Verizon cell phone use in Southern Caribbean?

[MJN]

Hi All,

We leave next week on the Serenade of the Seas and were curious about Verizon cell phone use in Southern Caribbean. I did do a check on reception areas online and did see that San Juan is considered part of their nation-wide area but did not see any of the other islands listed. We were only wondering if we needed to use a cell phone due to an excursion issue or emergency during an excursion if we would be able to. I did also see that we could use them onboard the ship for $2.40 per minute so don't plan to do that. I will probably call our local provider tommorrow morning for confirmation but just curious if anyone on these boards has their own experience to comment on. Thanks, MJN

[Desert Cruizers]

I can only speak of our experience with Verizon, others may have had differant results. We left Miami on a cruise for a full transit Panama. 1 day out of Miami, my DH could not get any reception until we arrived on the West Coast heading for Los Angelas. Now in 2008 we had changed to Sprint and my DH received 3 calls from So Calif and we were 1/2 way across the Pacific heading for Hilo.

[dougp26364]

Calls are at RCI's price. If you have a Blackberry with an international sim card, you can sign up for their international data plan and then cancel the plan when you get home. Last January it cost us $8 for unlimited data and we were able to keep in touch via E-mail for non-urgent issues. Texting was 5 cents to receive and 50 cents to send (I might have that backwards). Phone calls while onboard was something like $2.40 but, when on shore it was whatever the roaming fee's were, which were considerably less than RCI's prices while onboard.

 

If you want to make a phone call and you want to do so while in port, make sure you're off the ships tower. I believe they are suppose to shut their tower down while in port but, I have read a few horror stories about huge bills when cruisers thought they were still on Florida towers. My wife's Blackberry always alerted us with a non-charged text when we changed towers. It was typically when we were in port and still on the ship.

 

If you don't have an international sim card in your phone you'll have to see what options you have. Having the global capability is one reason why we stick with Blackberry rather than going with one of the Motorola Droid's.

[nannybeth]

call verizon and they will tell you all the different costs from the different ports, as well as the cost when on the ship.

[MJN]

Yes, I plan on calling Verizon tommorrow to check on it but thought I would find out from fellow travelers what their experiences have been. Appreciate all the responses so far. We do not have blackberries, just regular cell phones, mine has a texting keyboard while DH prefers a simpler version. Don't really plan to use the cell phones unless it becomes necessary and just want to know our options. From the research I have seen thus far it appears only in San Juan and on the ship but we'll check tommorrow and find out for sure. Thanks, and appreciate any other input as well. :)

[cruiseguy1016]

I'm not 100% sure but I think St. Thomas is also within Verizon's nation-wide calling area.

[FLACRUISER99]

You can buy or rent an international phone here: http://www.mobal.com/

[MJN]

Just after I posted that with St. Thomas listed I realized it was probably included in my calling area and I went back to the Verizon website and did see it is. I will still call tommorrow and confirm everything and ask about those other islands as well. Thanks, I'll check on that international cell phone as well. Thanks all, Still interested in more input. :)

[Kellie Poodle]

Hi All,

We leave next week on the Serenade of the Seas and were curious about Verizon cell phone use in Southern Caribbean. I did do a check on reception areas online and did see that San Juan is considered part of their nation-wide area but did not see any of the other islands listed. We were only wondering if we needed to use a cell phone due to an excursion issue or emergency during an excursion if we would be able to. I did also see that we could use them onboard the ship for $2.40 per minute so don't plan to do that. I will probably call our local provider tommorrow morning for confirmation but just curious if anyone on these boards has their own experience to comment on. Thanks, MJN

 

Call Verizon and ask them about the global phone rental program. If you will be away for less than 3 weeks it's a good way to go. You will be able to keep your regular cell number on the rental phone. They ship you the phone and provide the return packaging.

[Kellie Poodle]

One other thought for Verizon customers reading this thread. They do make global phones that are not Blackberries and do not require a "smartphone" charge. I have a Motorola global phone. I have seen a Verizon branded one in the store and it's a "gimme" for renewing a contract.

 

I just got an HTC Droid Incredible for my birthday, but I still have the global phone. If I'm going to a place with GSM service, I'll activate the global phone and deactivate the Droid (and save the smartphone charges) until I get back.

 

I would have rented a phone from them as my previous post stated, but we were taking a trip that was 7 weeks long and the rental wasn't available. I did look into renting from one of those online companies, but you can't use your own cell phone number, you have to use the number they give you or pay a considerable amount of cash to use your own. That made the Verizon deal all the more sweeter.

