World Phones

[hermang]

On our Med Cruise in August, we were green with envy at the EU folks seemed to be able to use their cell phones everywhere. Of course most of the world uses GSM phones while in USA - only T-Mobile and AT&T do and their coverage at least for me has been terrible on the two occassions my company supplied us with cell phones.

 

On a flight back from Savannah, there was an article in SKY magazine about a company called MOBAL Communication selling a very interesting concept.

They sell you a phone (Motorola $49 good in 150 countries and a Siemens for $99 good in over 170 countries) and you only pay for minutes used. Rates are not all that bad. I of course being a techno geek bought the Siemens.

 

One other feature is a Sim card that does not expire and gives you a dedicated UK phone number.

 

Anyone have any experience with those folks. I won't get a chance to try it til our Feb Caribbean cruise. Looks on ther surface to be well rated based on their website http://www.mobalrental.com/gsm/handsets.asp?source=0928xxxxN

[tuggers]

My friend and I bought an unlocked sim card phone on e-bay, took it to Europe for our TA. We just bought a sim card and we were good to go. Very inexpensive for the card and we paid about $50 for the phone which was new.

[dkjretired]

My friend and I bought an unlocked sim card phone on e-bay, took it to Europe for our TA. We just bought a sim card and we were good to go. Very inexpensive for the card and we paid about $50 for the phone which was new.

 

Absolutely amazed at what they do in Europe. I had a cell phone purchased in London and called home to NJ at almost no cost and it was liking calling home from across the street. Funny story, I got stuck in a bank in Brussels trying to use the ATM and couldn't get out of the building. Called my daughter who was in a hotel across the street and told her I needed help. She called my wife in NJ and they got a good laugh out of my predicament. I got out in about a half hour when someone from the bank showed up.

[hermang]

My friend and I bought an unlocked sim card phone on e-bay, took it to Europe for our TA. We just bought a sim card and we were good to go. Very inexpensive for the card and we paid about $50 for the phone which was new.

 

That was another option - but I heard some horror stories about unlocked phones - apparently some the US carriers will NOT put them on their network.

 

I saw some "unlocked blackberries" at a computer show for $99 - wonder if thoase would work as well

[Leela]

I'm about to replace my current world phone with another one, and my plan is to save the old one and get it unlocked with a UK sim card the next time I've over there (in January). That way if it's no good when I get back to the US, I don't care, because I'll have my usual phone here.

 

I spent most of my time in urban areas in the US, so I've never had a problem with GSM coverage except when I am visiting my parents in the wilds of New Hampshire.

 

On the other hand, I've received phone calls while on a country road in Thailand!

[tuggers]

We have our own phones for this country. The one we bought is to be used strictly while we travel. Lots of time we go on the same cruises, if not we'll just pass it back and forth. Seemed like a low-cost solution to our problem.

[Tenngal]

I've just purchased a low-cost, prepaid phone card to use on an upcoming cruise to South America. I've found that some GSM phones and services are iffy in the areas of South America that I'll be in. With this phone card, the rates are 4.6 cents/min! I can't find anything else nearly that cheap. If anyone is interested in learning more on these cards, send an email to dmdconnect at comcast dot net.

[tuggers]

Tried those. Too much trouble finding phones and then phones you could use them on. In Brazil every phone I found charged a further fee which depleted the minutes very quickly and ran the cost up.

[hermang]

We have our own phones for this country. The one we bought is to be used strictly while we travel. Lots of time we go on the same cruises, if not we'll just pass it back and forth. Seemed like a low-cost solution to our problem.

 

I have had Verizon for ever - even when they known as Bell Atlantic so I am not happy about changing phone numbers since I use the phone for business as well. As I said - the two times I had AT&T were disasters and since this is a $100 deal ( could have bought the cheaper MOBAL but a couple of the countries the better phone offered was worth it. I cant wait til our next cruise to try it out.

 

Phone cards sound like a good deal BUT as some one said - hidden charges can really run the minutes up and maybe no where to refil on a weekend

[Gold Coast Cruisers]

We always take our normal mobile phone with us and have our Mobile company connect it up to 'Global Roaming' but we only use it for text messaging. The fee per text message is 25c per message which is pretty cheap.

However, we don't answer the mobile if it rings because if we do, we pay for the call which is fair enough because the caller wouldn't necessarily know that we are out of the country and they would be charged accordingly.

 

Jillybean:)

[Jim_Iain]

You really should have no problem with unlocked phones. I had a Cingular phone that I planned on using in Europe. I called Cingular (now ATT) and explained my situation. They said that since I had the phone for over a year they could unlock it for me. I had to give them the IMMEA number and it took 3 days before their engineering people sent me the unlock code and instructions on how to unlock it.

 

I recently checked my New Blackberry 8700 (ATT) and found that it was unlocked. It is tri band and generally connects in most countries. The only place I couldn't get connectivity was in Aruba.

[tuggers]

Maybe I didn't explain this well. Will try again. this is just a phone to be used when we have no reasonable cell service on our regular phones, We will only use it for travel. When we go into a country we stop by one of those little kiosk's that sell prepaid sim cards. We buy one and install it. Bingo, we are getting the local rates. Does not pertain to any other service or company we may have. If we go to another country and they use a defferent system we buy another prepaid sim card. They start at $5 and go up. We were very happy with the quality of the calls and the price was minimul. the card gives you a local number so if you call and miss someone they will know someone called from London and can call you back.

We got home and packed up the phone. I will be using it on my 11/25 and 1/02 cruises. Looking forward to it working well. And cheaply.

[Oakman]

We purchased a Mobal World phone for our 2 week Italy trip this past May. I would highly recommend it. You only pay for the actual phone (we purchased the $99.00 version, as it had wider coverage). You go online, check off the countries you will be visiting and the rates are shown. There is no monthly charge, and you are only charged for actual calls made. Excellent reception and phone speed. No need for any phone cards. Easy to set up. The only downside is the phone # is registered in England, so friends and family get confused with such a long number. Truly worth the money spent. Will be a permanent part of our carry-on from now on.:)

[dkjretired]

Maybe I didn't explain this well. Will try again. this is just a phone to be used when we have no reasonable cell service on our regular phones, We will only use it for travel. When we go into a country we stop by one of those little kiosk's that sell prepaid sim cards. We buy one and install it. Bingo, we are getting the local rates. Does not pertain to any other service or company we may have. If we go to another country and they use a defferent system we buy another prepaid sim card. They start at $5 and go up. We were very happy with the quality of the calls and the price was minimul. the card gives you a local number so if you call and miss someone they will know someone called from London and can call you back.

We got home and packed up the phone. I will be using it on my 11/25 and 1/02 cruises. Looking forward to it working well. And cheaply.

 

 

Same here, still have the phone at home for the next trip...

[hermang]

We purchased a Mobal World phone for our 2 week Italy trip this past May. I would highly recommend it. You only pay for the actual phone (we purchased the $99.00 version, as it had wider coverage). You go online, check off the countries you will be visiting and the rates are shown. There is no monthly charge, and you are only charged for actual calls made. Excellent reception and phone speed. No need for any phone cards. Easy to set up. The only downside is the phone # is registered in England, so friends and family get confused with such a long number. Truly worth the money spent. Will be a permanent part of our carry-on from now on.:)

 

I wish I had seen the ad before our Med Cruise. That is the answer I was hoping for. I just want to be able to contact the kids and visa versa - probably won't use it much.

 

I also like the idea of purchasing an unlocked phone and getting local sim cards - There is a computer show comming up tomorrow - last one had some older unlocked blackberries for ATT or T Mobile - might consider one of those too especially if sim cards are really cheap.

 

We are going to Cozumel, Grand cayman and Montego Bay - all of whichshould work well with the Mobal. Thanks again

[hermang]

Maybe I didn't explain this well. Will try again. this is just a phone to be used when we have no reasonable cell service on our regular phones, We will only use it for travel. When we go into a country we stop by one of those little kiosk's that sell prepaid sim cards. We buy one and install it. Bingo, we are getting the local rates. Does not pertain to any other service or company we may have. If we go to another country and they use a defferent system we buy another prepaid sim card. They start at $5 and go up. We were very happy with the quality of the calls and the price was minimul. the card gives you a local number so if you call and miss someone they will know someone called from London and can call you back.

We got home and packed up the phone. I will be using it on my 11/25 and 1/02 cruises. Looking forward to it working well. And cheaply.

I was not sure about the local sim cards and do they fit any phone. I assume you purchase these on shore at ???

[Ask4Jay]

DW and I each have a Motorola Razr with T- Mobile (GSM) service. On board, crossing the Atlantic, we just send and receive text messages home to and from our kids and their kids at 15 cents per message. Yes, we all can send text messages, technophiles that we are, even us old folks, lol. Once we are in Europe, we insert our German T-Mobile SIM cards and enjoy local phone rates. In theory we should be able to send each other a message for 15 cents while onboard. We’ll try it next month and check our T-Mobile invoice when we are back home. In that case, who needs walkie-talkies?

