Cell phones

[Mango Mike]

I'm sure quite a few of you have used your cell phones to call home while on the ship (or maybe while in port). I haven't - my wife and I have always used our phone discount "perk" on Royal Caribbean for being Diamond members ($2.00/minute) so we're sort of new to this.

We're going on our first Celebrity cruise in less than 2 weeks and need to figure out some way of calling home on occasion to see how our 4 legged kids (and mother-in-law) are doing.

We have Verizon as our cell carrier. Do I need to contact them to set up my phone for international calling? Will I pay Verizon $x.xx/minute as well as Celebrity $x.xx/minute for calls? Is it (gulp) expensive?

 

Thanks

[kitty9]

You need to activate international calling if you want to use the phone on the islands. The price will be about $2.49 a minute---we have Verizon and that's the charge we have always paid when calling from the ship. It will be a bit cheaper if you call from St Thomas or San Juan, if your ship stops there.

 

A word of caution---do not use your phone for internet. Turn off data roaming or put the phone in airplane mode. If you don't do this, when you turn your phone on, it will scan constantly for emails and the like, at that per minute charge. Don't want to come home to a phone bill in the four figures, LOL.

[neverbeenhere]

Option # 2 - buy a $ 5 or $ 10 phone card (old school) when you get to port. Use it to call home. Give it someone else after you are done. No worries.

 

 

 

btw - Answer the call of Modern Luxury

Edited January 11, 2016 by neverbeenhere

[JRYMCMB]

iRoam is pretty good, if you have an unlocked phone you just pop in the sim, its $30 for the sim card and rates to the US are about $0.75 per minute and also includes $10 in free airtime.

[oroszdb]

Verizon has a new plan - for $10/day per phone registered in a foreign country your minutes/data will count as home use (not roaming) - I believe it's $2/day in Canada and Mexico

[Mango Mike]

You need to activate international calling if you want to use the phone on the islands. The price will be about $2.49 a minute---we have Verizon and that's the charge we have always paid when calling from the ship. It will be a bit cheaper if you call from St Thomas or San Juan, if your ship stops there.

 

A word of caution---do not use your phone for internet. Turn off data roaming or put the phone in airplane mode. If you don't do this, when you turn your phone on, it will scan constantly for emails and the like, at that per minute charge. Don't want to come home to a phone bill in the four figures, LOL.

 

I'm assuming turning off data roaming is the same as turning off "WiFi" correct?

 

I don't think I would want to put it in Airplane Mode as I wouldn't be able to send/receive calls.

[Mango Mike]

Option # 2 - buy a $ 5 or $ 10 phone card (old school) when you get to port. Use it to call home. Give it someone else after you are done. No worries.

 

 

 

btw - Answer the call of Modern Luxury

 

I thought about this idea, but pay phones are quickly becoming hard to find in a lot of places (especially on a ship :eek:)

[neverbeenhere]

You might want to use a Google search to help you turn off roaming data.

[ghstudio]

The best solution is to call home when you are in port...using local wifi (a bar or cafe) and something like SKYPE. We do that around the world and our phones are set to airplane mode with wifi on. Any voice messages are automatically converted to text and appear as emails...and that's both for our cell phones and our home phone. We check our mail a couple of times a day. If it's more urgent than that, we're at sea and there's not much that we could do even if it was more urgent....that's reality.

 

If you insist on being able to make and receive calls on the ship, then yes, set data roaming off; set data over cellular off and turn off any automatic syncing of mail or other information. How you do this differs by phone. Your biggest risk is that there's a program update and it's automatically downloaded over cellular without you even realizing.

[az_tchr]

There is a phone at sea plan - not cheap - and also one through ATT. Easier to simply use emails on the ship and call from port. I use an app called Talkatone. It uses WiFi when on shore to call to the US or Canada for free. The big thing is the other person does not need to have the app. In some situations there is a .01 per minute charge and you do need to use it once a month. If from outside the USA you can get a USA phone number and have USA friends call your phone! the fine print too complicated to post here.

[justcrusn]

I'm assuming turning off data roaming is the same as turning off "WiFi" correct?

 

NO, it is NOT the same thing.

Be very careful that you get this correct.

On an iphone it is usually under settings and cellular.

It varies on droid phones.

