Please tell me about SIM cards

[Joanne G.]

My cell provider (Virgin Mobile) does not appear to offer any options for service abroad.  I have been researching options for two upcoming cruise from Southampton, one with stops in Belgium, Norway, and Denmark and the other with multiple stops around the British Isles with additional stops in Belgium, France, and the Netherlands.  Each trip will include several days pre-and post-cruise in London.   I would like to be able to use Google maps, maybe check a museum's web site or phone them for information, maybe call a taxi, be able to text my friends at home, be able to make or receive a U.S. call in case of emergency at home  - general low-volume tourist uses.    I researched phone rental plans, but I could purchase a phone for about the same as the daily rental rates for these two (and hopefully more) trips in Europe.

 

I just ordered an unlocked iPhone SE from Apple ( $249 in their clearance section in case anyone is interested).  I did this with the assumption that I could buy a SIM card that would allow the phone to work in Europe.  But the options are dizzying.   First of all, am I right that if I find a suitable SIM card, I can put it in this phone and be good to go in Europe?  If my assumption is wrong, I will return the phone unopened.   If my assumption is right, can any one recommend a reputable source of SIM cards and give me any advice of what to look for to be able to do what I want to do.  I would rather purchase it before leaving home in order not to spend precious time in London looking for a place to purchase the card.

 

Thanks so much for any information.  

[LHT28]

I feel your pain

I just bought  this  SIM  for our April trip

https://www.worldtravelsim.com/proddetail.asp?prod=World.Travel.SIM

 

Fingers  crossed it works in Europe  most reviews  said it was fine

I did a test call  here & it worked ok

You get a UK number & USA number  to use

I just need  it for voice & text  so it looked like a good option for our needs

Will report back in May

 

[FreestyleNovice]

You could buy a top up SIM with a dataplan in Europe. Europe (the EU) is seen as one whole zone due to EU regulations recently so there wouldn't be any international charges and your rates would be lower than with a SIM like LHT28 has. Practically more Mb for money, but it might require some work to top up (buy cards with codes and redeeming them via app or computer spoken line) and probably switching the standard plan to a shared plan for a better data rate, done via a text message code.

 

 

[LHT28]

Just now, FreestyleNovice said:

 Practically more Mb for money, but it might require some work to top up (buy cards with codes and redeeming them via app or computer spoken line) and probably switching the standard plan to a shared plan for a better data rate, done via a text message code.

 

 

I am technology challenged  so I did not understand  what you are saying  😉

I cannot imagine trying to figure it out on the fly

So I  am hoping my SIM works OK in Europe

 

[FreestyleNovice]

24 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

I am technology challenged  so I did not understand  what you are saying  😉

I cannot imagine trying to figure it out on the fly

So I  am hoping my SIM works OK in Europe

 

 

Heheh, if not: buy a local prepaid SIM card, let the seller help with an additional bundle/type of plan choice,  top up and buy enough of those cards/codes to top up again after use. 

[gnome12]

1 hour ago, FreestyleNovice said:

You could buy a top up SIM with a dataplan in Europe. Europe (the EU) is seen as one whole zone due to EU regulations recently so there wouldn't be any international charges and your rates would be lower than with a SIM like LHT28 has. Practically more Mb for money, but it might require some work to top up (buy cards with codes and redeeming them via app or computer spoken line) and probably switching the standard plan to a shared plan for a better data rate, done via a text message code.

 

 

I will be starting a cruise in Denmark which is in the EU, and sailing to Norway (not in the EU but generally included in EU roaming plans) and the UK (won't be in the EU by the time a get there so who knows). Researching prepaid plans for Denmark, I find that some don't include data roaming, and others massively cap data while roaming. For example Lebara on their 100 GB plan caps EU data at 5 GB, while LycaMobile on their 100 GB plan caps EU data at 7.25 GB. The general rule is fair usage. That said, each of these plans costs about $20 Canadian, which is really inexpensive. Receiving calls is always free. The only issue seems to be that I can't send foreign texts, or maybe I can as long as I have some additional credit in the account..

 

The SIM that LHT28 is using costs at least 29 cents US per minute for calls, and data is 10 cents per MB, so costs US $100 for a GB of data. If it is just for emergencies, it is great. If you really expect to use it, you will find that it is costly.

[Globaliser]

1 hour ago, gnome12 said:

... the UK (won't be in the EU by the time a get there so who knows).

 

Who knows whether or not the UK will still be in the EU then! Not even that is certain.

