Leaving kiddos at home and needing to call/email

[cruiserkelly]

We are thinking about going on a cruise for our wedding anniversary and leaving our kiddos at home with grandparents. I am wondering about ways and costs of emailing/calling everyday to check in while we are gone. Anyone ever done this and know the costs? Which would be cheaper, use email on ship, or call? Of course, my DH says to not worry about it, that they will be able to contact us if they need us, but I'm paranoid...

[Irishlinny]

Not sure which ship you are on, but on the Legend in Nov, there was a sign on the phone that you can call home for $.99 per minute. We usually stayed in touch via text messages (but those don't always come timely) and made a call or 2 while in port and the rates were cheaper. Your carrier can tell you what the charges will be from each port.

[firefly333]

That 99 cent rate was a trial, I think its usually $6.95 per minute to call home from the ship.

 

OP, I would maybe buy a small amount of internet time to email and when you hit a port, call home, or email. I get internet time in ports from $1 to $6 per hour.

 

On the ship its sold by the minute.

 

Even ATT international rates, its still $2.49 per minute .. to me thats not all that cheap.

[MSRussell]

If you go on Carnival's web site, have everyone make an account on there (free), you can post every day on the Currently Onboard forum. Carnival's web site is free, it doesn't cost anything.

Melanie

[MsSoCalCruiser]

If you go on Carnival's web site, have everyone make an account on there (free), you can post every day on the Currently Onboard forum. Carnival's web site is free, it doesn't cost anything.

Melanie

 

I'm not sure I understand. Are you saying we can use the ship's computers free of charge and post on Carnival's Onboard Forum? If so, I'm in. Thanks!

[lilyfrog73]

If you go on Carnival's web site, have everyone make an account on there (free), you can post every day on the Currently Onboard forum. Carnival's web site is free, it doesn't cost anything.

Melanie

 

What a great tip!! Thanks!!!

[travelntreats]

You still have to buy internet minutes.....but they would be less expensive in a port of call then on the ship.

[traysd123]

I left my kids with a sitter while on a 10day cruise last year.. (never again, too long, i missed them!)

Anyways, what i found that was cool was in most of the ports they had an internet cafe right inside the main port building..

The cost is maybe $3-5 for a half hour to get online and email or whatever.

If you use your own laptop, the cost is even cheaper..

Also, they had pay phones for really cheap too, if you wanted to call home instead..

My sitter had the kids make videos to me, and she emailed them, so while i was in port i could watch them :)

Check in the main buildings at the ports for these spots..

[BMRSNR]

normally i buy a 50.00 internet package when myself and my wife go to email the kids at home ... i believe its like 60 minutes total but it lasts awhile (seems to be more than 60 minutes ) ... normally by the end of the trip i brouse the web to use up the remaining minutes before we leave ...

 

they have packages from 25-100.00 .. get the one that fits our needs just make sure not to purchase one to big or you will loose money !

 

hope this helps ...good luck on your cruise ! :D

[MSRussell]

I'm not sure I understand. Are you saying we can use the ship's computers free of charge and post on Carnival's Onboard Forum? If so, I'm in. Thanks!

 

You can either bring your laptop, or go to the Internet Cafe and use their computers. If I remember right, you click on your browser (Internet explorer, etc.) and a window will pop up with a choice of buying internet minutes, or on the right hand side, is a heading saying that Carnival.com is free, and a place to click to get there.

Once there, scroll down the forums to Currently Onboard. A lot of us use that to keep in touch with folks back home. Everyone has to be registered to post and reply.

Or, if that doesn't work, go into your network settings, which will show Carnival, click on that. If you do sign up for paid internet, on some ships you get free minutes the first day.

Melanie

[travelntreats]

You can either bring your laptop, or go to the Internet Cafe and use their computers. If I remember right, you click on your browser (Internet explorer, etc.) and a window will pop up with a choice of buying internet minutes, or on the right hand side, is a heading saying that Carnival.com is free, and a place to click to get there.

Once there, scroll down the forums to Currently Onboard. A lot of us use that to keep in touch with folks back home. Everyone has to be registered to post and reply.

Or, if that doesn't work, go into your network settings, which will show Carnival, click on that. If you do sign up for paid internet, on some ships you get free minutes the first day.

Melanie

 

Hmmmmmm......... an unknown secret that CCL probably does not want known !!!

