Cell phone????

[derekandkimberly]

Going on the Serenade Jan 21st to Southern Carribean. Will my Verizon phone work at any of the ports. We are leaving behind the 3 kiddos so we want to try and call everyday but don't want to pay $7.95 per minute. How much is internet per minute???

[chotton]

It will work in San Jaun and St.Thomas for sure, not too sure about the other ports. My Cingular phone worked in St.Maarten also.

[prairie_fox]

Going on the Serenade Jan 21st to Southern Carribean. Will my Verizon phone work at any of the ports. We are leaving behind the 3 kiddos so we want to try and call everyday but don't want to pay $7.95 per minute. How much is internet per minute???

We used our phone when in both of these ports (st thomas and st martin) and ohhh my was the change there for it. cost close to 36.00 :eek: for the use to call home to the kids on verizon. I had placed a call with them(verizon) and was told there would be NO changes for this as it was US islands. Took the guys name and date I called and that is all that saved me when I called back about the charges I now had on my bill. This was a hard lesson but anything outside the USA is charged. The internet is about 50-75 cents a min use and slow. We never did try it due to being told it was so slow. I think on our next cruise we will use it as we go to overseas to Lisbon and I know we need to keep in touch with our children then. Will find two days to make email calls to them and them to us, maybe via messenger. :rolleyes:

[Miss Vickie]

Puerto Rico is free, no roaming or extra charges. I seem to recall a charge when I called home from St. Thomas, even though I thought it would be free. I was also able to get a signal in St. Maarten, but didn't call home. I did call home off the coast of Barbados, had to give a credit card number because Verizon (at the time, don't know about now) didn't have a roaming agreement with anyone there. My recommendation would be that you contact Verizon and ask them to enable your phone for international dialing (they won't charge you for that), and that you'll have the best reception on your balcony, or on deck - outside the skin of the ship. You have to be either docked, or fairly near to the island - cell phone signals are line of sight.

 

That being said, we e-mailed home every night, and our son e-mailed us every day.

[grvdggr71]

Internet use runs $0.50 per minute. If you are Crown and Anchor members, you will probably get a $5 (or more) coupon for internet credit. Also, pay attention to your Cruise Compass, as they sometimes run a special where internet access is half price ($0.25/min). Unless things have changed, you can also use your $5 credit during this time, resulting in 20 mins of free internet time.

[Barbee524]

The internet is extremely slow and not always available due to the satelite. I woud suggest calling cards to be used in port. But beware that you will most likely be in long lines with crew members if you are using pay phones near the dock.

 

Also check with your cell phone company to be sure that service is available in the ports you will be visiting and ask them about the charges which are generally very high. You may want to change to an international plan before you go and change it back when you return.

[Bob & Barb]

On a recent trip to St. Thomas, I WAS charged roaming (sizeable) on calls to the U.S. I was led to believe that since it is a US Virgin Island, I wouldn't be charged roaming.

 

Bob

[waterrats]

I was told by AT&T (now Cingular) that the US Virgin islands would only cost me minutes. Well we never made it there because of Hurricane Jeanne. Hopefully we will get there this year.

[Baltorep]

I just returned from my cruise on Voyager and I too have Verizon. When in St Thomas my phone displayed "Roaming" on my screen and I believe most phones will display "Roaming" as a word or as some sort of symbol meaning roaming charges will apply. However, I saw the locals using Sprint phones so I can assume if you have Sprint in the US you will be in network in St Thomas. In San Juan my phone screen read "Extended Network" and no extra charges applied. Internet service on board was .50 a minute and C & A Gold get a $5 credit and Platinum get a $7.50 credit. When I used it I found the speed to be acceptable as long as you did not go to sites with a lot of graphics or pictures. For example, I checked in for my Southwest flight on board and it took exactly 2 minutes (time calculated by timer on computer after I ended my session). While not cable speed it was better than dial up;) .

[derekandkimberly]

I just got off the phone with Verizon. The lady said San Juan was good, St Martin good,St Thomas good, Antigua iffy, St Lucia no and Barbados good. Verizon charges .69 cents per minute plus the $1.00 per minute tax there. $1.69 per minute is waaaaay better than the $7.95 on the ship.

[Baltorep]

St Thomas does have cell service but it is not Verizon so you will be able to make calls but you will be charged per minute. I agree still better than $7.95 per minute:eek: . Also consider the internet as an option. RCI uses YAHOO as there home page on the computers so if you set up a YAHOO mail account you should be able to minimize your time loged on. At any rate have a great time.:D

[KelJ]

I just returned from my cruise on Voyager and I too have Verizon. When in St Thomas my phone displayed "Roaming" on my screen and I believe most phones will display "Roaming" as a word or as some sort of symbol meaning roaming charges will apply. However, I saw the locals using Sprint phones so I can assume if you have Sprint in the US you will be in network in St Thomas. In San Juan my phone screen read "Extended Network" and no extra charges applied. Internet service on board was .50 a minute and C & A Gold get a $5 credit and Platinum get a $7.50 credit. When I used it I found the speed to be acceptable as long as you did not go to sites with a lot of graphics or pictures. For example, I checked in for my Southwest flight on board and it took exactly 2 minutes (time calculated by timer on computer after I ended my session). While not cable speed it was better than dial up;) .

 

I am on Verizon and used my phone last week in the same two ports. I'm glad to hear that I shouldn't be charged for San Juan. I'm curious to see what I'll be charged for my St. Thomas usage.

[Radiomark]

For Cingular customers on a national plan, you are only charged against your minutes in Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands (B.V.I is $2.29 per minute), this, according to the Cingular rep that I spoke with on the phone. St. Maarten is $1.99 per minute, Antigua is $2.29 per minute, St Lucia is $1.99 per minute and Barbados is $1.99 per minute. It would appear that there is coverage on all the islands with Cingular for the Southern Caribbean itinerary. For $5.99 per month, you can get yourself about a .30 per minute discount off their standard international roaming rates after the montly fee. By the way, the 850 or 1900 frequencies are supposed to work on all the islands mentioned, according to Cingular's website: http://www.cingular.com/customer_service/roaming_gen#country

 

Mark

[imsulin2]

I've used my Cingular in San Juan and St. Thomas with no roaming charges at all. BTW: St. Maarten/Martin is not a U.S. territory. It is Dutch/French.