDERER

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I have the same phone as you and had the same problem with not being able to use it on our recent Med cruise. I borrowed the global phone from Verizon like you are considering. It is very simple to do. You have to pay for postage a total of $20.00. You take the international calling plan and only pay for minutes you use. I did not take the data plan as I just wanted the phone to keep in touch for emergencies. I ordered the phone about a week before we left and returned it as soon as we came home the entire transaction went very smoothly.

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rbuenger

rbuenger

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Posted
I will be going on the 12 Night Med Cruise on Equinox on April 30. I will also be doing a 3 night prestay in Paris and then 1 night in Barcelona. I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 but it is not global ready so it is useless in Europe. I have Verizon and they told me about the program they offer to their customers where they send out a global ready phone to use while abroad, for a fee of course. Has anyone done this? I am interested to hear about someones' experience doing this.

 

I am so confused about which way I should go on this phone issue. I will be going with my mom and we need to stay in touch with family back home using phone & some texting. I also wanted to be able to have acces to email, facebook (I know I am on vacation, lol) and be able to utilize some helpful apps while in Europe too. Any input, helpful tips or other options would be GREATLY appreciated!

This an issue only when using Verizon. My S3 with TMobile works great in Europe. My wife's iPhone with AT&T works great as well. We both previously had Blackberries and they also worked with no problems in Europe? My mothers iPhone with Verizon does not work in Europe.....

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Charles4515

Charles4515

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Does Verizon think that their customers do not travel?

Why sell phones that are based on a totally obsolete and isolated system like CDMA?!

 

They do sell global phones. For example the latest iPhones on Verizon, the iPhone 5 will work in Europe. Also they are switching over to LTE.

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ghstudio "Live from...." Rare

ghstudio

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Does Verizon think that their customers do not travel?

Why sell phones that are based on a totally obsolete and isolated system like CDMA?!

 

CDMA is not obsolete, it just didn't become the dominate system. My Verizon service in the us is far far better then my previous AT&T service. It's just a choice and although we travel a great deal, local phone service is more important so we have Verizon phones....with Skype. Once we are in port and find an Internet cafe ( ridiculously easy these days) we can talk to anyone anywhere or we can FaceTime from my wife's iPhone or my ipad. I use an android Samsung galaxy.

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Charles4515

Charles4515

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CDMA is not obsolete, it just didn't become the dominate system. My Verizon service in the us is far far better then my previous AT&T service. It's just a choice and although we travel a great deal, local phone service is more important so we have Verizon phones....with Skype. Once we are in port and find an Internet cafe ( ridiculously easy these days) we can talk to anyone anywhere or we can FaceTime from my wife's iPhone or my ipad. I use an android Samsung galaxy.

 

Actually CDMA is obsolete. That is why they are switching to LTE.

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