Calling home?

[JJsmama]

What are th best options for calling home during a cruise? I will want to hear my teenagers' voices every coupe days, plus checking in with grandparents. is there any app that works via the ship's wifi (for voice calls)? What is your experience just using the stateroom phone? We have Verizon and will be in Eastern Caribbean. Is St Thomas in network by any chance? Is there any service from CC? What about text messages or imessage? When at sea, will those go out to folks at home?

 

[cruisehopeful]

Your cell provider should have some information regarding calling/texting from international waters. Mine had a $5. charge, I believe. I made one call and didn't mind paying the $5. Just remember to turn off your phone as any call or text that comes in to you will be billed to you at the international rate.

 

[kiford]

Calling from the ship using their phone system is horridly expensive. My DH used Skype and the ship's wifi when we were on the Northern European cruise in July last year. He called colleagues in San Francisco while sitting on deck when docked in Dover. He was on for about 1/2 hour with the free 50MB that you get for signing up on the first day and said that the voice quality was pretty good. I think that's your best bet. Even calling by cell when you're in St. Thomas can be expensive unless you have a roaming plan.

 

[ASchwa]

Calling from the ship using their phone system is horridly expensive. My DH used Skype and the ship's wifi when we were on the Northern European cruise in July last year. He called colleagues in San Francisco while sitting on deck when docked in Dover. He was on for about 1/2 hour with the free 50MB that you get for signing up on the first day and said that the voice quality was pretty good. I think that's your best bet. Even calling by cell when you're in St. Thomas can be expensive unless you have a roaming plan.

Using the ship phone isn't as expensive as you make out. In 2014 it was about $5.95 per minute. Long enough for me to have a bit of a conversation with my Mother and Father. I was on for less than 2 minutes. Never thought the expense was over the top.

 

[kiford]

Using the ship phone isn't as expensive as you make out. In 2014 it was about $5.95 per minute.

I guess my interpretation of what is horridly expensive and yours must differ as I consider $5.95/minute to be outrageous. If I had a single 2 minute conversation ("Hi, I'm here. I'm fine) that might be OK but if I want a 10 minute conversation every couple of days, $59 a call is too high when I can get wifi for much less. I think it was about $90 or so for 1 GB so DH's half-hour conversation would have cost about $4.50 (although it didn't cost anything for that call because he used the 50MB free amount). You don't need to sign up for 1GB - you can go less. So a 10 minute Skype call could cost about $2-2.50.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Couldn't you get Internet and use FaceTime voice? That's how DH & I talk for long periods daily when he travels out of the country.

 

[TeaBee]

What are th best options for calling home during a cruise? I will want to hear my teenagers' voices every coupe days, plus checking in with grandparents. is there any app that works via the ship's wifi (for voice calls)? What is your experience just using the stateroom phone? We have Verizon and will be in Eastern Caribbean. Is St Thomas in network by any chance? Is there any service from CC? What about text messages or imessage? When at sea, will those go out to folks at home?

We used Facebook messenger for a texting alternative with my overly anxious in-laws during our last cruise. For voice, I'd use either Skype or Google Hangouts.

 

[JJsmama]

Couldn't you get Internet and use FaceTime voice? That's how DH & I talk for long periods daily when he travels out of the country.

We used Facebook messenger for a texting alternative with my overly anxious in-laws during our last cruise. For voice, I'd use either Skype or Google Hangouts.

Thanks for the options. Yes, i am sure we will get one of the internet packages. I just didnT know what to use with it. When we used to live/ travel international almost constantly, we had company paid world wide cell plans, so i havent really had to explore any of these. We did sometimes use Skype years ago, but i thought it was a pain with the special usernames and video, etc. this will be my first overseas trip since we have had 'regular' cell service. I didnt know about Facetime Voice or Google Hangouts. I do see Facetime on my phone. I will check those out. Thanks to all who replied.

P.S. I havent used FB messenger either. Ii have seen others here mention that too. I have FB, but my teens don't (thats for 'moms' apparently.) is it private messaging vs posting?

