Cell phone charges on Star

[lasnev]

I was on the Sept. 27th sailing of the Star (Mexican Riviera) with my daughter. I have Verizon cell service she has T-mobile. We used our phones to keep in touch with the rest of the family, no idea what the cost was, but just waiting for the bills to come to find out since nobody really seemed to know. Well, we found out that verizon charges a roaming fee of $2.49 a minute identified as NCL Star. T-mobile came back at $4.99 a minute identified as Bermuda ATT cruise ship rate. Why the discrepancy don't know but I hope this helps whoever was wondering about it.

[terrymtex01]

I was on the Sept. 27th sailing of the Star (Mexican Riviera) with my daughter. I have Verizon cell service she has T-mobile. We used our phones to keep in touch with the rest of the family, no idea what the cost was, but just waiting for the bills to come to find out since nobody really seemed to know. Well, we found out that verizon charges a roaming fee of $2.49 a minute identified as NCL Star. T-mobile came back at $4.99 a minute identified as Bermuda ATT cruise ship rate. Why the discrepancy don't know but I hope this helps whoever was wondering about it.

 

I do know there is a different charge if you use your cell phone onboard the ship while it is docked in port as opposed to using your cell phone while out at sea. Maybe that would explain the difference. I do know I have read that the in port charge is $2.49 per minute and $0.50 for each text sent.

[Greymeowsr]

All phone carriers are diffierent. Best bet is to use minutes in the internet cafe and stay in touch via e-mail and leave the cell phone at home.

 

Thomas

[garycarla]

All phone carriers are diffierent. Best bet is to use minutes in the internet cafe and stay in touch via e-mail and leave the cell phone at home.

 

Thomas

 

We always have our cell phone so folks can get in touch with us if they to. Email is nice, but you have to actually log on to check it. And, that runs $.40 to $.75 per minute for a slow connection.

 

As to cell phone charges, most of the carriers charge $2.49 when using the ship's tower. Once you are in or close to port, you should pick up the shore side towers and that carrier will charge differently. Your phone will always show you which carrier you are using.

 

This has been pretty standard for sometime and is discussed here weekly. Hope you were not one of those people that ran up mega phone bills.

[lasnev]

Fortunately we did not run up a mega bill. And i do think $2.49 per minute is a reasonable amount to pay for peace of mind. I just don't understand why T-mobile charged the $4.99 per minute in the same situation including sea days, description being Bermuda ATT cruise ship rate. I just know which phone to use from now on!

[garycarla]

Why does T-Mobile charge $4.99 vs everyone else at $2.49?

 

I guess because they can? Makes no sense to me.

[time2cruise1]

Fortunately we did not run up a mega bill. And i do think $2.49 per minute is a reasonable amount to pay for peace of mind. I just don't understand why T-mobile charged the $4.99 per minute in the same situation including sea days, description being Bermuda ATT cruise ship rate. I just know which phone to use from now on!

 

All the wireless companies set their rates and they are published on their websites. Verizon in the early days was $4.95/min. They dropped to $2.49 to match AT&T. T-mobile for some reason remains the highest price carrier for both voice and data/text at sea.

Links to all the carries and their rates are here

http://www.cellularatsea.com/roaming.htm

[lasnev]

All the wireless companies set their rates and they are published on their websites. Verizon in the early days was $4.95/min. They dropped to $2.49 to match AT&T. T-mobile for some reason remains the highest price carrier for both voice and data/text at sea.

 

Links to all the carries and their rates are here

http://www.cellularatsea.com/roaming.htm

That really helps! T-mobile's posted rated is $4.99, clear cut. I know you must have posted that web site before our trip but I didn't dig in it enough. There actually is a list of ships on the scroll down menu after the countries listing. Thanks again, for a while I thought it was the luck of the draw which tower the phone got it's signal from. It's good to know the prices are set by your personal carrier and not have to worry about getting charged u/k amounts by the ship.