[JRYMCMB]

Also don't forget if you have Gmail you can make phone calls right from your inbox :)

[Mango Mike]

Way too much to learn - maybe I'll just drink myself into oblivion and let my wife handle it :rolleyes:.

 

Actually, I did a search on Cruise Critic and found a few other threads on the subject - most of them recommend contacting Verizon and see what they say - might give that a try since I just realized our billing cycle ends/begins while we're on the cruise so I'm guessing that'll cause an issue if I go with some sort of "plan".

[az_tchr]

Also don't forget if you have Gmail you can make phone calls right from your inbox :)

 

Tried that and it did not work except twice on a 14 day cruise. Not enough bandwidth for voice calls using any sort of VOIP and quality was awful. Often connected and then had the call dropped. Is a great idea though. Did work when on shore!

[Sandtrap328]

This post will probably generate some uncomplimentary replies to me - but why not turn off the cell phone during the cruise. Use email from one of the ship's computers once a day to check on the status of pets or mom-in-law? Diamond status on RCL automatically gets you Elite status on Celebrity which includes quite a few internet minutes per person (90, I believe).

 

In ports that are American territory such as The USVirgin Islands and Puerto Rico, the cell phone usage is exactly as if you were at home.

 

If there is a REAL emergency at home, make sure you give the ship's emergency number and your cabin number, etc to the people at home. In such a true emergency, it is easy to use the cabin telephone and anyone would be willing to pay the high prices incurred.

 

Cruises are vacation time. Unhook yourself from your cell phone! One or two emails per day should take care of you perfectly. Have a good time!

Edited January 11, 2016 by Sandtrap328

[JRYMCMB]

This post will probably generate some uncomplimentary replies to me - but why not turn off the cell phone during the cruise. Use email from one of the ship's computers once a day to check on the status of pets or mom-in-law? Diamond status on RCL automatically gets you Elite status on Celebrity which includes quite a few internet minutes per person (90, I believe).

 

In ports that are American territory such as The USVirgin Islands and Puerto Rico, the cell phone usage is exactly as if you were at home.

 

Cruises are vacation time. Unhook yourself from your cell phone! One or two emails per day should take care of you perfectly. Have a good time!

 

Very true, I told my friend the other day who will be watching my cats what my number while on the cruise will be in case anything happens to them and she responded with "if something did happen there isn't exactly a whole lot you can do about it, just enjoy your trip" - she did have a very good point, mind you if something did happen at home while away I'd want to know about it, even if there isn't anything I can DO about it.

[irishgal1970]

We're headed off on the Reflection on the 30th, and have Verizon. The "TravelPass" plan, which is only in effect if you turn your phone on in the covered countries, is my choice. It will cost me $10 in Jamaica and Grand Cayman, and $2 in Cozumel to use my plan minutes. It won't work while on the ship, or while at CocoCay, but I don't really need it to. I want to be able to disconnect as much as possible, but I know myself - I will want to check in. Frankly, I'm thrilled with these costs. I spent about $200 on cell phone charges when I went to Europe (land vacation) this past summer.

[KruiserNY]

Use the Verizon international trip planner. Enter in the ship name and the ports and it will tell you the options available. There is a $40 bundle available now for some ships/countries that will give you 100 minutes, 100 texts and 100MB...which is all the connection I need for a weeks vacation :)

 

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/tripplanner/tripplannercontroller

[north29]

However we do try to keep up with situations by Skype or yes cell phone, not all free internet connection can handle Skype. We figure if it is a great emergency, WHAT CAN WE REALLY DO. It would take us up to 4 days to find a flight to home port, another day to drive home in FL, another day to find a flight to where ever, and then another day to change wardrobe for cold, if winter and then make it to the flight, maybe. YES some will say you can do better time but that is a good example of what to expect depending on lots of variables.

Now if you must/can fly directly good for you.

[runswithdogs]

We're US residents/Verizon customers, going to the Caribbean on the Eclipse Feb 7, going to 7 islands over 2 weeks.

 

I recently called Verizon and was told about a $40/month International Plan that includes 100 minutes, 100 texts (I think outgoing, plus some incoming), and a small amount of data (like 1mb).

 

I plan to activate this (and make sure I fully understand the details) right before we leave, then cancel it when we get back.

 

Seems pretty reasonable, relatively speaking.

