Cell Phones on Cruises

[Captb]

Very informative forum and have learned much. Now I need to ask for assistance.

 

We will be cruising on Aug 22 from Amsterdam to Vienna with GCT and would like to take our cell phone with us to keep in contact with family back in AZ. I have a Quad/World Phone from T-Mobile which I will unlock. I need some feedback from past cruisers who used their cell phones on their river cruise. Did they work well? Where did you buy your Sim card ? Did you buy one before you left for the cruise(Global sim) or when you arrived in Country? Since we are traveling through multiple countries , how do you deal with this? Any suggestions?

 

I should add that our T Mobile is a Pre Paid Plan and does not allow International roaming - so we are limited to buying either a Global Sim or a country Sim.

 

TIA

[unberwoob]

We just got back from a cruise, Amsterdam to Basel. I have a T-Mobile phone and it worked great! Never a problem with service. Reception was always crystal clear. T-Mobile is huge in Europe, so there are many stores.

 

I'm sorry that I can not help you about the sim card. I just had to unlock here at home and I was ready to go. But I would imagine a global sim would be best and I would get everything set up here before I left. However, like I said, it is easy to find a T-Mobile store in Europe.

Dennis

[AliceS]

I have T Mobile. Tell me how to unlock and how to dial a number in the states from Europe. How were the fees for using the phone? I tried to call home from another trip, got service, but couldn't place the call.

 

Do you use *01 and the number? Thanks for the info

[steamboats]

Captb,

 

You shouldn´t have many problems finding service. T-Mobile is part of the former German federal telephone company. Therefore T-Mobile is widely spread all over Germany and Europe. Other big companies in Germany are O2, E-Plus, Vodafone.

 

Unfortunately I´m not a cell phone person. But as far as I know most of our German pre paid cards do allow international roaming (at least within Europe, but I don´t know about the US). But I assume getting a pre paid card in the Netherlands at the start of your cruise might be a bit complicated.

 

So my advice would be to ask your local T-Mobile dealer about any options for your cruise. I´m also quite sure that there are companies offering global sims for travellers. We´re using a company offering sim cards with a US phone number which is only valid for the trip and expires after not being used for 7 days. I can call any US phone number and also back home to Germany. But that´s a service for Germans travelling the US only.

 

steamboats

[unberwoob]

I have T Mobile. Tell me how to unlock and how to dial a number in the states from Europe. How were the fees for using the phone? I tried to call home from another trip, got service, but couldn't place the call.

 

Do you use *01 and the number? Thanks for the info

 

 

To unlock your phone, call T-Mobile, tell them you are going overseas, and want to unlock your phone for international roaming. There is a phone number and lots of information on their website. Their website will then verify your service, including international service. Fees are usually .99 per minute, except in Russia.

 

To dial home, you just press the 0/+ key until you see the +, then 1, the area code, and the number. Very simple.

[Captb]

Steamboats - I unfortunately have a Pre Paid T-Mobile which does not allow me to roam in Europe and T-Mobile does not offer Global Sim cards. So I have to buy a global sim from another source preferably before I leave for Europe. It was a big hassle just to get my T-Mobile Motorola Quad phone unlocked. Now I have to find a reliable and reasonable global Sim card company.

 

Alice S & Underwoob _ unlocking a T-Mobile phone can be a grueling experience. I qualified under all of their requirements and still spent 2+ hours with Tech support who were unable to unlock my new Motorola V195 quad Band. I had to go to a Cingular/ATT kiosk in my mall and have them insert their sim card. That was the trick. so as you can see, with T-Mobile not everything is a smooth as it should be.

 

Still need recommendations for a Global Sim card company that I can purchase before I leave for the cruise. Needed mainly for emergency type calls from US and one or two European calls.

[tban]

Captb, I do not understand your problem, or maybe - how old is your phone ? Just before our last cruise - Christmas 2006 - I signed up with T-Mobile at a local Cosco store - got a great deal - 2 Motorolla Razors for free and got to choose any area code within the US. With T-Mobile it does not matter, since all US-rates are the same (and competitive to Verizon) - there is no roaming. We got the phones fedexed within 2 days and ready to go - batteries loaded and ready to be used. I tried it out immediately and called a friend in Germany, whom the network located in Romania. The phone worked all over Europe at local rates. 10 minutes after we crossed the Czech border it rang and T-mobile informed me that I am now recognized in the Czech network. You do not have to deal with 011 or 001 - the phone knows. All US numbers you have to program with +1 & area code & number all other numbers (if you have friends outside the US) with +1 & country code & area code & number. I used the phone in China and called Europe and the US without any problems. I signed up for a one year family plan and even got a 3 month back out option with full refund. Activation was free and I probably told them that I want to use the phone internationally. Maybe it's easier for you to just get a new phone and avoid all the hassles with sim cards - especially if you plan future trips abroad.

[steamboats]

Captb and tban,

 

I think the problem Captb is having is the following (at least that´s the system here in Germany): When you buy a pre paid sim card including a free phone the phone is "locked" and can be only used with the sim card sold with the phone. Therefore you can´t use any other company´s sim card. And obivously the pre paid sim card does not allow international roaming (used to be the same here in Germany with pre paid cards until the European Union declared this as illegal).

 

But as tban said, I´m definitely sure that T-Mobile is offering another (not a pre paid one) sim card which allows international roaming.

 

In my case I can use my (non pre paid) sim card all over the world too. I don´t do it in the US (although my new Motorola is a quad) because of the high roaming fees. Therefore we´re using this special US sim card we can get over here.

 

Here´s what I found on the Europe board (Mediterrenean): There´s a company called Mobal selling global sim cards (and tri or quad phones if needed) for travelers which might help you: www.mobalrental.com

 

steamboats

[mimie]

We bought a $99 phone from mobal just for the international travel. Pay as you go, no need to sign up for a plan. We have a UK number permanently assigned. The website lists cost/minute for each country. We only use it to make brief calls home and give the number to family for emergencies. It was easier (more expensive) than getting phone cards in each country then finding phones.

[Captb]

Steamboats & tban:

 

I have Prepaid Pay as you Go T-Mobile. It is a new quad band - world phone but T-Mobile will not allow it to Roam Internationally. I have unlocked the phone after numerous calls to tech support and a visit to Cingular/Att (don't ask). Now I need a Sim card that is both reasonable and reliable. Buying one in Europe is not an option as I would like to have a Tel # to give to family members due to health concerns. I have looked at Telestial and they offer a neat feature of 800 calls to my cell from the US. My family pays nothing and I accept a rate of about 79 cents per minute. Also get real low rates to US about 39 Cents per min. If I remember correctly T-Mobiles roaming rate in Europe is 99 Cents per min. That's high! All T-Mobile customers should seek out a Global Sim card when traveling - you save $. What upsets me is that T-Mobile's parent - Deutsche Telecom - is a big player in Europe and basically shuts out all T-Mobile.US customers from their cheaper rates.

 

Any Telestial users out there?

[StevefromOhio]

I have ATT phone and I called them to activate international use ( no extra charge). I then could use the phone any where there is service. If you travel abroad a lot you can sign up for a service that discounts the per minute charge. In Europe the charge is 1.29 USD without the plan and 0.99 with.

ATT uses Vodaphone and offers great coverage. I just returned from a cruise on the Rhine and Mosel rivers and with the exception of a couple of spots on the Mosel had very good service.

Steve