Cell Phone Service on Glory

[cdrpln]

We've heard that our cell phone will work on the Glory (or any Carnival ship for that matter) How does this work? Do I need to get special "stuff" from Alltel, or will other roaming fees apply?

[big_duck]

Not all carriers have coverage. Contact your provider and ask if the have "Cellular at Sea" and what their rates and conditions are.

[mike91911]

From Alltel site:

 

Want to stay in touch while you are cruising at sea? Cruise Ship Roaming allows you to make and receive roaming calls on your Alltel phone while aboard select cruise ships at sea.

 

Convenient peace of mind

Cruise Ship Roaming allows you to stay available while on vacation, and provides peace of mind knowing that friends and family can reach you if you are needed.

 

In addition to the convenience of using your own wireless phone,Cruise Ship Roaming provides a more affordable alternative to ship-based satellite phones that can cost as much as $13 per minute.

 

Cruise Ship Roaming calls are $2.49 per minute plus toll. Toll charges to U.S.-based numbers are $.50 or less. Toll to phone numbers outside of the U.S. may exceed $.50 per minute.

 

How Cruise Ship Roaming works

Participating cruise ships have a cell site on board that is activated when the ship is at sea. As the ship approaches a port, the Cruise Ship Roaming service is turned off. If you wish to use your phone after that point, you are required to use the carrier serving the port you are visiting.

 

Who can use Cruise Ship Roaming?

Cruise Ship Roaming is available on Alltel phones and there is no extra software required. It is important, however, to make sure you have the latest roaming list on your wireless phone before you leave for your trip. To update your roaming list, dial *228 on your wireless phone from your home city.

 

Cruise Ship Roaming may not be available to Unlimited Rate Plan subscribers. The roaming list for these customers is automatically updated every two weeks.

 

Also, Cruise Ship Roaming covers voice usage only. Data usage (including BlackBerry and Office Sync), messaging (text/picture/video), and Touch2Talk are not available via Cruise Ship Roaming.

 

How to place a Cruise Ship Roaming call

For calls to the USA, Canada and the Caribbean, dial 1 + area code + number. For calls to other countries, dial 0 + country code + number.

 

For more information on the technology behind Cruise Ship Roaming, visit http://www.cellularatsea.com.

[cdrpln]

Thanks for the quick answers.

[leadout_kv]

For most cell carriers cell phone service works although beware of the fees. They're very very high.

 

If you want to stay in touch with each other while on board try 2-way radios. We used them on our last cruise and they worked great. Also, we tried to be as considerate as possible when we used them.

[cdrpln]

I called Alltel and asked about members of our family plan, since we were all sailing at the same time, and were on board, if we had the same $2.49 per minute charge. The answer was yes, and it was explained that any contact our phone had with the satellite link on board would generate that charge.

 

Good info

[big_duck]

I called Alltel and asked about members of our family plan, since we were all sailing at the same time, and were on board, if we had the same $2.49 per minute charge. The answer was yes, and it was explained that any contact our phone had with the satellite link on board would generate that charge.

 

Good info

 

Remember, that is $2.49 each so if you are at the back of the ship and the missus (mr?) is at the front and you call him, that's $5.00.

 

It was nice that the C/S rep you talked too warned you about the contact charge. It is highly recommended round these parts that unless you are actually placing a call then shut the phone off.