international cell phone

[bludevil]

Hi!

 

Does anyone have any experience with international cell phone purchasing or rental? My cell phone won't work in the Baltics (or the Netherlands or Belgium) and I'd love to have one to make calls.

 

Any advice?

[linaka625]

Check with your cell phone provider. I have Verizon, and when I went to Europe last summer, I rented a phone from them for a few weeks. I told them what countries I would be visiting, and they sent me a compatible phone by FedEx. It was the same number as my US phone, so I didn't need to provide a phone number to relatives here at home. They just called my regular number, and reached me in Europe.

[Pearl64]

I, too, am interested in an international cell phone. Was that expensive? We have ATT but I am sure they have a similar option. I was going to go with text messaging as I thought it might be the cheapest option. I am assuming you are talking about being on land and not on ship? I have read a lot about this topic on CC, but am still confused. I just need to be in touch with relatives due to health concerns.

 

Thanks for any info.

Pearl

[moyaroo]

att phones that are quad band work in all areas of the world except for Korea and Japan. Check on their website for international aroaming an put in the make of phone to see what your options are.

 

Another option is to look at unlocked phones and a service like global roaming http://www.celtrek.com/

 

this will work for all ATT and TMobile customers

[shellyc]

I've got a prepaid Tracfone. I'll have to do some research to see if I can use it...

I only use it for travel. We use our land lines at home.d

[bludevil]

so I'm looking at rental companies or buying one (Mobal). I don't need to use it on the ship, only in ports.

 

There are so many out there, I'm confused.

[moyaroo]

It could be a very expensive nice to have. I am a fan of having a phone, but within limits. If the cost of rental is ore than a few dollars you are pretty much throwing your money away.

 

It is great to have and indispensible at times, but at what cost. I carry a quad band unlocked phone with the service I mentioned above (global roaming formerly cell trek) It costs me nothing unless I use it so it is the right price. When I need it, it is there. You can get an unlocked phone used on ebay for cheap (need a GSM unlocked quad band) look for something simple like a Motorola V180 just a basic phone. The sim cards are not terrible expensive. If you are going to a single country a country specific card is great, but if you are cruising and go to multiple destinations that is when the international cards are a break. Mobal is good but not cheap. It has a comfort factor for some folks but I have never been able to justify the higher cost of that service.

[MATHA531]

Verizon USA does not use gsm and hence to use their services you need to get a phone from them. Both AT&T and T Mobile USA are gsm carriers and as noted their phones will work in say Europe if the phone have the European frequencies (900 mhz and 1800 mhz). The USA, contrary minded as always, uses in its gsm carriers 850 mhz and 1900 mhz. Hence if you have AT&T or T Mobile USA service, if your phone has the European frequencies or you swap your sim card into one that does, you cdan get their international roaming packages.

 

But these packages are prohibitively expensive both to make and receive calls. There are alternatives. One is to look into something called an e-kit simkple sinm card available on ebay for $9 with $3 shipping but comes with $10 credit. Net cost, $2. What do you get. Well throughout all of Western anbd Centrral Europe (but not Russia) you can receive calls. They give you both a UK number and a USA number on the same sim card. If somebody calls you on the UK number, you receive for free. if somebody calls you on the USA number, you pay 19¢/minute. Calls b ack to North America cost 49¢/minute with a 35¢ one time set up fee, expensive but not too bad for roaming and certainly cheaper than AT&T and T Mobile USA.

 

Or you can get a UK sim card while in the UK before a cruise say if you are. UK sim cards are literally being given away. You can have them sent to your hotel in the UK for free. While in the UK you do not pay to receive calls. Throughout the rest of Europe for the most part, you pay 19p/minute to receive calls on the UK number but calling back to the USA outside of the UK is very very expensive (conversely calling the USA from the UK on a British mobile phone can easily be as cheap as 3p/minute and that's not a misprint nor is it hard to do, see http://www.yourcallworld.com.

 

But as noted, and this is very important. The roaming rates are far far higher while on the ship as you are not using a gsm carrier but rather a satelite carrier. It is highly highly recommended you do not use any cell phone whatsoever unless you are in a port.

[bludevil]

Has anyone ever used TravelCell? Their rental rates are reasonable and the rates to call aren't that bad.

 

I'm not going to use this phone or my American phone on the ship at all (turning the cell off is one of my favorite things about a cruise) but I do need one to coordinate with friends at the ports and with friends I am visiting before getting on the ship.

[Gary72]

Last year while in Switzerland and Ireland, I used a phone purchased from Mobal. Just seemed easiest and quickest way to keep in contact with the folks at home and within Europe. Once purchased, you only pay for calls made. When I return to Europe this summer, I will use the same phone, with the same home number...

[moyaroo]

I am pretty much with MATTHA on this. Do note that even though the ATT or TMobile rates are crazy, if you only use the phone for limited times it may still be cheaper than paying the rental fee. If the main reason to have a cell phone on a cruise is for emergencies the home phone works fine. IF you want to recieve get a prepaid card such as the one I suggested as the incoming calls are free in most W. Europe countries and the rates out are like .50 per minute. One average they become good deals for those who need a phone.