 

[TeaBee]

Thanks for the options. Yes, i am sure we will get one of the internet packages. I just didnT know what to use with it. When we used to live/ travel international almost constantly, we had company paid world wide cell plans, so i havent really had to explore any of these. We did sometimes use Skype years ago, but i thought it was a pain with the special usernames and video, etc. this will be my first overseas trip since we have had 'regular' cell service. I didnt know about Facetime Voice or Google Hangouts. I do see Facetime on my phone. I will check those out. Thanks to all who replied.

P.S. I havent used FB messenger either. Ii have seen others here mention that too. I have FB, but my teens don't (thats for 'moms' apparently.) is it private messaging vs posting?

Yes, Facebook messenger is for private messaging. If your teens don't have it, there are definitely other options. Snapchat is my teens favorite and would work with wifi.

 

[cedricandsophie]

We always use Skype with the ships wifi but not video just voice. It works great. Also use iMessage with wifi...works fine too. And we have facetimed via wifi. Again, works fine. When on land we might text via our phone service or even make calls...just depends. But never while on the ship. Our last seven day cruise we had three people using our wifi packages with lots of emails, facebook, photos, reading newspapers online. We used more data than I wanted to...2000 MB at 89 per 1000...probably because my grand daughter downloaded a lot of stuff and kept her updating on before I reminded her to turn it off. But still more cost effective for us than cell service.

 

[MickeyEarrings]

You need to make friends with someone on AT&T! On my September Eastern with friends my AT&T plan let me call the US for free, and my Verizon friends could not. I was happy to let them use my phone, but remember to complete your calls by sail-away time, just in case.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

You can practice using the FaceTime voice at home. Just turn your phone on airplane mode then connect to wifi. Open FaceTime. At the top select audio, not video. Type in the name of who you want to call just below. When the name comes up from your contacts, touch the little outline of a telephone receiver on the right of the person's name. It should dial. When my husband was in Seoul that's how we talked daily. He had to be connected to wifi to do it. I thought I did, too, but it connected while I was driving one day and definitely not connected. At night when he was in his hotel room sometimes the signal was good enough for video, too. I was able to see his room and the view from his window. I could see things written in Korean that he showed me. It was really neat. There was a slight voice delay that was barely noticeable. But overall it worked and it worked well. No international plans needed.

We both have iPhones. I'm sure most smartphones have similar options that can be utilized in the same capacity.

I never used Skype. I set up an account once but never actually used it. Just not as convenient.

Give it a try at home. We practiced it a few times so we were confident before he left.

 

[SuperDry]

You need to make friends with someone on AT&T! On my September Eastern with friends my AT&T plan let me call the US for free, and my Verizon friends could not. I was happy to let them use my phone, but remember to complete your calls by sail-away time, just in case.

This is a bit unclear. MickeyEarrings is referring specifically to St. Thomas, which is considered domestic US for AT&T (and T-Mobile), but incurs roaming charges on Verizon. So, their advice above is in relation to when the ship is at or near St. Thomas, not generally.

For just occasional staying in touch or being reachable in emergencies, consider using regular text messaging on your phone. Verizon charges $0.05/message to receive, and $0.50/message to send, and it works at that price everywhere: all ports (including Castaway Cay), and on the ship while at sea. The advantage there is you already know how to use it.

 

[insureman]

Face time is only for iphones. For texting without using a phone connection and being connected to the ships WiFi you can use the Verizon messaging app. I use it exclusively now. Skype for voice is probably your best option if you own an Android phone.

 

[JJsmama]

Super helpful thread! Thanks for all the options.

I followed Sweetpee's instructions and tried the Facetime on my iphone. Called my teenager who was in the same room as me.
I excitedly exclaim "It's ringing!" and look at him expectantly.
DS17 gives me the teenage eye roll and asks, "Do I really have to answer this?"

Just for motherly fun, I even made him talk to me