Anyone suggest a SIM card for Australia and New Zealand?

[Longwood50]

I will be going on a cruise and there for 20 days.  I was wondering if there were any experienced cruisers who had used a SIM card for their cell phone/data while traveling to both Australia and New Zealand and could reccomend one.  I used TIM which was suggested in the Mediteranean and it was a disaster.  Lousy coverage, could not connect in several countries.  

[Kiwi_cruiser]

Hi Longwood50

 

You will need to get two sims one for Australia and one for New Zealand, as the Australia sims wont work in NZ and the New Zealand wont work very well in Australia, with out costing you a fortune.

 

For Australia I would recommend getting a Telstra sim https://www.telstra.com.au/, as it works just about everywhere in Australia and if your sailing close enough to land you can even pick up a signal at sea, depending on where you are.

 

For New Zealand I would recommend getting your self a Skinny sim https://www.skinny.co.nz/pricing/plans/

 

Hope this helps 🙂

 

[LittleFish1976]

I use a 2 degrees sim when visiting NZ - good coverage in out-of-the-way areas in my experience. You can vary the plan from a few dollars per month to a higher level which would include unlimited data (good for internet use including maps while you're out and about).

 

I use Telstra in Australia as I"m a resident there but not sure if it's good value for a visitor. I think a lot of people find Optus to be better value.

[Kiwi_cruiser]

20 minutes ago, LittleFish1976 said:

I use Telstra in Australia as I"m a resident there but not sure if it's good value for a visitor. I think a lot of people find Optus to be better value.

 

I was told that Optus dont have the best of coverage once you leave the big city's.

[Aus Traveller]

Take care using a mobile while on a cruiseship. When the ship is in port, the phone will usually connect to a land-based tower resulting in normal phone call rates. But when the ship is sailing, often (usually?) the phone connects to the ship's satellite system, resulting be a very high bill for the call. The type of connection is shown in the far upper right hand corner of the screen with a tiny symbol.

[Hammer61]

35 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

But when the ship is sailing, often (usually?) the phone connects to the ship's satellite system, resulting be a very high bill for the call. The type of connection is shown in the far upper right hand corner of the screen with a tiny symbol.

I disable international roaming in my settings (Vodafone) and on a recent cruise up to Morton Island and back from Sydney I had coverage pretty much the whole time as i could only connect to land based towers etc, no bill at the end of it! and  no need to buy an internet package.

 

14 hours ago, Longwood50 said:

I was wondering if there were any experienced cruisers who had used a SIM card

There are plenty of options to buy a PAYG sim, not just the big carriers like Telstra, Optus or Vodafone, try TPG, Amysim or Kogan to name a few, just need ID and decide how much data you want or need, also plenty of free Wifi in Australia, most big shops, shopping centres have complimentary Wifi, just need to sign up and most wont bombard you with spam after doing so.

 

Here is some info that may help

 

https://www.finder.com.au/best-sim-cards-for-travellers-tourists-australia

Edited September 21, 2022 by Hammer61

[Chiliburn]

14 hours ago, Longwood50 said:

I will be going on a cruise and there for 20 days.  I was wondering if there were any experienced cruisers who had used a SIM card for their cell phone/data while traveling to both Australia and New Zealand and could reccomend one.  I used TIM which was suggested in the Mediteranean and it was a disaster.  Lousy coverage, could not connect in several countries.  

I would just use global roaming while in port or on land but not the ships.

I have found it to be reasonable in price and your phone should pick up a provider .

Maybe you should ask your phone company and find our ,I think you will be happy.

Edited September 21, 2022 by Chiliburn

[Aus Traveller]

8 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

I would just use global roaming while in port or on land but not the ships.

I have found it to be reasonable in price and your phone should pick up a provider .

Maybe you should ask your phone company and find our ,I think you will be happy.

The USA cell phone network is CDMA while the Australian system is GSM. Older phones from USA may not work on the Australian system. If the OP is thinking of using their present phone in Australia, they should check out its capabilities.

