prepaid phone cards

[denys222]

Visiting southern caribeans ports of call on the Golden Feb. 11th. and would like to be able to buy one telephone prepaid card that could be used in all or most of the islands.Is this possible? Has anybody bought such a card in San Juan prior to embarkation? If so, do you remember the brand name? Thanks.

[kitty9]

The pre-paid phone cards that you purchase in the US or PR do NOT work on the islands. You have to purchase the cards at every island you visit, and then find a phone that will take them.

[denys222]

Thanks Kitty9. We had same problem on Western Caribean cruise last year.

[phabric]

People mention that they give prepaid phone cards out to the cruise staff. It sounds like they have brought the card with them from the States. What phone card do they use?

[SWEETNLOW2005]

no what they mean is they usually buy a phonecard from a certain island and dont use all the minutes so they give them to the staff because the ship will return to this island the next week and staff will be able to use the remaining minutes.

[SWEETNLOW2005]

no what they mean is they usually buy a phonecard from a certain island and dont use all the minutes so they give them to the staff because the ship will return to this island the next week and staff will be able to use the remaining minutes.

[chris2597]

We had a problem using our phone card, which we thought said it would work in the Caribb....We found a pay phone at the port in Puerto Rico where it worked....Could not use it in the Bahamas or St. Thomas....

 

We will be sailing out of Galveston on The Grand in Feb. to the Western Caribb....Belize, Grand Cayman's, Cozumel, Costa Maya.....Will we have to go into town and find a calling card or can we buy them in the states prior to sailing?? Also, I read that Cingular has text messaging for a nominal charge from different areas....Anyone used this or their cell service....Are you able to get good coverage....?? Are there hidden charges (taxes, usage fees from different carriers??_

[TrentS]

People mention that they give prepaid phone cards out to the cruise staff. It sounds like they have brought the card with them from the States. What phone card do they use?

Some people do that, but it's a bad idea. They don't realize the cards don't work everywhere, and don't realize that the crew much MUCH prefers CASH! With CASH they can get what they need, and do what's best for their own personal situation.

[kitty9]

chris, cards purchased in the US, be they from Sam's Club or Walgreens, don't work anywhere in the Caribbean or Gulf, so you will have to purchase phone cards in each of the places you're visiting. Don't waste you money on US phone cards.

 

Call your cell phone provider to see if you're covered by your cell plan. For most places, you need a tri-band GSM equipped cell phone to use it outside of the US. I know my Blackberry works great everywhere, but my Verizon didn't work anywhere except for St Thomas. There are always hidden charges, and if you're on a ship that has cell phone service, even when you're at sea (RCCI and Celebrity), the minute charges can be high---on my last cruise it was $6.50 a minute plus fees.