Help me with internet/phone calls while on board

[thehams]

My DH and I will be cruising on the Navigator later this summer and we will need to be able to call/facetime back home sometimes and check in with our 3 year old (8 days away from my baby is going to be hard, but we are still excited ;)

 

What's the best way to approach this? Our cell provider is ATT and I know you can buy a international calling package. Has any one done this before? Will I be able to make phone calls on the ship? Only certain areas?

 

Please tell me the best way to make phone calls. We would like internet usage too but not if it's going to be pricey. The phone calls are the important part

[spookwife]

very expensive if you go through the ship..as in 8 bucks a minute.

 

if you use your cell phone you will pay roaming /international charges

 

facetime wouldn't work on board anyway. takes up too much bandwidth

 

internet is very expensive and SLOW.

 

I suggest that you limit it to free wireless in port (ask the crew) and go through skype or something similar

[Clarea]

With no extra packages, you can use your cell phone while at sea for $2.49 per minute for voice calls. If you think you will be using a good number of minutes, consider AT&T's cruise ship plan:

 

http://www.att.com/shop/en/wireless/international/roaming.html#tab4

[setsail]

http://www.att.com/esupport/article.jsp?sid=54282&cv=820

[thehams]

ok, so it sounds like the best way to go, is getting a international package through ATT....thank you for the link.

 

As fro making call from my cell phone, can I do that any where on the ship? Or are there certain areas for cell reception? Can this be done while at sea and when in port?

[AustinCruise]

Stay away from the data plans. Set phone to no data roaming. 100mb doesn't go very far with a smartphone.

[Clarea]

ok, so it sounds like the best way to go, is getting a international package through ATT....thank you for the link.

 

As fro making call from my cell phone, can I do that any where on the ship? Or are there certain areas for cell reception? Can this be done while at sea and when in port?

You should have cell coverage all over the ship, but just like on land, there will be good and bad areas. You will just have to experiment.

 

The AT&T package should cover you while at sea and in Caribbean ports. The package description should detail the coverage in ports.

[north29]

If not, take phone ashore with you and use a internet cafe or free wifi some where. Face time might work or sign up for Skype and call the land line for pennies or try Skype's video for free. I have never tried Skype's video in a foreign country so cannot speak to that.

[micheecruise]

where are you cruising to? Since some of the islands are US territories, you can call and/or text at your regular rate. Check with your phone carrier. We have Verizon, and I know we could text in St. Thomas with no extra charges, and I think in San Juan PR we could text with no extra charges, calls were maybe $1.99 a minute (not 100% sure about that). But anyway, it's best to call your provider. Good luck!!

[AustinCruise]

Since you mentioned FaceTime, you might have better luck with FaceTime audio. Much lower bandwidth.