Vacation Phone Plans

[CYOREALITY]

We are cruising next month in the mediterranean and would like to be able to phone home.

I would appreciate any insight on phone and data plans for vacation. I recently

read an article about a person who got a 1200 $ bill from their carrier on vacation

and I do not want to be that guy.

[teacherman]

Phones, carriers, plans, and charges are all different. I advise you to go and talk to your carrier regarding various costs for data, talk, and text overseas. And then decide what you want to do and KEEP TRACK of what you use. Biggest thing is to turn off data roaming when you leave the country.

[chicagopaul]

You have a couple different options depending on your carrier.

 

First, avoid using the phone while on the ship. If you use your phone while on the ship you will of course pay the increased phone charges charged through the ship (or the Sat provider) plus your own international charges. Also make sure your phone is in Airplane mode while on the boat.

 

Option #1: Call your cell provider and see what international options they have. Sometimes they will have packages that you can purchase ahead of time that will give you a cheaper price per minute. Watch the data you use for your smart phones. While you may be able to get only 99cents a minute to call home, your data charges can be astronomical.

 

Option #2: Buy a SIM card while in port or a pre-paid phone with data. SIM Cards and pre-paid phones are actually quite cheap in other areas of the world. Most will only be meant for local calls, however, there will be some international ones that might be cheaper than using your current phone. The cheapest, option, however will be a SIM Card or a Pre-Paid phone with a data plan. You can then use SKYPE, I-Message, WhatsAP, E-mails, etc. to check back on things at home.

 

Option #3: Find a Wi-Fi spot and use Skype, I-Message, etc. However, you are then relying on the speed of the wi-fi at a cafe or a restaurant/bar.

 

Hope this helps! If you do end up going with a SIM Card / Pre-Paid international phone make sure the phone will be usable in all the countries you are visiting.

 

On a separate note, I'm very jealous you'll be in the med next month. We were on the Eastern Med cruise on the Reflection last October. It was absolutely beautiful!

 

Cheers & Happy Cruising!

[CYOREALITY]

Thank you so much!! Great tips.

[Funinjune]

Check with T-Mobile they are now offering international calling included in their monthly service.

 

 

Happy cruising

[cruisead]

The reason people come home to huge phone bills is not usually because of making phone calls, unless you're talking for hours a day. The big bills happen when people use their phone for Internet or when teens are texting on the ship like they do at home, 200 or more times a day. Most calls will run you $2.50 a minute. So, my best advice is to make sure you turn off data roaming, so that your phone isn't constantly scanning for things such as emails.

[Algebralovr]

I bought an unlocked Moto E for $130 from Amazon and got a t-mobile plan for our trip in June. It was good in most of the Med, but not Croatia.

 

Texts were all included, as was data at 3g and 2g speeds. Calls were $0.20 per minute, whether calling a local number or to home. Bill for the plan for a month was about $50 plus taxes.

 

Canceled once we got home, since we have poor tmobile at my house.

[kebhouse]

I believe there are services that will send a phone to your hotel or maybe to you before you leave that you can use when traveling internationally then return when done. I can't remember names but I've read a blog review of them once or twice.

If your phone can handle international service you can just call your carrier and they will help you out. If not, buying or renting a phone for the trip is an option.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums