Calling Recent Insignia Sailors

[KCruisin']

I have read that Insignia was outfitted for cell phones while in dry dock. Did anyone use this service and if so, how was the reception and how much were the charges. Before a gang of people reply about how TERRIBLE cell phones are - please remember that some of us have very good reasons for having to stay in touch with back home.

[amcb]

We just got back from the 6/2 sailing on Insignia and had rented an international cell phone for the trip. Except for the sea days, we had consistently good cell phone reception during the trip.

 

Hope this info helps.

 

:-) amcb

[delsig4]

How do you rent a cell phone, I have never heard of that. Is there a certain company that does that. Sorry not so cell phone savy.

[mygalsal]

Put in international cell phones to rent in your web search and you'll find a zillion of them.

[frankpc]

Another option is to buy a GSM phone. We bought one from Mobal for our upcoming Insignia Dover-Dover. You can buy the phone for $49 (including charger and power adapter kit). It comes with an International SIM card so you keep the same (UK based) phone number with free incoming calls to the UK.

Probably most cost effective for occasional usage as the Mobal call rates are not the cheapest but you don't pay a monthly fee. If you travel once or twice a year and use the phone for emergencies and to confirm info with guides, etc. then its probably a good deal - our US based cell carrier wanted $4/day to rent a GSM phone so this pays for itself after 13 days ...

 

 

http://www.mobalrental.com/

 

Frank

[delsig4]

Thanks Frank, I will check out that site.

[Kane]

Can you give an overview of how the shipboard mobile phone network works?

 

We were on the Regatta last November and I took my (GSM) phone with me. I used it whenever we got into a port, connecting to whatever carrier was in the country we happened to be in (they all did, including the N. African countries).

 

I had thought that a shipboard network would allow a user to connect even at sea ... probably at the exorbitant ship-to-shore rates. If you didn't connect at sea, your phone may have been connecting to a local network when you hit port ... not to the shipboard connection.

[Kane]

I did a little more research on this issue:

 

1. The Insignia is not on the list of ships with the system.

 

2. The system operates while the ship is at sea, and out of touch with shore transmitters (it goes via satellite). When the ship docks, the system is turned-off and mobile phones connect to networks of whatever port they are in.

 

No statements of what the at-sea roaming rates are.

[ClaudiaF]

Mobal.com

$49.00 PHONE is the BEST $49.00 I have ever spent ;-)

great phone, no monthly contracts or fees, you get charged to your credit card for your calls and you have a number that is yours always.

[KCruisin']

Just got back from Insignia. We have GSM phones that we use here in the states so they work over in Europe as well. The rates will be whatever your local carrier charges for that particular country. They are not cheap but range around $1 to $1.50 a minute. That is MUCH better than the shipboard rates. Text messages are much cheaper - mine were 10 cents incoming and 50 cents outgoing. My phone worked on shore and about 30 minutes off shore on the ship on whatever the local carrier was. All you have to do is remember to put a +1 before all your numbers back home. When the ship reached a certain distance offshore a new cell took over and it registered on my phone under the same local name as I get at home. It worked perfectly 24/7 while on board at sea, even the night that I was flat on my back sea sick and the storm raged and the seas roared! A boon for all of us attached to our cell phones and a bane to all those who hate them. When I questioned the Reception Desk, they claimed that there was no service available on board??#?$?%? I don't know what that means. I guess they dont want the blame if it stops working or the rage from someone who hates cell phones. They claimed on the web that it would be blocked in the dining rooms and main rooms - it was not.

 

By the way, wyfy is also available thru out the ship but is very slow and very expensive. I saw one man come up to the card room (much to the disternation of four women who wanted to table to play bridge) set up his computer and then dial up his own cell on his wireless cell phone and surf the net, answer email and then disconnect and use his phone to call his builder! It was really quite a site!

 

Hope this helps.

[mike35]

 

By the way' date=' wyfy is also available thru out the ship but is very slow and very expensive. [/quote']

 

Unless it has changed in the last couple of months, wi-fi is only available on deck 9 in the computer lab and card room and deck ten in the library. Slow and very expensive!

 

Mike