Cellphones??

[Rodney Hancock]

Will they work on board in the Carribbean?

[Bonnie J.]

Depends if there is a tower & how far you are from it. Didn't work in port of Freeport but did in Nassau. Don't want to use it on cruise so don't. Hence, can't tell you about all other ports.

[surrocruiser]

My two previous cruises, mine worked in most ports (eastern and western) except Cozumel. This trip (western) I only had service in Grand Cayman. I've been told Verizon phones will work better, I'm not sure though.

[TrentS]

Whether they work on the islands or not depends on your cellular provider and what type of service plan you have... Generally they work fine in Puerto Rico and St. Thomas as they're American ports and are no different than any state.

 

What ship are you going on? Some ships now have their own "cell towers" through AT&T Maritime Services, and on those ships cell phones work even while at sea in the middle of nowhere.

[TheWog]

Our Verizon worked in St. Thomas, but not on St. Maarten.

[poppabear]

LEAVE THEM HOME !! YOU'RE ON VACATION.

 

I don't have many pet peeves but cell phones on a cruise is one of them.

 

Trust me, the world will go on, the sun will rise, your company will not go out of business, the stock market will not crash, your house won't burn down, your car will be fine, your friends won't forget your name, the bridge / card/ poker/ chess club will survive without you AND your kids will be fine (but you knew that before you left otherwise you wouldn't ahve gone in the first place).

 

I often wonder how exactly the world survived before cell phones. :confused:

 

Yes, I have a cell phone but it does not come with me on a cruise. And so far, knock wood, my job has still been there when I got back, my friends all remembered me, me kids were fine, the house was fine---- OK, there was the time that there was a broken pipe and my daughter took care of it. Even if I had a cell phone and she could have called me, exactly what was I going to do from the middle of the Carribean, swim home and call a plumber?

 

Again, LEAVE THE CELL PHONE HOME

[kitty9]

Some ships, like some Celebrity ships, have satellite access even if you're at sea, but the access is very expensive to use---$6.50 a minute, plus any charges from your provider---not much of a deal. Cell phones don't work at sea on most ships because there are no cell phone towers in the middle of the ocean. Some cells will work in ports such as Bahamas, St Thomas and San Juan, but after that, it's pretty much useless unless you have a phone that's GSM equipped with a tri or quad band network.

[TrentS]

kitty9 - That's changing RAPIDLY! Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, and NCL already HAVE cell towers on several of their ships, and will be fleetwide soon. Other lines have stated they're going to be installing them as well... Therefore cell phones DO work in the middle of the ocean if you're on one of those ships! And it's much less expensive than satellite calls. I have Cingular and it was $1.49 per minute.

 

poppabear - RELAX, LIFE ISN'T THAT EASY!!! It would be wonderful if it were, and if it is for you great, but there are many many reasons why some of us MUST stay in touch with the outside world! Before cell phones worked at sea we had to make the far more expensive satellite calls! As for using the phone on a cruise, I do and I will continue to do so - IN MY CABIN!!!

[Ohestu]

My wife has given me an ultimatum on my criuse. NO TECHNOLOGY!!. She said no cell phone, no laptio, no sky pager and has even threatened to take away my digital camera for fear that I may use it to do some form of work. I think if she could, she would have the TV and phone taken out of the stateroom. She says I am there only to relax look at the girls on the beach ( Look only:() and not think about ways I could get in touch with the office. I guess I am just going to have to enjoy myself and get some rest.:)

 

 

 

 

.... I did not tell her that there was an internet cafe on the ship:p

[kitty9]

TrentS, you're lucky because my Verizon charges on Celebrity Summit last March were insanely expensive when I used their ship's satellite system while at sea. A 10 minute call to the US from the Caribbean ran me $77. Not cheap by any means. And FYI, I did state in my first post that some ships, like some of the Celebrity ships, do have satellite phone service at sea. But not every ship has them, like HAL, Carnival and Princess. So if the original poster is on those ships, the cell phone won't work because there aren't cell phone towers in the middle of the ocean.

[LSUtraveler]

Depends on your service provider. I'm with Cingular and had to call in to activate their international plan. Didn't cost anything to activate it. Also it depended on some feature you had to have in your phone. Newer ones I think have them.

 

My cell worked on most all the islands on the Southern, Eastern and Western Caribbean routes.

 

Didn't use it most of the time but it was available if I did and was when I wanted to and not always for business. So bring it if your service provider can provide the service.

