Best sim card for Holland America.

[swifty]

Any recommendations for a sim card to use in an unlocked phone that will work at sea? Please, not interested in wifi, only cell phone service.

[CruiserBruce]

It doesn't matter. Whatever you use has to go through the ship's tower. At the rates set by the cruise line.

[Hlitner]

Any recommendations for a sim card to use in an unlocked phone that will work at sea? Please, not interested in wifi, only cell phone service.

 

Am wondering if you are aware that using a cell phone at sea through the services on ships can be expensive (several dollars a minute). Many cell phone plans such as ATT and T-Mobile will allow you to make cell calls at sea (through CellularAt Sea) but it can be pricey. Here is a link to ATT's info on their package:

https://www.att.com/offers/international-plans/cruise-packages.html

 

We have T-Mobile because it works in over 200 countries and on ships. But when at sea we keep on phone in airplane mode and then only activate WiFi. Because we are frequent cruisers we get many free WiFi minutes on multiple lines and some discounts on other lines. Using WiFi is pretty reasonable and texting is a great option. WiFi calling may or may not work. If I were to make a true cell call at sea , while on a HAL ship, it would cost me $5.99 a minute! Like many frequent cruisers we avoid cell calls at sea and only make/receive calls when in ports or within range of land-based cells. If I texted using the cell service on HAL it would cost me 50 cents per text. But if I text over WiFi there is no extra cost other then the regular WiFi cost/package.

 

Hank

[swifty]

As I said in the original question, I am not interested in wifi.

[Cruising Is Bliss]

As I said in the original question, I am not interested in wifi.

 

No sim card or cell provider will work. Period. The ONLY cell access at sea is through the ship's wifi which connects through satellite.

[POA1]

You didn't say where you are located, so I'll just assume it's the US. If not, you can just look at the rates for the major carriers in your country.

 

 

AT&T

 

No Bundle - $3/minute, $.50/text, $6.14/MB

$50 Talk & Text - 50 minutes, $2/minute overage, unlimited texts

$100 Talk, Text, & Data - Unlimited talk and text, 200MB data with $2/MB overage

 

The plans include usage in Mexico, Canada, and select Caribbean islands at no additional cost.

 

 

T-Mobile

 

T-Mobile ONE and Simple Choice Plan customers receive the following rates on cruise ships: $.50/received text, $5.99/minute talk, no data

 

Customers on other plans must activate these rates by adding the World Class service to each line.

 

 

Sprint

 

Sprint Global Roaming - $2.50/minute talk, $.50/recipient text, $60/100MB data, $100/250MB data

 

 

Verizon

 

Pay as You Go - $2.99/minute talk, $.50/text sent and received, no data

 

For time in port, sign up for TravelPass, and your normal plan will be extended for $5 per day per line in Mexico and Canada and $10 per day per line in other countries where TravelPass is available, including most Caribbean destinations.

[0bnxshs]

Any recommendations for a sim card to use in an unlocked phone that will work at sea? Please, not interested in wifi, only cell phone service.

 

As has been stated, the SIM card only matters as to who will be billing you. Find the best SIM card provider for you. You will be using WMS Cellular at Sea for service. See: https://www.wmsatsea.com/faqs.html

[Hlitner]

No sim card or cell provider will work. Period. The ONLY cell access at sea is through the ship's wifi which connects through satellite.

 

That is simply not true! The ships do offer direct Cell Service. Rather get into some kind of online debate I am posting the actual information from HAL's own guide:

 

Mobile Phones: Holland America Line, through an agreement withWireless Maritime Service, proudly offers an advanced roamingnetwork onboard all Holland America ships allowing you to makeand receive calls, send and receive text messages and accessemails and surf the web while at sea using your own mobile phoneand telephone number.The Wireless Maritime Service system is available for use whenthe ship is in international waters. When user’s phones pick theshipboard signal, their phone will usually display “cellularatsea”,“Ship Roam” or “901-18”. Depending on the handset and the carrierthe user may be required to select “Roam” on the handset.For frequently asked questions about cell phone service on board,please go to www.wmsatsea.com.For questions about your service or about billing, please contactyour home network customer service.AT&T Mobile Packages: Guests with AT&T service may choosefrom a selection of packages offering discounted rates forinternational calls, texts and data while on board. Choose fromoptions for calling only, calling and messaging or calling, messagingand data. For complete details on plans and full terms andconditions, please visit www.att.com/cruiseships. To add a package,call 1-800-335-4685 or 1-916-843-4685 (A free call from AT&Twireless phone, including while onboard the ship).

 

(end of quote)

 

Wireless Marine Service is similar (in many ways) to Cellular at Sea (a competitior). You can connect directly to the onboard Cell system WITHOUT using WiFi...but it can be quite expensive ($5.95 a min is not unusual).

 

Not sure why the OP insists on not using WiFi....but the cell option is there if they are willing to pay the cost. There have been online reports of folks running up cell bills in the thousands of dollars (while on ships) so one should be careful when using the Cell system.. especially if they allow roaming and/or data downloads.