 

I also got 2 different answers when I asked whether we could use it on the ship without further charges. If I'm not convinced 100% on way or the other, we'll stick to just using it in port (keep it off or in airplane mode otherwise).

 

On our last cruise to Alaska, so we didn't need an International Plan, but we made a point to get away from the ship before calling home, in order to not accidentally use the ship's signal. So again, unless I'm truly convinced things are different now, we'll do the same here.

[wpgcycler]

This post will probably generate some uncomplimentary replies to me - but why not turn off the cell phone during the cruise.

 

Not from me. My two cruises are two of only three times I've been completely "off the grid" in 20 years - magical times. I secretly wish they never offer free or even cheap Internet/cell access.

[az_tchr]

We're US residents/Verizon customers, going to the Caribbean on the Eclipse Feb 7, going to 7 islands over 2 weeks.

 

I recently called Verizon and was told about a $40/month International Plan that includes 100 minutes, 100 texts (I think outgoing, plus some incoming), and a small amount of data (like 1mb).

 

I plan to activate this (and make sure I fully understand the details) right before we leave, then cancel it when we get back.

 

Seems pretty reasonable, relatively speaking.

 

I also got 2 different answers when I asked whether we could use it on the ship without further charges. If I'm not convinced 100% on way or the other, we'll stick to just using it in port (keep it off or in airplane mode otherwise).

 

On our last cruise to Alaska, so we didn't need an International Plan, but we made a point to get away from the ship before calling home, in order to not accidentally use the ship's signal. So again, unless I'm truly convinced things are different now, we'll do the same here.

 

Really very simple - you cannot use your cell phone on the ship without using the ship's Cellular at Sea system at something like a couple $$ a minute.

 

I find giving the number on board adequate while on a cruise. Next one is a TA. What in the heck could I do anyway?

Edited January 12, 2016 by az_tchr

[Jane2357]

One of my favorite things about cruising is going off the grid too :D It is so relaxing to just let it all go! I always leave the number to Celebrity, ship name and cabin number with 1 contact person, in the case of an extreme emergency they could reach us that way.

[Mango Mike]

This post will probably generate some uncomplimentary replies to me - but why not turn off the cell phone during the cruise. Use email from one of the ship's computers once a day to check on the status of pets or mom-in-law? Diamond status on RCL automatically gets you Elite status on Celebrity which includes quite a few internet minutes per person (90, I believe).

 

In ports that are American territory such as The USVirgin Islands and Puerto Rico, the cell phone usage is exactly as if you were at home.

 

If there is a REAL emergency at home, make sure you give the ship's emergency number and your cabin number, etc to the people at home. In such a true emergency, it is easy to use the cabin telephone and anyone would be willing to pay the high prices incurred.

 

Cruises are vacation time. Unhook yourself from your cell phone! One or two emails per day should take care of you perfectly. Have a good time!

 

My mother-in-law and computers are 2 words that DO NOT coincide. She is probably the most technically challenged person there is. (She thought her cell phone was broke until we explained to her that she had to TURN IT ON!!!) - Yeah, I know, and we're letting her watch our dogs and the house - our fingers are crossed.

 

And while I do agree that cruises are vacation time, is older and may be starting to show signs of, well, you know (the Alz word), and we just want to make sure things are going okay so that if we need to contact someone to check on/help her, we can do that quickly.

[Mango Mike]

We're US residents/Verizon customers, going to the Caribbean on the Eclipse Feb 7, going to 7 islands over 2 weeks.

 

I recently called Verizon and was told about a $40/month International Plan that includes 100 minutes, 100 texts (I think outgoing, plus some incoming), and a small amount of data (like 1mb).

 

I plan to activate this (and make sure I fully understand the details) right before we leave, then cancel it when we get back.

 

Seems pretty reasonable, relatively speaking.

 

I also got 2 different answers when I asked whether we could use it on the ship without further charges. If I'm not convinced 100% on way or the other, we'll stick to just using it in port (keep it off or in airplane mode otherwise).

 

On our last cruise to Alaska, so we didn't need an International Plan, but we made a point to get away from the ship before calling home, in order to not accidentally use the ship's signal. So again, unless I'm truly convinced things are different now, we'll do the same here.

 

 

I called and talked to Verizon and this is the option they said would work best for me as well so I think we will probably give it a try. I was told the data usage is 100mb though we will shut that off and won't use it.