[Chiliburn]

1 hour ago, Aus Traveller said:

The USA cell phone network is CDMA while the Australian system is GSM. Older phones from USA may not work on the Australian system. If the OP is thinking of using their present phone in Australia, they should check out its capabilities.

I had that problem in the U.S with a Telstra rural phone once,it just didn’t work.

But wouldn’t they have the same problem if they put a local SIM card in it ?

 

But I wouldn’t bother trying to find local SIM card. Last time in the U.S I made about 20 calls and received about 40 and the bill was only about $40.

[joejoe 59]

11 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

Take care using a mobile while on a cruiseship. When the ship is in port, the phone will usually connect to a land-based tower resulting in normal phone call rates. But when the ship is sailing, often (usually?) the phone connects to the ship's satellite system, resulting be a very high bill for the call. The type of connection is shown in the far upper right hand corner of the screen with a tiny symbol.

Do you know what the symbol looks like if connected accidentally to the ship?

[Aus Traveller]

2 minutes ago, joejoe 59 said:

Do you know what the symbol looks like if connected accidentally to the ship?

I can recall that when we were connected to the land-based Telstra system, '4G' was showing in the far top right of the screen. We checked that because we wanted to phone one of our sons with a birthday message.  I asked my husband what was shown when we were on the satellite system. He can't remember exactly, but says it was something like 'Ocean roaming'. (I didn't see this). He said he got a text message from Telstra to say that the call would be charged at 'X' amount per minute.

[joejoe 59]

7 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

I can recall that when we were connected to the land-based Telstra system, '4G' was showing in the far top right of the screen. We checked that because we wanted to phone one of our sons with a birthday message.  I asked my husband what was shown when we were on the satellite system. He can't remember exactly, but says it was something like 'Ocean roaming'. (I didn't see this). He said he got a text message from Telstra to say that the call would be charged at 'X' amount per minute.

That's good to know thank you🙂

[Longwood50]

On 9/22/2022 at 6:12 AM, Aus Traveller said:

The USA cell phone network is CDMA while the Australian system is GSM

Actually the USA uses both systems.  Some carriers like Verizon are CDMA while others like T mobile are GSM.  Some years back the government mandated that all phones had to be dual compatible so that users were not locked into a specific carrier.  The only restriction now is if the phone is locked by the carrier while under contract.  Not a problem for me, I have a GSM phone and paid for so I can use any network. 

[LittleFish1976]

On 9/22/2022 at 9:12 AM, Aus Traveller said:

The USA cell phone network is CDMA while the Australian system is GSM. Older phones from USA may not work on the Australian system. If the OP is thinking of using their present phone in Australia, they should check out its capabilities.

Australia used to use CDMA as well as GSM. CDMA was very useful in rural areas - coverage was better than with GSM. From my travels years ago in US I remember they used a different band width or something. I had a phone that could operate on theirs as well as ours. Presumably that's still the case so the OP may need to purchase a phone to use here.

[Longwood50]

1 hour ago, LittleFish1976 said:

Presumably that's still the case so the OP may need to purchase a phone to use here.

No, your carrier "sim" card determines whether you are on a network with CDMA or GSM technology.  In the past phones also were limited to being CDMA or GSM.  However most of the world is GSM and US phones are by law required to be able to use sim cards from any network.  So I have an old Samsung that was a Verizon phone a CDMA carrier,  I switched to T Mobile and ported my number over and was now using GSM.  That was about 8 years ago.  It would have to be a pretty old phone that would not be able to use any SIM. 

[NSWP]

ALDI

[arxcards]

8 hours ago, Longwood50 said:

No, your carrier "sim" card determines whether you are on a network with CDMA or GSM technology.  In the past phones also were limited to being CDMA or GSM.  However most of the world is GSM and US phones are by law required to be able to use sim cards from any network.  So I have an old Samsung that was a Verizon phone a CDMA carrier,  I switched to T Mobile and ported my number over and was now using GSM.  That was about 8 years ago.  It would have to be a pretty old phone that would not be able to use any SIM. 

Are you able to get a pay as you go global roaming plan (no extended contract) with T-mobile? I have bought a US sim to use in North America in the past, but since found it easier and comparatively priced to just use global roaming with my Aussie carrier. 

