iPhone on CC?

[Tromba]

I notice that the Bahamas are listed as one of the international roaming countries for ATT wireless. If I were to purchase the one month international plan, I understand that I would have international roaming in Nassau, but what about CC? It is, after all, a Bahamian island. Would I get international roaming there while in port? Or is it too isolated?

Tromba

 

[budwmn]

Yes, I had international roaming and it worked at CC. I also bought an international data plan (canceled it right after the cruise) and was able to send/receive emails and go on the Internet.

 

[tvguy]

I sure don't recall anyone posting any provider's signal hitting Castaway Cay.

You are a long ways from any major population center where there would be a cell tower.
Now that all cell phones are .7 watt and digital, you really have to be within about 5 miles of a cell tower. I know my old analog 5 watt bag phone could hit towers 50 miles away (with static, but usable). I travel in some remote areas of Northern California where I could get service with my old phone, but now, despite the addition of cell towers, I get no service. The new phones just don't have the juice to hit them.

 

[tvguy]

Yes, I had international roaming and it worked at CC. I also bought an international data plan (canceled it right after the cruise) and was able to send/receive emails and go on the Internet.

I stand corrected.

 

[mickeyfan1]

Because CMs live on CC, they probably have a celltower for them.

 

[myDISboards]

I was there 6 months ago - NO VOICE AND DATA COVERAGE.

Just for fun...use information on AT&T coverage viewer and Cellular at Sea (Wireless Maritime Services)
http://www.wireless.att.com/coverageviewer/#?type=voice
http://www.cellularatsea.com/

Plug in Castaway Cay (formerly known as Gorda Cay) Latitude and Longtitude 26.083305, -77.53335

 

[budwmn]

I was there in December using my iPhone.

 

[PugDad626]

When we were on CC on the 8 night cruise, the provider showed up on our ATT phones as BahamTelCo or BTC. We called ATT before the cruise to get the roaming capabilities in the carribbean.

When we got stuck on CC due to the weather, I made one call to our travel agent and they took care of all changes while others had to wait in line at guest services for up to 7 hours to make a call.

Cellular at Sea is the ship provided cell service which I think charged $2.49/minute. I always checked the provider before dialing as to avoid this high priced call.

 

[all5ofus]

I didn't have my iPhone yet on my last trip but I did have voice coverage and received a call sitting on the family beach on cc.

This was not connected through cellular at sea, but through Bahatel the local service provider. I don't know if the have a tower on the island or if coverage was from neighboring Abaco island.

 

[Tromba]

OK, It seems from the majority that ATT cell phone service is available at CC. So if I sign up for international roaming for the week we are on the cruise, then I should have cell service (including data, text, etc.) while at Port Canaveral, Nassau and Castaway Cay. Correct? Then if I call or text or email at those places, I will avoid the Cellular at Sea charges from the ship, and will only pay the upfront cost of international roaming, as long as I don't go over the data allowance of the plan?

Does this sound right?

Tromba

 

[jilljill]

OK, It seems from the majority that ATT cell phone service is available at CC. So if I sign up for international roaming for the week we are on the cruise, then I should have cell service (including data, text, etc.) while at Port Canaveral, Nassau and Castaway Cay. Correct? Then if I call or text or email at those places, I will avoid the Cellular at Sea charges from the ship, and will only pay the upfront cost of international roaming, as long as I don't go over the data allowance of the plan?

Does this sound right?

Tromba

The only way to avoid the Cellular at Sea charges is to make sure you don't see CatS as your provider on your phone. This should only happen when you are at sea, it has nothing to do with adding an international plan or not to your account. The int'l plan is to pay a lower cost while on land, but does not over-ride the CatS service while out to sea.
Hope this helps.

 

[budwmn]

OK, It seems from the majority that ATT cell phone service is available at CC. So if I sign up for international roaming for the week we are on the cruise, then I should have cell service (including data, text, etc.) while at Port Canaveral, Nassau and Castaway Cay. Correct? Then if I call or text or email at those places, I will avoid the Cellular at Sea charges from the ship, and will only pay the upfront cost of international roaming, as long as I don't go over the data allowance of the plan?

Does this sound right?

Tromba

I've cruised three times with my iPhone. The carrier will show at the top of the phone. Everytime I've been in port, it has automatically switched over from Cellular at Sea to the local carrier.

International Roaming - Voice (also called AT&T World Traveler) gives you slightly reduced per minute calling for $6.

If you want to use email/internet/Apps, you need a data plan called International Data - Roaming (also called Data Roaming Add-on). It ranges in cost from $25 to $200 depending on how much data is in the package. The 20MB for $25 would probably be enough for your cruise.

You must be very careful to turn Data Roaming on or off as needed or you will incur unexpected charges (to do this, go into the settings on your phone, go to general, then to network). Also, reset your Usage at the beginning of your cruise so that you can track how much data you have used (to do this, go into settings, then general, then usage, and press reset statistics at the bottom). You can check your usage as you use your data to make sure you don't go over your limit.

