RCI and Sprint Cell Service- Labadee

[joekatie]

I checked with Sprint and was given rates for the Allure of the Seas and all of the ports of call. I had a few questions that I hope you all can help with.

 

1) Is there actual service in Labadee or are there no towers since it is on a private area of Haiti? There is GSM coverage in Haiti just not sure it extends in to Labadee?

 

2) If not, does the ships service cover Labadee? Minutes in Haiti are cheaper than minutes on the ship.

 

3) Does anyone know if the phone rings but is not answered if minutes are charged?

 

Any input is appreciated. It is my wife's birthday while we are in Labadee next week and her family would like to contact her.

[Clarea]

All I can tell you is that on AT&T using the ship's cell service, if the phone rings and is not answered, I'm charged $2.49 for one minute.

[Havingfun2010]

I checked with Sprint and was given rates for the Allure of the Seas and all of the ports of call. I had a few questions that I hope you all can help with.

 

1) Is there actual service in Labadee or are there no towers since it is on a private area of Haiti? There is GSM coverage in Haiti just not sure it extends in to Labadee?

 

The average person in Haiti can not afford a cell phone....and although they have cell phone service, you might be lucky to receive a signal. It is not big business on the island. Labadee is isolated by mountains. More or less, if conditions are good, you might be lucky. Last time, my cell phone did not have a signal and I only turn it on in ports.

 

2) If not, does the ships service cover Labadee? Minutes in Haiti are cheaper than minutes on the ship.

 

No. The ship, which has a contract with "cellular at sea" can only operate in International waters.

 

3) Does anyone know if the phone rings but is not answered if minutes are charged?

 

When you phone rings, in most cases, the minutes start up. Look at it this way, the ringing is part of the phone call because the cell tower and service worked to find the phone. However, sometimes you will not be charged, and that is because you are dealing with multiple phone companies, that might have different policies.

 

Any input is appreciated. It is my wife's birthday while we are in Labadee next week and her family would like to contact her.

 

Tell her family she can't be reached, and turn off the phone. You could really rack up a phone bill easily. just think 60 minutes with taxes etc will run up $200.00. Wouldn't it be better just to wait!!!!!

[joekatie]

I appreciate the input but we're talking 5 to 10 minutes max. If it is worth $30 for her to talk to her parents and grandparents on her birthday its worth it for me.

 

the rate in haiti on sprint is $1.69 a minute, ship is 2.99 so there is a big difference there. i think it will be best to schedule a time for them to call that we will have the phone on for a brief period. would be nice if those 5 minutes could happen at $1.69 vs $2.99 so was just trying to figure out how it all works.

 

if we weren't charged unless the call was answered we could leave the phone on and have them text and we could call back. i see this option will not work now due to the # of calls that may or may not ring through that day.

[bouhunter]

Our daughter's birthday falls during our spring break cruise most years. The phones are off and in the safe. Daughter and grandparents are fine with it. We love our cell phones, but life goes on without them 2-3 week per year.......

Edited April 15, 2014 by bouhunter

[joekatie]

To each their own I guess. Her family lives 5 hours from us to begin with so she enjoys talking to them on special occasions.

 

We also have a friend staying at the house with our English bulldog that has been sick, would like her to be able to reach us if needed.

 

Data will most certainly be disabled, that is where the insanely high charges come from.

 

 

Sent from my SM-G900P using Forums mobile app

[loeytalldog]

We have Sprint and have been to Labadee and we've tried, there is no cell service.

[Saracruise]

We have had Sprint for years and have never had any service while in Labadee. Main land Haiti may have service, but you are too far away. If anything you may be roaming off of the ships service and charged their rates.

[joekatie]

Just curious of those who have sprint and tried had an active SIM card in their phone? Sprint told me it should work but they had to activate the SIM in my galaxy s5 and her iphone 5s. They also said to turn of CDMA roaming as it interferes with the GSM network they have in Haiti. I was afraid it would be too far away from the main land though.

 

They also just responded to my email and said if the call is not answered there is no charge. At least that is in writing if/when charges occur.

[BillOh]

There is a cell tower very close, but it must not belong to sprint. Its disguised as a tall palm tree. At least I was told it was a cell tower.

[bigque]

If you have it on for a phone call you better turn of you Data because if emails and text start rolling in those are going to cost you out the wahoo!

[loeytalldog]

Just curious of those who have sprint and tried had an active SIM card in their phone? Sprint told me it should work but they had to activate the SIM in my galaxy s5 and her iphone 5s.

 

Sorry just getting back to you now. I asked my husband and he did not know if we have an active SIM card. We would have to call Sprint and ask but since you have Sprint you know that's never an easy thing to do!

[mil76]

Too funny. You are asking about Sprint coverage in Haiti, and my wife can hardly get Sprint coverage in Denver!

[TravelerThom]

There is a cell tower very close, but it must not belong to sprint. Its disguised as a tall palm tree. At least I was told it was a cell tower.

I don't know who the service provider is but there is a cell phone tower close to the starting area for the Zip-line. If you go to MapBlast Bird's Eye view you can see the tower. Many developing countries have pretty good cell coverage - they had very little land line service when cell service came on line, and it was much less expensive to just skip installation of land lines and go to cell phones. Virtually all countries have some people (the 1%) with considerable disposable income, and they are the ones who make sure that cell service is available to them. Cellphone service still is not that cheap, but in many areas of Africa it is common for people to spend a third of their income to have a cell phone. I would guess that the same is true in Haiti.

 

Thom

[setsail]

Texting is much cheaper

[pearlie]

I was on the Freedom early this month, left my cell phone on. Got a call that a relative had died, and needed to make arrangements with our TA to fly home early... We were in labadee on the ship. My phone bill was 4 x what it normally costs.. It cost a fortune, believe me. Limit the minutes and use it on the island.