Calling home

[jonnyb1425]

It is mine and my wife's first Med cruise later this week and we were wondering if there was a reasonably inexpensive way to keep in contact with our parents back home if an emergency arises? We are sailing on the Norwegian Epic from Spain to Italy to France and back. We are both from the US and don't know if we have other options besides email.

[paul929207]

You have other options, but they are not cheap.

 

Cell Phones - While at sea most carriers will charge $2.49 per minute in addition to any normal charges. Texts you send are 50 cents each. 0 to 5 cents for incoming text.

Internet 30 to 75 cents per minute for very slow service. Price depends on the package you buy.

Cabin phone $8 to $10 per minute.

 

In port, cell phone is based on your contract with your provider.

 

There are internet cafes in most ports with much lower rates than the ship. If you are bringing a wifi enabled device (such as a laptop), you can often find free wifi in port. You may have to buy a cup of coffee or something to get access code.

[Keith1010]

If they do e mail your best bet is e mail.

 

I would probably use the cell phones on an exception basis because of the cost.

 

I would speak with your cell phone carrier to be sure that international roaming is enabled on your phone and to go over the rates which will be country specific.

 

Keith

[cb at sea]

Each cruiseline has an emergency number for family to get in touch with you on the ship. Go to their website or brochure and give the number to your parents, along with the ship name and cabin #.....should there be an emergency, they can call...or someone can!

[SadieN]

Check on the NCL board. I know Carnival has a Connections page on carnival.com that allows free communication. Do not know if NCL has something similar.

[johneeo]

It is mine and my wife's first Med cruise later this week and we were wondering if there was a reasonably inexpensive way to keep in contact with our parents back home if an emergency arises? We are sailing on the Norwegian Epic from Spain to Italy to France and back. We are both from the US and don't know if we have other options besides email.

 

Email works well.

 

If there is a real emergency, not a lot you will be able to do, but, you can arrange to have them call you on the ship in your room.

[lamchops]

It is mine and my wife's first Med cruise later this week and we were wondering if there was a reasonably inexpensive way to keep in contact with our parents back home if an emergency arises? We are sailing on the Norwegian Epic from Spain to Italy to France and back. We are both from the US and don't know if we have other options besides email.

My DW bought an inexpensive (2x$5) international phone cards to use in port to call home. I think it was around 10-15 cents a minute.

[ducklite]

Cheapest option if you only need to be contacted in an emergency is to give them the ships phone number where they can leave a message. Then you can call back either from your room or using a phone card at the next port. A five euro card will get you about 300 minutes. You can buy phone cards at any news stand.