[gnome12]

28 minutes ago, Globaliser said:

 

Who knows whether or not the UK will still be in the EU then! Not even that is certain.

I suppose that is true but there isn’t a lot of time left for anything except a hard Brexit. 

[LHT28]

I saw some people on tripadvisor  discussing  Orange Holiday sim

https://orange.simoptions.com/

it might work for some of you

I just wanted a cheap pay as you go plan

It is  all so confusing  for  those of us  that are not glued to cell phones 😉

[Alaskanb]

4 hours ago, LHT28 said:

 

I just wanted a cheap pay as you go plan

It is  all so confusing  for  those of us  that are not glued to cell phones 😉

So agree.

I ordered an O2 SIM for our late October 2019 trip only to discover it expired on October 16. Thankfully I get a full refund. Will wait until later in the summer to purchase one. Looking forward to hear about your experience. 

[gnome12]

39 minutes ago, Alaskanb said:

So agree.

I ordered an O2 SIM for our late October 2019 trip only to discover it expired on October 16. Thankfully I get a full refund. Will wait until later in the summer to purchase one. Looking forward to hear about your experience. 

I won’t pre-order any more, after a bad experience where I was supposed to have credit but didn’t. Now I pick a SIM up either at the airport or early in my trip, and let them set it up for me. 

[Joanne G.]

8 hours ago, LHT28 said:

I feel your pain

I just bought  this  SIM  for our April trip

https://www.worldtravelsim.com/proddetail.asp?prod=World.Travel.SIM

 

Fingers  crossed it works in Europe  most reviews  said it was fine

I did a test call  here & it worked ok

You get a UK number & USA number  to use

I just need  it for voice & text  so it looked like a good option for our needs

Will report back in May

 

Thanks for the info.  That looks like a suitable choice for my needs.   I think I will go with it.  I won't be able to wait for your report in May, as I leave April 24.   I will report after I return May 5.  

 

Thanks also to gnome12 for pointing out that data usage with this card will get  expensive pretty fast.  I will keep that in mind, saving any heavy data use for wi-fi on the ship using my current phone.   And no, I did not for one minute consider a temporary sim card transplant for my current phone.  I would rather do without cell and data service in Europe than risk screwing up anything with my current phone, whose operation I basically understand  LOL!

 

Who all remembers the days when there wasn't even internet access on ship?  How quickly our novelties become necessities!

 

[LHT28]

Just now, Joanne G. said:

Thanks for the info.  That looks like a suitable choice for my needs.   I think I will go with it.  I won't be able to wait for your report in May, as I leave April 24.   I will report after I return May 5.  

 

 

 

We leave the UK  April 22nd  so will post here before that so it will give you an idea

the thing I liked was that the  card balance  never expire  so if we do not use up  the initial $25  they will be there next trip (I hope)  😉

& I can top up online if needed

 

[TickledBlue]

We are going to be in London for 3 days and cruising to Dublin and Iceland.   Planning on purchasing this CellHire data-only sim:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FKVS8R3/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_2?smid=A2EQRE0AAQW0WO&psc=1

 

Pretty decent reviews.

 

I was thinking to place in my wife's phone and tether my phone to it (which is allowed with this card).  Hopefully, will be able to make/receive wifi calls.   4GB will be more than enough to do what I plan to do with it.

[BellKat]

We have T-Mobile and never have to worry about SIM cards. We are covered in all countries except 7. If you are 55 or over, they have a ridiculously low monthly rate for 2 lines. They also have low rates for military. When we were in Amsterdam, the coverage was actually better there than in some areas of the U.S. 

[geoherb]

We're also Virgin Mobile customers. I downloaded maps to use offline on my phone. They worked great in London, Dublin, Belfast, Edinburgh, and Glasgow on our British Isles cruise in 2017 and then again in London, Hamburg, and Rotterdam last fall.

[adstz]

One thing to be aware of with switching sim cards.

While in Australia I bought a sim card at a phone store and they inserted it. It was very cheap, maybe $10. They said it would be about an hour for it to boot up. We took off to do some touring around.  A few hours later I still had no phone. I ended up going back to the same store on our way back to the hotel. Took them another 30 minutes or so to figure out how to make it work. There are other adjustments that have to be made when you switch sims.

After that it worked fine for the balance of our trip.

We then went to New Zealand. I bought a sim card in the airport, had them install it and have no problems at all with it.

So it's not as simple as just switching out a new sim card.