[hermang]

I took a gamble yesterday and bid and won on ebay a Blackberry 7290 quad band unlocked phone for $37.00 - the ad said any sim card wil do. Ok so looking around I find MOBAL is giving away a sim card for free ( ok $10 shipping) but for around $50 I get blackberry and a sim card that doesnt require a contract.

 

You are right who needs walkie talkies. If this works I wil probably use this instead of the Siemens as now ai have an address book

[moya]

We purchased a Mobal World phone for our 2 week Italy trip this past May. I would highly recommend it. You only pay for the actual phone (we purchased the $99.00 version, as it had wider coverage). You go online, check off the countries you will be visiting and the rates are shown. There is no monthly charge, and you are only charged for actual calls made. Excellent reception and phone speed. No need for any phone cards. Easy to set up. The only downside is the phone # is registered in England, so friends and family get confused with such a long number. Truly worth the money spent. Will be a permanent part of our carry-on from now on.:)

 

We also have this phone and have used it extensively over the past few years and love it.

You only pay for the calls you make and comes with adaptors for different plugs to the countries you travel to .

 

Moya

[hermang]

We also have this phone and have used it extensively over the past few years and love it.

You only pay for the calls you make and comes with adaptors for different plugs to the countries you travel to .

 

Moya

 

I am loaning the phone to a friend of mine who is heading to Spain in November. He never knew that such a deal existed and he said if it works he is going to buy one. Mobal is now offering free ( $10 shipping) GSM Sim cards - if this works in the unlocked blackberry I just bought - then it I will probably use that phone abroad only because it has an address book - but I will pack the other as a backup - heck it is small enough.

[Abby Ruth]

We have two Mobal Communications SIM cards. We didn't get their phone because our regular phones are quad-band GSM phones. I recommend them highly for cruise travel. We took them on a Med. cruise in June and got an excellent signal in all ports and at sea, although reception was bad inside while at sea. That's understandable since the ship is essentially a metal box.

 

Charges per minute seem high, but remember you don't pay anything except for the phone calls. Most other world phone plans have an annual charge.

[Abby Ruth]

We have two Mobal Communications SIM cards. We didn't get their phone because our regular phones are quad-band GSM phones. I recommend them highly for cruise travel. We took them on a Med. cruise in June and got an excellent signal in all ports and at sea, although reception was bad inside while at sea. That's understandable since the ship is essentially a metal box.

 

Charges per minute seem high, but remember you don't pay anything except for the phone calls. You pay nothing when you don't use the phone. Most other world phone plans have an annual charge.

 

Sorry about the duplicate messages. Had a computer problem.

[hermang]

We have two Mobal Communications SIM cards. We didn't get their phone because our regular phones are quad-band GSM phones. I recommend them highly for cruise travel. We took them on a Med. cruise in June and got an excellent signal in all ports and at sea, although reception was bad inside while at sea. That's understandable since the ship is essentially a metal box.

 

Charges per minute seem high, but remember you don't pay anything except for the phone calls. You pay nothing when you don't use the phone. Most other world phone plans have an annual charge.

 

Sorry about the duplicate messages. Had a computer problem.

 

I looked at a couple of others and Mobal seems to be reasonable especially if you consider no monthy charge or contract. Verizon wanted an additional $10 / month and a 2 yr contract and worse no one in the store had a clue how to get the multimode phone.

 

I assume that the second card I ordered will have a different phone number - which is fine.

 

My friend who is going to borrow my phone was a world traveling executive before he retired - he was blown away by the information I gave him - all of the fireign travel he did over the years and spent beaucoup buckson hotel phone charges to call back to the office

[Married on Enchantment]

Tuggers,

 

I have been trying to get some info on prepaid sim cards. It doesnt seem popular here in Canada, so info is hard to come by. I am going on a Hawaii cruise in a couple of weeks. I was thinking of getting an AT&t prepaid sim card. Do you know if that one would work while at see. I know alot of people on the boards have said that AT&T has one of the best receptions. Is it easy to get one in the USA. Hope you can help.

 

Jarrad

[Jim_Iain]

You can download a Celebrity PDF on the onboard service at http://media.celebritycruises.com/celebrity/content/pdf/cell_phone_faq_02_07.pdf

 

They also point you to http://www.cellularatsea.com