Cell phone onboard ship in Europe

[Apalmetto]

Does anyone know whether the tracfone or any other type cell phone will work while at sea in Europe? On another thread, I read where the Tracfone worked while at sea, but not when the ship was at port.

 

I will be on the NCL Jade - Istanbul to Athens cruise and wanted to know the least expensive way to communicate with home while at sea. The fees charged by the ship are excessive. Since the Tracfone is a prepaid phone, then there would not be an extra charge....but only if it works. If the Tracfone does work, which model should I get? Any information or recommendations will be appreciated.

 

Palmetto

[garycarla]

Okay, here we go. There have been some long threads about this. Let me give you what I know.

 

The ship has towers onboard run by a third party. They will carry ATT/Verizon and TMobile for sure. Maybe others. Cost is $2.50 per minute. Tower is supposed to be off while in port. Not always the case.

 

When in a foreign port, you are subject to what they handle there. Nothing to do with cruiseship.

 

Tracfone is a US based prepaid cell phone service. They SPECIFICALLY say it will not work outside the U.S. There have been many reports of people using these phones in foreign country. Tracfone gets the signal and turns off the SIM card/phone. done. fried. No longer will work.

 

But, there have been many reports of the Tracfone working while onboard ships at sea. This is a fluke. It is no supposed to work, but does. And only charges normal minutes of use. Like ten to 20 cents a minute. Again, it is NOT SUPPOSED TO WORK. There have also been some reports of problems with it.

 

To me, it is worth the risk to pick one up. Go to tracfone.com and get a basic phone and take your chances. If it works for ten minutes, you pretty much cover what a regular cell phone would cost at $2.50 a minute.

[Apalmetto]

Gary,

 

Thanks for the detailed information. I have seen where usage was successful in the Carribbean, but I have never seen where it was used successfully in Europe. I guess it is worth a try. I assume all NCL ships have the same type cell towers.

 

I read where one cruiser used the Tracfone successfully on the cruise, then when he got home the service was cut. When he called Tracfone, he was told that he used the phone illegally on the NCL Jewel and that his service had been discontinued as they had been billed almost $200 for his calls. He expressed his regrets and the customer service representative restored his service with no penalty, but a warning that with any future violation, his service would be permanently discontinued.

[Antioch Cruiser]

We were on the Dream last October and we used our cell phones in France and Italy. We were charged $2.49 per minute. We have Sprint service and called them in advance to activate the service. We had to press #2 to download the software to our phones.

Maybe it would be a good idea for you to call your cell provider and see what you have to do. Have fun.;)

[CRUZIN TOM]

Ther are different types of service offered in Europe. the phones use a different phone access that is different than what is used in the US phones. Nokia, makes most of the phones in Europe. I would contact them and ask what is the best to use. Otherwise use the ships service while at sea. Its really not bad if you need to talk to someone. Otherwise use email.:)