Ship to shore phone service

[pinkie60]

I’m a caregiver for my husband who has Alzheimer’s. I am required to take a vacation with friends minus husband for my own well being. I have a cellphone but when I’m on cruises I usually use the cruise line ship to shore especially on sea days. I’m a usual Carnival cruiser and their service is great. My next cruise will be on the Sky to Cuba. Has anyone used Norwegian’s ship to shore phone service. Also, I’m not sure when we get to Cuba if there will be the ability to call from my cell phone. Any assistance about this would be greatly appreciated.

[graphicguy]

14 minutes ago, pinkie60 said:

I’m a caregiver for my husband who has Alzheimer’s. I am required to take a vacation with friends minus husband for my own well being. I have a cellphone but when I’m on cruises I usually use the cruise line ship to shore especially on sea days. I’m a usual Carnival cruiser and their service is great. My next cruise will be on the Sky to Cuba. Has anyone used Norwegian’s ship to shore phone service. Also, I’m not sure when we get to Cuba if there will be the ability to call from my cell phone. Any assistance about this would be greatly appreciated.

Depends on your cell provider.  Most of the big ones have a roaming agreement with Cuba's cell network.  I think cost varies from provider to provider.

 

Being so close to FL, I'm wondering if your cell on board would work while sailing to Cuba?  Something I'm wondering, too.

 

But, if you need to have phone availability, check into VoIP as you can use the ship's WiFi service (at a cost) to send and receive calls via WiFi on your cell phone.  If not, there will be instructions on board about how to make and receive phone calls while at sea sent to your cabin's phone.

 

Have fun.

[memoak]

Ship to shore calls can be very expensive

[Laszlo]

42 minutes ago, pinkie60 said:

I’m a caregiver for my husband who has Alzheimer’s. I am required to take a vacation with friends minus husband for my own well being. I have a cellphone but when I’m on cruises I usually use the cruise line ship to shore especially on sea days. I’m a usual Carnival cruiser and their service is great. My next cruise will be on the Sky to Cuba. Has anyone used Norwegian’s ship to shore phone service. Also, I’m not sure when we get to Cuba if there will be the ability to call from my cell phone. Any assistance about this would be greatly appreciated.

I believe on NCL its $8.00 a minute. Do you need to talk to someone? Could you just text?

[pinkie60]

14 minutes ago, Laszlo said:

I believe on NCL its $8.00 a minute. Do you need to talk to someone? Could you just text?

He really needs to hear my voice clearly. Carnival is $10/minute. That is affordable to me. Also I have AT&T as my mobile so I think that will work also. Thank you all for your input. It has put my mind at ease. 

[js]

I remember my mom used the phone and it was like someone else posted $8-$10 a minute. It was, I believe, on a sea day (must have been or she would have used her cell, which is only about $10 a day) and remember she could hear my sister very well.

 

Enjoy and hope you get to destress and relax!

 

[Turtles06]

26 minutes ago, pinkie60 said:

He really needs to hear my voice clearly. Carnival is $10/minute. That is affordable to me. Also I have AT&T as my mobile so I think that will work also. Thank you all for your input. It has put my mind at ease. 

 

First, I'm very sorry about your husband. And it is good that you are getting some respite time for yourself.

 

Another option rather than using the ship's phone is using your cell phone via Cellular At Sea, which works with AT&T and NCL.  You should be able to get a per minute rate that is much less than calling on the ship's phone. Cellular At Sea is the cell service that works when a ship is in international waters.   Here are the web sites; 

 

http://www.cellularatsea.com/

 

https://www.ncl.com/about/staying-connected-sea-cellular-phone-service-texting

 

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

Edited May 23, 2019 by Turtles06

[BirdTravels]

26 minutes ago, pinkie60 said:

He really needs to hear my voice clearly. Carnival is $10/minute. That is affordable to me. Also I have AT&T as my mobile so I think that will work also. Thank you all for your input. It has put my mind at ease. 

AT&T has cruise packages. $50 for 50 minutes. $100 for unlimited calls. Or $3 a minute. 

 

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

[luv2kroooz]

I've found the ship to shore service to be reliable. We used it a few times when the distinctive voyages promo was offered. It is the most expensive option. I would investigate what BirdTravels suggested above.

[ebay33]

I've used the ship to shore phone service from cabin many times and it has always been reliable and crystal clear as a land line.

[YankeesFan4Life]

Verizon is $2.99/minute for Cellular at Sea.  If you take the wifi package, you will be able to use wifi calling on your cell phone.  Turn phone on airplane mode, turn on wifi.  You can also make calls via Skype or WhatsApp.  I think the wifi package may be the least expensive option.

[Mikkar]

1 hour ago, ebay33 said:

I've used the ship to shore phone service from cabin many times and it has always been reliable and crystal clear as a land line.

 

I agree, it was a great connection. I think the price was $4.99 per minute

[mking8288]

Dialing out directly from stateroom to shore is $5 a minute charged to your onboard account, in-bound call from shore to stateroom is $8 a minute billed to a credit card on caller's end.  

