Calling into work!

[Scorpiorose]

HELP! I will need to contact work once on the Ooberdam - We board on Saturday morning, will be a sea on Sunday, and land in Cabo on Sunday. I need to contact work probably Sunday night as I think sunday morning might be too late.

 

How are the computers on board the Oober? Will I have a problem? Or.....has any one used their cell phone in Cabo? Just wondering how I will manage this.

 

Thanks all!:confused:

[ME Guide]

Call your cell phone provider and ask about service in the areas you will visit. You will have peace of mind knowing that you can use your phone if it is possible. Ship to shore is expensive.

Your post is confusing. Are you in Cabo on Sunday? (your sentence says you'll need to contact Sunday night but Sunday morning might be too late!??? huh?) You could buy a calling card there.

[sail7seas]

HELP! I will need to contact work once on the Ooberdam - We board on Saturday morning, will be a sea on Sunday, and land in Cabo on Sunday. I need to contact work probably Sunday night as I think sunday morning might be too late.

 

How are the computers on board the Oober? Will I have a problem? Or.....has any one used their cell phone in Cabo? Just wondering how I will manage this.

 

Thanks all!:confused:

 

 

There are telephones in every cabin on OOSTERDAM (and all HAL ships). They are very pricey but if your cell doesn't work, as a fall back you can be sure to use your cabin phone.

[COLandlocked]

I have verizon service and my cell phone worked fine as long as I stayed out on the balcony.

[LovetheFall]

HELP! I will need to contact work once on the Ooberdam - We board on Saturday morning, will be a sea on Sunday, and land in Cabo on Sunday. I need to contact work probably Sunday night as I think sunday morning might be too late.

 

How are the computers on board the Oober? Will I have a problem? Or.....has any one used their cell phone in Cabo? Just wondering how I will manage this.

 

Thanks all!:confused:

 

We are sailing Sunday on the Westerdam, and we are newbies. I know you didn't ask about cost, specifically, but I thought this info might be helpful. I called T-mobile, our cell phone provider and these are the rates they quoted:

$4.99 a minute onboard the ship

$1.49 a minute on Turks, Caymans and in Mexico

They also cautioned about making sure the phones were off or in airplane mode when not in use, because if someone calls you and it rings, you are charged the $4.99 rate when onboard the ship, even if you don't answer (not sure I understand that).

Texting is much cheaper - $ .35 to send or receive.

[Northshorecruisers]

You will not be in Cabo until Monday morning.

[gophercruiser]

You can purchase a prepaid Hal phone card at the front desk or the Neptune at a cost of $25 which should give you 12 minutes of airtime or about $2.10 per minute and be able to phone in comfort from your room.

[Scorpiorose]

Sorry to be confusing.....

 

We leave San Diago on Sat.

We have a sea day Sun.

Arrive in Cabo on Mon (thanks northshorecruisers)

 

So.....I need to call mon. morning, early.....we will be coming into port I believe, ready to disembark to cabo at 8:00 am. I need to call before then.

 

So.....I too have T-Mobil, so in Cabo does that mean it's $1.49 a min. I could call when we arrive in port.

 

What do you think if I send an email (no one mentioned if this is something I can do easily on Sunday night)

 

Then try to put a call in while we are docking in Cabo, just to make sure the message gets through. Would this be a reasonable plan?

[LovetheFall]

You can purchase a prepaid Hal phone card at the front desk or the Neptune at a cost of $25 which should give you 12 minutes of airtime or about $2.10 per minute and be able to phone in comfort from your room.

 

Will this phone card work with any phone? That would be considerably cheaper than what T-Mobile quoted me.

[lka1012]

I have checked my work e-mails from sea in the past. If you can get into your work email from home, you can from sea.

[jtl513]

What do you think if I send an email (no one mentioned if this is something I can do easily on Sunday night)?

You can send and receive emails 24/7 ... except sometimes late on the last night of the cruise because they are closing out accounts.

