Suggestions for emergency communications on Carnival ships?

[treehugr]

Going on the Splendor in a few weeks and trying to figure out the best economical means for family to get a hold of us in the event of an emergency. Obviously for us email is the choice on the ship and cell service on the islands. Our biggest concern obviously is on sea days and if family needs to reach us. Been reading many high priced nightmare stories of folks trying to reach loved ones through shore to ship calls with varying degrees of success. Any suggestions is greatly appreciated.

[Kamloops50]

Going on the Splendor in a few weeks and trying to figure out the best economical means for family to get a hold of us in the event of an emergency. Obviously for us email is the choice on the ship and cell service on the islands. Our biggest concern obviously is on sea days and if family needs to reach us. Been reading many high priced nightmare stories of folks trying to reach loved ones through shore to ship calls with varying degrees of success. Any suggestions is greatly appreciated.

 

I would just use email. If there is family emergency what can you do from the cruise? Nothing just relax and enjoy the cruise.

[Carnival_Brides]

If your family should need to get ahold of you, I believe they are now supposed to call CCL's 800 # and they will relay the message to the ship. Some people have been given "complimentary phone calls" and others are just given the message and use their cabin phones. I believe the cost is $1.99 a minute which is a lot more economical than Cellular-at-Sea.

 

This is a welcome change from the former process that cost $10 a minute once the call was connected.

Edited October 20, 2014 by Carnival_Brides

[Disconnections]

Two direct to ship points of contact for the Carnival Splendor in the event of an emergency:

 

Guest Services:

slguestservices@carnival.com

 

Cruise Director:

slcd@carnival.com

 

Be sure to have the subject denote an emergency and in the body, include the full names and onboard passengers and the stateroom number. The message should get to you.

 

In addition, they can try calling the 1800 number and hopefully the CSR can relay the message to the ship.

Edited October 20, 2014 by Disconnections

[spmedude922]

We had to use this service once. We called the ship and left a message on my in laws cabin phone. It was pricey. But price doesn't matter in an emergency. I think to leave a message was like 15 bux. About 3.99 a minute.

[Cruise-Crazy]

If you on the cell phone on the ship is about the same as it would be in a non US port. If it's a true emergency why worry about a few $$ for a call?

[treehugr]

Two direct to ship points of contact for the Carnival Splendor in the event of an emergency:

 

Guest Services:

slguestservices@carnival.com

 

Cruise Director:

slcd@carnival.com

 

Be sure to have the subject denote an emergency and in the body, include the full names and onboard passengers and the stateroom number. The message should get to you.

 

In addition, they can try calling the 1800 number and hopefully the CSR can relay the message to the ship.

 

 

Great info to add to our checklist we are providing family with...thank you.

[treehugr]

If your family should need to get ahold of you, I believe they are now supposed to call CCL's 800 # and they will relay the message to the ship. Some people have been given "complimentary phone calls" and others are just given the message and use their cabin phones. I believe the cost is $1.99 a minute which is a lot more economical than Cellular-at-Sea.

 

This is a welcome change from the former process that cost $10 a minute once the call was connected.

 

$1.99 a minute sure beast $10.00...can we make any outgoing call from cabin for that rate? Does it have to be emergency?

[treehugr]

If it's a true emergency why worry about a few $$ for a call?

 

Very true...but nothing wrong with finding out the most economical means for doing so...right?

[andy.capitan]

$1.99 a minute sure beast $10.00...can we make any outgoing call from cabin for that rate? Does it have to be emergency?

 

Yes. It likely beats your cell phone, too.

 

No emergency required.

 

In case of a TRUE emergency,

 

Shore-to-Ship Communication

 

We know many of you would like an emergency contact number for family members not traveling with you. Therefore, in the event of a true emergency, loved ones may contact our call center at 1-800-227-6482 on a 24/7 basis. Our team will take down the caller's name and contact information and pass it on to our Guest Services team onboard so they can extend the guest a complimentary phone call.

[Disconnections]

$1.99 a minute sure beast $10.00...can we make any outgoing call from cabin for that rate? Does it have to be emergency?

 

Carnival used to provide shore to ship telephony communications for $9.95 per minute billed to the person initiating the outgoing call, but that has been discontinued about a year or so ago. Carnival now allows you to call their 1800 and in the event of an emergency, they will attempt to contact the ship, but that depends on what the CSR deems an emergency.

