Mobile Phone on the Pacific Dawn

[Sailaway John]

Will be travelling on the PD up the coast of Australia and was wondering if with global roaming that I have on my mobile phone will I still be able to phone friends and relatives from the ship

[dogboy53]

Will be travelling on the PD up the coast of Australia and was wondering if with global roaming that I have on my mobile phone will I still be able to phone friends and relatives from the ship

 

Hi John,

 

Only if you are in range of land based towers, which I doubt. Even with global roaming on our cruise we only had a signal virtually in port. I think they go a fair way off the coast even on Australian cruises.

 

Don

[Megagirl]

I haven't been on a coastal cruise for about 5 years but on the last one, we had signal right up to Gold Coast and back, on a weekend cruise.

 

Jenny

[Cinnabel]

On the recent April Coastal Wonders Cruise, we did not have a signal much unless close to port on the way up & we had a starboard side cabin (facing out to the ocean). However, on the way "down the hill" we seemed to have a signal more often and from just North of Brisbane we had a continuous signal into Sydney.

 

I think you will find it is hit and miss but try going to the landward side of the ship. In some cases you will have a direct line to the land-based tower then.

[2CtheC]

You can't increase the range of a gsm phone beyond 35km. You can improve/get signal with in this distance with better antennas or car kits but you cannot get better than 35 km. It has to do with the way gsm phones work ie tdma (time division multiple access). I have a feeling in Aus the system cuts out arround 25km

Roughly,calls are allocated space on a frequency on a time basis. Radio waves take time to cover distance. Go beyond 35km phone to tower and your time slot is missed. A search on google should reveal all.Try http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TDMA

[Skyrules]

Will be travelling on the PD up the coast of Australia and was wondering if with global roaming that I have on my mobile phone will I still be able to phone friends and relatives from the ship

 

 

On our recent cruise from Brisbane to Sydney we had reception most of the way - although if you were on the seaward side of the ship it was a bit patchy. I think the QLD coastal cruises go a fair way out to sea, so I doubt reception will be strong out there.

 

Certainly in the ports you'll have reception though.

[Sailaway John]

Thanks everyone for your replies, they have been very helpful.