It sounds a little complicated at the beginning, but it isn't bad. My first time doing all of this was last summer on a European cruise. I had complete cell phone coverage and email the whole time. I never incurred any unexpected charges. It was wonderful.

By the way, the fees are pro-rated. If you cancel during your billing cycle after your cruise, you are only charged for the part of the month you used it. You just have to remember to cancel it immediately after your trip.

 

[Tromba]

I've cruised three times with my iPhone. The carrier will show at the top of the phone. Everytime I've been in port, it has automatically switched over from Cellular at Sea to the local carrier.

International Roaming - Voice (also called AT&T World Traveler) gives you slightly reduced per minute calling for $6.

If you want to use email/internet/Apps, you need a data plan called International Data - Roaming (also called Data Roaming Add-on). It ranges in cost from $25 to $200 depending on how much data is in the package. The 20MB for $25 would probably be enough for your cruise.

You must be very careful to turn Data Roaming on or off as needed or you will incur unexpected charges (to do this, go into the settings on your phone, go to general, then to network). Also, reset your Usage at the beginning of your cruise so that you can track how much data you have used (to do this, go into settings, then general, then usage, and press reset statistics at the bottom). You can check your usage as you use your data to make sure you don't go over your limit.

It sounds a little complicated at the beginning, but it isn't bad. My first time doing all of this was last summer on a European cruise. I had complete cell phone coverage and email the whole time. I never incurred any unexpected charges. It was wonderful.

By the way, the fees are pro-rated. If you cancel during your billing cycle after your cruise, you are only charged for the part of the month you used it. You just have to remember to cancel it immediately after your trip.

I think I've got it now. Thanks everyone for the responses.

Tromba

 

[Davids-Coco]

OK, It seems from the majority that ATT cell phone service is available at CC. So if I sign up for international roaming for the week we are on the cruise, then I should have cell service (including data, text, etc.) while at Port Canaveral, Nassau and Castaway Cay. Correct? Then if I call or text or email at those places, I will avoid the Cellular at Sea charges from the ship, and will only pay the upfront cost of international roaming, as long as I don't go over the data allowance of the plan?

Does this sound right?

Tromba

Like others have said, it doesn't eliminate additional costs, just reduces them.

You may want to take a look at your data usage rates as well though. At the cheapest package $0.01 a kb that att charges, it is more cost effective for us to buy the wireles onboard. One email dump for us is over 75 kb.

 

[BrerNashville]

Can anyone with more recent experiences confirm that the international data package you can get from AT&T for the iphone will kick in on Castaway Cay? Is the on-board wireless a more cost effective option?

 

[disney1990]

OK, It seems from the majority that ATT cell phone service is available at CC. So if I sign up for international roaming for the week we are on the cruise, then I should have cell service (including data, text, etc.) while at Port Canaveral, Nassau and Castaway Cay. Correct? Then if I call or text or email at those places, I will avoid the Cellular at Sea charges from the ship, and will only pay the upfront cost of international roaming, as long as I don't go over the data allowance of the plan?

Does this sound right?

Tromba

Port Canaveral shouldn't be a problem. Your regular plan will cover you there and until Cellular at Sea kicks after you clear the port. I don't remember how many miles you have to be out to sea before Cellular at Sea kicks in.

 

[TXDCLfan]

Port Canaveral shouldn't be a problem. Your regular plan will cover you there and until Cellular at Sea kicks after you clear the port. I don't remember how many miles you have to be out to sea before Cellular at Sea kicks in.

When I called cellular at sea they told me 12-15 miles from land.

 

[BrerNashville]

Just to be clear -- once you are in Cellular at Sea, you are paying international roaming rates, regardless of whether you've bought X MB of international data streaming?

Is there a way on your phone you can tell when you are back on a participating network? And any further confirmation of being able to use international data plan MB usage at CC rather than Cellular at Sea? In 2010, it appeared that most people were reporting that the plan covered CC, but others disagreed. I suppose it should only have gotten better? But, then again, this is "you are nerfed b/c you are in the top 5% of downloaders" AT&T we are talking about.

 

[wmharley]

BaTelCo's map. So if you have a GSM phone, or a CDMA phone with Global capabilities, then you should be fine, as long as Internation is setup before you go. They state they use the 1900Mhz band for cellular.

For those that don't know, I believe CC is bewteen Grand Bahama and Abaco, the higher of the small circles between them.

i have VZW, but witha global phone. i'll set it up for an emergency, but keep the phone's data and GPS and syncing features off along with putting it in airplane mode for when I have it on. Should be very often though.

 

[helloirishkitty]

We were at CC on February 11, and did not get off the ship. We had no cell coverage. My iPhone said "No Service" the entire time we were at port.

I added the international plan (minutes and data) before we left.

Apparently, I am in the minority but I found it very strange that we had no cell service that day.