Communicating with Home

[JessInNY]

Shortly, I will be traveling for the first time without my children (3 and 8) - what is the best inexpensive way to communicate with them on a daily basis? Thanks for any information.:cool:

 

FYI... will on the star going to montego bay, cozumel, grand cayman, princess cay (sorry I forgot this info in my first message.

[chrysalis]

the ship's phones are very expensive...you can send emails from the ship (and receive them) in the internet cafe (at a cost per minute), or you can phone from pay phones from shore (expensive at some ports or use pre-paid cards)....cell phone, etc

 

folks here can be of more help if they knew what ports you might be going to

[MrsBoo]

We were always able to find internet cafes close to the pier (usually $1.00 for 15 minutes). There were also telephones available for around $.25 - $.35 per minute. Sure beats what the ship charges.

[JessInNY]

Just wondering if it would be easier to have an international calling card when in port. Any ideas would be helpful.

 

Thanks for the info

[sunprincess]

JessinNY,

 

Sounds as if you are going to need to talk with home when checking on your children.

You may want to invest in one of the cellulars that will work wherever.

The international phone cards we can get here in the States many times do not work. Believe me I have tried.

There are calling stations at the ports where you can purchase a local card to call.

Calling collect cost a fortune.

You can call from the ship, again, spending loads.

 

I have read posts where people have a certain cell phone that will work.

May be your best option.

Good Luck & enjoy your cruise :)

[tumper]

I will second that ! Calling stations or internet cafes are your best bets. The pay phones near the dock that are labled "Call the USA" are very expensive.

Also, it is hard to find a regular pay phone that will allow the international calling cards to go thru, and you spend alot of your time in port looking for pay phones. Been there, done that. Google search internet cafes and calling stations of the ports you will visit, and check these boards for recommendations.

Best tip - ask the crew of your ship - they visit those same islands every week or every other week and often know the best place to make a call home ! :)

[Cruisin' Chick]

those phones that are next to the port will usually be occupied by crew members calling their families.

[GloriaF]

I set up a free email with yahoo just for use when cruising - yahoo is easy to access and only the messages I want are there, so no wasting time sifting thru the junk mail that fills my regular email box. It isn't too costly to use the internet cafe onboard on sea days to check a yahoo email account only. That should help you feel connected to the kids back home, and then you could call from ports if you wished to hear their voices.

 

The phones that were mentioned are at http://www.mobal.com also. Your cell phone from the US will work in these ports, the cost varies according to your carrier, but with Cingular it is $1.99 per minute plus the long distance charges (Cayman Islands) from that locale. I figure the cost of the rental of a mobal phone can be applied to the minutes used on my regular cell phone and I'll come out ahead or break even at the least. The Caribbean islands do not offer a one-time upgrade to your cell plan. If you were going to Europe, Cingular has an international calling upgrade for $5.99/month. Too bad the Caribbean doesn't have the same option.

 

I know you will not be visiting these ports, but US Territories St Thomas, St John, and Puerto Rico are free calls if you have one of the national long distance with no roaming plans that are so common now.

[Coolmama_1]

Ditto on the Yahoo email. I have an account specifically for when we travel and it is very easy to access. You could arrange with your sitters to check in each day by a specific time so that you will have the peace of mind to enjoy your cruise.

[Pam in CA]

I agree with the others that the best way to communicate is via email. You might want to write down some notes about what you want to write before sitting down so you don't spend time composing or thinking about what you want to write. I also use the internet cafes onshore -- they're cheap and are much faster than onboard the ship.

 

One caveat -- there are times when the internet is "down" and you won't be able to use the computers. There's no guarantee you'll be able to use the onboard internet.

[BigBit]

If you have a laptop and are taking it with you, look into Skype (http://www.skype.com) which allows you to make phone calls to any phone number for a miniscule amount of money (2 - 3 cents per minute), using your laptop and an internet connection. Since your connection would be over the internet, you would also have to pay the ship the internet access fee, which I understand runs around $0.35 per minute. This is still far cheaper than the alternatives, and you don't have to wait for being in port to call. If you are lucky enough to have a suite, I believe that internet access is free then.

 

To do this, you will need to:

 

A) Download and install the software from Skype (address above - follow the links)

B) Set up a "Skype Out" account (You buy talk time in 10 Euro chunks - 1 Euro = $1.20 or so). You can pay via paypal or a credit card.

C) You can use the laptop's speaker and microphone to talk / listen, but this tends to create a problem with cross-talk. Cheapest solution is a $7 pair of earbud headphones, to isolate the speaker from the mike. If you are going to use Skype a lot, get a headset. I use the earbuds, works just fine.

D) Set Skype up and try it from a high speed connection at home first (costs you a few cents, but better than having to troubleshoot onboard).

E) Program the numbers you plan to call into Skype before you cruise. Remeber that Skype is an international service, so the proper format for U.S. numbers is +1XXXYYYZZZZ, where XXX is area code, YYYZZZZ is local number.

 

I just came back from a two week trip to China, and used Skype to call my wife as I pleased. Talked well over three hours, which cost me all of 4 Euros or $5. My company pays for the internet access...

 

Good luck...

[GloriaF]

My husband and I are thinking of buying a laptop for traveling -

 

1 - is there a cost to download Skype?

2 - can you receive calls as well or only outgoing?

 

I've bookmarked the website, and will study it later but wondered if you could answer these questions quickly. Thanks again!