Caribbean Princess-Cell Phones & other Communications

[chrisahx]

Hi All,

 

Next Sunday I'll be on the Caribbean Princess for a week long cruise. I am getting mixed messages about cell phone use and availability on Princess, especially the Caribbean Princess. For some reason AT&T doesn't even list Princess at all amount its list of "cruise lines" And even NEXTEL, although they list a bunch of Princess Ships, they leave off the Caribbean. I've heard that while at sea the per minute rate is $2.49? With my AT&T World plan, I know if I get off the ship its $1.69, but since AT&T doesn't even list Princess I don't know about onboard, even when at ports? If anyone knows of another cell provider with great rates, my plan is expiring soon, so let me know. Can anyone confirm any of this about AT&T and Princess? And also confirm that you can even make cell calls on the caribbean while its at sea?

 

I'm wondering whether or not if I were to buy a couple of Nextel phones if I could get free service using the Walkie Talkie Feature while onboard?, Does anyone know if the "Direct Connect" Walkie Talkie service between 2 phones on the same plan are Free? Would I be able to use 2 Family Plan cell phones to call each other walkie talkie style and avoid the per minute roaming rate that would normally apply to regular cell phones? I'm guessing NO, they would find a way to charge because of being on a ship, and/or out of the country, but I thought if anyone out there has Nextel Walkie talkie style phones and have used them on cruise ships, they might know for sure?

 

I've also thought about traditional Walkie talkies to take along so I can communicate with my family who may be in another part of the ship? Although I've heard even those can be difficult due to the steel walls on a ship? Anyone have any info on Walkie Talkies?

 

Finally, (Sorry about this being long) I wanted confirmation about internet services. We are going to be in a full suite, and on cruisedeckplans.com, they mention that Wi-Fi service in your cabin is one of the suite amenities? I called Princess and the agent was confused after I mentioned this, so she finally said she just wasn't sure and to ask onboard. On the Princess website, they mention you get Free Internet Access if you're in a suite, but I'm assuming this is only for the Internet Cafe. I have both a Magic Jack and Skype. Skype also now has some plug-in where you can make Skype calls on your Magic jack (Although I haven't yet figured out the point in that though) When I was in Cancun back in Feb. I took the Magic Jack down with me, and I did have a free in-room Internet access, and but when I logged on and tried to make a call, I couldn't get it to work at all? I'm not sure why since I thought as long as you had a connection, Magic Jack would make the call thru the internet? Does anyone have any experience using these onboard a ship?

 

My mother insists we keep a way for my sister to get in touch with us in case something happens. I'm just trying to figure out the most economical way to communicate with each other and our family back home while we are away. If anyone has experience with anything I'm inquiring about, please let me know. I'm also open to any suggestions as well.

 

Thank You All!

[caribill]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1087125 the other thread you started on the subject