Cingular Service in Hawaii

[Giantfan13]

We have Cingular service for our cell phone. I called them to see if I will have service in all the Islands. They said YES, as long as you are within range of a tower. I guess that means in the cities. but probably not out in the country, in the mountains or away from population centers. I also asked them about calling while we are docked in a port. They told me that the ship has a cell phone tower also. If you are on the ship, or within range of THAT tower, any calls made will be charged $2.40 a minute and you won't even know it. I asked them, how would I know if I'm using the ships tower to make a call or a tower in town and the answer I got was he didn't know. Just try and get away from the ship to make calls. Even if you receive calls while on board, that $2.40 charge will still be charged. I forgot to ask if that includes the 'walkie-talkie deal' calling phone to phone. Make most of your calls during the day when you are off the ship just to be sure and tell all, not to call at night to avoid that sizable charge.

[spleen93]

This, BTW, is the list of ships that have Cingular cell phone towers.

http://onlinestorez.cingular.com/travelguide/coverage/cruise_ships_rates.jsp?PIDL=IRSD%7CIRWT

 

None of them are NCLA ships so I guess if you're sailing with NCLA, then you're safe!?? :)

 

Spleen

[OptimusPrime]

How's T-mobile service in HI?

 

I know sometimes when a t-mo tower isn't available my phone switches to Cingular's.

 

I guess I don't have too much to worry about then......work can always wait.

[mamapickle]

Giantfan, I am unclear. We are about to switch to Cingular, when we had Sprint, we had no problem using our phones, whether on board or not. If cingular has free roaming anywhere in the US and we are in Hawaii, why would there be charges?

[OptimusPrime]

Giantfan, I am unclear. We are about to switch to Cingular, when we had Sprint, we had no problem using our phones, whether on board or not. If cingular has free roaming anywhere in the US and we are in Hawaii, why would there be charges?

 

Some ships have their own cell towers which ends up costing you the "special" rate of $2.49/min or whatever.

 

If you are on any of the NCLA ships you have nothing to worry about cuz they do not have the cell towers.

 

Just whatever is on land will have to get you service.

[spleen93]

T-Mobile is fine in Hawaii too. Cingular is better though I think since they have more towers. As always, YMMV depending on where you are in Hawaii.

 

mamapickle - I think it's because Cingular treats the cruise ship towers as "international cell phone towers" - therefore, when you're roaming off those towers, you're paying "international" cell phone rates and you're no longer roaming on your national plan. The trick, therefore, is as Optimus mentioned, is making sure that you're far away enough from the ship that you're off the cruise ship tower and on a land cell phone tower in Hawai- then you'll be back on your regular national roaming plan and won't have to worry about roaming or "international" charges. Of course, this all depends on whether your cruise ship even has a cell phone tower or not.

 

Spleen

[mamapickle]

thanks Spleen, in helping me understand this. We will be on Celebrity Summit and I believe they do have towers. I was hoping that while the ship was in port, we could use our cells while still on the ship. I thought there might be a way to tell on your phone, but I guess with the nation plan, it would not show up.

 

pat

[spleen93]

No, it won't show up on your phone so you'll need to be cautious. The Summit indeed has a Cingular tower onboard so be careful in ports when you plan on using your phone. I know people that have gone on Alaskan cruises with a ship with a Cingular tower and thought that their roaming plan covered the charges. Needless to say, after their children used their cell phones to talk to their significant others back home, they ended up getting a $1500 cell phone bill when they came home! Needless to say, a very expensive lesson learned.

 

(FWIW, they ended up paying the full amount too)

 

Spleen

[CabinForFour]

We sailed to Alaska in May, and we have Cingular service. Normally, the display screen on my cell phone reads "Cingular" along with the date and time. When at sea, I noticed that my cell phone's display read "Cingular at Sea," which I can only assume was when it was connecting through the ship's tower. I read somewhere that the ships are supposed to turn off their own towers when in port. When we were in port in Alaska, it would read "Cingular" again and we were able to use it as we wished without any extra charges showing up on our next month's bill. Obviously, I don't know how reliable the "Cingular at Sea" vs. "Cingular" readings from the phone's display will always be for judging when it's safe to make cell phone calls from the ship in other areas of the country/world, but I just thought I'd share this experience in case it would be helpful to anyone. :)

[Giantfan13]

Optimus

 

What do you mean by NCLA ships??. Is that all Norweign ships??. I called Cingular again AND Norweign, and both told me that the Pride of Hawaii has a tower, and NCL said ALL their ships have towers. I'm not familiar with the term NCLA.