 

After rebates the global phone cost me $50 and it did all the tricks a regular phone does. International dialing is free and all I paid for was the per minute charges for incoming and outgoing calls. No roaming fees or charges for turning the phone on as some companies do.

 

When my DH got sick and we had to get off the ship in Palermo, Sicily, I was really glad I had that phone with my home number on it. Our doctor and family could easily stay in contact with us. When I got back home, I switched the phone back to CDMA. It was my regular cell phone for 2 years.

[Alexis]

I'm not 100% sure but I think St. Thomas is also within Verizon's nation-wide calling area.

 

I had to pay there. $2.49 per minute. They did not include that as a calling area.

If it has changed, I do not know.

[marci22]

Just after I posted that with St. Thomas listed I realized it was probably included in my calling area and I went back to the Verizon website and did see it is. I will still call tommorrow and confirm everything and ask about those other islands as well.

 

I was charged for my Verizon usage in St. Thomas (about $2/min). It might be included in your calling area only if you are in a certain zone; the entire area may not be included. Had no problems in San Juan.

[akcruz]

In order to use your verizon phone as you would like, you need to get the international roaming turned on. That is free, however any call you make will be charged, I believe, $1.99 a minute when using that roaming capability.

 

The best thing to to do is to call you carrier and ask about your specific phone. We have a blend of plain old phones up through various smart phones in my family. Each phone required a slightly different tweak to allow them to work and some were just turned off as it was too expensive to use them.

[laedw]

Verizon told me that they discontinued their global phone program. I have a Blackberry and will use their international roaming service on my cruise.

[CptSticky]

In order to use your verizon phone as you would like, you need to get the international roaming turned on. That is free, however any call you make will be charged, I believe, $1.99 a minute when using that roaming capability.

 

The best thing to to do is to call you carrier and ask about your specific phone. We have a blend of plain old phones up through various smart phones in my family. Each phone required a slightly different tweak to allow them to work and some were just turned off as it was too expensive to use them.

We did the Caribbean last fall with Verizon. Had Intl roaming turned on and the rates for most islands were 99cents/min. As others have said, make sure you are off the ships tower. Two years ago in San Diego, I had a $50 call to my financial guy. In fairness, Verizon was nice enough to reverse it (one time only). A side note for those doing Mexico, you can add Mexico to your plan for something like 12.99 for the month and use your regular minutes while there.

[orchidj5]

Just for some clarity-you do not need a "global" phone in the caribbean-all that area is CDMA transport-just like the US-you just need global roaming actived-verizon has a 4.99 a month discount package for global roaming that you can turn off and on. also-Not all blackberries are international capable-i.e sometimes its not just the SIM card that is the issue-its whether the phone itself will pick up the GSM frequencies-about half of Blackberries do not. check the techonology on your phone-and if you are traveling to a GSM area you need to do the rental package ( yes verizon still does it-i just returned mine) or get a phone from another vendor that will take an international SIM card and is GSM capable.

[MrFunInTheSun]

Here are some useful links I got information from.

 

Cruise ship coverage

http://b2b.vzw.com/international/Cruise_Ships/index.html

 

International coverage

 

http://support.vzw.com/faqs/International%20Services%20and%20Roaming/faq_international_cdma_roaming.html

 

http://b2b.vzw.com/international/outside_us.html

[BuBBs~Cruise~NYC]

Hi All,

We leave next week on the Serenade of the Seas and were curious about Verizon cell phone use in Southern Caribbean. I did do a check on reception areas online and did see that San Juan is considered part of their nation-wide area but did not see any of the other islands listed. We were only wondering if we needed to use a cell phone due to an excursion issue or emergency during an excursion if we would be able to. I did also see that we could use them onboard the ship for $2.40 per minute so don't plan to do that. I will probably call our local provider tommorrow morning for confirmation but just curious if anyone on these boards has their own experience to comment on. Thanks, MJN

 

 

I have Verizon and did a Southern Cruise in May but not with RCCL it was with CCL now all I can tell you want that even when I used my phone in San Juan I was still Roaming thru the whole trip I had no service until I was in St. Martin now maybe if I had a blackberry etc.. and had the national network etc it might of work.. lol but before I left I call Verizon on my travels etc and was told they will change the plan so that the chargers be less if I will make any calls or texts.. but to me my bill still came out to be more expensive I have to turn off my phone not to be charged for Roaming all in all just double check with Verizon.. But when I went with RCCL with my Verizon back 3 yrs ago and also did a southern cruise my bill was a little high as well..

