Cell Phone use on the Ships

[Giantfan13]

I know there were several questions regarding the use of cell phones on the NCL America ships and if they had their own Cell Phone Towers, and if there was any additional charge. I found out EXACTLY. Because the three NCL America ships are NOT international ships, they do NOT have cell towers. That means as long as you have a signal, you can use your cell phones without any additional charges. (if you don't have roaming, then there will be some charges). We got a signal almost anywhere we were on all the islands, except in the real high elevations and in some of the remote parts of the islands. When you are cruising from island to island you probably won't have a signal, but anytime you do get a signal, it is NOT from the ship and you will NOT encurr any additional charges.

[OptimusPrime]

For folks with T-mobile, I am posting this from the Pride of Hawaii using my T-mobile phone as a modem :D

 

Also, you guys should get here quick, the weather's great here today :P

[Ga_Girl]

I know there were several questions regarding the use of cell phones on the NCL America ships and if they had their own Cell Phone Towers, and if there was any additional charge. I found out EXACTLY. Because the three NCL America ships are NOT international ships, they do NOT have cell towers. That means as long as you have a signal, you can use your cell phones without any additional charges. (if you don't have roaming, then there will be some charges). We got a signal almost anywhere we were on all the islands, except in the real high elevations and in some of the remote parts of the islands. When you are cruising from island to island you probably won't have a signal, but anytime you do get a signal, it is NOT from the ship and you will NOT encurr any additional charges.

 

Really? That's not the information I got from Cingular. Here's what I got from them:

 

"Thank you for taking the time to e-mail Cingular Wireless regarding your cruise ship roaming inquiry. I am happy to help you with your inquiry.

You are able to use your handset while on the cruise ship. Customers using the cruise ship network will be charged standard international roaming rates of $2.49 per minute. This rate includes airtime and long distance. There is no separate long distance component charged for international roaming. While roaming on the cruise ship, the customer's phone will display "Cingular". Usage while on board the ship - ONLY in the U.S. at the original port of embarkation and final port of debarkation - will be billed at domestic rates. All other usage while on board the ship and at any other port will be charged at the standard international roaming rate of $2.49 per minute even if you are in sight of U.S. land. Once the ship begins its cruise, the cruise ship network will be "on" until the cruise completely ends."

 

I suppose you've fully checked your bill on-line and nothing shows up? I'm not concerned about using it on the islands--just on the ship!

 

Susan

[lambs2]

I have SPRINT service and there were no additional charges on my bill for my June Pride of America cruise and we used our phone most every day from the ship when in ports. I did have my phone set for no roaming however.

[Giantfan13]

These ships of the NCL America do not have any network, cell towers. Any signal you pick up is from land towers and your regular rates will reflect that. We have free roaming so we were able to call where ever and when ever we wanted, as long as we had a signal. The signal you receive has absolutely nothing to do with the ship or anything on it.

[Ga_Girl]

Hmmm...well, that's good to know! We actually live on Oahu and get good coverage with our cell phone, so as long as we can get service we shouldn't have any issues with roaming at all!

 

Thanks.

 

Susan