Pre-Paid cell phones

[grannynanny]

I was told by a Sprint rep that it is better to purchase the pre-paid cell phones in the airports in Europe rather than go thru them with a loaner, which would end up costing approximately $100.00 for purchase, insurance and delivery. Has anyone every purchased the pre-paid phones at an airport?

Nancy

[SaylorGirl]

Go to mobal.com and order a phone to take with you. You can purchase for one as low as 49 to 99 and then have it for your next trip. You only pay for the calls that you make or receive. I have two of them and they are great.

[hermang]

I was told by a Sprint rep that it is better to purchase the pre-paid cell phones in the airports in Europe rather than go thru them with a loaner, which would end up costing approximately $100.00 for purchase, insurance and delivery. Has anyone every purchased the pre-paid phones at an airport?

Nancy

 

http://www.mobalrental.com/gsm/handsets.asp?source=0928xxxxN

 

You buy the phone - either $49 or $99 - more expensive phone allegedly gets you 20 more countries. Only pay for minutes used

 

Just ordered one

[pcur]

We used Mobal phones in Europe and the UK and loved them!! We bought one for each of us, because we would be doing separate stuff on several days post-cruise.

 

If you give them my email address, you will get a $25 credit, and I get a discount on future calls. pcurri at that yahoo place. Use this link:

 

http://www.mobal.com/referafriend

 

I called Sprint, too, and they really don't know much about what the best thing to do is. I found out about Mobal from this board.

 

The phones are permanent, by the way. Just turn them on, call and make sure they are activated, and use them. Charged to your credit card only when you use them; no other fees.

[GSPLover]

The more expensive phone assures connectivity through most of the Caribbean area (so they say.)

[beth4652]

We use AT&T Mobility (formerly Cingular) and can get a much better deal through them. We use our existing cell phone and pay $5.99/month for international service. We can start and stop the service anytime, so we just have it for a month or so while we're traveling, then cancel it. The per minute rate depends on the country you're in. For example, in The Netherlands, France and Spain it's $.99 per minute. From the ship it's $1.69 per minute. It costs nothing to receive text messages anywhere; $.50 per message to send. We don't have to purchase another phone and the per minute rates are cheaper. Just another possibility.

[slomotion]

Has anyone used the mobal phones while on-board (not in port)?

 

Are they a satellite type, or are they the non-US system phones?

 

We were in Ireland last month, and while I was talking to a member of our tour group who lives in Australia, his own personal cell phone rang.

 

It was his daughter calling from Australia.

 

That was mighty impressive to me. I have Verizon and their system doesn't work in Europe.

 

a

[Ephraim]

If you have a GSM phone you can unlock the phone and use it in Europe. Just make sure that you have a quad band phone. In Europe, you can walk into almost any cell office and buy a sim for EUR $10 with a $5 credit that is good for a month. Pay as you go. That's what we use. They gave us a number and a pin and we were set in 5 minutes.

 

If your phone is quad band and locked you can ask your cell company to unlock it. Some will. If they won't, you can usually buy the service on eBay for about $8.

[SalPal47]

Just returned from 10 day Western Europe cruise--took a mobal phone and used it everywhere on land, didn't try it while at sea--no problems at all--all calls were very clear--

[pcur]

Has anyone used the mobal phones while on-board (not in port)?

 

Are they a satellite type, or are they the non-US system phones?

 

We were in Ireland last month, and while I was talking to a member of our tour group who lives in Australia, his own personal cell phone rang.

 

It was his daughter calling from Australia.

 

That was mighty impressive to me. I have Verizon and their system doesn't work in Europe.

 

a

 

On board depends on the cell phone reception in general. Mobal uses a European system based in the UK. I called to the US from the UK, France, Spain, Netherlands, also with crystal clear reception. It's so good you have a tendency to talk like a regular "chat" at 50 cents a minute!!!!!:eek: