Phones For International Use

[RetdCruizers]

Has anyone had any experience with cell phones that work overseas? I found a website where you can get a GSM system that works in more than 140 ountires...no monthly fee and you pay only for the calls you make and receive...sounds like a winner compared to the cost of calling from the ship....just wondered if anyone has any feedback regarding the use/purchase of these phones prior to leaving the US....thanks. :confused:

[spongerob]

We rented one when we cruised in Europe. It worked well and was very handy when contacting tour operators.

[whenistrivia]

Has anyone had any experience with cell phones that work overseas? I found a website where you can get a GSM system that works in more than 140 ountires...no monthly fee and you pay only for the calls you make and receive...sounds like a winner compared to the cost of calling from the ship....just wondered if anyone has any feedback regarding the use/purchase of these phones prior to leaving the US....thanks. :confused:

 

If you're referring to Mobal, we just signed up for their service to use on our upcoming Mediterranean cruise. We took the $99 Siemens phone, which includes $99 phone credit right up front. We love the idea of not switching cards in the phone for every country you visit, and the fact that it will work in Mexico, the Caribbean, Alaska, Australia, just about anywhere we've cruised or plan to cruise. You get a UK phone number, and have the option of using the voice-mail feature or not. I have a client that was in Europe recently and used them for about a month.. they loved it.

 

Rates aren't the cheapest, but the pluses of the whole deal far outweigh the negatives.

 

Gary

[junglejane]

We got the $49 Mobal phone for our Med cruise this past June. It worked fine. We only used it on a very limited basis, e.g., to call the friends we were sharing tours with. Mostly I wanted it for emergencies. We did private tours in 6 ports, so one reason I wanted the phone was in case we got stranded or were in danger of missing the ship (of course that didn't happen:) ). Given our needs, it was just fine. We plan to use it again next summer. In the meanwhile, it is sitting in a box and costing us nothing.

 

--Junglejane

[RetdCruizers]

If you're referring to Mobal, we just signed up for their service to use on our upcoming Mediterranean cruise. We took the $99 Siemens phone, which includes $99 phone credit right up front. We love the idea of not switching cards in the phone for every country you visit, and the fact that it will work in Mexico, the Caribbean, Alaska, Australia, just about anywhere we've cruised or plan to cruise. You get a UK phone number, and have the option of using the voice-mail feature or not. I have a client that was in Europe recently and used them for about a month.. they loved it.

 

Rates aren't the cheapest, but the pluses of the whole deal far outweigh the negatives.

 

Gary

 

Yes, Gary I was referring to Mobal...I wasn't sure if I would get "flamed" for mentioning the company name. It looked like a good deal to me, but I didn't go into a lot of detail around the rates...are they as high has using "ship to shore" while onboard? Thanks for your input as to your experience with the phones...I think we will go for it and will report back to CC. :) Thanks !!!

[Joy_K]

I purchased a Mobal phone last year before our Europe cruise and found it very convenient. While I was initially researching it I noticed on their website that they had a refer-a-friend discount program. I first asked on my roll call thread if anyone had one. No one didn't, so I noticed a poster on the Europe boards that had gave lots of useful information and I emailed her to refer me. After I purchased mine, I told others on my roll call that I had and if anyone else wanted to purchase one that I would refer them. For each person that you refer that ends up buying one, you get a 10% discount for life (up to 5 referrals=50% disount on your usage). I found this a very nice feature of the phone.

[Pam in CA]

A year ago, I went to China with some friends and one of them got the Mobal phone. It didn't work half the time and she wound up using my very basic AT&T phone (I've got the World Traveler plan for $5.99/mo) instead. She was very sorry she'd paid the money for it. I've used my little phone not only in China but all over the Med, on a river cruise in Russia where we were far from cities and towns, throughout the Baltics, in Australia and across the Pacific, etc. I can even check my email on my phone for a relatively low per minute data transfer cost.

[sbwhite2]

A year ago, I went to China with some friends and one of them got the Mobal phone. It didn't work half the time and she wound up using my very basic AT&T phone (I've got the World Traveler plan for $5.99/mo) instead. She was very sorry she'd paid the money for it. I've used my little phone not only in China but all over the Med, on a river cruise in Russia where we were far from cities and towns, throughout the Baltics, in Australia and across the Pacific, etc. I can even check my email on my phone for a relatively low per minute data transfer cost.

 

I use the same AT&T plan.... start and stop it when ever we travel/return home. It also gives us reduced rates in most countries...Mexico for something like 59 cents/minute. My phone is a couple of years old and works perfectly every where we've traveled.

[whenistrivia]

I did research trying to add international service to our local business plan (Verizon) and it just wasn't worth it, from a price and convienence standpoint.

 

Since I plan on using it only for the occasional call back home, or emergencies, it seemed like a good fit. When you get back home, put it in the drawer and wait for the next trip.