[LHT28]

Just now, adstz said:

One thing to be aware of with switching sim cards.

While in Australia I bought a sim card at a phone store and they inserted it. It was very cheap, maybe $10. They said it would be about an hour for it to boot up. We took off to do some touring around.  A few hours later I still had no phone. I ended up going back to the same store on our way back to the hotel. Took them another 30 minutes or so to figure out how to make it work. There are other adjustments that have to be made when you switch sims.

After that it worked fine for the balance of our trip.

We then went to New Zealand. I bought a sim card in the airport, had them install it and have no problems at all with it.

So it's not as simple as just switching out a new sim card.

 

seems  strange 

we just added 2 different sim cards to my phone  I just  needed to activate one  sim online then select the zone or carrier

The other sim was already activated

Took DH 5 min to install

 

[gnome12]

29 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

 

seems  strange 

we just added 2 different sim cards to my phone  I just  needed to activate one  sim online then select the zone or carrier

The other sim was already activated

Took DH 5 min to install

 

 

46 minutes ago, adstz said:

One thing to be aware of with switching sim cards.

While in Australia I bought a sim card at a phone store and they inserted it. It was very cheap, maybe $10. They said it would be about an hour for it to boot up. We took off to do some touring around.  A few hours later I still had no phone. I ended up going back to the same store on our way back to the hotel. Took them another 30 minutes or so to figure out how to make it work. There are other adjustments that have to be made when you switch sims.

After that it worked fine for the balance of our trip.

We then went to New Zealand. I bought a sim card in the airport, had them install it and have no problems at all with it.

So it's not as simple as just switching out a new sim card.

I have had both experiences. It may depend on what settings an individual carrier uses. I second the comment about asking them to set it up where you purchase it. 

[crafter188]

On 2/26/2019 at 4:57 PM, gnome12 said:

 

I have had both experiences. It may depend on what settings an individual carrier uses. I second the comment about asking them to set it up where you purchase it. 

I have never put a different SIM card in my iPhone so have a couple of questions:

- will the apps on my phone still be there with the new SIM card?

- will I have to sign back into everything? (Which means I’d better get all those passwords sorted out, haha)

 

These may sound like stupid questions, but you know what they say about stupid questions!

 

Thanks for any advice,

Cheryl

[Globaliser]

 

 

On 2/20/2019 at 6:11 PM, gnome12 said:

On 2/20/2019 at 5:42 PM, Globaliser said:

On 2/20/2019 at 4:26 PM, gnome12 said:

the UK (won't be in the EU by the time a get there so who knows).

 

Who knows whether or not the UK will still be in the EU then! Not even that is certain.

 

I suppose that is true but there isn’t a lot of time left for anything except a hard Brexit. 

 

Now, tell us again when it is that you're coming to the UK? 

[gnome12]

29 minutes ago, Globaliser said:

 

 

 

Now, tell us again when it is that you're coming to the UK? 

I arrive July 30. I suppose I ought to do some research on UK prepaid services, both for this reason and because EU roaming data is limited on the plan I expect to get in Denmark and it may be running low. 

[CLCruzer]

On 2/20/2019 at 6:24 AM, LHT28 said:

I feel your pain

I just bought  this  SIM  for our April trip

https://www.worldtravelsim.com/proddetail.asp?prod=World.Travel.SIM

 

Fingers  crossed it works in Europe  most reviews  said it was fine

I did a test call  here & it worked ok

You get a UK number & USA number  to use

I just need  it for voice & text  so it looked like a good option for our needs

Will report back in May

 

Thank you for finding this option.  Verizon's plan was $10 for  EACH TIME we turned our phone on.  

[gnome12]

1 hour ago, CLCruzer said:

Thank you for finding this option.  Verizon's plan was $10 for  EACH TIME we turned our phone on.  

My problem with these multiple-country options is that data is very expensive, and that is what I use most. Even if you download maps in advance, there are always things I want to look up.

[XLVIII]

We traveled to the UK and France last May and got the Vodafone Pay as you go 1 package. We're cruising again this May to the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and France and plan to get the same. The days you don't use your phone, you don't pay anything. The days you do use your phone it caps out at £1 per day for unlimited minutes and texts and 500Mb of data (each day) and is valid throughout Europe. We put £10 on each phone and that lasted us for 10 days. Just dropped into the local Vodafone store and they set it all up for us. There's a Vodafone store in the Westquay Shopping Centre not far from port.