T-Mobile Service on Celebrity

[Usgrant39]

I noticed this on the T-MOBILE website. Does this work on the Constellation as noted?

 

Roaming is now available on selected cruise ships.

Chat on the phone while you relax on the deck or watch for dolphins! Roaming is now available on selected cruise ships. We’re adding new cruise ships all the time, so check back for updates.

 

Choose a cruise ship for voice rates and service details.**

 

Please select a cruise ship... CRUISES: CONSTELLATION CELEBRITY CRUISES:

 

Rate per minute: $4.99

 

Carrier: Cingular: CELEBRITY CRUISES: CONSTELLATIOn

 

 

Frequency: 1900Mhz

[Barry ATL]

This is new information. The Summit was the only Celebrity ship that had cell service. We discussed this at length about a month ago.

[tuggers]

I thought Cingular had a deal where you could pay $19.99 per month for any month (or part of a month) you were on a ship and then just use the minutes in your plan.

I hope this is true. I was considering moving my service to Cingular for this reason alone.

[Barry ATL]

Cingular treats cruise ships as premium roaming. Rates are $1.69 to $2.49 a minute depending on whether you have an international roaming plan or not. Cingular has the cheapest rates because they have a heavy investment in the company that provides the cell service to the cruise ships.

 

There is a competing company but so far they have only signed up ships/lines that rarely come to the USA.

[Usgrant39]

I also found this from an articile in Cruise Travel magazing dated 1/1/06

 

Cell Phones Afloat

At A Glance

 

Public In-Cabin Cell-Phone

Cruise Line Internet E-Mail WiFi Service

 

Carnival [check] No [check] Testing

Celebrity [check] A [check] [check]

Costa [check] No No [check]

Crystal [check] [check] No Testing

Cunard [check] B [check] No

Disney [check] No [check] No

Holland America [check] C [check] Testing

MSC [check] D Pending Pending

NCL [check] E [check] [check]

Oceania [check] [check] No Testing

Orient [check] No No No

Princess [check] No [check] No

Radisson [check] F [check] Testing

Royal Caribbean [check] G [check] [check]

Seabourn [check] No [check] H

Silversea [check] No [check] Testing

Windstar | No Pending No

 

A) Millenium Class only. B) Queen Mary 2 only. C) Vista Class only.

D) Suites only; limited availability abroad MSC Armonia/Lirica/Opera/

Sinfonia. E) At presstime, Freestyle iTV under development.

F) Mariner/Voyager only. G) Radiance/Voyager Class only. H) Satellite

phones for rent. I) Wind surf only.

 

COPYRIGHT 2006 World Publishing, Co. (Illinois)

[chily3]

:mad:I hope not, bad enough in restaurants. One of the reason enjoy cruising no cell phones.

 

mike

[CaliforniaDreamin]

If the ship has a cell system tower relay and it is turned on you may access it unknowingly, thinking you reached a land based cell tower. You will then be paying their roaming charges instead of what you thought was free calling or cheaper roaming.

 

Inquire if your ship has cell system and whether it is turned off in port. Then, even if they say it's off in port, be very careful about calls on or near the ship.

 

On Summit, we were out to sea between Aruba and Panama Canal and a lady said she had an excellent signal and talked for a long time. I suggested she check her charges with the ship if possible to see if the call was through them. I don't know what she found out.

[lakelover]

At some point the use of a cell phone is of great importance. My last cruise was a Mexican Riviera cruise and my Mom passed away the first night we were at sea. It was of great comfort to be able to call family (my Dad especially) and found it much easier than using the system on board. True,I never asked my DH the cost...but he also didn't mention...so on T-Mobile it made a horrible situation tolerable with just a touch to the keys.

[CaliforniaDreamin]

lakelover,

 

I'm sorry that you had this happen to you, especially while away at sea.

[rjg41]

You must have a GSM phone. Cingular provides the service but any GSM phone will work but if not Cingular additional charges will apply from your carrier.

[docandbird]

If the ship has a cell system tower relay and it is turned on you may access it unknowingly, thinking you reached a land based cell tower. You will then be paying their roaming charges instead of what you thought was free calling or cheaper roaming.

 

Inquire if your ship has cell system and whether it is turned off in port. Then, even if they say it's off in port, be very careful about calls on or near the ship.

 

On Summit, we were out to sea between Aruba and Panama Canal and a lady said she had an excellent signal and talked for a long time. I suggested she check her charges with the ship if possible to see if the call was through them. I don't know what she found out.

 

There is a note on the T-Mobile website (below) that indicates you will pay the T-Mobile 'country' rates (e.g., 99 cents/minute in most of Europe; free in PR and USVI) when in port. BTW, T-Mobile WorldClass Service does not cost extra to join; you just pay the per minute charges when you use it.

Quote -

**Please note: When placing a call while visiting ports, you will be billed the WorldClass rate for that country. If you are calling from ports in the US, Puerto Rico, or the US Virgin Islands, you will be charged according to your rate plan type (Nationwide or Regional).

- Unquote

[elsje]

***** my two recent Western Caribbean cruises I called Sprint and told them we were going to be on a cruise to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Jamaica. They made sure my phone was programmed, and signed me up for international roaming at no charge, it took them about a minute or so. My charges were between 50 cents to a $1.00 a minute depending which island. Sometimes I was able to call from the ship when we got close to land. ~ Els

[Barry ATL]

The service that we are talking about is not land based. There is a service called Cellular At Sea that provides both CDMA and GSM service from a ship when it is at sea (more than 3 miles from the coast). There have been reports of Verizon charging more than $4 per minute for this service. Cingular is part owner of the service and from all the information I have head, has the cheapest rates... $1.69 - $2.49.

 

The OP read on the T-Mobile site that the Constellation had this service. As far as I knew only the Summit had this service and the Cellular at Sea website still only shows the Summit. Here is the site:

 

http://www.cellularatsea.com/

 

When the ship gets close to shore, the onboard system automatically turns off so your phone will work with the land based cellular network. The system supports both CDMA and GSM voice calls and text messages. Data is only available for GSM.