Caribbean prepaid eSIM recommendations

[junki]

Hi cruisers. We will be on Fantasy's 7 night Western Caribbean cruise this December. I am wondering if there is a prepaid eSIM that people might recommend for the trip, or if one isn't really needed? The only candidate I've managed to dig up online is the island hopper 1GB by airalo, but we'd definitely be interested in learning about other options.

 

[Intr3pid]

Do you have a roaming option with your home carrier? Airalo's island hopper is very convenient but doesn't cover Mexico.

 

[RedHead0186]

I second the suggestion to check with your home carrier. Many of them have a SIM card they can give you, or your phone might already have one and then they just have to activate international service on for you.

 

[insureman]

We have Verizon and use Travel Pass which is $10 a day. Used it in the Caribbean , and the UK and Europe.

 

[princesscinderella]

AT&T also has a international plan that they can add to your plan where it’s $10 per day.

 

[lilsonicfan]

We used Airalo on our westbound panama canal cruise and I bought a global e-sim, I think, as it covered the Mexico ports and Colombia. I will never go back to using my cell provider for travel, it was cheaper to go with the eSIM and not have to worry. The global e-sim was around $35 for 5 gb, which turned out to be a lot more than I needed. Would that cover the countries you`ll be in, bc it is only $9 for 1gb and 7 days.

 

[Intr3pid]

We used Airalo on our westbound panama canal cruise and I bought a global e-sim, I think, as it covered the Mexico ports and Colombia. I will never go back to using my cell provider for travel, it was cheaper to go with the eSIM and not have to worry. The global e-sim was around $35 for 5 gb, which turned out to be a lot more than I needed. Would that cover the countries you`ll be in, bc it is only $9 for 1gb and 7 days.

That global Airalo eSim doesn't cover most of the islands in the Caribbeans - but, if your trip runs through the countries on its list, I agree it's great value. The only watch-out is to check which carrier Airalo has contracted in a specific country - as the network speed may not always be LTE/4G/5G.

 

[skierrob]

T-Mobile provides free international data and SMS roaming in over 200 countries. Phone calls are 25 cents per minute.

 

[junki]

Hi guys, thanks for all your input. We have Verizon's unlimited plan and it covers Mexico. Based on everyone's feedback, we plan to use Airalo's Island Hopper, as it covers the Cayman Islands, Jamaica, and Bahamas (Castaway Cay) for $15 an eSIM.

 

[Girl of the South]

Just off the Fantasy. I have Verizon for my iPhone and it worked (for free) in Cozumel. I got a text message in Jamaica and signed up for the $10 plan there. When we were just maybe 15 minutes out from docking at Castaway Cay, I tried to see if Verizon was available there and received a text from Veriaon saying the travel passwas NOT available and that it would be @30 for 50MB and $2.99 a minute for calls from on board the ship. I waited until we were properly docked at Castaway and tried again and got the "Welcome to Bahamas" text with the $10 deal.

I had to turn airplane mode off, turn wifi off, and turn data roaming on.

In all three ports (1 free, 2 $10 days) it worked great. I did not have any need to make any calls but since it was cellular data, I have no doubt that I could. With the plan you can call anyone in the US (assuming that is where your plan is based) or any numbers in the country you are visiting.