Anybody participate on a conference call on a Cruise with RCCL!

[wantocruisemore]

Husband just found out he has to participate in a business conference call while we're on the ship. We fly out in 4 days, cruise is in 9. It's in the Med if that makes a difference.

 

Has anyone had to do this? I know there is an emergency number you can reach the ship and so forth. Is this the best way? And is it possible to set up a specific time? He is planning it for a sea day.

 

And yes he is going to get the international plan from Verizon for his Global Blackberry. It's just with this call he will need to insure reception since there will be several on the line. Skype would not be an option.

 

And please no lectures about leaving business at home. Sometimes you can't and it is important he do the call, rather than one of his associates back home.

 

Any help would be appreciated. :)

[Macfans]

It might be cheaper to rent a satellite phone.

[reallyitsmema]

Husband just found out he has to participate in a business conference call while we're on the ship. We fly out in 4 days, cruise is in 9. It's in the Med if that makes a difference.

 

Has anyone had to do this? I know there is an emergency number you can reach the ship and so forth. Is this the best way? And is it possible to set up a specific time? He is planning it for a sea day.

 

And yes he is going to get the international plan from Verizon for his Global Blackberry. It's just with this call he will need to insure reception since there will be several on the line. Skype would not be an option.

 

And please no lectures about leaving business at home. Sometimes you can't and it is important he do the call, rather than one of his associates back home.

 

Any help would be appreciated. :)

Just have international dialing activated on his phone and I know on my son's droid, we also had to have the sim card activated. We also added a global value plan to his phone that reduced the cost per minute by 50 cents. I think that was $4.99 for the month which I then removed once he was back in the states.

 

Just call Verizon and it is a quick process. I needed my son's phone though to get the sim card info and then he had to do *228 and option 2 to update the phone. I wouldn't wait to do it though just in case you run into any issues that might take a few days to fix. It took me a week to get it done on my son's phone because I found out we were on credit hold because of a cancelled account that had been opened up in error under my husbands social security number. Luckily it was just a keying issue on their part and not identity theft as was first thought but it took until the morning of my son's flight to the UK to get it all sorted out.:eek:

[Paulxyz2004]

Regardless of using the ships phone or cell phone service, there is no such thing as insuring reception.

 

At sea all calls have to go through satellite service and satellite service can be spotty at times / in certain areas.

 

Most likely it will be OK, but no such guarantee as there´s a lot of stuff influencing.

[Syran]

I hate to say it, but honestly, you may be better off waiting until you are in port. You are probably looking at anywhere from $2-$5 a minute, probably closer to the latter then the former.

[reallyitsmema]

I hate to say it, but honestly, you may be better off waiting until you are in port. You are probably looking at anywhere from $2-$5 a minute, probably closer to the latter then the former.

It actually isn't as bad as you would think. If he has to make a business call, he will most likely be reimbursed by his employer. Sometimes you just have no choice.

 

Here are the rates for Verizon.

 

http://b2b.vzw.com/international/Global_Phone/plans_coverage.html

[Clarea]

Don't know if this is an option, but Diamond C&A members (and up) get a coupon for stateroom phone discount. I believe the charge would be $2 per minute with the coupon. That's cheaper than my AT&T cell rates thru the ship's Cellular at Sea service.

[Calker]

Depending on your phone and your service provider, and the provider you hook into either on board or on land, you may need to do more than just have international calling enabled. Learned this from experience while traveling in Spain, France, and Italy three years ago.

 

Blackberry worked great in Italy and France - but no luck in Spain. It was explained to me that not all providers use the same systems so phones may not all work the same in each country.

 

Some of the suggestions I received after not having reliable service:

use a satelitte phone

have your provider check service availablity at each port you will use the phone

check with the cruise line to insure compatability

schedule the phone call for later in the day/make test phone calls as soon as you reach port/get any issues corrected before scheduled phone call

 

Hope this helps. (I fully understand the work/travel/vacation issues - sometimes you just can't walk away and have no contact with the office)

[Paulxyz2004]

If he has to make a business call, he will most likely be reimbursed by his employer. Sometimes you just have no choice.

 

 

Yep and sometimes this can end the discussion pretty quick.:D

The day before one of my cruises the boss said to me you are surely taking your notebook to get online and fix any problems that might come up - just in case.

I said sure I do and you make sure to pick up the roaming bill for satellite service from the ship.:p I had to remind im that I could not use the WIFI onboard for this as we are not allowed to connect through unsecure WiFi and he had to get me an UMTS card and eat the cost for this.

Well it pretty much ended the discussion and he said I could forget about it:p

[laxfanmom1]

My DH used his international blackberry successfully last year while IN PORT at all of our ports in Italy, Greece, Turkey and even Egypt. However, he had NO SERVICE AT ALL while we were at sea. I would try to schedule the call for a port day, although the time difference can be a pain.

 

One of our cruising friends was trying to hook up a conference call from the ship (she is a board of directors type for several companies) and she was not able to get it done. After 3-4 days of trying she gave up and relaxed the rest of the cruise. And, yes, I know that that it not always an option. I'm just thankful that blackberries were invented. Used to be that we had to drag a portable fax machine with us on vacation! Tough telling the kids "No, your boogie board won't fit - we have to take Dad's fax machine!".