[resordanis]

I am also interested in a sim for making calls  whilst in NZ. I have two cruises to NZ one this November and one in April, so to keep the sim would be a bonus and just recharge. I am with Telstra (prepaid) and no joy there according to the Telstra shop yesterday. I need to ring a landline back in Australia. I have used Skype previously, but wondering whether there is a better option.

[LittleFish1976]

5 minutes ago, resordanis said:

I am also interested in a sim for making calls  whilst in NZ. I have two cruises to NZ one this November and one in April, so to keep the sim would be a bonus and just recharge. I am with Telstra (prepaid) and no joy there according to the Telstra shop yesterday. I need to ring a landline back in Australia. I have used Skype previously, but wondering whether there is a better option.

 

They gave me a SIM when I was in MIQ back in February. It was a 2degrees one which I then signed up with and vary the level of the plan I'm on depending on whether I'm going to be in NZ or not (I can change it easily using their app on my phone).

 

I suspect you could probably pick a SIM up on your arrival at the airport, then sign up with them on-line. I think I had to upload a copy of my driver's licence as proof of identity.

 

I keep a separate phone to use in NZ now so I don't have to change SIMs but you could also just swap them about on your usual phone.

[resordanis]

1 minute ago, LittleFish1976 said:

 

They gave me a SIM when I was in MIQ back in February. It was a 2degrees one which I then signed up with and vary the level of the plan I'm on depending on whether I'm going to be in NZ or not (I can change it easily using their app on my phone).

 

I suspect you could probably pick a SIM up on your arrival at the airport, then sign up with them on-line. I think I had to upload a copy of my driver's licence as proof of identity.

 

I keep a separate phone to use in NZ now so I don't have to change SIMs but you could also just swap them about on your usual phone.

Thanks will look into that one. We arrive by sea, but could probably get one in Auckland somewhere. I do have a spare iPhone.

[LittleFish1976]

3 minutes ago, resordanis said:

Thanks will look into that one. We arrive by sea, but could probably get one in Auckland somewhere. I do have a spare iPhone.

These people will deliver one to you, preloaded for use in NZ. Looks like a good solution if you're not going to be there regularly.

 

https://www.prepaidsims.com.au/collections/nz-prepaid-sims?gclid=CjwKCAjwvsqZBhAlEiwAqAHElZjR0m-aUmyc1Ai_WS67v5whv1smA0PoK0PsEJzWrj1msUMyUyn2_xoC6TgQAvD_BwE

[resordanis]

3 minutes ago, LittleFish1976 said:

These people will deliver one to you, preloaded for use in NZ. Looks like a good solution if you're not going to be there regularly.

 

https://www.prepaidsims.com.au/collections/nz-prepaid-sims?gclid=CjwKCAjwvsqZBhAlEiwAqAHElZjR0m-aUmyc1Ai_WS67v5whv1smA0PoK0PsEJzWrj1msUMyUyn2_xoC6TgQAvD_BwE

That one looks great. Thank you!

[SydneyPaula]

Optus is fine for most travellers especially for coastal areas. Once you hit the red dirt it's gets less coverage. We did a 5 week tour in South Australia and 5 weeks around NSW with Optus and only had shirt periods with no coverage. 

 

As someone mentioned above there are mutiple companies to use but they all run via Optus or Telstra  This is a useful guide https://australiayourway.com/australian-tourist-sim-cards/

[Hogbay]

Optus now has a extra service it distributes your personal information for free .🤣....

[GUT2407]

On 10/1/2022 at 10:02 PM, SydneyPaula said:

Optus is fine for most travellers especially for coastal areas. Once you hit the red dirt it's gets less coverage. We did a 5 week tour in South Australia and 5 weeks around NSW with Optus and only had shirt periods with no coverage. 

 

As someone mentioned above there are mutiple companies to use but they all run via Optus or Telstra  This is a useful guide https://australiayourway.com/australian-tourist-sim-cards/

Or Vodafone, worst coverage but some great reseller deals if you are sticking to the major areas, we use Kogan.com who have some great prices.