Cell Phones on board??

[Gimbie]

Will cell phones work on board the ship? I don't really want to purchase walkie-talkies, the kids already have their own cells.

 

Mariner of the Seas

 

 

 

[beachbum84]

On my past cruises my cell phone only worked in port at Miami and the day I was in Key West. Out in the ocean (at sea days) there are no signal. While in other ports I was on roaming and tried to make a call but the call could not be completed. I have heard you can call your provider and sometimes get a wider service area. I never saw people on cell phones, excpet in key west. People seem to use walkie-talkies.

 

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[wcyellin]

Availability and quality of service depend on your provider. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico are part of the USA and you should have no problem. In Mexico and various islands, you will need to have "international service" activated by your provider.

 

Some places only have GSM service, and you'll generally need a dual or tri band GSM phone. In my view, the GSM system in technically superior to TDMA, and offers many more features. BUT, so far, it is only in major markets in the USA.

 

In all cases when you are more than 10 or 15 miles from land, there will be no service, unless (as in Northern Europe of the Gulf of Mexico) you get within range of a cell site on an oil rig.

 

All this may improve as early as next year, when a real effort will be made to get cell service up and running on cruise ships - even at sea.

[pearlandmom]

Depends on where you are on the ship too. I've had a signal in some ports when I was on deck but no signal in the cabin - too much steel surrounding us I guess!

 

Legend of the Seas

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[Gimbie]

Thanks everyone. I didn't think they would work, but thought I should double check.

 

Mariner of the Seas

 

 

 

[mojo4trav]

I believe Princess and AT&T Wireless (soon to be Cingular) inked an agreement to begin offering on-board cell phone service that routes through the ship's satellite. Pricing and time frame have not yet been announced though. Currently, while at sea your phones will not work.

 

Happy Sails,

Travis and Betty

 

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[GatorWop]

My cell phone (Nextel) worked the first night and the last night. I guess when were near the Florida Keys. We took the Western that had its first stop in Costa Maya so we skirted Florida for most of the first night. Same when coming back from our last port of Belize.

 

Rick

 

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