Phone Home

[FEDJAN]

I just learned another lesson; the hard way. My son was in Jamacia for a week last May. He ran into what he considered a problem and called dear ol' Dad - collect. He didn't call once, but four times (collect). I got the phone bill yesterday - over $200. My question is, when I am in the Carribean on my first criuse (March 2006), if I want to 'phone home' to tell DS what a great time we are having, what's the best way to do that? I've seen phone cards at WalMart, Walgreens, etc. but I've never thought about using them. How do you seasoned cruise keep in touch with home while a tropic ports. Thanks again. You folks are great. Have a great day.

[nana t]

Don't waste your money on the Walmart calling cards because they don't work outside the U.S. We ended up calling from our room on the ship and paid 6.99 per minute. Needless to say we kept it short and sweet. We only made one call on two different days. I called Mom and she passed the word along to everybody else that we were having a great time. Before you leave just tell everybody that you will call them when you get back.

[LV2COOK]

Usually somewhere on or near the pier in ports there is a pay phone which you can use your Visa card to call home, last cruise this cost about $3 a minute. Better yet sometimes there will be an office type set up with desks and phones always air conditioned... you go in and an attendant places your call with a timer you have your checkin chat and hang up then pay.... on Christmas Day 2004 we phoned home from Costa Rica for ohhhh about 8 mins. it cost about $12... such a deal....by the way we never to check on the kids (don't want to know) but always check on the dog hahaha have a great time!:p

[kitty9]

The cheapest way to keep in touch is email. On some ships it's only 50 cents. Bring your cell phone from home. In places like St. Thomas, San Juan and the Bahamas your cell phone will work. US purchased phone cards do not work in the islands---you have to purchase local phone cards and then find a phone that works with them.

[huskerdude]

Usually somewhere on or near the pier in ports there is a pay phone which you can use your Visa card to call home, last cruise this cost about $3 a minute. Better yet sometimes there will be an office type set up with desks and phones always air conditioned... you go in and an attendant places your call with a timer you have your checkin chat and hang up then pay.... on Christmas Day 2004 we phoned home from Costa Rica for ohhhh about 8 mins. it cost about $12... such a deal....by the way we never to check on the kids (don't want to know) but always check on the dog hahaha have a great time!:p

 

This is what we also do. It is so much cheaper and easier than the phone cards, some work some don't, depending on where you are. Almost all the ports of call will have places like this.

[Capt_BJ]

I've spent 12 years on ships and hit most every island in the Carib at least once, plus several major tourist ports of Pacific coast of MX, the Aleutians and Kodiak for a couple of years. Married the entire time, I called home every time I could.

 

Here's some hints:

 

1. If you want the best rate to call home, buy a local phone card..about $10 should do it and make a call on their system....of course if the island is Spanish speaking and you are not this may be a problem. From Mx ports this was the best way to go altho in the last couple of years US cell phones were working in Acapulco and other major Pacific Mx ports if you had international access turned on. But cost per minute....local card was still the best bet.

 

2. Most of the time in the Carib' I used an AT&T calling card. Not every pay phone in the islands had AT&T access but those that did were ususlly labeled as such. Then you could call 1-800- call att and use the card. The rate wasn't that bad and beat cellular roaming.

 

3. In USVI cellular roaming is an option but beware the charges...varies by company but I have a couple of horror stories.

 

4. In AK - beware those roaming charges again The down side of AK is that the cellular infrastructure isn't what we have in the lower 48 so you are hit or miss for service at all and how your carrier bills can be a surprise. The good news however is that they are fully up on the land line side of the world and my best rates were using an AT&T phone card. 1-800 from any phone booth and off you go.

 

5. The Internet tip for shipboard access isn't a bad one..... Once we started getting shipboard Internet access the phone call need dropped off....but it is still nice to hear a human voice some times. 'course I was gone longer than a week!!! There was a time when calling home once every 2 or 3 weeks was considered a big treat.

 

6. And Beware the temptation to just pick up the phone on the ship....maritime satellite calls ain't cheap even b4 the cruise line marks 'em up. Measure in dollars per minute are not unusual....

 

For those curious

 

US Coast Guard - 27 years and still going

 

10 years sea duty in the Carib' incl 2 in Command of a 1000 tonner aka Medium Endurance Cutter

 

2 years in command of a 3000 ton High Endurance Cutter in the Pacific - patrols split 50/50 'twixt South towards the Equator (crossed the line) and north doing the stuff you see on the discovery channel with those crab fishers in the Bearing, visiting Kodiak, Dutch and Adak and watching 'the line' (crossed the date line too)

 

Yea - I know how to call home.....

 

many will have stories to tell me I'm wrong I'm sure, but I doubt many have 12 years of experience to back it up....been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

[FEDJAN]

Thanks for all the great info. I knew I could count on you guys. LV2COOK, you've got me figured out. If I did 'phone home', it would be to check on the dogs. DS says he feeds them regularly and they've always been alive when we returned from our travels, but it does hurt to check.

 

Thanks again