Mobile Phone Use - Caribbean Highlights Cruise

[donnes]

I am a 72 year old first time poster, so please be gentle! I have just submitted the question below on the "Ask a Cruise question forum" but now I am not sure if I should have posted it here instead?

 

I am sailing on Cunard's Queen Victoria from 15th November to 9th December this year, leaving from Southampton. After a short stop in La Coruna I have 7 days at sea before visiting Antigua, St Lucia, Barbados, Pointe-a-Pitre, and St Maarten before sailing back to Southampton via Ponta Delgada in Portugal.

 

I have an unlocked iPhone 4s and would like to use it while away to keep in touch with my family who are all in the UK, and for them to be able to phone or text me. I have no interest in using the internet on the phone while I'm away - I just want to be able to make and receive calls and texts - but I am totally confused about how I go about organising this. In the UK I use a pay as you go sim card from 3. My questions therefore are :-

 

1. From what I can read the advice is to buy an international sim card and put it in the phone, but I am bamboozled about the number of providers and range of options available. Can anyone please advise the best card to buy, bearing in mind the amount of time I will be at sea/the destinations I am visiting?

 

2. It appears that Cunard ships have a "GSM roaming service available across the fleet." Can anyone tell me if this means that my phone's sim card will connect to a mobile phone signal on the ship and that I will therefore be able to make and receive calls even while I am at sea? (sorry I don't really understand what the ship having a GSM roamng service means and what this costs?)

 

Any replies would be much appreciated. Thank you.

[rakkor]

Hi - You can carry on using your 3 Pay as you go SIM, with a couple of caveats - Using it abroad will eat up your credit rapidly, so make sure you have plenty of credit and make sure that you have Mobile Data turned off as this will eat through your credit very fast.

 

The 3 SIM works in the USA as if you were in the UK with the "At Home" feature, but not on the ship or the islands (unless they are US territory)

 

 

for example a call in Antigua will cost £2.00 per minute if you call the UK & £1.25 per minute to receive a call from the UK

 

Internet £6 per Meg - very expensive

 

I'd stick to texting - That's only 35p per text

 

See - http://www.three.co.uk/Support/Roaming_and_international/Mobile_Roaming?content_aid=1214306366596

 

Costs on the ship will be broadly similar

Edited October 3, 2016 by rakkor

[jimmybean]

Hi donnes,

 

Welcome to cruise critic!

 

Since I'm terrified to turn my phone on when we travel out-of-the-US, I'm happy that rakkor had such a detailed answer for you. I hope you now feel prepared for your voyage.

 

Please feel comfortable approaching this board with any other questions you might have. Wonderful, knowledgeable members have been helpful with all my posted questions.

 

In case you don't know, there is also a posting in the Roll Call section of cruise critic specific to your voyage. That might make interesting reading for you!

 

Happy Sailing,

 

Jimmybean