What a Sprint Cell phone bill looks like after calling from the ship

[golfb4cruzing]

SS Oceanlover

 

I agree with you also but we survived when there were only landlines. The wife and I have the luxury to go away and be just the wife and I. It just struck me as funny that in the middle of a beautiful setting, canopy bed on a beach, a couple are on respective laptops. I must be getting aged.

[GlendaleCruiser]

was is a smart phone? If so, did it update and how long did it take?

 

We have a very sick family member. Was thinking of turning it on in the ports and checking for up dates on her. TIA

That's what I do. My mom is now in hospice.

[missesmamax3]

Our phones will be on with data roaming off. We will text my mom (who will be watching our kids, one who will only be 10 months old at the time) and call for a quick goodnight if needbe.

[pjtulsa]

thanks so much for that.....unfortunately it may be resolved before we leave :( I'm taking a break from un packing for our cruise to packing to say goodbye...so unfair.

 

 

Thoughts and Prayers are with you during a tough time...

[Kel040]

When I cruised out of Jacksonville last October, my phone (TELUS - CANADA) lost its signal about the time we passed under the bridge and the signal never returned till we were almost back to Jacksonville.

During cruise I used the clock on my phone - plus it made a good night light - funny thing though, as we cruised back into Jacksonville, the signal came back and I started receiving 4 days of emails and texts, at 4:30AM - phone was ringing like crazy, playing my carnival theme ringtone LOL !! :D

[NJoyCruise]

As soon as we sail away, I collect all the phones (DH, DD and mine) - remove all SIM cards at they all go in a ziplock bag and put in the safe. DD uses her phone for music / time, pictures, and so do I. I use my iPhone to take pics / music and read books and it also goes out with me when in ports to use for wifi calling (I use iCall which you can use to make calls to US and Canada for free, and I use Skype and Facebook to post and connect with people I need to get in touch with). I'm so paranoid about getting data when abroad.

[boaterette]

Went on the Fascination out of Jacksonville and knew I had some important calls and texts while I was gone for the 5 days. So I called Sprint the day before and had them turn on international calling. We were local til about 7 pm first day out to sea and then the international roaming red triangle came on on my phone. Then sprint sent me a text on how to call the usa from the ship and pricing (2.99 per minute and 50 cents to text out and 5 cents to receive). when we got to Nassau we got a new text with lower rates ($2.29 per minute) While I did have a wonderful vacation, the phone was useful with a big deal we closed and on the vacation side, we made some last minute changes in Nassau and ended up saving several hundreds of dollars on some tours. We called from the ship to local tour operators- so the bill looks high but saved us money. Just went on line and copied this over. Calls are actually per minute used... mostly with tour operators. I guess we texted quite a bit.. mostly in as I am involved in several organizations and people text me reports and such. Did not ruin my vacation at all. Here are the reports:

 

 

International Roaming Used

 

 

39 / 0 Included

Remaining

 

 

0

Additional used39 Additional charge$93. 51

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Messaging

 

 

 

Intl. Roaming Text Used

 

 

327 / 0 Included

Remaining

 

 

0

Additional used327 Additional charge$23. 10

 

Thats about $110. Not bad at all.

[jjtimes6]

No judgement on the OP at all, I don't care what anyone else chooses to do or not do on vacation! I do, however, REALLY enjoy the week when my own teens have no cell phone in their hand! So refreshing, really harkens back to those days of long ago when kids actually had conversations with each other, without carrying on five other conversations with people not present at the same time. Not much better, in my eyes, than seeing packs of kids without any electronic devices attached to their palms.

[salty dingo]

It's not a real vacation unless you can let go of the "real world." Sorry you had to use your phone!

[bethaniesmom]

DD brings her laptop only to dump her pictures to. But this trip DH will need to use it to check email at work, daily! Not looking forward to that bill! Hope he doesn't have to contact work with a response (he can spend hours on the phone at home giving support!). Vacations were so much nicer before everybody got so dependent to phones and email, etc!

 

Beverly

[bookcreator]

Just out of curiosity, what the heck was updating that took that long? I've had iPhones for over 2 years, and ATT even longer, nothing I've ever updated took longer than maybe 10-15 minutes tops. And oh, I've heard how terrible ATT service is for many, I'm in 1% of ATT subscribers that gets good service from them.

