Cell phones in Ports of West Caribbean!

[Angela4cruiser]

My husband needs to know if the Western Caribbean ports have cell phone usage, e.g., Belize, Cozumel, Grand Cayman. Does anybody know this?

[Travelitis]

Are you asking if people's cell phones got reception? Ours didn't, but I know another passenger's did. She called her cell phone company ahead of time and was punching in some codes. We didn't want to be reached via cell phone, though, so we didn't check on it.

[DJ TOM]

The last time I was on board Rhapsody in Grand Cayman my cell phone recieved a phone call from Houston. I was afraid to answer fearing the roaming charge, at that time I was getting my service from Houston Cellular.

[babchia]

I recently sailed on the Voyager of the Seas. While docked at George Town, Grand Cayman, several people told me their AT&T Cell Phones worked. Some made calls, but did not know how much it was going to cost. My Verizon Tri-Mode Cell Phone got no service (I have one of the America's Choice Plan).

 

At Freeport, Bahamas, I did get an Analog Signal, but it would have been roaming. I was told by Verizon before the cruise that if I did get a signal and made a call, I would be charge Roaming and Long Distance. It sounded like it would have cost me less than $1 a minute.

 

Your best bet is to check with your Cell Phone Company, and the companies at the islands you are going to visit.

 

DH of Babchia.

[Slyder]

at&t worked in jamica and grand cayman. nextel worked nowhere. i haven't recieved the bill yet so i can't say how much the calls cost.

 

sly

[birdie16]

When I am just outside the "fringe" of the US, my Verizon will pick up a signal from the first signal it finds. If it is a roaming signal I hang up and try again until I get a no roaming US signal.

[kjkohler]

AT&T worked for us in Grand Cayman, Cozumel and Ocho Rios last cruise (can't remember on the prior ones as I don't think we cared). Was expensive though!

[Nancy O]

My Cingular cell phone worked in Grand Cayman in 2003 and theyonly charged extra minutes so it didn't cost me anything since I was under my minutes. But in Feb 2004 it would not work, I think it was the position of the ship. The first time I used it we were on the port side facing away from land, but I lost the signal when the ship turned to pull away from the island.

[cme]

We also made calls from the Western ports on our AT&T phone two years ago. I just got a new phone that has the new GSM system so anxious to see if that makes a difference.

 

Carrie

[mojo4trav]

Verizon, Nextel and Sprint use CDMA; whereas Cingular, AT&T and T-Mobile use GSM as their primary technology. The majority of the rest of the world uses GSM so you'll have better luck with those carriers than with the CDMA carriers. The only way to really know (and also be aware of the charge) is to contact your carrier directly. In some cases, the cost is nominal but needs to be enabled by making the call to your carrier before travelling. :)