AT&T cell phone

[MSPCUBS]

I went to the web site for AT&T and found out that my cell phone will work in Europe. Has anyone done this? A few questions? Did you need to get a special chip for the phone? Did you find it expensive (once all the taxes, etc. are added)? Was the reception good? Did you use your phone on the ship or just in the ports?

Thanks for the info.

[ladybug97]

I am sure that you will get a variety of answers to this but personally I took along my AT&T phone on our Med. cruise last September and had NO problems! We were in Rome, Naples, Dubrovnik, Livorno/Florence, Cannes, Barcelona, Venice and Taormina. I had service in every port and at most all times while on the ship. There is no chip needed, just be sure to add on the International Calling feature to your phone. Last year it was an additional $4.99 to your plan. Also, they will give you a break down to what each countries roaming charges will be. Yes, there is a roaming charge! I can't remember exactly but none were over an additional $1.89 per minute. However, on the ship the roaming charges were $4.99 per minute! Safe to say that I used my phone a few times while on the ship!!!! My bill for the month didn't exceed $50.00 in addition to my regular plan price. I didn't think that was too bad considering we were gone for 14 days? You can also text, which I did at time to save $$$. The prices were also higher but nothing to what a 15 minute phone call would add up to. Texting prices were .35 and .50 cents in different countries. Good Luck!!

[ab0si]

"expensive" depends on your definition. If you are going to be using it a lot, then, ya, it can get expensive .if your phone is unlocked, getting a local chip will save you money. If you will just make a couple of short calls, it won't be worth the hassle.

 

Western Europe has better cell coverage than much of the U.S. However, just like anywhere else, the further away from the cell tower and the more junk between it and you, the worse the connection.

 

As mentioned, be careful using it on-board. that IS expensive.

 

Paul

[Longin2cruise]

Used mine last year on eastern Med. cruise(without chip) & it worked just fine. My cabin mate owns her own business & had to keep in touch daily with either calls or text messages. I touched base with home & arranged tours 5 or 6 times. We had an inside cabin Riveria deck & sometimes the phone would not work from there. All we had to do was go to a higher deck & it worked fine. Admittedly, we kept our calls short & sweet, but even with daily calls our bill was under $50.00. We were highly pleased with the service & the cost.

[AmazingJourneys]

That's good to know, because I'll be switching to an iphone later in the year and will need to change my current service (Sprint) to At&t to have an iphone. I recently purchased an imac and thought I would continue the mac transition from PC to Apple with the iPhone.

 

 

Does anyone know if Sprint works in Europe or even the ship.

[judybee]

You should check the ATT Wireless web page for most of your questions : https://www.wireless.att.com/support/content.do?page=international-support

and then contact a rep for the specifics of your particular phone and plan. With my plan (a corporate plan) my rates were significantly cheaper than labybug's.

 

I had good service throughout the Mediterranean land area but not while on the ship in the middle of the Med.

[nycglitter]

 

 

Does anyone know if Sprint works in Europe or even the ship.

 

All carriers should work on the ship. At least that is what Verizon told me. You would have to pay roaming fees.

 

Most carriers have world phones. They work both in the USA and overseas. You can purchase these phones, or like my wife and I have, rent them. For Verizon there is no rental fee per day, but you pay $4.99 for the month and you get discounted minute rates depending on where you are. $.99/ min vs $1.29 /min in Italy for example.

They transfer your personal cell number to this phone, so you do not have to give out a new number to anyone.

Mark

[GloriaF]

My ATT phone worked everywhere with no additional chips or plans.

 

I did check into the International Roaming Plan offered by ATT -- here's the scoop: the plan costs $5.99 and saves you approx 30 cents per minute vs not having the plan. That means to earn back the $6 you paid for the plan, you will have to use your phone a minimum of 20 minutes. {20 X .30 = 6.00}

 

I used my phone VERY sparingly, and paid an extra $20 above the regular cost. Not bad since I did want to be able to be in touch.

 

The ship now charges $2.49/minute according to the info given to me by ATT.

 

Good Luck and have a great trip!!

[nparmelee]

We used our blackberry's on the AT&T plan two years with no problem, Rome to Istanbul, we switched to iPhones a while ago and plan on using those next year. We will be turning of data roaming and only using data when we find wifi. We both have to stay in touch with work when we go on vacation, luckily they try very hard to only contact us if they really need to.

[MSPCUBS]

Thank you for the information.

[neil5054]

I would only caution that if you use ATT's World plan, or even if you don't, check the prices for each country. I used my phone on cruise last year and a few of the former "east" countries such as Croatia charged much higher per minute rates (3 or 4 times higher). So while ATT will tell you that under their $5.99 World plan, it costs 99 cents, that is only in the main line countries like Italy, but not necessarily in the smaller countries with small cell phone service companies.

[JPEvans]

That's good to know, because I'll be switching to an iphone later in the year and will need to change my current service (Sprint) to At&t to have an iphone. I recently purchased an imac and thought I would continue the mac transition from PC to Apple with the iPhone.

 

 

Does anyone know if Sprint works in Europe or even the ship.

 

I would look into this. I've read horror stories online about people who have had thousands of dollars in charges due to their new I-Phone. From what I hear, If you leave an I-Phone on. It will automatically dial the US to update it's e-mail capability. I don't know if this is fact or "urban legend" but I would look into it. I used my AT&T phone on a Mediterranean cruise last year. It worked well, in fact very well. My bill was about $300 when I got home. All I did was call them and had international roaming added to my service, for I think $3.99 a month.

[netorders]

I would look into this. I've read horror stories online about people who have had thousands of dollars in charges due to their new I-Phone. From what I hear, If you leave an I-Phone on. It will automatically dial the US to update it's e-mail capability. I don't know if this is fact or "urban legend" but I would look into it. I used my AT&T phone on a Mediterranean cruise last year. It worked well, in fact very well. My bill was about $300 when I got home. All I did was call them and had international roaming added to my service, for I think $3.99 a month.

 

 

That is old news. They did not have an off switch for roaming since the iPhone looks for a data network constantly, edge or wifi in 1.0. In the 1.1 update they had a roaming off switch. And it doesn't dial the US either for data.

[threeofus]

Be sure to get the international plan while you are in Europe.

We didn't make telephone calls but we did send text messages - that worked out well.

AT&T sent us a text message in every port reminding us that there would be international roaming charges.

 

My daughter made a telephone call to check her SAT scores while we in Germany waiting to fly home -- She has T Mobile - it cost $80.00 for that phone call eeeeeeeeeek! :eek: :eek:

[Traveling Gram]

I had World Traveler turned on (Mexico) and it was 5.99 and then so much a minute. In the Med I wil do the same and it is .99 in most countries - not Croatia, The ship costs 2.29 per min. People calling you will just dial your number. You calling home just add +1 , area code, & number. I told kids I will call them unless they have an emerg. which I couldn't help with anyway. I will leave phone off until I call them. You must have a tri or quad band phone.