 

We have AT & T and love them as well. We travel a lot and have global messaging and global roaming. We are in Europe a lot. They are very good. The Global messaging gives us 50 texts for a very low fee. Calls are more depending on country. Runs about $1.29 a minute in most European countries. We have not tried the cellular at sea as we usually get internet on the ship and have the cell phones for land. We keep data roaming off, but you do have to check to make sure it stays off (a problem with my Blackberry bold, not a problem on the Blackberry torch)

The only tricky thing is when you are in a European country, you can call the USA and you can call another US phone holder who is physically in the same country your are in. They can call you from the USA. The only thing that is difficult is being on one European country (France) for example, you can't call someone in Germany, even if they have a US phone number or a German phone number) It is US to and from the one country and you can call anyone physically in the same country but not a different country.

 

Not sure why but that is how it works.

[GuitarPlayer]

Given the opportunity to use my laptop at home, or on vacation on a beach, I'd definitely choose the beach! but that's just me...

 

Given the opportunity to use my laptop at home, or NOT use it on vacation on a beach, well...you figure it out. :rolleyes:

 

GP

[tabby1881]

I know that this is a silly question, but what is data on cell phones? I'm just figuring out how to text, if you know what I mean...

[southbayer]

Guess its more economical to text instead.

Went on the Fascination out of Jacksonville and knew I had some important calls and texts while I was gone for the 5 days. So I called Sprint the day before and had them turn on international calling. We were local til about 7 pm first day out to sea and then the international roaming red triangle came on on my phone. Then sprint sent me a text on how to call the usa from the ship and pricing (2.99 per minute and 50 cents to text out and 5 cents to receive). when we got to Nassau we got a new text with lower rates ($2.29 per minute) While I did have a wonderful vacation, the phone was useful with a big deal we closed and on the vacation side, we made some last minute changes in Nassau and ended up saving several hundreds of dollars on some tours. We called from the ship to local tour operators- so the bill looks high but saved us money. Just went on line and copied this over. Calls are actually per minute used... mostly with tour operators. I guess we texted quite a bit.. mostly in as I am involved in several organizations and people text me reports and such. Did not ruin my vacation at all. Here are the reports:

 

 

International Roaming Used

 

 

39 / 0 Included

Remaining

 

 

0

Additional used39 Additional charge$93. 51

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Messaging

 

 

 

Intl. Roaming Text Used

 

 

327 / 0 Included

Remaining

 

 

0

Additional used327 Additional charge$23. 10

[Shazza1111]

Sorry, but not everyone can cut all ties with work when they go on vacation. The only way some people may be able to take a vacation is if they work some while away. Sad but true. In this economy, I'd do whatever I had to. Fortunately, I have a work laptop and a work cell phone, and I have a personal cell phone and a personal laptop. When I go on vacation, the work equipment is left at home. I'm fortunate that way. Not everyone is.

 

I agree, I consider I am lucky to work for myself but with that comes responsibilites to my clients, I leave a message on my phone that I am on annual leave and an alternate contact, but in an emergency they can email or call me(I also let them know that phone calls may not be returned immediatley), its the least I can do, these people have trusted me to arrange the finance on one of their lifes biggest purchases often I can save a lot of angst with an email or 2, also on a personal note we will be leaving our to children 19 and 22 at home, they are very responsible however I cannot completley cut ties for 3 weeks no way no how:) so if the choice is take a laptop and have an enjoyable holiday with my husband or stay at home, its a no brainer:rolleyes:

[GlendaleCruiser]

I know that this is a silly question, but what is data on cell phones? I'm just figuring out how to text, if you know what I mean...

 

 

Internet access such as on an Iphone.

[GlendaleCruiser]

I will be using internet access on the ship to update Facebook. Faster/easier than texting really (but not cheaper) to let everyone know where we are (ports of call) and how much fun we are having.:D

[tabby1881]

Internet access such as on an Iphone.

 

Thank you!

[raylene5]

Just out of curiosity, what the heck was updating that took that long? I've had iPhones for over 2 years, and ATT even longer, nothing I've ever updated took longer than maybe 10-15 minutes tops. And oh, I've heard how terrible ATT service is for many, I'm in 1% of ATT subscribers that gets good service from them.

 

He was just doing updates to apps like Angry Birds actually :) He didn't think it would take that long either, that's why it never occurred to him that it would start updating again once we were in Mexico. AT&T is notoriously bad in urban areas so I guess that explains some of it.

 

We kept joking with him that AT&T would have a limo waiting for us with champagne once we debarked back in San Diego! :)

[raylene5]

My DH does not particularly enjoy cruises, at least nothing more than 5 days long. And I think one of the main reasons is because he can't be on his computer/internet onboard without it being pretty expensive. He is a workaholic and hates not being able to work on something (be it work, a book he's writing, etc.). I would prefer he just brings it and works on it during the day and be happy then not being able to go on cruises at all because he can't work.

 

I LOVE cruising so I've booked a solo cruise for the fall...he didn't want to go and I did and darn it!, I will! :)