 

Getting back to the OP's question about a SIM, we are not aware of any "SIM" that would work other then ones on the usual plans such as ATT and T-Mobile. T-Mobile usually has some good deals on Plans without any contractual obligations so the OP might want to stop at one of their stores and inquire about getting a SIM. But rather then paying about $360 per hour to use your cell phone...one might want to reconsider and use WiFi :).

 

Hank

Edited August 30, 2018 by Hlitner

[POA1]

That is simply not true! The ships do offer direct Cell Service through Cellular at Sea which is a private company that provides a satellite link while at sea. One can link directly to Cellular at Sea WITHOUT having or using WiFi. But you do need a cell phone and most have one of the providers who works with Cellular at Sea such as ATT or T-Mobile (not sure if Verizon works). As I mentioned in another post, the cost of using Cellular at Sea seems to vary from $2.95 to $5.95 per minute depending on your own carrier/plan.

 

Hank

 

Verizon does work with Cellular at Sea. All of the Big 4 carriers do. The rates vary though. Our carrier is T-Mobile. Awesome for international land-based travel. Suxors for ship rates.

[swifty]

Anyone know the actual cell phone tower charge on Holland?

[Charles4515]

Anyone know the actual cell phone tower charge on Holland?

 

Check on your cell carriers web site to see if they can roam on cruise ships. If your carrier can they will have the raoming charges.

[POA1]

See my post with the rates. HAL does not charge you. The carrier does. Each has negotiated rates and posted rates. You may need to be a customer on a contract plan to get certain lower rates.

 

The list above is the best I can do. It was current in July.

[0bnxshs]

Anyone know the actual cell phone tower charge on Holland?

 

It's been stated a few times; it all depends on your carrier. Be sure whatever SIM card you use/buy works with WMS. See: wmsatsea.com/faqs.html

[Hlitner]

Anyone know the actual cell phone tower charge on Holland?

 

As a few of us have tried to explain, the actual cost is based upon your specific Cell Phone carrier and their plan. It varies from about $3 per min to over $6 per min. The billing for using the "Tower" will come from your own cell phone carrier.....and can lead to a major shock for those who refuse to understand that using cells at sea is costly.

 

Hank

[Charles4515]

As a few of us have tried to explain, the actual cost is based upon your specific Cell Phone carrier and their plan. It varies from about $3 per min to over $6 per min. The billing for using the "Tower" will come from your own cell phone carrier.....and can lead to a major shock for those who refuse to understand that using cells at sea is costly.

 

 

 

Hank

 

 

 

Yes, very costly. These days if you want service at sea it makes the most sense to buy the ships WiFi and use WiFi calling and not use the ships cell tower.

[IslandThyme]

Just out of curiosity, what is your reason for not wanting to use wi-fi calling? I can't even imagine a reason.

[Stratheden]

Some religions ban the use of the internet I believe.

[IslandThyme]

Wow, the things I don't know. Some religions allow the use of satellite phone service but not wi-fi?

[TiogaCruiser]

Yes, very costly. These days if you want service at sea it makes the most sense to buy the ships WiFi and use WiFi calling and not use the ships cell tower.

 

Just out of curiosity, does typical HAL ship Wi-Fi have enough bandwidth to really use Wi-Fi calling?

[Johaz]

Just out of curiosity, what is your reason for not wanting to use wi-fi calling? I can't even imagine a reason.

 

Last year I made several wifi phone calls while the ship was in Australia, and people also make them from the ship.

[thinfool]

To the OP...several prepaid cell services will not work on a ship. They are for domestic cell service only. You should be able to verify this if you are using a prepaid service.

 

Most, if not all, post paid cell services will work onboard a ship. You do not need to change or modify your sim card.

 

If you have a prepaid phone, then you may well need to subscribe to a postpaid service for your trip...as mentioned ATT, Verizon, T-mobile will all work. In this case, being unlocked is irrelevant.

[caribill]

Just out of curiosity, what is your reason for not wanting to use wi-fi calling? I can't even imagine a reason.

 

One reason is that not all cell phones have the wifi calling feature.

[4_canucks]

I looked but didn't see where the OP is sailing.

If it's the Baltic Sea then I've just posted my experience using a Croatian Bonbon SIM card in the Northern Europe/Baltic Sea forum. We were on the HAL Zuiderdam 10 nights round trip Copenhagen earlier this month.

BIG Disclaimer - i did not use cell voice nor cell text, it was all 4G/LTE/3G data picked up from shore signals (Data roaming). Not sure if this is what you're looking for.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2674071

[Sunset Viewers]

When we cruise we use our Garmin InReach (https://amzn.to/2vld49N) with the $65/month service (activated just during the cruise then suspended).

 

This device gives us unlimited text messages anywhere in the world (yes, even in the middle of the Pacific Ocean!) and also sends our GPS position to a private website every ten minutes that we can share with our family & friends! Anyone we send a text to can reply to that text from their phone just like a regular text.

 

Wouldn't travel without it!

[igraf]

You might be after you find out how much cellular service costs! You could cruise in the Penthouse Suite for what those phone calls are going to cost you. :-)

 

 

igraf

 

 

 

As I said in the original question, I am not interested in wifi.