Calling Home from Mexican Riviera??

[katt]

I could not get search to work. What is the best way to call home from either Cabo, PV or Mazatlan? Cell phone (AT&T), calling card - does it need to be international, are there pay phone available where you could use a calling card? Sorry for all the questions.

 

Thank you

[jlp20]

Inside the cruise center in PV there is a place where you simply tell the operator, in our case the woman working the front desk. She directs you to one of ten very large phone booths. She places the call and the phone in your booth rings. After the call, you simply hang up and pay at the front counter as you leave. Very simple, cheap with no language barrier.

 

I’m not positive about Mazatlan but I think there is something similar, but don’t bet on it.

 

In Cabo you basically get off the tender in town. If something like this exists you will have to do some more searching.

[Sexxxy Beast]

I have a question about the Cellphone thing, I use ATT and wonder if the cellphone would work on the cruise ship, is there extra charges, etc...

 

I am running a business and want to be able to be called during emergencies etc.

[TCF]

Check with the cruise line you are sailing with...they can tell yu what they offer and the cost.

Check with your service provider to see what, if any additional charges they will hit you with.

I think all ships have a 'ship to shore' phone system but most of them charge a fortune to use it...mind you...if you are only going to have to use it in a true emergency it may be the best way to go.

Some cruise lines, (HAL), sell phone cards that you can use right from the phone in your cabin but are not much good if your calls will be incoming.

Hope this helps a little.

[katt]

JLP20 - Thank you for the information. I think that is what we will do. Just want to call home once and see how things are - kids are grown but...

 

Last June on the Carnival Liberty were 6.99 a minute. We just used our cell phone from Puerto Rico - no extra charge.

[ccletzgo]

check your cell phone carriers web site. I know Verizon has all the ships listed and the amount of $2.49 a min

 

Most of the ships have cell phone service now.

Cell phones work fine in the Mexican Riv ports also. Personally, I think pay phones are stinky & disgusting:eek: and wont touch one. With the convenience of a cell phone, I see no reason to ever again..:D

[andynapril]

If you look around in port or sometimes even in the cruise terminal there are these internet & phone "cafes" I guess you could call them. We usually just turn off our cell phones since it's so expensive to use them & call home from there. You can pay a really small rate for so many minutes. You can also check & send e-mail/use the internet for really cheap too. A couple of bucks. We usually just e-mail everyone to let them know we're ok. You can also purchase calling cards, but I had a hard time using them. Was very confusing. Hope this helps.

[Sexxxy Beast]

I checked with ATT they do cover alot of cruise ships with cellphone service, BUT you need the international plan, and pay $2.50 per minute of call time (apparently), texting is $.50 per also. I imagine that most/all gprs (the world standard for cellphone tech) would work, like T-mobile. but Verizon, Sprint, Metro, etc use their own system and thus may not work internationally (ie ports of call).

 

Oddly, att didnt say they had coverage on princess cruises so it really makes me lean toward the NCL which does have coverage. Though NCL charges an outragous amount for internet service $50 is the cheapest plan they have!!!!

 

Heres a very important question, does the cruise ship charge me for using my cellphone? If so, how much, and what is involved with it?????

[andynapril]

I checked with ATT they do cover alot of cruise ships with cellphone service, BUT you need the international plan, and pay $2.50 per minute of call time (apparently), texting is $.50 per also. I imagine that most/all gprs (the world standard for cellphone tech) would work, like T-mobile. but Verizon, Sprint, Metro, etc use their own system and thus may not work internationally (ie ports of call).

 

Oddly, att didnt say they had coverage on princess cruises so it really makes me lean toward the NCL which does have coverage. Though NCL charges an outragous amount for internet service $50 is the cheapest plan they have!!!!

 

Heres a very important question, does the cruise ship charge me for using my cellphone? If so, how much, and what is involved with it?????

 

At least from MY understanding you can use your cell phone on just about any cruise ship these days. You will have cell service, but the cost is another matter. No, the ship doesn't charge an additional fee, but watch out at home when you get your bill. Whether at sea or in port. Like I said that's why we usually just turn them off until we get home and call from land lines or send e-mail. The internet on ships is pretty pricey too. Keep your eyes open while in port for internet cafes.

[Sexxxy Beast]

At least from MY understanding you can use your cell phone on just about any cruise ship these days. You will have cell service, but the cost is another matter. No, the ship doesn't charge an additional fee, but watch out at home when you get your bill. Whether at sea or in port. Like I said that's why we usually just turn them off until we get home and call from land lines or send e-mail. The internet on ships is pretty pricey too. Keep your eyes open while in port for internet cafes.

 

Do they charge you for every minute you have it on????

[iamirish]

At the Internet Cafe at the port in PV - calls to the US were 50 cents per minute - while in Mazatlan - the calls were 75 cents per minute. Both were good qaulity.

 

Tom

[ccletzgo]

Do they charge you for every minute you have it on????

 

NO, But, if someone calls and it goes to voice mail, you do get charged because the call was routed through the ships system. SO I kept my phone turned off, unless I was expecting a call or I was making one. 50 cents a text message is very reasonable considering you can make communication with home for $1.00 (one text each way) I used alot of text on our last cruise.

 

I also talked on my phone and it was an 11 day cruise and my cell bill was only $20.00 more then usual. Well worth it to be able to stay in touch with my daughter.

 

I have a plan that includes Mexico, so no additional charges from ports, I just had to make sure the ships tower was shut off before I made my call. The read out on the phone's screen lets you know if you are on the ships service or the local towers in port.

[Arwenmark]

Do they charge you for every minute you have it on????

 

You will be charged roaming fees if you leave your cell phone on and they can be a LOT. the cruise line or rather the service the cruise line uses does chage you by the minute it varies but is about $2.50 a min and your provider may also charge you , all those charges will appear after the fact on your regular cell phone bill including the ship billing portion.

 

Don't leave your phone on.

[mikaula]

We have an international calling plan from AT&T and we were charged the 2.49 a minute fee when we went to Mexico last month.

[MSN-Travelers]

I could not get search to work. What is the best way to call home from either Cabo, PV or Mazatlan? Cell phone (AT&T), calling card - does it need to be international, are there pay phone available where you could use a calling card? Sorry for all the questions.

 

Thank you

 

We have Verizon and use our cell phones when we are down there. We pay an internation roaming fee and were told, by Verizon, that we could subscribe to an international plan to avoid the roaming fee. Bottom line, call your cell provider to find out what you need to do in order to call home from the ports and just shut off the phone while out at sea.

 

An alternative is to purchase a pre-paid TELMEX calling card - http://www.telmexusa.com/us/retail_pcc_home.html

 

Additionally (Vallarta), stop in for a cold one at Cafe Roma and get free internet. Order a pizza and call home for free. http://www.romamexico.com/

 

Enjoy!

[quincytoo]

We have Verizon and use our cell phones when we are down there. We pay an internation roaming fee and were told, by Verizon, that we could subscribe to an international plan to avoid the roaming fee. Bottom line, call your cell provider to find out what you need to do in order to call home from the ports and just shut off the phone while out at sea.

 

An alternative is to purchase a pre-paid TELMEX calling card - http://www.telmexusa.com/us/retail_pcc_home.html

 

Additionally (Vallarta), stop in for a cold one at Cafe Roma and get free internet. Order a pizza and call home for free. http://www.romamexico.com/

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Good advice and great food and service :)

 

Also in PV, Dee's Coffee on Rodolfo Gómez across from Cafe Bohemio offers free calls or internet with purchase :)

 

Her coffee drinks are great and her sandwiches and caramel chocolate brownies are reason alone to return to PV (as IF I would ever need a reason)

[Sexxxy Beast]

We have an international calling plan from AT&T and we were charged the 2.49 a minute fee when we went to Mexico last month.

 

The reason i ask is because I have a business and we have to answer ALL of our customers calls, that means having the phone on from 8am, to 6pm. But which one is right ccletzgo, or Arwenmark who said its by every minute you have it on??? I hope that isnt the case because then i'd have to hire a secretary!

 

MSN-Travelers, I have ATT and they do have an international plan, can i sign up for that to avoid the roam fee?

[SusieKay]

We live on the East Coast and use Alltel as our cell provider. We just returned two weeks ago from a Mexican Rivera and Sea of Cortez cruise. We did not attempt to use it from the ship, but did try in several ports. It did not work anywhere.

[MSN-Travelers]

The reason i ask is because I have a business and we have to answer ALL of our customers calls, that means having the phone on from 8am, to 6pm. But which one is right ccletzgo, or Arwenmark who said its by every minute you have it on??? I hope that isnt the case because then i'd have to hire a secretary!

 

MSN-Travelers, I have ATT and they do have an international plan, can i sign up for that to avoid the roam fee?

 

Here is the link to AT&A Wireless - International calling: http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/international/

 

There is a section that covers international roaming as well as cruise ships.

[ccletzgo]

The reason i ask is because I have a business and we have to answer ALL of our customers calls, that means having the phone on from 8am, to 6pm. But which one is right ccletzgo, or Arwenmark who said its by every minute you have it on??? I hope that isnt the case because then i'd have to hire a secretary!

 

MSN-Travelers, I have ATT and they do have an international plan, can i sign up for that to avoid the roam fee?

 

If I got charged for every min I had my phone on while at sea, my cell bill would have been 100's of dollars:eek: Its 2.49 a min. when you make a call, or answer your phone. For business sake I left mine on in the morning until noon.. You don't need an international plan to use the ships service, but you DO need international dialing added to your currant plan, which shouldn't cost (it doesn't with verizon)

Also the 2.49 is for Verizon, but ATT may be 2.80 or something, I know one of the carriers was a bit more. Check the web site of the cruise line you are sailing on. All the information about "cellular at sea" should be there.

[ccletzgo]

You will be charged roaming fees if you leave your cell phone on and they can be a LOT. the cruise line or rather the service the cruise line uses does chage you by the minute it varies but is about $2.50 a min and your provider may also charge you , all those charges will appear after the fact on your regular cell phone bill including the ship billing portion.

 

Don't leave your phone on.

 

Wrong information. You are not charged for every min your phone is turned on. Good grief! that would be insane..how many Min's are in a 7 day cruise:eek: I have used my cell phone on the last two cruises, one RCCL and one Celebrity. I had no surprises with my cell phone bill. While using the ships service, there were no extra fee's added by my carrier. I DID however call them and make sure International dialing was on my plan @ no extra fee.

 

 

When you are in port, you will be charged an international per min charge plus a roaming fee by your carrier, depending on the plan you have. You also have to use the country code to dial. BUT still, it is just when you use your phone. Not by having it on..

[billsrobb]

We live on the East Coast and use Alltel as our cell provider. We just returned two weeks ago from a Mexican Rivera and Sea of Cortez cruise. We did not attempt to use it from the ship, but did try in several ports. It did not work anywhere.

 

I have Alltel and I made lots of calls when I was on the Conquest. Made calls from Montego Bay, Grand Cayman and Cozumel and the cost was only $25 more. It worked well.

Robb

[Pie R Squared]

I have a question about the free internet at Cafe Roma, can you just walk in with your laptop and log into the wireless or do you use their PC's?

[MSN-Travelers]

I have a question about the free internet at Cafe Roma, can you just walk in with your laptop and log into the wireless or do you use their PC's?

 

Their PC.