Texting/calling home while on cruise

[mrsgthatsme]

We will be taking a cruise in March to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. We very, very rarely leave our kids overnight, so this is a stretch (even though they will be having a great time with grandma and grandpa! :) ) Other than buying the internet package, which I am thinking is on the pricey side, what is the best way for me to touch base with home? If I text while on the ship I am assuming it will be expensive? Can I use the wifi at the ports to text/call? Do apps like Viber work when out of the country or would there still be a fee? We will port in Princess Cays and Grand Turk. I have Verizon in case that makes a difference at all... Thanks!

[TNTLAMB]

Heres a planner from Verizon:

 

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

 

 

What we have done is use a Skype to go number. (although not usually necessary in the Caribbean)

Edited February 4, 2016 by TNTLAMB

[Relax Cruiser]

Check your phone plan. We are with TMobile and have a plan that would enable us to have 2G Globally unlimited (enough for Whatsapp/Text) but when we went to Caribbean found we were getting 3G throughout. Managed to make some internet calls back home. Also, places where we didn't have internet (like in the middle of the ocean.. ;)) our plan included texts that cost 0.50c and calls at $1.50/min. Pretty neat I would say.

So check with your provider, you may be surprised what you can get. Internet on board is very expensive. Apart from that most of the ports will have free wifi just ask the crew member on where to go.

[Loggra]

We just went to the Panama Canal and back, 6 ports, 10 day total and Verizon had awesome inexpensive plans for us to be able to call every day. I would think they have something that would work for you!

 

Please call them and let them tell you what they have, it was well worth it for me to be able to speak with my husband every day as he was recovering from an illness.

[Colo Cruiser]

We will be taking a cruise in March to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. We very, very rarely leave our kids overnight, so this is a stretch (even though they will be having a great time with grandma and grandpa! :) ) Other than buying the internet package, which I am thinking is on the pricey side, what is the best way for me to touch base with home? If I text while on the ship I am assuming it will be expensive? Can I use the wifi at the ports to text/call? Do apps like Viber work when out of the country or would there still be a fee? We will port in Princess Cays and Grand Turk. I have Verizon in case that makes a difference at all... Thanks!

 

As far as cell phone usage.....

Turn cell data/roaming data off...you can still make/receive calls and text, and access wifi.

Voice calls onboard cell service $2.50 per minute text .50 each.

We have AT&T and without any international package are not charged for incoming text.

Onboard cell service is not always available.

Edited February 4, 2016 by Colo Cruiser

[RocketMan275]

We will be taking a cruise in March to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. We very, very rarely leave our kids overnight, so this is a stretch (even though they will be having a great time with grandma and grandpa! :) ) Other than buying the internet package, which I am thinking is on the pricey side, what is the best way for me to touch base with home? If I text while on the ship I am assuming it will be expensive? Can I use the wifi at the ports to text/call? Do apps like Viber work when out of the country or would there still be a fee? We will port in Princess Cays and Grand Turk. I have Verizon in case that makes a difference at all... Thanks!

 

On my first cruise, I called Verizon. They asked a few questions and told me that I probably didn't need a package. Since you are a Verizon customer, you will pay fifty cents for each texts you send. You will pay a nickel for every text you receive. That's not very expensive at all.

 

Suppose there is an emergency and you do need to call. On verizon, that's $1.79 per minute. A bit expensive just to talk, but if it is an emergency, then the rate shouldn't matter.

 

I can't advise you since I do not know how much contact you want. I've found that for my family that the basic text works well. Email is more expensive since it is billed as data.

 

I would strongly recommend you to call Verizon and see what they tell you. I found them to be very helpful. They told me how to set up my phone to avoid a big bill. They even sent me a pdf with complete instructions.

 

You'll get a lot of advice from people on this website that are trying to be helpful. They may have a different carrier than you. They don't know what kind of phone you have. This is a cruse site. It's not a place to get expert advice on cell phones. Call verizon and get the correct information.

[Times Prince]

We will be taking a cruise in March to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. We very, very rarely leave our kids overnight, so this is a stretch (even though they will be having a great time with grandma and grandpa! :) ) Other than buying the internet package, which I am thinking is on the pricey side, what is the best way for me to touch base with home? If I text while on the ship I am assuming it will be expensive? Can I use the wifi at the ports to text/call? Do apps like Viber work when out of the country or would there still be a fee? We will port in Princess Cays and Grand Turk. I have Verizon in case that makes a difference at all... Thanks!

Besides researching the Verizon plans (your phone probably won't work with any other carrier), keep in mind the time difference from the grandparent's house.

 

We travelled to Alaska once when one of my in-laws was ill , and found that email was the best way to communicate, as it could be sent or received and read at almost any time. Be sure to leave the grandparents the ship's emergency phone number (found in one of the Princess FAQs). We had Verizon and got hit with roaming charges even when we were visiting major cities in Alaska.

 

Otherwise you can use the wifi at Grand Turk. Using it onboard ship may still require purchase of the internet package.

[FritzG]

I usually get a plan from Verizon, and it has worked out well. Calling from the ship is $1.79/min. which is much cheaper than using Princess's phone services. My mother is 91, and if she wants to talk for 5-10 minutes every couple of days that's fine with me because it gives me the freedom to travel and lets me keep in touch with her.

[russbma]

I take a satellite phone when I cruise or go where service is spotty