Cell Phones vs. Calling Cards in the Caribbean

[jbrewster630]

Going on the Voyager Sept 10th (next weeks) and need to call home from the islands (Caribbean) but refuse to pay $10 a minute on the ship. So I am trying to weigh out my options as far as communicating back home. At least check my messages. I have never had good luck with buying calling cards in my area and using them abroad or even another part of the US. Usually the payphone abroad doesn't recognize the company the calling card is issued by or the operator at the hotel won't accept using the card cause the area uses (for example) AT&T while the calling card is not AT&T, but another brand. I highly doubt that I will get any kind of signal from Cingular on my cell phone. Anyone got any experience with calling cards used from the island that you can buy in the US (CT)? Or anyone had luck with cell calls with Cingular? I am sure there are international roaming charges but maybe they are better than $10 a minute on the ship. :)

 

Any help is more than greatly appreciated!

Joann

[TheWog]

OUr Verizon Wireless worked in St. Thomas, don't know about Cingular. I remember there also being payphones (AT&T?) at each dock in St. Thomas and St. Maarten. Good luck.

[sailaway211]

I was just in the Dominican Republic on a land trip and I paid $1.99 per minute with TMobile. I then went to Canada and paid 45 cents per minute with TMobile. I had to let them know ahead of time so they could program my phone from their office. I just got my $160.00 phone bill so I think I did a lot of talking!!

[jbrewster630]

Wow, thanks for all the great tips. I will try to call cingular to find out if they can program my phone to call from an international area. Did it cost anything for them to actually program your phone?

[princessb]

Call your cell phone company. We have Cingular and you can use their service in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands - St. Thomas. The reception was very good. Cingular includes this area in your coverage. I believe Sprint has the same coverage, but call to make sure. Also, if you are going to Cozumel, they have phone places you can call from - it wasn't that expensive.

[jbrewster630]

We are going to Jamacia, Haiti, Grand Cayman and Bahamas. Any experience with these islands? But thank you, I will call my cellular provider.

[jbrewster630]

Well, I spoke to a Cingular location and they told me that they cannot do anything about it. They said that there is not such thing as programing your SIM card in your cell phone to make international calls. He said if your phone works then it works but there are no guarentees. I guess I need to start shopping around for a phone card that works when calling from abroad home. I heard AT&T is good. Any suggestions?

[vossjemi]

Jamaica has an international calling station in a shopping center off to the right just as you get into town. You buy phone cards (real cheap). I think it averaged out around 45cents/minute. The daily compass should tell you about the location of these calling stations. Grand Cayman and Cozumel also have them. I don't remember where it was on GC, but in Cozumel its right at the pier. That is how we called home to ck on the kids when we went last jan!

[jbrewster630]

Jamaica has an international calling station in a shopping center off to the right just as you get into town. You buy phone cards (real cheap). I think it averaged out around 45cents/minute. The daily compass should tell you about the location of these calling stations. Grand Cayman and Cozumel also have them. I don't remember where it was on GC, but in Cozumel its right at the pier. That is how we called home to ck on the kids when we went last jan!

 

Great! That is excellant information. Thanks for the time to respond.

[sailor moon]

We also are looking for the best way to call home. We will be in Nassau, St. Thomas and St Martin in 2 weeks (we hope). We also have Cingular. What about phone cards for these places? It sounds like I might be OK in St Thomas with my cell...??

[Knighton]

Well, I spoke to a Cingular location and they told me that they cannot do anything about it. They said that there is not such thing as programing your SIM card in your cell phone to make international calls. He said if your phone works then it works but there are no guarentees. I guess I need to start shopping around for a phone card that works when calling from abroad home. I heard AT&T is good. Any suggestions?

That's weird, because they told me I could. I have one of the newer GSM cell phones (I think you have to be on the GSM network for this service-the older cell network is the TDMA network), and he told me they could activate the international calling feature if I call them before I go. I haven't called them yet-I'm leaving Friday, so I probably should do it soon....

The cingular website does give information about international calling with your phone. They list steps to follow to activate it-there is a list of countries that are available, and it looks like the caribbean is $1.99/minute-you may just be able to get a calling card cheaper than that. If you're not sure if your phone is on the analog service or GSM, call them-they can tell you. Also, be sure to call the Cingular national line-don't bother calling their stores, sometimes these stores are "cingular" in name only, and not an official Cingular store-the people that own these knock off stores rarely give the correct answers to questions. :)