 

Ship to shore calls from the stateroom phone are now $1.99 per minute fleetwide. Back in 2010 and 2011, each ship varied as they were trying to find out the price point guests were willing to spend to make a call from the ship's phone versus a cell phone or even VoIP services, such as Skype.

Edited October 20, 2014 by Disconnections

[andy.capitan]

Shore-to-Ship Communication

 

Effective 11/27/13: This service is no longer offered.

 

We know many of you would like an emergency contact number for family members not traveling with you. Therefore, in the event of a true emergency, loved ones may contact our call center at 1-800-227-6482 on a 24/7 basis. Our team will take down the caller's name and contact information and pass it on to our Guest Services team onboard so they can extend the guest a complimentary phone call.

[jogo]

We had an emergency while on the ship last January they announced our name over the intercom and when we went to guest services they made the call to my daughter for us and told us we can call whenever we wanted with no cost. They were absolutely wonderful. When we got into port we were the first people off the ship.

[spcannon]

I know if you use AT&T you can receive text messages for the same rates as home - so if you have unlimited texting they are free. To send a text is .50 per message. Making or receiving a calls cost about 2.50 per minute. Without an international plan calling from most ports is 2.50 except Mexico & Canada are $1. We typically receive messages from home via text and respond as necessary. I would imagine that most major carriers probably have similar pricing.

[Momofthreeprincesses]

Sprint was .50 cents outgoing texts and .15 cents incoming last week..

 

 

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[mississauga]

If your loved ones need to call you in the event of an emergency, make sure they give your legal names.....names that you are registered with.

 

We had friends who both are called by their middle names and when their family called, they could not be found as Carnival had both of them under different names.

 

Surprisingly, many people do not use their first name and their S&S names do not match the name you know them as...lol.:D:rolleyes:

[Jen1000]

$1.99 per minute in your cabin is probably the best deal. Cell phone carriers usually charge between $2.50 and $2.99. The reception on the cabin phone is very good.

 

Carnival used to provide shore to ship telephony communications for $9.95 per minute billed to the person initiating the outgoing call, but that has been discontinued about a year or so ago. Carnival now allows you to call their 1800 and in the event of an emergency, they will attempt to contact the ship, but that depends on what the CSR deems an emergency.

 

Ship to shore calls from the stateroom phone are now $1.99 per minute fleetwide. Back in 2010 and 2011, each ship varied as they were trying to find out the price point guests were willing to spend to make a call from the ship's phone versus a cell phone or even VoIP services, such as Skype.

[jamesr3939]

We have AT&T and used several text and a few phone calls when the granddaughter was born while we were gone three years ago. I think it cost us about $85 total and we made plenty of calls with videos via text.

 

On the Dream in January I would compose Emails then log on and send/receive then log off via my IPad a couple of times a day. I usually told family I would check in the AM and again in the PM.

 

I was very careful not to use the local (non USA) based cel service when in port to avoid those horror stories about $hudreds bills.

 

It's really clear to know when you are on a non ship or USA carrier.

[poolreader]

I just get a small internet package and use my Facebook. My family can leave messages for me that are non critical. I check it twice a day. Usually someone in my family is on line and if they see me on Facebook they message me with important info.

[Verde Man]

We had an emergency while on the ship last January they announced our name over the intercom and when we went to guest services they made the call to my daughter for us and told us we can call whenever we wanted with no cost. They were absolutely wonderful. When we got into port we were the first people off the ship.

 

Same thing happened with me on my Oct 14 cruise. My father passed away and I was contacted by Guest Services. They called my sister for me and let us talk and I was also able to make calls from my room. No charge. Guest Services kept checking on me thru out the cruise. They really went out of their way to make a bad situation bearable.

[treehugr]

My apologies for not checking this sooner...but I wanted to thank everyone for responding with so much good info. We've been on many cruises, but this is the 1st in which emergency communication back home is such a big issue. Once again, thank you all for your replies.

[Disconnections]

My apologies for not checking this sooner...but I wanted to thank everyone for responding with so much good info. We've been on many cruises, but this is the 1st in which emergency communication back home is such a big issue. Once again, thank you all for your replies.

 

You're welcome. Have a nice cruise! You're almost at single digits... hang in there.

[andy.capitan]

My apologies for not checking this sooner...but I wanted to thank everyone for responding with so much good info. We've been on many cruises, but this is the 1st in which emergency communication back home is such a big issue. Once again, thank you all for your replies.

 

You're welcome. Enjoy your cruise!