Cell Phone Usage

[cruisingmen]

Hello all,

 

We're cruising Princess for the first time on April 2, does anyone know if Princess (specifically Star Princess) provides cell phone service while at sea? I remember some RCI ships had a satellite provider with links to several cellular providers.

 

Thanks for your help!

[Mbouck1]

No.:(

[sueknirk]

My cell phone never seems to work once we leave port. I always just email at the Internet Cafe. Have Fun!

[dw64]

Hello all,

 

We're cruising Princess for the first time on April 2, does anyone know if Princess (specifically Star Princess) provides cell phone service while at sea? I remember some RCI ships had a satellite provider with links to several cellular providers.

 

Thanks for your help!

 

Last year my cell worked in Juneau; Ketchikan; Skagway ; & Whittier. I have Cingular. ( the old AT&T). Worked fine on the outside decks, not in my inside room. But worked just fine. Hope this helps.

[FredS]

You cell phone may work in some ports, but check you international prices before going. You have phone service using Princess service, which costs a bundle, but it does not connect to other providers.

[dw64]

You cell phone may work in some ports, but check you international prices before going. You have phone service using Princess service, which costs a bundle, but it does not connect to other providers.

 

My cell phone had no extra charges at all. I only used my cell in the U.S.A. Like I stated, I have Cingular, & my cell phone wroked great. I was traveling with someone who has Sprint as their cell carrier. They had ZERO cell service.

I cruised from Vancouver to Whittier; then back to Vancouver. My cell phone worked GREAT in port days. No signal on sea days.

[Pam in CA]

Hello all,

 

We're cruising Princess for the first time on April 2, does anyone know if Princess (specifically Star Princess) provides cell phone service while at sea? I remember some RCI ships had a satellite provider with links to several cellular providers.

No, Princess is not participating in the trial of cellular towers at sea. You'll need to be onshore or very close to shore to use your cell phone.

[Mooncastle]

We used T Mobile on the Star Western Caribbean for checking up on the kids. We called them to activate the international plan at no charge. The calls themselves were priced between $1.49 and $2.99 per minute. The phone worked in all of the ports and within 1-2 hours of the port, but not out at sea. It was a great way to check up on our kids. We told them what days and times we would be calling.

[cruisingmen]

Thanks everyone! This is great information.

[Mbouck1]

Your phone will work for about the 1st mile when you depart for your cruise. Other than that it will not work at all. (I have nextel) E-mailing is still the best to go at .35 per minute. You could also use the phones on the piers that have the internet cafe. Their prices are pretty reasonable.

[LICRUISER2GO]

I was told that Cingular(formorly AT&T) has the best service while at port:D,I also heard that nextel is the worst:(

[thetraveller28]

Thank you

 

Hello all,

 

We're cruising Princess for the first time on April 2, does anyone know if Princess (specifically Star Princess) provides cell phone service while at sea? I remember some RCI ships had a satellite provider with links to several cellular providers.

 

Thanks for your help!

[RichieRocket]

I have cingular as well and it worked great in most ports and a few miles out to sea.

 

Be aware that depending on your port location and also your cell package different rates apply.

 

Cingular/At&t has a package called World Traveler that will discount those rates even more.

 

 

Places my Cingular phone worked

Barbados, St Thomas, St Maarten, Puerto Rico, and of course Mexico

[Princess Chatterer]

No, Princess is not participating in the trial of cellular towers at sea. You'll need to be onshore or very close to shore to use your cell phone.

 

Not so. Pam in MA you should know about this better than most. The Golden Princess has a cellular tower at sea and I used it two weeks ago on your cruise from the middle of nowhere. They turn it off in port.

 

Pam, don't you remember that Princess even sent you a cellular tower at sea survey on our Golden Princess cruise. JJ the cruise director even talked about the Golden Princess cellular system on your stateroom TV and I believe it was mentioned in the Princess Patter.

[Princess Patches]

The Golden has had cell phone service since December. They started the service on the transatlantic crossing in December. I have Cellular and got a loud and clear signal in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. We were told on that sailing that soon all Princess ships would have the cell phone service.