[Iwannavacation]

I've done 'em all (including buying calling cards once in country). Here's my take:

 

My first experience 7 years ago was a rented phone. It worked fine, but was spendy, and you have to get it and ship it back. If you plan to ever use a phone overseas again, I'd skip this option. There is a learning curve for all these rental/buy options, and the less learing, the better. Especiallty as you may have to dial many, many digits to make a call. Can be confusing.

 

I used to have Verizon, and as noted, most Verizon phones (except a few Blackberrys) don't work in Europe. I therefore bought a Mobal phone and it worked fine, but I had a few challenges. You get a United Kingdom phone number and to make a call, you have to dial a zillion digits (okay, not that many, but it seemed like it). Getting voicemail messages was a challenge. I bought a phone, for a low price; the tradeoff was limited features and some difficulty in using it. Still, if you plan to travel overseas again, it can be a good option if your cell provider doesn't use the GSM band.

 

Finally, I converted to AT&T, both to get the iPhone, and to have international calling ability on my own phone. You must call AT&T before you leave the US and have international calling activated (there is no fee). I can call from anywhere, to anywhere, on a phone I know how to use. Family back in the US can call my phone number just like they normally would, so it's easy for them. I called from Croatia, Greece, Turkey, the Cayman Islands, etc., while sitting in the port (and avoiding the ship's high charge), and it was like the call was next door. This is plainly the best option (except local SIMS as discussed by another poster if price is your issue) , because it's easy, it's your own phone and your own number.

 

Cost: here's the kicker: regardless of which method you use, except for getting a SIM card in Europe, expect to pay about $1.50-$2.00 per minute to send and receive calls. But, this isn't as bad as it seems if you keep your calls short. And, if you own your own phone (such as through AT&T), you'll saving rental and shipping charges, which helps offset the cost.

 

NOTE: If you only want to call back to the US and don't need to be able to receive calls, and even if you do, buying a calling card in the local European city is a good option, because you can pay as little as 10 cents per minute. It can be used instead of your own phone for calls back home, then use your phone for family to call you.

 

RE ship charges: best deal if you use your own phone, such as a phone from AT&T, is to wait until you are in port. Then, the phone will connect to a local provider, instead of through the ship's system, and you'll save around $1 per minute.

[MATHA531]

att phones that are quad band work in all areas of the world except for Korea and Japan. Check on their website for international aroaming an put in the make of phone to see what your options are.

 

Another option is to look at unlocked phones and a service like global roaming http://www.celtrek.com/

 

this will work for all ATT and TMobile customers

 

I regreat to inform you and others that according to the experts over at www.prepaidgsm.net and confirmed by employees of cel-trek or global roaming, the company has gone under as have many of the other international roaming carriers. We read about the demise of a new one every day there most unfortunately.

 

Until a couple of years ago, there were several companies providing reliable international roaming services. One of the major causes of these failures has been the adopting of intra eu cheap roaming. So if, for example you have a UK sim card, you can roam throughout the eu on the UK number for relatively low rates. I believe it is down to 19p/minute to receive calls with a UK sim within the eu (free throughout the UK) and making calls within the eu is relatively cheap. This lessened the need for Europeans travelling within the eu for international roaming cards such as Cel-Tek. They themselves had several different re-orghanizations and changes over the years.

 

It is the stated goal of the eu to, in the near future, make the entire eu a roaming free zone (do remember it is not so long ago that in the USA we paid roaming fees when we left our area; now the entire USA is essentially a roaming free zone. For the most part you don't pay roaming fees on US cell phone accounts, you can call all over the country with no additional charge).....

 

In any event, I will stick with what I have suggested. Although not as cheap as the rates posted on cel-trek (global roaming), e-kit may be one of the better international roaming card deals that exist today. How long they can survive, of course, is open to question.

 

For more information regarding international roaming, check out the forum on www.prepaidgsm.net. Lots of posters there who know what they're taloking about.

[LucyH]

At risk of stating the obvious, phone rental schemes don't make sense in Europe any more because GSM phones are so cheap.

 

In Britain you can get a locked Nokia phone for less than 25 pounds, in Finland an unlocked Samsung is under 30 euros. These aren't rubbish, either. (And Nokia has just added free navigation to its phones - maps for 70 countries worldwide.)

 

At these prices you might as well buy. Even if you don't come back to Europe, you can always pass the phone on to a friend who is coming.

 

-Lucy

[moyaroo]

I regreat to inform you and others that according to the experts over at www.prepaidgsm.net and confirmed by employees of cel-trek or global roaming, the company has gone under as have many of the other international roaming carriers. We read about the demise of a new one every day there most unfortunately.

 

I suppose thank you is necessary, but wow, I used to love United Mobile then I liked Global Roaming, ARRGH another useless sim card in the wallet. Oh well.

 

I haven't tried to use my celtrek card since December so surprise! I have clients with one of my phones leaving next week time to share the news!:mad: