Has anyone called home to the USA/Canada from one of those payphones at the ports?

[conversationist]

When I went on a recent cruise I noticed that each port of call had a bank of pay-phones sitting collecting dust. It seemed like no one was using them like the old days. I remember years ago that people would rush off the boat at the port of calls and make calls home from one of the payphones at the dock. Now they seem to be mostly un-used.

 

I brought my cell phone and saw that it worked on the ship but I was afraid to use it thinking there was a $5.00 a minute roaming charge.

 

Has anyone used one of those dock side pay phones to call home or their cell phones when cruising, how much did the call cost?

[isujim]

Two years ago we called home from the dockside phone in St. Marteen thinking it would be cheaper than using the ship phone........we found out my Mom was in the hospital............the cost for a 10 minute call including the one time connection fee was something like $60........:eek:

[Warmer Climes]

If you are going to Mexico you can buy a prepaid phone card online (with immediate printout) from Telmex.com and use one of their many payphones to call the U.S. or Canada. I did this and it is cheap and the phones are everywhere because they are the top phone company in Mexico and their payphones are clearly marked. Easy to use and cheap.

[bankerbabe]

When we were in Mexico, we stopped at some internet cafes that also offered international calling. It was cheaper than our cell phone, they charged a reasonable rate per minute. Plus, we were able to check and send email all in one location. One of them was even a bar - so I could sip on a pina colada while calling my kids at home and emailing my coworkers. Nice:D

[barbarah33]

We used them when we sailed Australia and New Zealand but we also got advice from the crew of the ship and bought a phone card first. Doing it that way was much cheaper and only ended up costing us about 5-cents a minute. (And we couldn't complain about that.) You had to buy a phone card with a minimum of 4 hours on it so when we were done we simply gave the card to a member of the crew who was happy to accept it.

[Moonstone]

For Canadians using Bell Canada calling cards at one of those payphones at the Havensight Mall (BVI) or in San Juan (the blue payphones with all the flags around it & signs saying "free 800 calls to Canada & US) MAKE SURE YOU DIAL 1-800-555-1111 to get onto Bell Canada's long distance system before you dial the 800 # or make a Calling Card call or you will recieve a huge bill! I called home using my Bell Family Contact Card, the phone rang 3x & nobody answered (kids always grab it on 1st ring) so I hung up. I was billed $38 for an operator assisted collect call!! Took 2 months of fighting to get the charges dropped for a call I dialed direct myself where no connection took place! The short call to my Mom from the same phone was $72 using her Family Contact Card!!

[firefly333]

I go hunt up a internet cafe and email from ports. I have also called home from cozumel when it was free with a purchase or $1 for 4 minutes.