Phone calls while on CB Eastern Itinerary

[jt58203]

We will be on the CB March 2-9, 2008. My husband may need to make a few phone calls to check his messages (I hate that idea, but he's self-employed and has to!). How much are phone calls made from the cabin phone? Do cell phones work? We have Verizon and I see (by info on their website) we can make calls while in St. Thomas and St. Maarten, but not sure about at sea days. Any help will be appreciated.

[chrysalis]

calls from the ship are very expensive (I recall something like 6 or 9 dollars a minute)....your cell phones are fine for your port days but they will not work on sea days.

[margord]

We will be on the CB March 2-9, 2008. My husband may need to make a few phone calls to check his messages (I hate that idea, but he's self-employed and has to!). How much are phone calls made from the cabin phone? Do cell phones work? We have Verizon and I see (by info on their website) we can make calls while in St. Thomas and St. Maarten, but not sure about at sea days. Any help will be appreciated.

 

Defintely have him use the cell phone. Much less expensive.

[cherylandtk]

CB is not listed as a ship with a self-contained cell tower, so nothing for sea days. Unless perhaps you can pick up a land based tower.

 

In cabin phone rates might vary. On the Grand last March they were 4.95 per minute, but the Grand is the one Princess ship that does carry its own cell tower. Do not know what the posted rate is on the CB; perhaps someone else will know.

 

Land based cell towers will be the least costly phone service. For further information your husband will need to contact his cell service provider and find out what type of International calling/activation he needs to add to his domestic service plan. Some include St. Thomas as domestic, some do not. St. Maarten is international.

 

Does he have someone back at the office that could consolidate messages into email? If so, he might be better off using the ship computers for access; prices start at 75 cents per minute and go down on package rates that bring that down by almost half.

[gopher's girl]

Verizon works in St. Thomas. So does Sprint.

[Nobbi]

Were were on the GRand and our phones worked. (gsm) prices were a little under $5/min.

 

Where would I see a list of which ships have this service?

[c&d]

I think I used Alltel in St. Thomas. I know it worked in San Juan only thing I had to pay was $.50 min in roaming charges.

[paul929207]

Princess will love your husband if he regularly checks messages, etc from the cabin. I believe the charge is $9.95/minute. Could he have someone else check messages for him and email important ones?

[kennden]

CB is not listed as a ship with a self-contained cell tower, so nothing for sea days. Unless perhaps you can pick up a land based tower.

 

In cabin phone rates might vary. On the Grand last March they were 4.95 per minute, but the Grand is the one Princess ship that does carry its own cell tower. Do not know what the posted rate is on the CB; perhaps someone else will know.

 

Land based cell towers will be the least costly phone service. For further information your husband will need to contact his cell service provider and find out what type of International calling/activation he needs to add to his domestic service plan. Some include St. Thomas as domestic, some do not. St. Maarten is international.

 

Does he have someone back at the office that could consolidate messages into email? If so, he might be better off using the ship computers for access; prices start at 75 cents per minute and go down on package rates that bring that down by almost half.

It is my understanding that most carnival ships have self contained towers. I would hope that princess would have them soon

[mtaylor04]

We were on the ship when my late husband had a stroke, we had to make many phone calls trying to get off the ship and get home. The calls were around $9 a minute, and the reception sucked. We had to make many many calls because we kept getting disconected

 

Cell service did not work at sea!

[sueandkent]

Princess will love your husband if he regularly checks messages, etc from the cabin. I believe the charge is $9.95/minute. Could he have someone else check messages for him and email important ones?

 

This is an excellent post. I am also self-employed and do this. I use someone I trust to check my messages and if need be via email, once they've notified me of my messages, I give directions on what to do if something needs to be attended to.