[wantocruisemore]

Thank you for all the responses. He is going to talk with Verizon today.

I'll mention Satellite phone too.

 

Unfortunately, all the ports are very intense and there will not be a time he can go "off-tour" to take what may be an hour or longer conference call. Crete might be a possibility, but when this gets scheduled it needs to go.

 

He has tried to resolve it without needing the call, but so far, no luck. As far as reimbursement, no problem, he's the Senior Partner.:)

 

I am going to see if he can possibly do the call at our pre-cruise in Rome, that would be easier. But right now it looks like the issue that will need immediate answers will occur during the cruise.

[CoachT]

I am surprised that no one has mentioned the obvious. MagicJack! Either when on the cruise itself paying the per minute charge to be online through a notebook or netbook.

 

Or sitting at a WiFi cafe at one of the ports. Yes he has to be tethered to the computer (or cordless but not as secure), but it is absoltely the cheapest option.

[skiiergirl]

Mr Ski has had to confirm call from ship before. Fortunately the company pays for them. The last one was 1.5 hours from the Caribbean but luckily we had the coupon so I think it was $1.95 per minute rather than the $8.95.

 

Luckily for me.... He had to have total privacy.....so I volunteered to go to the spa for a massage during that time! Lol

[wantocruisemore]

Mr Ski has had to confirm call from ship before. Fortunately the company pays for them. The last one was 1.5 hours from the Caribbean but luckily we had the coupon so I think it was $1.95 per minute rather than the $8.95.

 

Luckily for me.... He had to have total privacy.....so I volunteered to go to the spa for a massage during that time! Lol

 

 

How did he do it? Did he just arrange with Guest Services ahead of time, or how? And what kind of coupon? (Although DH is Sr. ptner, no sense wasting money that ultimately affects his bottom line. Our account will get reimbursed but if I can save some money, I will).

 

And believe me, we would not have a problem finding alternative things to so on a cruise than just sitting in a cabin listening to him.:D

[Clarea]

How did he do it? Did he just arrange with Guest Services ahead of time, or how? And what kind of coupon? (Although DH is Sr. ptner, no sense wasting money that ultimately affects his bottom line. Our account will get reimbursed but if I can save some money, I will).

 

And believe me, we would not have a problem finding alternative things to so on a cruise than just sitting in a cabin listening to him.:D

There is a discount coupon in the Diamond and Diamond Plus Crown & Anchor coupon books that are distributed at the beginning of every cruise.

[efields2]

How did he do it? Did he just arrange with Guest Services ahead of time, or how? And what kind of coupon?

 

My guess is that she was referring to just calling from the in-room phone. Diamond and up members get a discount coupon in their C&A booklets.

[alexkrn46]

Magic Jack or Skype will not work on the ship since this is blocked.

 

Since money is no object, just pick up the phone in your stateroom and call. Unless you are Diamond Plus, it will be $9.00 a minute. We use this option since it is cheaper than our cell phone with the coupon.

[CoachT]

Magic Jack is NOT blocked.

[wantocruisemore]

Unfortunately, not Diamond so no coupon.

 

I'll relay all the info to him and let him weigh the options based on whether he feels comfortable doing it by cell or really needs extra privacy.

 

He would not be the one initiating the call. We're talking maybe 10 or more on the line. So they would need to call the ship and then call him I guess in the room? Is this something that would need to be worked ahead?

 

I still think his best option would be to do it pre-cruise or maybe at Crete where we do not have private excursions arranged. We got a Mobal phone too so I guess they could call that in Crete. I think he was just hoping not to have to interfere with any ports of call. He's not really into the shipboard activities except maybe an after dinner show.

[milton333]

He would not be the one initiating the call. We're talking maybe 10 or more on the line. So they would need to call the ship and then call him I guess in the room? Is this something that would need to be worked ahead?

 

Just in response to this aspect, it would be much better to get a call-in number, rather than to try to have them reach his room on the ship. I'm surprised his firm doesn't have a plan like that, I'd have him ask if whoever provides their phone service can supply a conference call dial-in number. Better call quality, too, to have 10 people on individual phones via conference vs. all sitting in a room trying to make themselves heard/understood by speaker phone.

 

But I agree with the posters who suggest trying to do this while in port, or just dealing with the cost of the stateroom phone. Maybe there could be an initial briefing/agenda transmitted by email, so the call can be shorter?

[travelpeon]

Perhaps someone on your roll call is diamond(+) would be willing to share their phone.

 

Otherwise, I did a quick search on flyertalk for sat phones and this site comes recommended http://www.outfittersatellite.com/rentals.htm

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travel-technology/837437-satellite-phone-recommendation-2.html

 

Price might come out a wash but then he could take the call on land or sea.

 

Also try e-mailing the concierge for your ship. They might be able to work something out. After all, the cruiseline needs to conduct business while the ship is in motion and faxes/emails/calls to the central office are sometimes necessary.