[Jett456]

On our recent Alaska cruise (NCL) my cell phone read Cingular while in port and in the towns. At sea the phone had a series of numbers on the screen. I didn't make any calls but did leave the phone on in case someone at home just had to call me. I did receive calls in port and the tower was not active.

[hawaiibound24]

NCLA- NCL America. These three ships only cruise Hawaii and donot leave the US, nor travel outside of US waters. The only ID required is a drivers licenses. Also, there is no customs to go through. Below is from the Cingular web site and none of the NCLA "Pride of ...." ships are on the list.

Phone converstations with a CSR are not usually the best forms of information.

 

 

Cruise Ships

 

 

Cingular Standard International Roaming Rates; Effective as of 7/14/06

 

Cingular World Traveler Rates; Effective as of 7/14/06

 

Rates are in US Dollars per minute and do not include applicable taxes and fees.

 

Cruise Ship

Cingular Standard International Roaming Rates

Cingular World Traveler Rates

Carnival Cruise Line Triumph 2.49 1.69 Celebrity Cruise Line Century 2.49 1.69 Celebrity Cruise Line Summit 2.49 1.69 Holland America Cruise Line Vollendam 2.49 1.69 Island Cruise Line Island Escape 2.49 1.69 Island Cruise Line Island Star 2.49 1.69 Norwegian Cruise Line Crown 2.49 1.69 Norwegian Cruise Line Dawn 2.49 1.69 Norwegian Cruise Line Dream 2.49 1.69 Norwegian Cruise Line Jewel 2.49 1.69 Norwegian Cruise Line Majesty 2.49 1.69 Norwegian Cruise Line MarcoPolo 2.49 1.69 Norwegian Cruise Line Spirit 2.49 1.69 Norwegian Cruise Line Star 2.49 1.69 Norwegian Cruise Line Wind 2.49 1.69 Norwegian Cruise Lines Sun 2.49 1.69 Regent Cruise Line Mariner 2.49 1.69 Regent Cruise Line Navigator 2.49 1.69 Regent Cruise Line Voyager 2.49 1.69 Royal Caribbean International Adventurer of the Seas 2.49 1.69 Royal Caribbean International Brilliance of the Seas 2.49 1.69 Royal Caribbean International Explorer of the Seas 2.49 1.69 Royal Caribbean International Freedom of the Seas 2.49 1.69 Royal Caribbean International Majesty of the Seas 2.49 1.69 Royal Caribbean International Mariner of the Seas 2.49 1.69 Royal Caribbean International Navigator of the Seas 2.49 1.69 Royal Caribbean International Serenade of the Seas 2.49 1.69 Royal Caribbean International Sovereign of the Seas 2.49 1.69 Royal Caribbean International Splendour of the Seas 2.49 1.69 Royal Caribbean International Voyager of the Seas 2.49 1.69

[spleen93]

Having said that, there's always the possibility that the list is not entirely up to date. You can always test it out on the ship by trying to turn on your cell phone at night while you're out at sea. If you have service, it's likely that your ship has a cell phone tower. Turn your phone off!! :)

 

Spleen

[suziehmkr]

When reading the press release on this (Cingular website) it does say that when the ship is in port, it will revert to the closest land tower for service. I was especially interested in this since we will be on the Serenade in Alaska next June and we will be calling our kids from port. We will be very careful, regardless. ;)

[Kiera99]

We had 3 different cell phone services and they all worked in Honolulu. We used our T-Moble phone in the elevator and we did not loose our signal.

[AlohaPride]

How's T-mobile service in HI?

 

I know sometimes when a t-mo tower isn't available my phone switches to Cingular's.

 

I guess I don't have too much to worry about then......work can always wait.

 

I personally use T-Mobile and have found it to be better than both Verizon and Nextel. I'm not sure about Cingular, but my parents had it and chose to switch to T-Mobile. So, I can say with certainty that T-Mobile on Oahu is excellent.

[spleen93]

And just to prove that we're all different, I had T-Mobile, had problems, and switched to Cingular. Go figure. :)

 

Spleen