[pipedreams62]

[Moriah]

I have to be in regular contact as well, and I use email as my primary avenue. I did your same itinerary last March on the OOSTERdam and had good internet service throughout. I don't think you'll have a problem. And as has already been mentioned, if it's terribly important and it's just one call, you can always use your cabin phone.

 

Have a great time on the OOSTERDAM and try to make it a real vacation. You sound like me with having to be online with work all the time! :D

Moriah

[LovetheFall]

Sorry to be confusing.....

 

We leave San Diago on Sat.

We have a sea day Sun.

Arrive in Cabo on Mon (thanks northshorecruisers)

 

So.....I need to call mon. morning, early.....we will be coming into port I believe, ready to disembark to cabo at 8:00 am. I need to call before then.

 

So.....I too have T-Mobil, so in Cabo does that mean it's $1.49 a min. I could call when we arrive in port.

 

What do you think if I send an email (no one mentioned if this is something I can do easily on Sunday night)

 

Then try to put a call in while we are docking in Cabo, just to make sure the message gets through. Would this be a reasonable plan?

 

The lady I spoke to at T-Mobile said Mexico was $1.49 when I told we'd be in Costa Maya. So I assume she meant all of Mexico. You can call them at 611 on your phone and check with them just to be sure.

[Copper10-8]

Sorry to be confusing.....

 

We leave San Diago on Sat.

We have a sea day Sun.

Arrive in Cabo on Mon (thanks northshorecruisers)

 

So.....I need to call mon. morning, early.....we will be coming into port I believe, ready to disembark to cabo at 8:00 am. I need to call before then.

 

So.....I too have T-Mobil, so in Cabo does that mean it's $1.49 a min. I could call when we arrive in port.

 

What do you think if I send an email (no one mentioned if this is something I can do easily on Sunday night)

 

Then try to put a call in while we are docking in Cabo, just to make sure the message gets through. Would this be a reasonable plan?

 

Just a hot tip: Ooberdam does not come into port nor will dock in Cabo - There are no facilities for that - What Ooberdam will do is drop her anchor and start a tendering process where you will reach terra firma via one of Ooberdam's tender boats, in Cabo, about a 10-15 min ride

[Scorpiorose]

I did call 611 for T-Mobil today and they said $4.99 a min. in Cabo so mexico fees aren't all the same it seems. :(

 

AND there is a service charge added on AND once you call and it logs onto the tower there....even if you turn your phone off, if someone calls you and leaves a message, you will be charged the $4.99 a minute and the service charge AGAIN!!!

 

SO....I guess I'll use the internet the night before, Sunday on the ship and if all else fails I'll call from the ship if I must!

 

Question: If you but HAL's card, do you use your cabin phone, you wont be charged then will you twice, once for the card and another for the use of the phone?

 

I've been in cabo before and tried a calling card from a pay phone, near impossible, difficult to use and just a HUGE pain.

 

Email it is! Thanks guys!!!

[Boytjie]

AND there is a service charge added on AND once you call and it logs onto the tower there....even if you turn your phone off, if someone calls you and leaves a message, you will be charged the $4.99 a minute and the service charge AGAIN!!!

 

If the phone is turned off, how does it know you are still in Cabo? You could be in the next port, or at home. Sounds like nonsense to me.

 

I have traveled to a lot of countries with a cell phone and have never been charged for a call like that.

[richnorto]

We have T-mobile and spent 3 weeks in Europe this past summer. If you turn the phone off, you will not be charged for missed calls. If you leave it on, voice mail somehow tracks to your location so you are charged. BTW, confiscate your teens' phones and lock them in your safe OFF! My DS got in a fight with his girlfriend while we were in Europe and the 5 min. daily limit @.99 per min. went WAY over!!! We had a $1300 cell phone bill!:eek:

[Scorpiorose]

The way it's been explained to me is that cell phones hone in on the nearest tower and continue to operate off of that tower until you move on and make a call closer to a different tower, then it will continue on that tower and so on.......so if you make a call from cabo, it's bouncing off that tower until you make a call near a different tower.

