Cell service on Med cruise while in port

[arlodog]

Hi everyone:

We did a med cruise about 7 years ago but didn't have international coverage at the time and in Rome we couldn't find free wifi widely available.  I just switched to Google Fi as my provider and we are going this fall on a Med cruise (if COVID doesn't derail these plans)   I know here in the states they use the towers for T-mobile/Sprint usually.  Does anyone have any experience with cell coverage in the Med ports?  I know the maps show coverage, but was interested in actual feedback from people who have experienced it recently.  We want to be able to use google maps and translate.   I know I can buy a sim card if necessary, but hoping to avoid it if at all possible that we have good coverage.  I have read that they have had a big push for Wifi in the EU.  Hopefully that will help! 

 

Thanks!  

[RKHOOKER]

We use Vodafone & never had a problem with cell phone coverage in any Med ports back in 2019. Spain, France, Italy, Greece & Malta.

[CruiserBruce]

Generally, cell coverage is very good in Europe...Europeans are perhaps more rabid about their cell phones than Americans.

[arlodog]

Thanks for the answer.  I appreciate it.  If nothing else we can switch out our sim card if we have problems. 

 

[Host Bonjour]

On 7/20/2021 at 10:15 PM, arlodog said:

We want to be able to use google maps and translate. 

 

Both work REALLY WELL offline now, just be sure to download them before you depart so they are available when you're out and about. They're amazing and up to date so if you weren't able to get a signal or your SIM card needed to be topped up, you're still set with communication and navigation. 

 

I've used a SIM card from 3 in the past which worked really well, it had slightly better rates than Vodafone. Now I would probably just use my iphone as is (Verizon owns Vodafone though it's not like they make that an actual perk for subscribers!) and find wifi when I need it.

 

As was mentioned above, Europeans consume a lot of cell service, so signals are usually pretty good in most places, even parks, forests, and such. They're way ahead of us in many things. 

[arlodog]

Thanks to all who answered.  I appreciate it.  We vowed after our last trip to make sure we had adequate cell coverage this time.  Not easy when you don't speak the language and get lost!  We walked in circles in Rome and later found out we were just one street off where our hotel was located.

[rinakop]

We have MetroPCS and need to be able to call USA.   I am planning on buying SIM card when we arrive in Athens for Greek Isles cruise and swapping out SIM card.  

[Hlitner]

T-Mobile provides coverage in over 200 countries including all in Europe.  This is included in most of their plans at no additional charge although data is generally throttled to 2G and phone calls do have a small 25$10 cents per minute fee.  The OP has Google FI as their provider and for their coverage (they would need to check their Google coverage.    Looking at the Google Fi web site it seems to depend on which plan.  They have a plan with no coverage, another plan that offers coverage at $10 per Gig, and another plan that gives free coverage.  It does appear that they use the same T-Mobile network that we get with T-Mobile.  T-Mobile is actually part of the Deutsche Telecom network which is why they offer such broad worldwide coverage at no extra charge.  

 

I am a big fan of T-Mobile because we do a lot of international travel and our cell service works in over 200 countries with no additional add on's required.  That being said, the 2G data can seem to darn slow.  T-Mobile makes it easy (and pretty cheap) to quickly upgrade (it only takes seconds) to LTE coverage for $5 per day (there are much lower cost options for longer periods).  On our recent (last week) trip in Greece we wanted faster coverage one day while on a Greek beach.  I quickly authorized the extra $5 and had LTE coverage within seconds (that extra speed was good for 24 hours).  Most of the time that free 2G data speed is more then enough (it easily handles text msgs, GPS while I am driving, etc).

 

Hank

[marazul]

Ditto.  We have been in Greece for the past 2 weeks and going on a cruise today, and T-Mobile works just fine with free text and data.  Nothing to set up. You get a text from the local carrier welcoming you whenever you enter a new country or coverage area. We make phone calls over wi-fi, so no charge for them. 

[Hlitner]

So lets talk a little more about T-Mobile.  The included (no extra fee with most plans) coverage is generally throttled back to 2G.  For many things this is good enough but will be noticeably slower then some folks will accept.  At that point you simply click on your T-Mobile app (on the phone) and can upgrade to higher LTE speed without any delay.  It will cost you $5 for 24 hours or they also have a 10 day and 30 day ($50) higher speed upgrade.  Doing this takes a few seconds and no reason to do it in advance.  If you want more speed you simply upgrade.   On our recent trip to Greece I wanted to do some higher speed browsing while on a beach in Naxos and simply upgraded for the day ($5).  This took a few seconds to do and I got my high speed within seconds.

 

Hank