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Sorry i have to ask

kenholt

By kenholt,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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Mutumbojimbo

Mutumbojimbo

Posted
Posted
Is there any way you use your cell phone on Carnaval Ships while at sea?

 

 

It depends on your cell carrier but you should be able to to some degree. It will be fairly expensive (at least for me) I checked with Verizon last year for one of the attorneys at the firm I work for and it was about $5 per minute.

 

 

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Bibble

Bibble

Posted
Posted (edited)

Pretty much at least once a cruise.

I call home to check on my daughter, I call my mother in law to say happy mother's day. I've even just called my best friend (who lives far away and I don't see much) to share something that happened on a cruise (she and I have cruised many times together). I've used it in port to find out where all my friends are if we've split up.

 

I'm not one of those people who "need to be connected", but I do like the convenience of using a phone when I want. (Every cruise, I consider about $20 for calls and texting to be part of my budget).

 

ETA:

I just read the answer that posted as I was typing, and now i'm not sure if OP is looking for "ways to use a phone", or if asking "under what circumstances would you use a phone". I obviously took the meaning as the latter.

As to the former, I have AT&T, and my costs are approximately $2.45/min

Edited by Bibble
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1kaper Great Review Rare

1kaper

Posted
Posted

On top of any fees your own phone company may charge you, I am also under the impression that when at sea you are using Carnival's connection and there may be a charge for that as well. Sometime I would definitely look into before calling.

I know when discussing text messages, I get texts for free incoming. On the ship at sea, there is a 50 cent charge. In port when using the local towers, its free.

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Mutumbojimbo

Mutumbojimbo

Posted
Posted
Pretty much at least once a cruise.

 

I call home to check on my daughter, I call my mother in law to say happy mother's day. I've even just called my best friend (who lives far away and I don't see much) to share something that happened on a cruise (she and I have cruised many times together). I've used it in port to find out where all my friends are if we've split up.

 

 

 

I'm not one of those people who "need to be connected", but I do like the convenience of using a phone when I want. (Every cruise, I consider about $20 for calls and texting to be part of my budget).

 

 

 

ETA:

 

I just read the answer that posted as I was typing, and now i'm not sure if OP is looking for "ways to use a phone", or if asking "under what circumstances would you use a phone". I obviously took the meaning as the latter.

 

As to the former, I have AT&T, and my costs are approximately $2.45/min

 

 

I could have misinterpreted the question too! :) oh well, now we've covered several bases.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

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TheCalicoCat

TheCalicoCat

Posted
Posted
It depends on your cell carrier but you should be able to to some degree. It will be fairly expensive (at least for me) I checked with Verizon last year for one of the attorneys at the firm I work for and it was about $5 per minute.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

That's cheap, I was quoted $7. With that said, you can probably use it in San Juan & St. Thomas (If those are ports that you are visiting - we could & did.)

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Bobby_Mac

Bobby_Mac

Posted
Posted

We have been able to use the cell phone without charge when we sailed past US Territories such as Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

 

Also, if your smart phone is not off or in airplane mode, you will probably get charged for data transfer for updates and other things smart phones do. A co-worker went on a cruise and left her phone on and had a bill of over $2000 when she got her bill.

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MzMelissa26

MzMelissa26

Posted
Posted

If you sign up for the wifi, you can always try voice over ip such as Google voice or Skype. I'm going to try it when I travel. My fiance cut his service off when he was over seas and called me the entire 6 months for free with GV when he was in wifi range

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cruisecraze96

cruisecraze96

Posted
Posted

I have AT&T and it was $2.50 a minute if I used it on land or on the boat. I have a S4 and so turned off all data but left the phone and text on for emergencies since the kids were back at home.

 

Every time we either went to Cellular at Sea or to the local roaming carrier in Caymans, Jamaica I got a text message saying welcome and how much it would cost per minute and or per MB data.

 

It was cheaper to use the phone in the room at $1.99 minute and I also had purchased some internet minutes to facetime the kids at night, of course a couple nights the weather stunk so the internet service stunk too :(

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crewsnews

crewsnews

Posted
Posted

You can keep in touch via the Carnival forums as well. Carnival.com is free to use while on board with no need to pay for internet service. You can chat back and forth with the forum page as long as the people back home know what page to go to and have Carnival.com accounts, which are also free.

 

You could also get the internet package and try Magicjack, or other web based service. Its much cheaper than per minute phone use if you are going to be using it regularly.

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Out to sea!

Out to sea!

Posted
Posted
Yup, when we get onboard the phones gets shut off and locked in the safe.....:D

Communication with family is done thru the carnival website using the Currently Onboard forum. Works great for us on the Laptop.

 

Same here. Pull them out in port only. In US territories, use cell service just like at home. When in non-US territories, use wifi only to place calls back home. While at sea, only option is to use cellular at sea (for a cell phone).

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Out to sea!

Out to sea!

Posted
Posted
Just use the Groove ip app with Google voice over wifi and it costs you NOTHING

 

Unless you're on board, then you have to pay for wifi. Also, I do believe Skype is not allowed to be used on ship due to the bandwidth requirements but I'm bot sure as I have never tried it.

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irishnyc

irishnyc

Posted
Posted
If you sign up for the wifi, you can always try voice over ip such as Google voice or Skype. I'm going to try it when I travel. My fiance cut his service off when he was over seas and called me the entire 6 months for free with GV when he was in wifi range

 

The wifi on the ship is incredibly slow and those apps don't always work well. For a quick call to check on things at home it's easier for most to just call from the room for $1.99/min than $0.75/min for a call that breaks up, gets dropped, and is just annoying.

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Mysticks1

Mysticks1

Posted
Posted
Thanks for the information. This summer I'm taking my DD's friend and want her to get in touch with her mom and least once a day/every other day. I think I'll just let her call home from the room or email from the fun hub.

 

My daughter's friend is traveling with us as well and I had decided to let her call at least once while we were gone using the phone in the cabin. At $1.99 per minute it is the same that my cell phone would be with an international plan from the Bahamas. On the ship my Verizon plan was about 50 cents higher per minute than the ships phone. Depending upon your carrier text messaging may be an option while you are in port. Mine would be just 5 cents for incoming and 50 cents for outgoing while in the Bahamas. It might be worth checking with yours.

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