 

And remember it only works when there's a cellular tower near by which means you gotta be close to on on one of the islands. Enjoy!

[nrose6]

Ok...here is the breakdown on where I have been able to use my cell and on which network was used.

 

Freeport (and Surrounding ABACO islands)

*Roaming is $1.99min if you do not have an international calling plan. The network that is used is ANALOG and GSM. ( IF you have CINGULAR or TMOBILE, your phone will ROAM, and display BATELCO as the provider.You may have to call cingular prior to using your phone in this area because there are some conflicts with the service, and you may only get calls, but be able to place them. If you have a tri-mode Sprint PCS or Verizon Wireless phone , you will get ANALOG service.

 

Princess Cays

*Everything is the same as Freeport, HOWEVER, there is NO GSM service here, only ANALOG. (Verizon Wireless or SPrint PCS tri-mode...most phones will not work.)

 

Days at sea

*Even if your ship does not have cellular service, when you are near CUBA and JAMACA, your ANALOG will work. (For sake of my fingers...more on analog is in the freeport section)

 

Jamaca

*Montego Bay has 1X data services (Web, Text Messages) of you have a international plan. If not, ANALOG and GSM and TDMA (older cinular and att phones) will all work.

 

Grand Caymen

*Here I was only able to get an ANALOG signal, and was NOT able to make calls. However, My phone did alert me and say that I had voicemail.

 

Cozumel, Mexico

* Here CDMA (SPrint and Verizon...1X) and ANALOG will work. I was only able to recieve calls, not place them.

 

IF you have NExtel, you may be wondering why I did not mention them...the only place where I have gotten a Nexel to work is 15miles from Key West.

 

I may have missed a few carriers, but I can only go by what phones and services people in my family have. There are also alot of European networks in the islands. Hope this helped some people.

[LSUtraveler]

Easiest way to find out if your phone will work or not is to call your service provider and ask them. Then come back to the board and find out what others have to say about their experiences.

[Nitemare]

Easiest way to find out if your phone will work or not is to call your service provider and ask them. Then come back to the board and find out what others have to say about their experiences.

And then call them a 2nd time and a 3rd time. The customer service folks there know SO little about this kind of question that you're much better off asking 3 times, and going with the most popular answer. That way, you're about 50% likely to get the right info!!! ;-)

[TheWog]

kitty9 - That's changing RAPIDLY! Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, and NCL already HAVE cell towers on several of their ships, and will be fleetwide soon. Other lines have stated they're going to be installing them as well... Therefore cell phones DO work in the middle of the ocean if you're on one of those ships!

 

but please say they won't work next to the pool....:D

[Nliedel]

Sorry but as a parent I feel it is important to call home and check on the boys when I travel.

[LSU Traveler]

That's the truth for sure!!

[Nitemare]

Please check in as often as you'd like. From your room, or somewhere where the conversation won't wake up someone napping by the pool, or trying to enjoy their dinner!

[kitty9]

Double post, sorry

[kitty9]

Blackberry's work in every port in the Caribbean and Mexico. I just bought one and their per minute charge is very cheap, some places as low as 49 cents a minute and go up to a mere $1.49 a minute for places farther south in the Caribbean. Even if you sail to South America, the charges are still very cheap, with some spots as cheap as $1.99 a minute. Plus they are quad band which means they work in most places around the world.

[wisefamily4]

LEAVE THEM HOME !! YOU'RE ON VACATION.

 

I don't have many pet peeves but cell phones on a cruise is one of them.

 

 

Well then.... I'm glad it's your pet peeve and not mine. I will always bring a cell phone with me (just not the work one). I will leave it sitting on the charger in my cabin until we go into port. I like having a phone with me while off the ship.

As a parent, I wan't to know right away if there is an emergency involving one of my kids (staying with Grandparents).

[LonW]

Blackberry's work in every port in the Caribbean and Mexico. I just bought one and their per minute charge is very cheap, some places as low as 49 cents a minute and go up to a mere $1.49 a minute for places farther south in the Caribbean. Even if you sail to South America, the charges are still very cheap, with some spots as cheap as $1.99 a minute. Plus they are quad band which means they work in most places around the world.

 

Still depends on the provider. Blackberry is a brand of phone that most of the provider have available. Nextel for example has a blackberry phone available, but will not work in very many locations in the Caribbean.;)