Cell phone & cost?

[Ocean Spirit]

We are sailing on the Wind and I had thought I'd be able to use my cell phone. Is there a charge for using your own phone on the ship or do I have to wait till I get on shore?

[jerhardt]

We are sailing on the Wind and I had thought I'd be able to use my cell phone. Is there a charge for using your own phone on the ship or do I have to wait till I get on shore?

 

For the most part, I don't think NCL has branded themselves with a carrier that provides roaming service while at sea. I know the last couple of NCL ships we were on, we only got service while we were in port. Since the Wind is an older ship, I doubt that it would have any newer technology than that of the Pearl/Dawn/Star, etc.

[garycarla]

We are sailing on the Wind and I had thought I'd be able to use my cell phone. Is there a charge for using your own phone on the ship or do I have to wait till I get on shore?

 

It depends on your carrier, your plan and your actual phone.

 

There are towers onboard and in some ports you can pick up a shore signal while on the ship. It has less to do with you using your own phone than having a signal, and then that signal has to be compatible with your cell service.

 

NCL provides a little information here. Cingular works fine.

[angeljt]

On the Dawn last month, our friends were told that it was $5.95 per minute to use your cell phone through the ship's tower. That would be the same price as their ship to shore service. You will be able to use your cell phone in the US Virgin Islands and many other places for a lot less $$. We found a small internet cafe in Cozumel that was a dollar for an hour of iternet use, and 39¢ a minute for phone calls to the US.

I had trouble using my Sprint service, even though I have iterational service on it. DH was able to use his Nextel Direct Connect, but there was an extra charge for it.

Jackie

[DragonflyCruiser]

We sailed on the Jewel. We use Verizon and it worked just fine. When at port you will be on a local service even when on the ship. The ship tower will not be turned on till you are about a mile from port. We found in Turkey, Egypt & Greece that the local charges were a much better price than NCL. We tried to make most of our calls while in port. But, it's nice to be able to use your own phone and not have to rent one as we have in the past. We did make sure to purchase an international phone this time. They have a chip that allows you to use them in almost any country. I'm not sure a cell without that chip will work outside the USA & territories.

[Globaliser]

For the most part, I don't think NCL has branded themselves with a carrier that provides roaming service while at sea.

On the contrary, I think NCL was the first to do this, over two years ago, and they still do. I had continuous service on the Sun both on my last cruise (last month) and the previous one (two years ago). In port, of course, you're reliant on the local operator, but once at sea the ship's own cell is activated.

[shoreguy]

For the most part, I don't think NCL has branded themselves with a carrier that provides roaming service while at sea. I know the last couple of NCL ships we were on, we only got service while we were in port. Since the Wind is an older ship, I doubt that it would have any newer technology than that of the Pearl/Dawn/Star, etc.

 

NCL has Cingular at Sea on 100% of the ships. the first to do it. Here is a ship and rate list if you have Cingular. Check with your carrier for their surcharges.

 

http://www.cingular.com/travelguide/coverage/cruise_ships_rates.jsp?PIDL=IRSD|IRWT

[cruizinwithkids]

And for idiots like my husband and son, if you have a family plan that includes free mobile to mobile, the ship charges still apply. Even if you are both on the ship.

 

Live and learn.:)

[shoreguy]

And for idiots like my husband and son, if you have a family plan that includes free mobile to mobile, the ship charges still apply. Even if you are both on the ship.

 

Live and learn.:)

 

Expensive lesson since they charge both sides:eek: 2x $2.49 to chat onboard

 

Text messaging is the lowest cost option - $.50 outbound $.10 incoming

[garycarla]

And for idiots like my husband and son, if you have a family plan that includes free mobile to mobile, the ship charges still apply. Even if you are both on the ship. Live and learn.:)

 

They are not alone.

 

Some people think they can use a calling card via the cell phone to save money. WRONG. You still pay to connect via the towers on the ship.

 

Some think they can call a 1-800 number and not get charged. WRONG. You still pay to access the shipboard towers.

 

Some think it is night and weekends and they are free. WRONG.

 

Some think they have unlimited roaming. WRONG

 

You are using a tower in the middle of the ocean. Somebody has to pay for it. With Cingular the rate is $2.49 per minute.

 

I would be interest in what the VERIZON user above was charged, as others had mentioned that Verizon did not work while at sea (except when near shore and you still could catch a shorebased tower)

[garycarla]

On the Dawn last month, our friends were told that it was $5.95 per minute to use your cell phone through the ship's tower. ....

 

I think somebody was blowing smoke up your friends skirt! Never heard of anyone getting hit that much. Cingular is $2.49 per minute.

[bakechef]

From other posts I've read, cingular is the most successful to connect, since they were heavily involved in developing the system, and as others have said at $2.49 per minute, used to be lower but was raised in sept. The ships have the technology for sprint and Verizon to work, but it seems like these companies are slow to reach roaming agreements with cellular at sea.

 

I have read one post somewhere that T-Mobile customers payed over $5.00 per minute, maybe they have a crappy roaming agreement, and that's why the others have not jumped on the bandwagon.

 

Also in other threads some have had success with Tracfone (the newer models that are GSM) at no extra units charged, and since you cannot recieve a bill with these no surprises, might be worth a try, I have seen Tracfones all over the place for 14.99 and you can buy a card for around $20 for 60 minutes, and search the internet for promo codes to double you minutes, so this might be worth a try.

 

MAC

[DragonflyCruiser]

We sailed on the Jewel. We use Verizon and it worked just fine. When at port you will be on a local service even when on the ship. The ship tower will not be turned on till you are about a mile from port. We found in Turkey, Egypt & Greece that the local charges were a much better price than NCL. We tried to make most of our calls while in port. But, it's nice to be able to use your own phone and not have to rent one as we have in the past. We did make sure to purchase an international phone this time. They have a chip that allows you to use them in almost any country. I'm not sure a cell without that chip will work outside the USA & territories.

 

OOPS...forgive me! It was a Cingular phone we used. We have one of each and it was Cingular we took with us!!!

[Ocean Spirit]

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE INFORMATION.

I have cingular but if it is going to cost me $2.49 a minute to call, I'll wait till I'm at port.

 

Happy sailing!

[garycarla]

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE INFORMATION.

I have cingular but if it is going to cost me $2.49 a minute to call, I'll wait till I'm at port. Happy sailing!

 

Yep, expensive. But priceless if you need to make or receive a call. It works with no setup or special things to do. Oops. One special thing. You might have to reprogram some numbers to make sure you have "1" in front of them. Seems the carriers have made it easy in the states and you do not normally need that "1".

 

Don't forget the cheap text messaging option.

[KAYEF]

I read on these chatlines that TRACFONE is the way to go.

We tried ours just for the heck of it while on a Transatlantic (Princess) this fall.............had service the entire way..............didn't take any extra minutes or anything (it's a prepaid phone). Fun discovery!

[Globaliser]

I have cingular but if it is going to cost me $2.49 a minute to call, I'll wait till I'm at port.

It may not cost you any less than that if you roam from a port. In fact, IIRC I get charged a higher rate for a call from Mexico than from the ship's cell. And the one call I made on my last cruise was from Belize, for which I was charged the equivalent of $2.65 a minute.

You might have to reprogram some numbers to make sure you have "1" in front of them.

The international standard format for GSM dialling is to put a + sign in front of the country code. So to dial a Canadian or US number, you'd dial +1aaabbbcccc; to dial the UK you'd dial +44aabbbbcccc; and so on. The great thing about dialling in international format is that you can dial it from anywhere. So you only need to programme phone numbers in once, and they will always dial correctly wherever in the world you happen to be.

[angeljt]

I think somebody was blowing smoke up your friends skirt! Never heard of anyone getting hit that much. Cingular is $2.49 per minute.

 

I didn't think that price sounded right either. Maybe the person they spoke to thought they meant regular ship to shore.

Just received our bill yesterday, and it was $1.99 a minute with Sprint from Jamaica. Still waiting for our Nextel bill.

Jackie

[shoreguy]

I didn't think that price sounded right either. Maybe the person they spoke to thought they meant regular ship to shore.

Just received our bill yesterday, and it was $1.99 a minute with Sprint from Jamaica. Still waiting for our Nextel bill.

Jackie

 

It is up to your carrier what they charge per minute. The Cingular rates are published but other carrier's rates are not. Everyone needs to check. I have seen posts were people were billed over $5 by "their" carrier. I believe in one case it was T Mobile.

[mjtx]

We sailed on the Dream last month. We have Cingular and we went to the Cingular store and signed up for an International plan for our phone ($4.99 per month plus the cost per minute for the country we are in). We were able to set it up so that the plan was in place for two months (to give the calls we made out of the country time to hit our bill) with an automatic termination date for the plan. This lowered the per minute rates for the countries we visited. It was still $2.49 per minute while we were on the ship. If you turn your phone on while in port or on the ship and a call comes through-even if you don't answer it and it goes to your voice mail-you are charged at the International rate.

[Horn]

I called Verizon and asked about using our cell phone. They said that the rate is $2.49 a minute if we use the phone like in the middle of the ocean. If we are on Grand Cayman, can't use it at all. In Cozumel, it is .69 a minute. Even $2.49 is cheaper than the $5.95 ship-to-shore rate for the in-cabin phone.

 

I will be RUNNING to get off the ship, away from the tower, and into Cozumel and Key west to call my kids!!!! :( I will be missing them!!

[shoreguy]

I called Verizon and asked about using our cell phone. They said that the rate is $2.49 a minute if we use the phone like in the middle of the ocean. If we are on Grand Cayman, can't use it at all. In Cozumel, it is .69 a minute. Even $2.49 is cheaper than the $5.95 ship-to-shore rate for the in-cabin phone.

 

I will be RUNNING to get off the ship, away from the tower, and into Cozumel and Key west to call my kids!!!! :( I will be missing them!!

 

Have not meet anyone yet whose Verizon phone worked onboard. If may be $2.49 but that is if it will work. Niether of my sons phones worked. I had service all the way accross the Atlantic with my Cingular phone.

[LaJollaCruiser]

It is up to your carrier what they charge per minute. The Cingular rates are published but other carrier's rates are not. Everyone needs to check. I have seen posts were people were billed over $5 by "their" carrier. I believe in one case it was T Mobile.

 

I use T-Mobile and was billed $4.99/min on Dream, Star and Dawn. Using the port cell tower in Bermuda, Acapulco, and Cozumel it was $1.49/min.

[Globaliser]

I will be RUNNING to get off the ship, away from the tower, and into Cozumel and Key west to call my kids!!!!

You don't have to run anywhere. The ship's cell is switched off when in port. If you switch on your phone when in port, you will log on to the local network.

[RichNY]

We purchased one of these phones http://www.mobalrental.com/

 

It was fantastic.. It worked all over the Mediterranean,on the ship and we never paid a roaming fee.....