Cell phones around the Black Sea

[NoWhiners]

Hi All

 

I am going to post this here before i try a couple of other spots. We are going on a cruise around the Black Sea in October, mostly Grece, Turkey and a stop in Sochi, Russia. Neither of us has a cell phone (I know, amazing!!:D). Hubby thinks we should just not bring a phone but i am thinking it would be good to have in the ports (to meet up with or contact our private tour guides), in Athens where we have pre-and post-cruise hotel nights booked, and as an emergency number for people back home. I will have my netbook and will check email at the hotel and 1 or 2 ports during the 14 day cruise. And, we will leave the ship's emergency number just in case. We will have a house-sitter and some friends who will know what to do (per our discussions with them) in case of some "predictable" emergencies.

 

So, I have 2 questions:

 

What do you think about not having a phone?

 

I am thinking of renting from rebelfone but I can't tell if they have a phone that will work in all the different countries we are visiting. I would be fine with a phone that just worked in Greece, Turkey, and Russia. Does anyone have any experience or suggestions for what we could do to get a phone for just this trip?

 

Thanks

ML

[paul929207]

My wife and I share one cell phone, so are slightly more connected than you, but not a lot more. LOL.

 

When we travel, as we leave the US, our cell is turned off. It spend the trip in our safe. When we return to the US we turn it back on. I figure email is good enough for contacting us. Depending on your plan, cell phones can be very expensive on a cruise ship or in an other country

[NoWhiners]

My wife and I share one cell phone, so are slightly more connected than you, but not a lot more. LOL.

 

When we travel, as we leave the US, our cell is turned off. It spend the trip in our safe. When we return to the US we turn it back on. I figure email is good enough for contacting us. Depending on your plan, cell phones can be very expensive on a cruise ship or in an other country

 

paul

 

thanks for the reply. yes, we figure it won't be cheap but the rental cost doesn't seem too bad. Hubby says that being so far from home, there is little we can do if there is a real emergency, so we should just let the house-sitter and friends work through anything. Mostly, I am worried that when we get to the hotel, they won't have our reservation (booked thru Hotwire), so we would have to call Hotwire to straighten it out. i don't know if the hotel would let us use their phone (and we would pay for the call). If I knew that for sure, I would be OK going without the phone.

 

thx

ML

[Hlitner]

What do we think of not having a phone? Well, its seems that for most of my life (am a senior) we did not have cell phones and absolutely loved the freedeom :). Now we are in the cell era but DW and I have so far resisted getting a Smart Phone (I would be instantly addicted). When we travel we tell folks they can reach us in an emergency through the cruise ship. But because we do a lot of international travel (am out of the country 4-5 months a year) we do have a pre-paid quad freq phone from MOBAL that works just about everywhere in the world (except in Japan and a few places of Asia). That phone cost us $100 about 6 years ago and came with $100 of pre-paid time. After 6 years we still have about $40 of time left before we need to buy more time. And the phone has no roaming charges, no monthly charges, etc. It just sits in a drawer at home until we take in on various trips.

 

Hank

[NoWhiners]

Hank

 

LOL--I completely agree about the phone!!

 

thanks for the tip about MOBAL--I'll look it up.

 

thx

ML

[kuldalai]

Most US cellphones will not work outside the USA as the rest of the world uses a mobile phone system called GSM .

 

So for a mobile phone to work in the Mediteranean it will need to be GSM compatible . You are probably best to buy/rent a cheap GSM phone on arrival in Europe .

[shorefolks]

Most US cellphones will not work outside the USA as the rest of the world uses a mobile phone system called GSM .

 

So for a mobile phone to work in the Mediteranean it will need to be GSM compatible . You are probably best to buy/rent a cheap GSM phone on arrival in Europe .

 

While it is true that "most" US phones are not GSM-capable, many of them are. Because we travel internationally a lot, we always make sure that at least one of our phones is so equipped. However, our usage abroad is primarily confined to text. Because international voice rates vary considerably and cruise ship rates are high, we tell friends at home to text first in case of emergency ($.05 to receive, $.50 to send). We can then choose the optimal spot to call back- or not. We also take out a global data plan solely for the duration of the trip ($25 for 100Mb for 1 month more than covers us). This allows us to process e-mail and not have dozens of messages to go through when we get home. In your case, you could leave the netbook home in favor of the (smaller) phone.

 

The much bigger question, though, is do you really need a phone just for travel use? If you have not yet found the need for one at home, do you travel enough to justify a purchase and, probably, a monthly commitment to a cell company? In a true emergency, you can always be contacted through the cruise line and/or through e-mail. Did you ever truly feel the need for a phone during past travel? What more do you need? That is something only you can decide.

[cruisemom42]

paul

 

thanks for the reply. yes, we figure it won't be cheap but the rental cost doesn't seem too bad. Hubby says that being so far from home, there is little we can do if there is a real emergency, so we should just let the house-sitter and friends work through anything. Mostly, I am worried that when we get to the hotel, they won't have our reservation (booked thru Hotwire), so we would have to call Hotwire to straighten it out. i don't know if the hotel would let us use their phone (and we would pay for the call). If I knew that for sure, I would be OK going without the phone.

 

thx

ML

 

Wouldn't your printed confirmation with confirmation number and details be sufficient to provide proof of your reservation?

 

If that's not sufficient, I'd think it is on the hotel to call Hotwire.

