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Verizon roaming charges?


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Before I call Verizon directly, I thought I'd get the opinion of people who have been there. Does Verizon charge roaming charges in the Caribbean? Rather than buy walkie-talkies we'd like to just keep our cell phones. Any thoughts?

 

If you are talking about calling each other on your Verizon cell phones while on the ship you will EACH be charged $2.49 per minutes while on board. Forget the plan you have at home, it will not apply once you leave port and your calls are transmitted via the ships cell tower. Text messaging charges aren't all that bad, just looked them up and they are 50 cents per message sent and 5 cents per recieved, but they will add up if you make many of them. Not sure of text messages from one on board phone to another but on our trip in Feb several text messages sent to me from the states didn't show up for quite some time after they had actually been sent. Not a good thing to leave your cell phone turned on the entire time you are out of the country as some have reported that in coming messages to your voice mail can also be charged the $2.49 per minute even if you don't answer the phone when it rings if it is turned on. If you plan to use your phone while in the Caribbean call Verizon and have international dialing put on your phone so you can make calls if you wish. If you go to Verizon's web page you can find a listing of the per minute charges from the various countries and for some counties, special numbers that must be dialed in order to call home. Hope this helps.

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yes! I just was charged 69 cents per minute because my mom was roaming in michigan (picking up Canadian towers). I was furious, and had to speak with a manager before they would take off the charges. I suspected this would be a problem a few months ago, called them, and they said as long as she's on the intercontinental US soil, she is covered. Well, they must not have figured how close Canada is to Michigan. I have had problems with this for two years, and every customer service person tells me something else to do, which doesn't work. Each summer when she goes to the U.P. it's another crazy phone bill. So be careful when you talk to them, and make sure you know exactly what you're doing, and what service you need.

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Like stargazinjess, I have not been charged in Puerto Rico - it is a US territory so I guess that's why they include it. I made several calls while in St. Thomas d/t my mom being in the hospital but my bill wasn't bad at $0.69 a minute. I do not have the international plan (out of choice) so my phone doesn't work every where but I haven't had any issues.

 

Right now, my 17 y/o is freaking out that she won't be able to talk to her bf while we're gone...... They'll get over it eventually I guess....

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Guest carlogesualdo

Tell your 17 y/o to save her pennies for IM in the internet café. She should be able to use Meebo and get into whatever IM program she uses at home (if she does IM). If not, maybe she should sign up for it.

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Right now' date=' my 17 y/o is freaking out that she won't be able to talk to her bf while we're gone...... They'll get over it eventually I guess....[/quote']

 

I don't know why but this made me lol . . . oh boy teenagers :rolleyes: yeah they'll get over it :p

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A quick word of caution. Check with Verizon again NOW regarding San Juan. They sold off there customers in SanJuan, and it is no longer Verizon Wireless down there. I believe the new carier charges for San Juan.

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I would call Verizon and see what plans they can offer you for the week you are on a cruise.. On our first cruise years ago.. I dont recall if I had Verizon or ATT or maybe it was Sprint ? ? So long ago LOL .. anyway they offered us a week of unlimited international calling.. I paid a miminal fee and was able to contact those I needed to...

 

Tell them specifically you are on a cruise.. see what they offer..:)

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Was on the Triumph last year in Feb. and even after calling Verizon (twice & received two different answers) and I was told that (I do have international & Local long distance) I would need to pay roaming but I was NEVER charged. Called home from San Juan, St. Thomas & St. Martin and nothing on my bill, my friends used my phone because they had Sprint and could not get through to home in California, still no charge! I have been out of the country several times on cruises (make sure you update your phone for roaming every 3 months) with no charges whatsoever and no problems with connections, clear as a bell! Not sure if anyone else has had this because it seems some people are charged & some not:rolleyes:

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I called Verizon a few days ago in preparation for my cruise.

 

Shipboard calls are $2.49 a minute.

 

You can click on this link to see what the rates are in the ports of call you are visiting. Puerto Rico is $.69/minute. You'll want to make sure you call Verizon and have them add the international calling feature to your phone. There isn't a charge for it.

 

http://b2b.vzw.com/international/Roaming/rates_coverage.html

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I was on Grand Cayman in May and received a call from VZ and was charged for it!:mad: I called VZ and they removed the charge. However several VZ reps I have spoken with have said if you intend to make a lot of calls, it's cheaper to buy a prepaid international card. I take my phone only for emergency calls so declined that suggestion. I am someone who can actually go 2 or 3 weeks w/o talking or messaging on my cellphone:). I realize it's different for someone who needs the phone for work purposes, but most of the people I know who rely on cellphones for that purpose have satellite phones with international calling plans.

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I think I had Sprint -refering to my earlier post...but now they all seem to have the same plan..