 

The free Norwegian App, installed ahead via iOS and/or Android Play Store, has an optional feature to call ashore @ 79 cents a minute over WiFi (VoIP) - when you are connected to ship's WiFi inTRAnet, no charges or need for signing up for a WiFi inTERnet plan whatsover.  

 

Common VoIP apps such as Skype, WhatsApp, FB Messenger, Duo/Google Voice & Hangouts, and Ooma (HD Voice w. our home # displayed on outbound calls) generally work fine on a 3G connection, or even 2.5G/Edge speed when it is voice only - as it take very limited bandwidth to get it thru, unlike video calling) - it should work over ship's satellite WiFi if you get the "free" 250 minutes plan as part of the NCL bundled - with unused minutes last week on the Dawn's relatively "slower" satellite link, 

 

I test called over several of these last week on the Dawn, worked just fine, no dropped calls & very good to excellent voice qualities - despite its less than responsive & robust satellite WiFi connection.  Apps calling can be your primary choice & least expensive/near free on the ship; and, the stateroom calling, being more expensive, reserved for urgent/emergencies and/or as a backup, must-get-thru option.  

 

Depending on your tech skills, SMS or text messaging can be one way to start the communication & then switch over to other available means.  Those that's been in Cuba recently can advise about coverage on land - also check with your carrier on the latest.  

 

Different cellular carrier's roaming voice calling rates vary (AT&T, VZW, Sprint and T-Mobile) depending on your specific plan as provisioned, as noted $3 a minute on one and it's $5 a minute for one of our T-Mobile line.  We have a global voice & text number that roams at $3 a minute, compatible on almost all major networks ... that's our "lifeline: on a dual-sim smartphone.  

 

Take all these advice as a general guide, things & rules and rates can/do change - confirm pricing & coverage with your carrier, both at sea and in Cuba - satellite coverage & up time isn't 99.985% and there can be gaps in signal unable to get thru - while it is at sea, although it should be good in that region in the Caribbean waters & the Atlantic.  To stay in touch, you want to have coverage on the ship and on land. 

 

Pre-cruise, take a few moments to learn how to use different Apps and be comfortable with changing "Settings" on your device, enable/disable WiFi, airplane modes and data/roaming, etc. specific to your smartphone - once on the ship, check again & make a few "test" calls with whomever as the designated care-giver at home, to be comfortable that you can stay in touch ... not at sea or in a foreign port with no other means of communicating.  Download & pre-install the Cruise Norwegian App ahead of your cruise (once on the ship, you can activate & use that to call home via the App for 79 cents a minute.)  If you have a 250 minutes WiFi plan, you can Skype call or even do Facetime calling while connected to the ship's network.  

[BirdTravels]

I would disagree about VOIP calling. On our most recent trip on the Escape, the VOIP service was unusable. We were trying to call NCL about an error in the final payment for our next cruise and could not get through using VOIP. Guest Services was more than happy to give us a complimentary call from their desk to NCL reservations which was crystal clear.

 

We usually use VOIP calling to check in at home, and across the board, that is marginal on all ships. 

[PelicanBill]

AT&T cruise packages are $100 for unlimited talk & text for 30 days, including 200MB data (be careful with that, you could chew through it with video easily.)

 

AT&T Day Pass for international roaming ($10 per day) is NOT valid in Cuba.

 

At $8-10 a minute onboard calling I would get the cruise package.

[Cruz56379]

We used the ship to shore calling several times on our last two cruises. The call quality was good. There is a slight delay compared to a regular call, but it does not take long before you don't notice it.

[mking8288]

The key to visiting a foreign country, especially places like Cuba or Vietnam is flexibility - to have more than just a Plan B as when we go abroad, Plan C is a must as alternate backup, for contingencies - other variables like home/roaming carrier's plan(s) & network, there isn't an universal 4G LTE protocol - TDD vs. FDD; and, the specific smartphones or devices being used.  Phones sim-locked to/carrier-branded ones tend to be more restricted & limited with the bands/frequencies, aside from the newer iPhones & Android One flagship phones, factory unlocked.  

 

Verizon and Sprint, accordingly, has roaming agreements for voice calls in Cuba for visitors - whereas AT&T, T-Mobile & even our Google Fi do NOT.  Luckily, I check our global voice/SMS "lifeline" that roam in lots of places has that micro/nano sim cards has dual number - it works in places like Cuba, should we ever travel there ... about $3 USD a minute, not bad at all for emergencies. 

 

VoIP (including WiFi) App callings might or might not work for everyone, on the ship and/or off-the-ship: 10+ years ago, Skype dominated the scene before options like WhatsApp, iMessage/Facetime or FB Messenger evolved ... some of these do take up more bandwidth & need a faster, better 3G+ connection to work its video ... VPN and encryption end-to-end take cyber security to a stronger base against "casual" eavesdropping, by agencies around the world, not just MI5, NSA, MSS or whatever.  

 

Just plan and choose whatever it is that works best - for urgent/emergency communications and to stay in touch, the costs associated is secondary, the ability to be connected, is priceless.