[ehfl]

Verizon is CDMA, so it will only work in countries that have CDMA networks....many of the islands in the Caribbean are GSM only, so you will not be able to place or receive calls. The US territories and Mexico all have good CDMA service.

[MJN]

Just got off the phone with Verizon. She asked what islands we would be visiting. St. Thomas and Puerto Rico are within US areas but there is still a fee to use the phone on those islands. St. Thomas is $1.99 per minute and Puerto Rico is .69 per minute, depending on where you are on the island. Aruba and Curacao are also $1.99 per minute, these are all for voice calls. Dominica however is an area where the Global phone would be a necessity as my phone, which is an LG Envy and not a smart phone, would not work. If you have a smart phone with a sim card it may or may not work depending on the card you have but apparently you can get a sim card to work on Dominica and some other islands. Because I do not have the right phone they are "sending me" a rental phone to use for the whole 10 days of our trip. It will use my own phone number, once I activate it and the only cost was for shipping It was just over $10. with tax and that includes postage both ways, I just return the phone when we get back. Pretty good deal. I didn't realize they offered this service and I'm glad I called to ask. The prices for service are not great but I really only wanted it for emergencies or if we need to call a taxi for our trips to the beach or something and I'll feel better knowing we should have service wherever we go. Thanks to all who gave their input on this, it was very helpful and hopefully I have helped others with what I learned when I called Verizon. :)

[akcruz]

Just got off the phone with Verizon. She asked what islands we would be visiting. St. Thomas and Puerto Rico are within US areas but there is still a fee to use the phone on those islands. St. Thomas is $1.99 per minute and Puerto Rico is .69 per minute, depending on where you are on the island. Aruba and Curacao are also $1.99 per minute, these are all for voice calls. Dominica however is an area where the Global phone would be a necessity as my phone, which is an LG Envy and not a smart phone, would not work. If you have a smart phone with a sim card it may or may not work depending on the card you have but apparently you can get a sim card to work on Dominica and some other islands. Because I do not have the right phone they are "sending me" a rental phone to use for the whole 10 days of our trip. It will use my own phone number, once I activate it and the only cost was for shipping It was just over $10. with tax and that includes postage both ways, I just return the phone when we get back. Pretty good deal. I didn't realize they offered this service and I'm glad I called to ask. The prices for service are not great but I really only wanted it for emergencies or if we need to call a taxi for our trips to the beach or something and I'll feel better knowing we should have service wherever we go. Thanks to all who gave their input on this, it was very helpful and hopefully I have helped others with what I learned when I called Verizon. :)

 

Glad it all worked out for you. Bottom line is the best thing to do is call your carrier as each phone, plan and company require something slightly different!

[PCDIVA]

I just got my Verizon cell phone bill. Was charged $145.00 for calls made the kicker is that there was a 12 min call for $30.00 :mad: that even if someone calls you and you don't answer your phone it charges you ROAMING,:eek: another thing that they told me is that even if they called for 1 min and the phone ghost doesn't drop the call it can linger and you get charged for the air time its floating in space...go figure.

 

Lesson learned: I won't be using my cell phone ever again while on vacation in a cruise ship. I'll just use communicate via email onboard at the internet cafe.

[BuBBs~Cruise~NYC]

I just got my Verizon cell phone bill. Was charged $145.00 for calls made the kicker is that there was a 12 min call for $30.00 :mad: that even if someone calls you and you don't answer your phone it charges you ROAMING,:eek: another thing that they told me is that even if they called for 1 min and the phone ghost doesn't drop the call it can linger and you get charged for the air time its floating in space...go figure.

 

Lesson learned: I won't be using my cell phone ever again while on vacation in a cruise ship. I'll just use communicate via email onboard at the internet cafe.

I know the feeling when I got my bill in May.. i was like why is it so high I had to really look at the bill to find out it was roaming and I did not do anything.. lol I mean I even missed a call and I had to pay for it.. this trip we are going on in Oct.. i might just get a phone card instead.. lol

[bigque]

I have Verizon and I just went online to check and the only coverage I see is in San Juan Puerto Rico. The do have International plans available for just phone or phone and data usage.

[kgm0612]

Two weeks prior to sailing on the Serenade 8/1, I called Verizon to find out what plans were available. After jotting down the price per minute charged depending on the Island, I decided NOT to use my phone to make or receive calls while onboard.

 

However, it's only 50 cents to send a text and 5 cents to receive one. This was one way of keeping in touch with family members back home if need be, and much cheaper than an actual phone call.

 

Karen