 

http://search.sprint.com/inquiraapp/ui.jsp?ui_mode=answer&prior_transaction_id=31865&iq_action=5&answer_id=16777220&highlight_info=16777245,16,43&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fnextelonline%2Enextel%2Ecom%2Fen%2Fservices%2Fworldwide%2Fsprint_intl_services%2Eshtml%3Fid16%3Dcruise#__highlight

 

 

Sprint proudly offers wireless roaming service on board select cruise ships. Stay connected to friends and family while lounging poolside, playing shuffleboard or just sitting on deck. You can make and receive calls and check voicemail using your Sprint phone.

Service is available for use when the cruise ship is in international waters, sailing out of range of land-based networks. Cruise ship service is turned down when the ship is in port. Check Traveling Internationally to determine services available at each of your ship’s destinations.

Don't worry about getting a new bill when you return home. The charges will be conveniently added to your Sprint PCS bill. It's that simple to stay connected on the high seas.

View available Cruise Lines & Ships.

For more information on Cruise Ship Roaming, please call 1-888-226-7212, option 2.

Pricing

All cruise ship calls: $2.49/minute

Data: $0.016/kb (with capable device where available)

 

 

 

This is from Verizon

Traveling Internationally? With your Verizon Wireless phone you can stay connected while outside of the U.S. or on a Cruise Ship.

 

In an Overseas Destination: Use your Verizon Wireless digital phone in select destinations while roaming on a participating carrier’s network.

On a Cruise Ship: Verizon Wireless Cruise Ship Services enable you to make and receive calls while traveling on select cruise lines for a low rate of $2.49 a minute.

 

How It Works

1. Check for Service: Refer to our Coverage Maps to see whether this service is available in your destination or cruise line.

 

2. Dial *611 or call (800) 899-4249 or contact a Verizon Wireless representative to enable International Roaming.

 

3. Roam: When you arrive at your destination, make and receive calls using your phone.

 

 

Can I use my Verizon Wireless phone to make and receive calls on board cruise ships? You can use your Verizon Wireless CDMA handset to make and receive calls while traveling on select cruise lines. For service availability and rate information, visit International Roaming Rates and Coverage and scroll down to Cruise Ship Coverage. Back to top

 

Voice Rates Coverage

$0.69/min Canada

Guam

Northern Mariana Islands

Puerto Rico

 

 

 

 

$0.99/min Mexico

 

 

 

 

$1.29/min Belize

Bonaire

Curacao

Virgin Islands, British

 

 

 

 

$1.99/min Antigua

Aruba

Bahamas

Barbados

Barbuda

Bermuda

Brazil

Cayman Islands

China

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

Guatemala

Hong Kong

India

Israel

Jamaica

Macau

Netherlands Antilles

New Zealand

South Korea

St. Croix

St. John

St. Kitts and Nevis

St. Lucia

St. Maarten

St. Thomas

Taiwan

Thailand

Turks and Caicos Islands

Venezuela

Vietnam

Virgin Islands, U.S.

 

 

 

$2.89/min Bangladesh

Indonesia

Peru

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I just got my AT&T bill.

 

I had called and they said that they could block his phone for international calls.

 

Apparently they can't or don't.

 

If the phone number where you are has the same configuration as ours, then the phone works.

 

So we had a bunch of charges for calls to his phone that he didn't answer.

 

They took the charges off, but that doesn't mean that they would do it again.

 

When my girls' were out of the country I had them text me periodically. Texts from Mexico or Europe were .50, which is reasonable to me.

They kept their phones off and just turned them once a day or so to see if they had a text.

 

We can use our cell phones just like at home in St Thomas and in Puerto Rico.

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You will not be charged for unanswered calls.

 

Shipboard calls are $2.49 per minute

 

calls from ports range from .69 to 1.99 per minute (puerto rico has both roaming and included towers)

 

Must activate IDial for the phone to work in foreign ports.

 

Texts are .50 to send and .05 to receive

 

Sometimes you will not be charged for calls in foreign ports because it is up to the local provider to charge Verizon for the calls sometimes they do and sometimes they don't.

 

You at home plan means nothing once you leave the port of departure, any "no roaming" that you have will be out the window once you are roaming internationally, this applies to ALL PROVIDERS.

 

MAC

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2.49 a minute for sure for Verizon while on board the ship.

 

One 4 minute and 52 second call from the Holiday in the middle of the Gulf back to Georgia to check on my African Grey parrot cost me 12.45 :eek:

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  • 3 years later...

We were cruising in Hawai'i during the last month. Apparently, we incurred some DATA roaming charges. We did not make any voice telephone calls. How about an extra $800 charges for a cruise, after you get home? The cruise line claims that they are "not involved". Verizon gets the bill from the onboard cell "service", and say they are just passing it along.

 

BE WARNED! Turn off data roaming, put your phone on "airplane mode". One small slipup gets very expensive!

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