Cell phone on ships

[airlink diva]

I was reading another thread tonight when I came across a comment about HAL not having a cell phone tower for phone service. Frankly one of the reasons that I enjoy cruising is there are no cell phone users on board!! I have a cell phone, but limit my useage. I hate going somewhere and listening to the person next to me talking on their phone. Frankly I would sail less if HAL had mini towers on their ships to allow you to use your phone. Am I in the minority by feeling this way??

[Sopwith]

I agree with you completely, however I don't think you need to worry. The range of a cell phone is only a few miles. Beyond that, you need a satellite link, which the ships already have (and charge handsomely for).

 

What would be unwelcome is an arrangement that allows passengers with cell phones to connect to the satellite system. That would be worse than cigars.

[AAAAmerican]

I have a Cellular Phone and use it just to call our car to come pick us up.

 

When we travel this is hard to find too!:confused:

Find locations without landlines..

 

EG:

In Vancouver, B.C., CA we only found two hotels without landline room phones. We still had the dang faxes coming in... the eatery attached was a Real 5 Star.

 

When away being away from the ..cell phones faxes screens is nice...

 

I saw the post about a cell tower.. but cell phones do not transmit far... so even a so called tower will not suffice on a ship.. maybe what they are trying to say is they did not want to spend the Guilders....for a Ship to Shore call....

 

:eek:

[chasetf]

I was reading another thread tonight when I came across a comment about HAL not having a cell phone tower for phone service. Frankly one of the reasons that I enjoy cruising is there are no cell phone users on board!! I have a cell phone, but limit my useage. I hate going somewhere and listening to the person next to me talking on their phone. Frankly I would sail less if HAL had mini towers on their ships to allow you to use your phone. Am I in the minority by feeling this way??

...but I am sure glad to get away from the phone while on vacation. I do carry mine but that is just so I can call my ride when arriving back at the home airport at the end of the trip. ;)

[Krazy Kruizers]

I have a cell phone but never take it with us on vacation.

 

I would hate it if people would be able to use their cell phones all over the ship. I hate it whenever we are dining out and cell phones are ringing and people talking loud into them.

[sail7seas]

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE...........give us some peace at sea.

 

NO CELL PHONES!!! (Yes, I am aware I am screaming!!!.....just as so many do when using their cell phones.)

 

 

[sail7seas]

Who has heard about the airlines now considering allowing their use on planes?

 

I can't even bear the thought of it. Being stuck in that cramped, miserably uncomfortable, stinking smelly air and then having to put up with people all around us screaming into their cell phones.

 

That is the definition of unbearable to me. Talk about 'going crazy'.....that could put me over the edge!!!

[jhannah]

I agree that it would be a mistake for HAL to make arrangements for us to use cell phones onboard ship. If there's a true emergency, they will use their satellite link to notify whomever needs to be notified. If I need to check on "Fluffy" then I can wait until I get to shore. Yes, getting away from all those stupid ring tones people have and constant chattering is one reason cruising is so wonderful.

[sail7seas]

LET'S START A PETITION!!!

 

I'll be more than happy to volunteer to forward it to the home office.

[Grumpy1]

I agree with you completely, however I don't think you need to worry. The range of a cell phone is only a few miles. Beyond that, you need a satellite link, which the ships already have (and charge handsomely for).

 

What would be unwelcome is an arrangement that allows passengers with cell phones to connect to the satellite system. That would be worse than cigars.

 

Sorry to break the news to you... that arrangement is already in use. HAL has one ship equipped... either Veendam or Volendam, I forget which one just came out of drydock recently, Radisson, RCCL, Carnival also have it available. It works with Cingular GSM, switches to the shipboard/satellite system as soon as it is out of range of land based systems and is billed as roaming on your cell phone bill at (I think) $1.75/minute.

[Randyk47]

Get ready to go crazy folks.....cell phones are going to be on most ships soon....very soon. I can't find the article right now but there's a test going on or about to go on placing repeaters on several cruise ships....including HAL. They don't need a tower, just a repeater connected to the ship's communications systems. I actually asked the hotel manager on the Volendam....in a way that he apparently thought I wanted such a thing....and he happily responded he thought all HAL ships would be cell phone ready within a year or so. Ugh! Now, for research purposes I turned my phone on in every port we visited. It worked or at least connected to a local system though I didn't try to make any calls....nobody to call and probably too darn expensive. In fact, it worked so well that when I turned it on in Aruba it downloaded a voicemail from the company that was taking care of my pool while I was on the cruise. Obviously Cingular has some connection with a company called Digicel as that was the most common system my phone came up with at all but one port. I'll probably get hit with a roaming charge but it was research so no big deal.

 

PS - I didn't try my cell at sea so I can't say if the Volendam was cell phone ready or not. The hotel manager didn't say it was but he didn't say it wasn't either.

[Grumpy1]

From the cingular website:

Cruise Ships

 

Cingular Standard International Roaming Rates; Effective as of 3/10/06

 

Cingular World Traveler Rates; Effective as of 3/10/06

 

Rates are in US Dollars per minute and do not include applicable taxes and fees.

 

Cruise Ship

Cingular Standard International Roaming Rates

Cingular World Traveler Rates

Carnival Cruise Line Triumph 2.49 1.69

Celebrity Cruise Line Summit 2.49 1.69

Holland America Cruise Line Vollendam 2.49 1.69

Island Cruise Line Island Escape 2.49 1.69

Island Cruise Line Island Star 2.49 1.69

Norwegian Cruise Line Crown 2.49 1.69

Norwegian Cruise Line Dawn 2.49 1.69

Norwegian Cruise Line Dream 2.49 1.69

Norwegian Cruise Line Jewel 2.49 1.69

Norwegian Cruise Line MarcoPolo 2.49 1.69

Norwegian Cruise Line Spirit 2.49 1.69

Norwegian Cruise Line Star 2.49 1.69

Norwegian Cruise Lines Sun 2.49 1.69

Radisson Cruise Line Voyager 2.49 1.69

Royal Caribbean International Explorer of the Seas 2.49 1.69

Royal Caribbean International Majesty of the Seas 2.49 1.69

Royal Caribbean International Navigator of the Seas 2.49 1.69

Royal Caribbean International Sovereign of the Seas 2.49 1.69

Royal Caribbean International Voyager of the Seas 2.49 1.69

[babyher]

Long before cell phones, I was never a phone person anyway. Some people can chit chat all day on the darn things, I just cannot see it.

 

Thankfully I have the kind of job that ends when my day ends and I don't need to be in constant contact with work 24/7. So I never needed a cell, beeper, pager whatever. I was young and single and it was no ones darn business where I was and there were times I didn't want anyone to know where I was, let alone get a hold of me

 

I resisted having a cell phone until I got married a few years ago. then my wife gets a plan that includes two phones and now I have one:(

 

I think I have made three calls on it in the three years I have had it .

 

However I get over 700 calls on it a day *LOL* ok well it seems like that many. My wife, the kids, my mother, friends you name it. Its like the Bat Phone. The next step is one of those big spot lights in the sky with my picture on it so I know to call Commisioner Gordon *LOL*

 

I have a long running joke that thanks to state of the art communication technology, my wife has found a way to be even more annoying *LOL* IT IS ONLY A JOKE.

 

But I digress ......:) :) *LOL*

 

 

NO I would not like cell phone service on cruise ships. My cell phone is the one thing I am sure to leave home when I cruise and I love it:)

[Grumpy1]

I wonder how long it will be before we start reading reports that someone "accidentally" bumped a person using a cellphone and the phone fell into the ocean....:rolleyes:

[LHC]

Cellphones connect most of us more than we need to be....when I am on vacation I do not need a cell phone, now sometimes a laptop or computer time can be a relaxing way to research or stay connected to friends, but this is not disruptive to my fellow passengers.

As a nurse I know that if something bad happens or you need to know something, someone will get through to you.