 

Even if your phone is off it still needs a tower to make the call, text messages, leave voice mails, etc....whenever an action is taking place it's operating off a tower. This is how it operates, so it make sense to me that placing a call in Cabo will set the tower to Cabo until we leave Cabo. There are many threads on this very topic, and hearing it directly from T-Mobil, well I will take their word for it.:o

[Boytjie]

If I make a phone call in London and then jump on a plane back to New York, I don't get charged London rates for any calls that may have been made to my phone while in flight.

[richnorto]

If I make a phone call in London and then jump on a plane back to New York, I don't get charged London rates for any calls that may have been made to my phone while in flight.

This is because the calls are not being bounced off the London towers. They are probably not being connected at all (you are over the ocean) so go to the local network voice mail. All calls in range of a tower bounce there to get to your phone.:cool:

[Moriah]

 

What do you think if I send an email (no one mentioned if this is something I can do easily on Sunday night)

 

Then try to put a call in while we are docking in Cabo, just to make sure the message gets through. Would this be a reasonable plan?

 

I guess I failed to address this above - yes, you can easily send an email on Sunday night. Of course. If you will not have your laptop, just go to the Explorations Cafe (a nice spot worth a visit anyway) and register for a plan (or if you really think this will be your one and only need for internet during the cruise - just log on and pay per minute - I believe 75 cents per minute online) If you use your laptop you can log on from virtually anyplace on the Oosterdam. Don't believe it if you read that there is access only from the Atrium, Neptune, etc. In fact, the O. is nicely equiped with routers all over the place. Also if you use your laptop, you can compose offline and save money. If you use the ship's PC's, you'll be on the clock the whole time. Email can be sent from as soon as the entire ship's manifest is loaded into their system. This might take them until after muster drill, but sometimes they are ready a bit earlier. Take if from me, I'm the first one to sign up for internet on a cruise. I'm not a workaholic, but it's what keeps me able to afford the cruises - so not complaining!

You'll be fine, don't worry. In these days and times, technology has truly made the world a small village.

By the way what's the deal with "Ooberdam" - was this just a typo or is this a nickname I don't know about for the Oosterdam?

Moriah

[Luv4dacruise]

This is because the calls are not being bounced off the London towers. They are probably not being connected at all (you are over the ocean) so go to the local network voice mail. All calls in range of a tower bounce there to get to your phone.:cool:

 

If the phone is off, the phone is off, plain and simple.

 

So, i drive from here (Boston area) to Mexico, your telling me that when i enter Mexico and turn my phone on to get a signal then off again that i will be charged for every call that is made TO my phones voicemail?....

 

That just make absolutely no sense whatsoever and can guarantee you it is 100% incorrect.

[Scorpiorose]

On T-Mobil.....and I believe other carriers, if I drive down the coast from washington and make calls along the way it's logging in on towers all along the way. No problem if I have free long distance in and from anywhere in the US, I do. If I turn my phone off it is honed in on the last place I made a call from.

 

The point is......once I turn it on in a new place it searches for a tower closest to where I am, and if I am in a different country, say Mexico where I do not have free long distance, I'm now logged into the tower in Mexico. Just because I shut the phone off doesn't mean it switches that tower off. So if someone calls while it's logged onto the Mexico tower I will be charged those rates.

 

This is why I'm fine with my phone UNLESS I turn it on in a place I do not have free service. Onced turned on, it logs onto the Mexican tower in CABO and even if I turn it off I will be charged for calls coming in and going out.

 

I called, I asked specific questions, I have known this for all my cruises now. The interesting thing is I could call out of St. Thomas because it's a US territory.....but I couldn't call from the other islands last year and I'd be charged in Cabo.....call your carrier, they make lots of decisions that don't make sense!:o

[Scorpiorose]

Ooberdam, that's funny! No I'm just a speedy, yet not accurate typist!:p

 

Thanks for the info on the email. So....did I understand correctly, if you have your own lap top the internet is free? No fees? Hummmmm, that is interesting....perhaps I should invest in that ultra thin apple computer like I want, then I'd have it for the cruise......:rolleyes: or I suppose I could pay $10 bucks and save the rest!:o