Best way to call home when cruising...

[goofydadeo]

Does anyone have any sound advice on the best way to call home when cruising? I had planned to used the pay phones when going ashore in St. Thomas or St. Martin however when I checked with my prepaid phone card provider they quoted me a rate of 70 cents/minute. I have also heard that some domestic cell phones will work in this location but have not had much luck in determining the best way to go. Anyone have advice on this topic?

 

[leslieh]

I remember not being able to use these phone cards at St. Martins, but in St. Thomas we could. I just found that the internet has a few free nights, we did pay the 79.95? for the week to keep in touch with family back home. We are doing the four-day next month, and i figure we can call at Nasuua and then thats it. Ill get the four day internet just to be sure. There is alot of time on board when you can just stop by the cafe for a few minutes and check your messages.

 

[disvaclub92]

We were on the mystery western cruise - that turned into the Eastern Cruise. To keep in touch with the family, I just used the internet. There was a day when they gave you five minutes free. I had to let the family know that we were not headed towards Hurricane Lili.

 

[ncligs]

E-MAIL........

 

[goofydadeo]

Thanks for all the replies - unfortunately email is not an option since I am trying to keep in touch with my 84 year old mother who is in a nursing home. Anyone have any insight on using the phone?

 

[IrishCowboy]

Sams club has prepaid long distance calling cards available for only 3.47 cents per minute. They work in St Thomas.

Warning, it can be difficult to find a pay phone. Many crew members also have these cards and use them to call home. The phones can be busy for long periods of time.

 

[rae519]

BEWARE of the quarter eating machines at St. Thomas.
I lost 75 cent once trying to make a calling card call! Rule of thumb - if you see a free phone and others that are busy - wait for the busy one, there is definitely a reason the free one is empty!

Rae

 

[KennyK]

I used a cell phone both in Nassau and in St Thomas with no problem. Don't remember the cost but it was reasonable especially in an emergency. I use verizon and the connection was fine. I also used it during day at sea on 4 day as we were off the cost of Fla. Just had to be on the top deck.

Hope this helps.

KennyK

Next cruise April 10, 2004
The Disney Magic continues

 

[Hopkins]

We have the same problem with an elderly mother who doesn't know the internet. We will be cruising the western in January and I'd like my husband to be qable to call her everday to set his mind at ease. I think calling from the ship is like $6/minute, or something like that, so maybe a 5 minute call a day on sea days. I'm hoping we can use a pay phone with a calling card in Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Key West. I'll check to make sure we have minutes on it and it can be used in those places before we leave.

Any other suggestions?

Tina

 

[Hopkins]

Oops, I read on the "Magical Guide" it's like $7/minute for the ship telephone.

So, we'll probably call thee times from the ship (both sea days and Castaway Cay) ===> 5 min x 3 days x $7/min = $105

Otherwise, 5 minutes x 5 days (2 sea days, CC, Cozumel and GC) x $7/minute = $175

...but, it's piece of mind verses money sometimes. I'll leave it up to hubby to make the decision.

Tina

 

[MrsG]

I heard you can't use AT & T phone cards in Nassau and Freeport. Is that true?

 

[mom2grace]

We were just in Nassau and the phones that you can find (many of the phone booths have no phones, go figure) WILL NOT take the AT&T cards that you can get at Sam's. If you hunted down a back alley, you might be able to find a "regular" pay phone, if those exist.

We did not go to Atlantis, but the phones there might work with the AT&T cards!

Good luck! I was very disappointed! I didn't bother to find out how much a call would cost using a CC. DD was back at home with Grandma & Grandpa.

BTW, can your family really call the ship at the 800# with no cost to anyone? My mother tried my cell phone (I had it off) when I was expecting her to call the ship!

Susan