[bahama2]

Does anyone know if the Crown has cell service?:confused:

[doven]

I just wanted to share our experience with a cell phone on the Grand in January. For my husband and I (we each had a phone), it worked ONLY when sailing - not when we were in port. We have Verizon. We never could get a signal when not sailing, and could sometimes not get one when sailing.

 

If any of you are leaving a situation at home which leaves you uncomfortable, call your ship and find out how to get in touch with you if there is an emergency. We did this before sailing, and were reassured there would be no problem. This was not true. The number posted in our Princess packet listed a number to call in case of an emergency, and we could not be reached when my husband's mother died on Tuesday night after we had left on Saturday. It was a most unfortunate situation. After we left Roatan, we could be reached and received the message via our cell phone.. The ship phone in our room never did ring so take precaution if you are going to need to get in touch with the home folks. We did make it back to Texas on Wednesday as we had just docked in Belize who had an airport. Do not depend on the listed number in the Princess packet.

[Tresa]

We also use Cingular/AT&T and I looked up the World Traveler package and they will add it for about 5 bucks a month.

 

What rates were you charged on this plan? Do they use the country rate or the cruise ship rate? Looks like in Mexico you can talk for .59 a minute but the cruise ship rate is 2.49 a minute.

 

We are cruising kid-less and want to be able to check in at home, especially since our oldest is 30 weeks along in her pregnancy. I'll just feel better knowing that they could get in touch with me and I'll be able to call after her doctor appointment and see how that went. I'm sure I would have done this regardless of the rate and my husband would have been more than happy to let me because of my personality I "have to know" if everything is ok and once I do... bring on the fun!

[wrongwaywatson]

Other people's cell phones were working out at sea on the Grand, but I wasn't picking up a signal. I have US Cellular, which doesn't have a reciprocal agreement with Cingular. If you have Cingular or Verizon, you should get a very clear signal while at sea.

 

While I was at ports, I did pick up signals.

[lindy2]

We are on the Grand now. We got a notice in our cabin the Princess now has cell service a sea. My tmoble phone has always had a signal. You need to sign up for the free international service with tmobile before you go.

[Lynda90]

I called Verizon before I left and they changed me over to their international plan and for a few dollars more than I normally pay. I had tons of minutes, no roaming and no long distance charges. As soon as I got home, I called and changed the plan back to what I originally had. So, I was only charged the additional amount for a little over a week. I had service in all the ports, but not while at sea.

[Lynda90]

Your phone will work for about the 1st mile when you depart for your cruise. Other than that it will not work at all. (I have nextel) E-mailing is still the best to go at .35 per minute. You could also use the phones on the piers that have the internet cafe. Their prices are pretty reasonable.

Internet service has now gone up to .75 per minute.

[bdjam]

Not so. Pam in MA you should know about this better than most. The Golden Princess has a cellular tower at sea and I used it two weeks ago on your cruise from the middle of nowhere. They turn it off in port.

 

Pam, don't you remember that Princess even sent you a cellular tower at sea survey on our Golden Princess cruise. JJ the cruise director even talked about the Golden Princess cellular system on your stateroom TV and I believe it was mentioned in the Princess Patter.

Good old JJ :D

But that's beside the point - my understanding was that cell phone service was limited to in-cabin and the upper decks of the ship - is that still (hopefully) true?

[donna5]

I called Verizon before I left and they changed me over to their international plan and for a few dollars more than I normally pay. I had tons of minutes, no roaming and no long distance charges. As soon as I got home, I called and changed the plan back to what I originally had. So, I was only charged the additional amount for a little over a week. I had service in all the ports, but not while at sea.

 

Where were you sailing? Didn't you have to pay a per minute charge or anything?

[Lynda90]

Where were you sailing? Didn't you have to pay a per minute charge or anything?

Mexican Riviera. I called Verizon and asked if they had a temporary plan I could switch to while in Mexico where I would have no long distance, roaming or any other extra charges. Since I only needed the new plan for 8 days, it ended up costing very little. There was no per minute or any other additional charge when I got my bill.