 

Thanks for the great tip and you should consider starting a new thread on your suggestion...I am sure alot of people would love to use this method to stay in touch with folks while on their cruise !

[mlyn]

Last summer I stayed in contact with my son at home with text messages. I have AT&T and have unlimited text messages, so all incoming text messages were free, and it cost $.50 for any text messages I sent.

[MrPete]

WOW!

 

What a GREAT secret!

[blroper]

We checked with our cell phone provider to find out the cheapest ports to call from. The kids thought it was cool that we were calling from another country.

[reallyexcited]

dh and i were on the legend 3 years ago without the kids.. they were 3 and 6 at the time. they were with grandparents.

 

we used email and phone calls from payphones with prepaid cards from the ports and cell phones.

 

it worked out fine...wasn't everyday. the only bad thing is my dad is a joker and would sent me emails with NO info like "oh Grace is not home from her date yet" she was 6 LOL so not so informative :)

[Half Pint]

dh and i were on the legend 3 years ago without the kids.. they were 3 and 6 at the time. they were with grandparents.

 

we used email and phone calls from payphones with prepaid cards from the ports and cell phones.

 

it worked out fine...wasn't everyday. the only bad thing is my dad is a joker and would sent me emails with NO info like "oh Grace is not home from her date yet" she was 6 LOL so not so informative :)

 

Did you buy the prepaid cards once you were in port? :)

 

Thanks OP for starting this thread...I've been having the same worries about keeping in touch with kids back home! :)

[gail811]

We buy an internet package and take our own computer. I do a daily recap in an e-mail (type it up on word) then log on, paste it on the e-mail and hit send. As soon as the message has been sent and I have received all incoming messages I log off. This really saves on the minutes we use, and allows us to keep in touch; for us our kids are grown, but we always seem to have a family member with medical issues that we need to keep in touch with.

[mom2boys97]

We were on our last cruise and i would call the kids b4 we left then we had a port day everyother day so i just called them from a payphone in the main building and talked to them.. But a friend of mine bought the Internet package and she set up a time and used skype every morning to talk to her kid you just have to set up a time so they are there and remember the time diffrence...

[slmwo]

My husband and I just got back from a cruise on the Destiny. I had called Verizon to have my phone enabled for international roaming, just in case. They told me it would be $1.99/minute for any calls $0.50 for all sent text messages and $0.005 for all received text messages. We had planned to use Skype & only the Verizon phone for emergency. We purchased one of the internet plans and were so disappointed because it's so slow that we used up most of our minutes just trying to connect. We were able to call from the ship for $0.99 a minute. It was billed right to our Sail & Sign account. If I had to do it again, I'd skip the internet package and have kept my Verizon phone off (the service was sketchy anyway). Good luck and enjoy your trip!!! :D

[9876]

I hope the .99 per minute phone calling goes fleet wide. While I like to be 'out of it' when I leave the kids I would like to check in periodically and .99 per minute would be worth it. I think if Carnival did this they would make more money on communications overall.

[MrPete]

I hope the .99 per minute phone calling goes fleet wide. While I like to be 'out of it' when I leave the kids I would like to check in periodically and .99 per minute would be worth it. I think if Carnival did this they would make more money on communications overall.

 

I like the FREE better!

[MDavis23]

Has anyone used their iPad to connect to the internet? Sorry if this sounds like a dumb question, I am a typist, not a computer techi. :o I want to be able to keep in contact with the kids, and the idea of taking the iPad with us sounds more appealing because of size, but I am not sure if the connection is any different or not. Can you connect to the internet in your room on the Splendor, or do you have to go to the internet cafe on the ship to connect? Thank you for responses!

[reallyexcited]

did you buy the prepaid cards once you were in port

 

yep!!

[Texas Realtor]

I have an Iphone and want to use face time. we were going to have to buy some wifi time anyway for my work. Just can't truly get away. Does anyone know if the connection is fast enough to use this service? Has anyone used it like we are planning to. I would hate to use valuable port time to find and use a phone I don't want to carry at all. I know that face time works with the phone being disabled for data and calls for the phone, we tried it out already. Thanks for any advice in advance. Skype is not an option with my parents. LOL.

[MSRussell]

The internet onboard is wireless. I bring my laptop and use it in my room with no problems.

Melanie