Mobile Access in Italy - Wind Tourist Pass

Didn't see an abundance of information on this prior to my trip so just creating a thread for others to benefit.

Spent an additional 3 days in Rome prior to boarding the NCL Epic in Rome with additional Italy ports to Livorno and Naples so it was well worth it in my situation. While there was WiFi in our hotel and several locations we visited, the data service was definitely far more reliable and faster in most instances.

Found a Wind store in Rome and they showed me the Tourist Pass which is 100 minutes (including US) and 2 GB data for 20€ valid for 30 days. If you need more data or voice there's another option for 35€.

Purchased the card right before the close of business, so it wasn't activated until the next morning, but had great 3G service in all the locations I visited at all ports. Staying in a 12th deck balcony room, I was able to pick up service for around 30-40 minutes before/after reaching/leaving the port. I have a Verizon iPhone 6 and worked seamlessly with no problems -- without unlocking the phone or contacting Verizon beforehand.

Since my GF and I DIY'ed most ports, was extremely useful to have the access to look up TrenItalia schedules, use Google Maps for walking and finding restaurants to eat via TripAdvisor and Yelp and came in handy to call our tour guide in Naples when we he was running a few minutes late and we couldn't find him at the Terminal.

Two suggestions if you purchase the plan:

1. Don't throw out the card that comes with the SIM card (or take a photo of it to store in your phone). The SIM (not the phone) is locked and when you install it, it will ask for a 4-digit PIN on the card. But if you happen to restart your phone, it will ask for the PIN number again.

2. If you have an iPhone, bring a small paper clip with you to pop out the SIM card holder or else when you return to the US you won't be able to swap out your card to use upon arrival.

I've used the similar SIM deal from TIM. It's so much fun to be free to use my tablet anywhere, anytime, without having to hunt for an internet cafe or hope that the Internet in the hotel will speed up past the old-time 14.4 modem days. If someone is doing a cruise that has many Italian port calls, they are pretty sensible.

There is a thing going on in the EURO states about eliminating roaming charges - I don't know if that has passed yet or not. Now, THAT will be great!!