[cavcmy]

I'm considering getting a Mobal World Phone and have question about the "Budget" one shown on sale online for $29. The ad says it works in over 170 countries EXCLUDING THE US, but when you click on the country you are calling from (say Italy), it shows the cost to call the US and Canada. So does it mean you cannot use it to make/receive calls while still in the US, but can use it to call back home to US while in Europe?

 

Thanks for your help.

[Hlitner]

I'm considering getting a Mobal World Phone and have question about the "Budget" one shown on sale online for $29. The ad says it works in over 170 countries EXCLUDING THE US, but when you click on the country you are calling from (say Italy), it shows the cost to call the US and Canada. So does it mean you cannot use it to make/receive calls while still in the US, but can use it to call back home to US while in Europe?

 

Thanks for your help.

 

As a long time (and happy) Mobal user I can try to help. Their phones come with a UK telephone number so anyone can call that number from anywhere (including the USA) and you will get the call. But it does mean that if someone calls you from the USA they must make an international call to your UK number (we love this since it keeps down the riff raff calls) you will receive that call in 170 countries (including everywhere in Europe). But my understanding is that their "budget" phone will not work within the US (and we assume also Canada). But yes, you can use that budget phone to call the USA from Europe (or in the 170 other countries where it works). Keep in mind that with a MOBAL phone you pay a per minute charge for either calling or receiving calls or text. But you do not pay any monthly or roaming fees

 

Hank

[NoWhiners]

Wouldn't your printed confirmation with confirmation number and details be sufficient to provide proof of your reservation?

 

If that's not sufficient, I'd think it is on the hotel to call Hotwire.

 

Cruisemom

 

Yes, I am planning on bringing the confirmation, I just like to have a backup plan ready;). I'm not sure the hotel will see it as their problem but i am hoping they will at least let me use their phone to call Hotwire. irt seems to me that if I offer to pay for the call, we are all set but sometimes in Europe it can get tricky.

 

Thx

ML

[NoWhiners]

thanks for all the replies and help. I am aware that the phone needs to be GSM to work in Europe. FYI, I did check into Mobal phones and they do charge per minute. I read a bunch of reviews about these phones and there are a lot of complaints about the charges--some people even say it is per second :eek:. There were several very satisfied customers in these reviews too. Anyway, I am just posting for anyone who reads this thread.

 

I think the deal Hank got is a good one but it might be that things have changed since he got his phone. his explanation tracks with what I have read but the 'devil is in the details' as they say.

 

Still not sure what we will do, so keep those comments or suggestions coming!

 

Thx

ML

[CarsonToSP]

Someone a couple of posts up mentions renting a GSM phone upon their arrival into Europe? Does anyone know anything about that? Any info would be great :)

[GradUT]

We did a Black Sea cruise in July which began in Rome, ended in Athens and stopped in Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, and Ukraine. Like Paul, as soon as left the U.S., we turned off our cell phones and they did not get turned back on until we returned. We occasionally checked email on board the ship in the Internet Cafe and our hotels in Rome and Athens had computers which we could use to check emails. We had no problems with our hotel reservations and had printouts of the reservations just in case. Our private tour guide in Odessa was exactly where she said she would be when we got off the ship.

 

I think you'll be fine with printouts of your hotel reservations, your notebook and your trusted housesitter and friends back home. Why incur the cost of a phone that you are likely NEVER to need?

[NoWhiners]

We did a Black Sea cruise in July which began in Rome, ended in Athens and stopped in Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, and Ukraine. Like Paul, as soon as left the U.S., we turned off our cell phones and they did not get turned back on until we returned. We occasionally checked email on board the ship in the Internet Cafe and our hotels in Rome and Athens had computers which we could use to check emails. We had no problems with our hotel reservations and had printouts of the reservations just in case. Our private tour guide in Odessa was exactly where she said she would be when we got off the ship.

 

I think you'll be fine with printouts of your hotel reservations, your notebook and your trusted housesitter and friends back home. Why incur the cost of a phone that you are likely NEVER to need?

 

yes, this is what we decided too. we know there are a few places along the way we can use Internet cafes, and our hotel in Athens has free wifi, so we are going with that. I am just keeping my fingers crossed that our dog doesn't have any crisis while we are gone. I feel guilty enough leaving her, but if she had to be put to sleep and I'm not there, I know she will be scared and wonder why i left her.

 

Thanks for all the help

ML

[4774Papa]

What do we think of not having a phone? Well, its seems that for most of my life (am a senior) we did not have cell phones and absolutely loved the freedeom :). Now we are in the cell era but DW and I have so far resisted getting a Smart Phone (I would be instantly addicted). When we travel we tell folks they can reach us in an emergency through the cruise ship. But because we do a lot of international travel (am out of the country 4-5 months a year) we do have a pre-paid quad freq phone from MOBAL that works just about everywhere in the world (except in Japan and a few places of Asia). That phone cost us $100 about 6 years ago and came with $100 of pre-paid time. After 6 years we still have about $40 of time left before we need to buy more time. And the phone has no roaming charges, no monthly charges, etc. It just sits in a drawer at home until we take in on various trips.

 

Hank

completely agree. I continue to be amazed at how many people I see with their cellphones stuck in their ear, while jogging, walking their dog, biking, etc.

We have a MOBAL phone that is based out of the UK and we pay on our credit card for each call, no service charges or subscription required. We take the phone in case we need to call our private tourguides or our hotel, but frequently never use the phone. Life is good.