Linda

[smoosh21]

I agree that I would hate to see phones used all over the ship. People have become to addicted. I will admit that I do bring my phone with me to use in port. It is nice to have it in case you do need to call home for whatever reason.

 

This vacation will be more important as my house is going on the market just before we go on vacation. It would be nice to be able to keep in touch with the realtor. Of course, I would always do this from my room and never in a public area and certainly not in the dining room.

 

If they want to set up a tower on the ship, I would like to see them set up a dampener of sorts in the dining room and the main theater to at least keep those areas mobile free

[alsas]

When anyone jumps to fast it usally means mistakes are made. When we were on the world cruise we had a grand child that had severe health problems. The only way we could leave was the ability to call at every port. Yes I agree that it may be a distraction for some but used with some empathy to others and understanding from others it makes travel an option that would not be there otherwise.PLEASE BE AWARE THAT WE ALSO WOULD PREFER NOT TO HAVE THOSE PHONES..happy sailing ALSAS

[babyher]

Of course there are always important circumstances that people need to be able to contact home or be in touch.

A family illness , a "true" emergency.

 

Sadly as we all know , these cases will be few and far bewteen if cell phone use is permitted on cruise ships. Go to any shopping mall, restaurant, grocery store whatever. You cannot help but hear the inane conversations that people are having on these things.

 

 

If one truly needed to make or receive an important call, you would hope they would do it in the privacy of their cabin or an uncrowded area. Not in the dining room, or lido, or by the pool. Again, we all know that would happen all too frequently.

 

Again I completely understand the situations some of the above posters have mentioned for needing to be in touch. A home on the market, and certainly a sick grandchild. But the abusers would eventually become teh norm and make things unpleasent for others

[Randyk47]

Alsas - I fully agree and understand your point. Certainly last year our family was in a situation that required we could be reached at virtually any time. The availability of a cell phone on our cruise would have been a great stress reliever for us. Since that wasn't an option we relied on ship-to-shore communications through the cruise line and, as it turned out, it wasn't needed. I think what people are afraid of is the broad use of cell phones on a cruise ship like they're used around town, not the true emergency situation. Now I realize folks are going to say "Just give them the cruise line's phone number for the ship like you did last year"....well OK that works but....try explaining that to my 83 year-old mother. Telling her to just press the button for my cell would be much easier.

[Grumpy1]

Hopefully, the fairly high roaming rate will discourage most of the casual conversations.

[sail7seas]

Hopefully, the fairly high roaming rate will discourage most of the casual conversations.

 

 

We can only hope, Grumpy.........only hope!!!

[Krazy Kruizers]

This really upsets me seeing that HAL already has a ship (Volendam) that has put into service the availability of people being ablt to use cell phones while cruising.

 

And I guess it won't be long before the other ships will have it as well.

 

sail - where is that petition - I'll sign it!!

[gizmo]

KK,

 

Did you get your Cruise Travel magazine for April ?

 

Don't miss the letters. Read "Second Hand Chat" page 6. The guy wrote the letter about a phone freak on his cruise. :eek:

[bruceh4]

This really upsets me seeing that HAL already has a ship (Volendam) that has put into service the availability of people being ablt to use cell phones while cruising.

 

And I guess it won't be long before the other ships will have it as well.

 

sail - where is that petition - I'll sign it!!

But at $2.49 per minute they wont be very long conversations! The thing that I think is even worse is the walkie talkies that we have been seening on ship the last couple of years. Everytime I hear somebody saying "where are you now" I feel like jumping up and screaming "on a DAM ship"!!!!:mad:

[dakrewser]

Before we all start jumping up and down and getting blue in the face let's not confuse a modern communications miracle (the cell phone) with the boorish behavior of some who have them.

 

Just as it really isn't the child's fault that their parent can instill good behavior it isn't the phone's fault that it's owned by an idiot.

 

Much as we dread that phone call in the middle of the night with bad news, how much worse would you feel if it was days before you got that news?

 

Even better, how long could you wait to find out about that new grandbaby?

 

By all means criticize those who have no idea about the proper etiquette of phone use - but don't lump us all in that group.