 

I also like the website they give you to track usage, billing, etc.

 

Doesn't appear to be the right choice for everybody, but a good option if it fits your particular needs.

 

Gary

[AliceS]

My T Mobile phone worked overseas. I had to add international, which was free. Calls were 99 cents a minute. You have to be sure you have a server other than the ship or the rate would be high. I just pulled the card and put the phone in the safe on sea days. It didn't work there at all.

[travelingsue]

My experience with them was not good. The calls were unbelievable high. The company's name was Mobal. I have found that one of the best ways is to buy calling cards from different countries. Also, if you have cellular service with AT&T, they have an international plan which I am going to try. Mobal charged the calls to my credit card and it ran me several hundred dollars even though I didn't talk that much so buyer beware.

[sultan_sfo]

For each country pair MOBAL has a fixed per minute rate that can be looked up on their website. There are no roaming charges. We have the $99 phone though I admit we have not used it much -- it is a security blanket because family can call us. I leave it "plugged and on" in the cabin. The advantage of $99 phone is that it works in the US as well. Reently, calling from inside the SF Airport to a local number ($1.50 per minute), MOBAL worked but AT&T did not have a signal! Each one of us will have a different story to tell.

[Sea Day Cruiser]

I bought the MOBAL $99.00 phone about 3 years ago. I've used it on several cruises since. It's worked fine for me in Australia, New Zealand, the Caribbean, Germany, Italy, the U.S. and more. When I'm not on a trip I leave it in a drawer also and it costs nothing. You can check their web site before you leave the country to see what the minute charges are for each place your going.

[Scooter-n-GB]

All we did was have International Roaming enabled on our plan. Costs nothing extra, unless you use it, and we are very spare with international use. :p

[RLBlack]

Our cell plan does not have international roaming- we have had a mobal phone for about 3 years- take it out and turn it on when we are in Mexico- and use it only to keep in touch with family- and expect it to work in Australia. Our friends have At&t- so we should be covered. rlb

[Lynda90]

I was thinking about purchasing one of these for my upcoming Caribbean cruise so I can keep in touch with home. Anyone have any experience using this phone in Caribbean? How much is deducted per minute? Is it kind of like the tracfone? Thanks for your help! :p

[Lynda90]

Please disregard my previous post (too late to edit). I found the info I needed.

[magiceye]

We recently purchased a Mobal phone for our western med cruise. We used it on board ship and ashore in Spain and Italy and were were very pleased with the clarity and lack of dropped calls. However, be warned that this phone has a very sensitive touchpad. While in my handbag it somehow managed to dial my mother in Florida and I was charged over $74 for a 38 minute call that I didn't know I was making! I had called her the night before and I assume that somehow the redial button was pressed. I explained to Mobal that the call was unintentional but they charged me anyway as they claim I should have kept the phone locked. I normally use a flip phone and wasn't even aware that something like this could happen. So be careful if you decide to purchase this phone.

[Marque]

I've used my Verizon Worldphone on my last two trips to Europe. It worked great.

[Posaune]

If you have an unlocked GSM phone you can purchase a SIM card from several companies (telestial.com and gosim.com are two of many). This gives you a foreign cell number for roaming all over Europe. They offer many different plans if you are only going into one area, or a true world SIM. These are prepaid plans that charge by the minute. Rates vary from .10 a minute on up with the average about .29 a minute. Just take the card out when you get home and put your regular card back in. I save the SIM and charge a little more to it and have it ready for the next cruise!

[PescadoAmarillo]

If you have an unlocked GSM phone you can purchase a SIM card from several companies (telestial.com and gosim.com are two of many). This gives you a foreign cell number for roaming all over Europe. They offer many different plans if you are only going into one area, or a true world SIM. These are prepaid plans that charge by the minute. Rates vary from .10 a minute on up with the average about .29 a minute. Just take the card out when you get home and put your regular card back in. I save the SIM and charge a little more to it and have it ready for the next cruise!

This is what we do. For the Caribbean, several islands are on Digicel (but not all Digicel islands are part of the same network, which gets confusing...Aruba was not the last time we were there). We do our homework ahead of time, buy a Digicel SIM card on the first island, and use it on several islands. If there is a single island not on DIGICEL, we simply use our phone and pay the prevailing international rates. The worst that happens is that we have some minutes left on a SIM card and they expire before we get back to the island on our next cruise....it's still a lot cheaper than paying the international rate through AT&T.

[Donray]

Yes, Gary I was referring to Mobal...I wasn't sure if I would get "flamed" for mentioning the company name. It looked like a good deal to me, but I didn't go into a lot of detail around the rates...are they as high has using "ship to shore" while onboard? Thanks for your input as to your experience with the phones...I think we will go for it and will report back to CC. :) Thanks !!!

 

 

Does not work while on the ship...........

 

See http://www.cellularatsea.com/roaming.htm