No Verizion service in San Juan?

[HockeyMom44]

Leaving fro SJU in a few days.

Someone from the ship is already there,she posted on our Facebook page that her phone wont work there.

That Verizion pulled out of Puerto Rico?

Any One???

TIA>

[serene56]

I wonder if its her plan?

Continental US only?

 

I always lost service when i Left port for that reason

[Tapi]

Not true. I'm originally from Puerto Rico and I travel there frequently. While its true that Verizon is no longer in PR, service is STILL provided to Verizon customers by the local company that took over called Claro.

 

Your Verizon phone will work just like in the US mainland at no additional charges or roaming bills. Don't be spooked if your phone says "extended network" or something along those lines. That's completely normal as its not Verizon's network anymore, but one of its partners.

 

As mentioned before, I travel to PR frequently (last time in December and going again in a few weeks) and I've never had problems with service or paid an extra dime to use my phone there.

Edited January 20, 2015 by Tapi

[poison7fl]

AT&T worked great, and I kept a signal for miles offshore... Had Voice, Data, and Text...

 

Great coverage in St. Thomas as well.

 

(I'm actually using Cricket prepaid, which is owned by AT&T)

 

Alternatively, if you have no cell coverage, find a free WiFi hotspot and use a VOIP app like magicjack and make calls for free over someone else's network... I do it on Grand Cayman at the port...

Edited January 20, 2015 by poison7fl

[nelsoneramos]

Yes, Verizon is no longer here in PR, I don't know if they still offer coverage for US costumers without roaming charges, you may need to check with Verizon Costumer Service.

[joepeka]

We haven't been in San Juan in a little over a year but when we were, our Verizon phones worked on their "extended network" - calls we made to the U.S. were no additional charge. In checking Verizon's coverage map on their web site, it appears that there still is very spotty extended network 3G coverage in Puerto Rico including the San Juan area.

Edit: Two previous posters tell conflicting stories about Verizon coverage and our experience is as I state above (extended network).

Edited January 20, 2015 by joepeka

[Tapi]

In checking Verizon's coverage map on their web site, it appears that there still is very spotty extended network 3G coverage in Puerto Rico including the San Juan area.

Edit: Two previous posters tell conflict stories about Verizon...

 

When I'm in Puerto Rico, I drive to the west side of the island since that's where my family lives. My phone does say Extended Network but it stays in 3G coverage pretty much the entire time, even when I'm clear on the other side of the island. As mentioned above, not an extra dime charged to use my phone in all the years since Claro took over the Verizon network there.

Edited January 20, 2015 by Tapi

[joepeka]

When I'm in Puerto Rico, I drive to the west side of the island since that's where my family lives. My phone does say Extended Network but it stays in 3G coverage pretty much the entire time, even when I'm clear on the other side of the island. As mentioned above, not an extra dime charged to use my phone in all the years since Claro took over the Verizon network there.

 

Our experience, though a little dated, is as you say so I'm guessing the OP will find that extended coverage in SJU as you do. :)

[dabear99211]

Not true. I'm originally from Puerto Rico and I travel there frequently. While its true that Verizon is no longer in PR, service is STILL provided to Verizon customers by the local company that took over called Claro.

 

Your Verizon phone will work just like in the US mainland at no additional charges or roaming bills. Don't be spooked if your phone says "extended network" or something along those lines. That's completely normal as its not Verizon's network anymore, but one of its partners.

 

As mentioned before, I travel to PR frequently (last time in December and going again in a few weeks) and I've never had problems with service or paid an extra dime to use my phone there.

 

So true so true, I just got back from a cruise that went to PR and my Verizon I-Phone worked great there without any extra charges.

[love my grandkids]

We were told it would work but it came up as roaming so just left it on airplane mode.

 

Next time guess I will ask Verizon directly.

[firemanbobswife]

Hubby's Verizon phone worked in Puerto Rico last January, but he didn't get any service in St Thomas. I, on the other hand, have AT&T and had no problem in either port. No additional roaming charges for either of us.

 

I don't know if it makes a difference, but do your friends maybe have a prepaid service? Not sure if it matters, but just trying to brainstorm as to what would be different with their plan vs DHs. This might sound silly, but did they pay their bill? Hey, sometimes you have to ask the obvious!

[horsegal]

I was just in there a week ago and voice and data worked without a problem and never said it was an extended network. My plan does specifically say voice and data is included there under my plan.

[alfaeric]

I'm in Ponce PR as I type this. My work iPhone is verison and just this morning i tried it. Extended phone and I had to use roaming data.

 

Thankfully, my personal iPhone is sprint and I have a very strong LTE signal right now.

 

 

 

 

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[pb19]

I went to this link and typed in the ports that I would be in....and the type of phone I have. It told me San Juan was fine to use just like being in the US. Free voice, text and data.

St. Thomas was $1.99 per call but free text and data! All of my other ports I'd have to pay $25 international fee for that month to use text and data.

 

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/tripplanner/tripplannercontroller

[ISurfTooMuch]

I can think of a few reasons her phone might not work.

 

1. Her phone's PRL is old and doesn't include roaming on Claro (not likely).

2. Her phone is set to only use her home network.

3. She's on prepaid, which usually doesn't allow roaming off of Verizon's network.

 

For #1, if she were still at home, she could call Verizon and ask them to send her phone a PRL update, but that doesn't work when you're roaming (and I really doubt that's the cause, anyway). For #2, she will need to check her phone's network settings to make sure roaming is enabled. For #3, there's no fix for that one, since it's just the nature of her plan.

[ozarkmama]

saw this on the trip advisor forums:

 

I just called Verizon to confirm this since I am traveling to Puerto Rico tomorrow. I was told that calls, texts, data should all work for all US-based phones. However, they did say that there is some service called "International Dialing Allowance". For some reason, some phones need this turned on to work from Puerto Rico, but I was assured there would be no extra charges for calls, texts, or data. One extra charge possible is if texting pictures or video.

 

 

 

I was told tha service is sketchy in some areas.

 

 

 

Also, if you have a smart phone, they suggest a power cycle (turn off and back on) the night before you go and possibly when you arrive.

 

 

 

If you don't have a smart phone, you should call *228 and choose option 2 to reset the phone so it chooses the best towers. And do the same when you get back."

[khm1]

I am in San Juan right now on vacation for a week. My phone has been working great. I have not seen the extended network message and my data is much faster than the last time I was here. I have been pleased with how well it all works. I have even been to Fajardo and Luquillo. The only place that I had any decrease in service was in el Yunque rainforest.

 

 

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