Cell phones on board

[Donald Duck 57]

This may be a Silly question but do cell phones work on the ship?

 

[soccercruiser87]

on the 3/4 day Wonder cruises i would say no, at least my cell phone didnt work. On the 7 Night Western on the Magic my cell phone did work the 1st night and when i was at Key West. It also got one bar or 2 at Grand Cayman.

 

[Bmwdsny]

Basically speaking, it does not work while out on sea. It may work at any of the ports.

 

[budwmn]

It depends on your phone and your provider. I have Verizon and I can only get service in US ports. Some providers offer international service. A man in the cabin next to me was able to use his phone in Nassau while I could not. I think it's really hit or miss, so don't count on it.

 

[Mickeyhugger]

Ours didn't work on the Eastern, and your question is not dumb.

 

[Rence]

Try your cell phone provider's website, most of them give details as to where they have coverage.

Couple of things to consider:
You may get a signal in a port, but your provider may charge a high international roaming fee for calls placed there, it varies from provider to provider. Check their website for details or give them a call.

Also sometimes your phone may need an update. We have Sprint. A year ago before we left, we called and found that they had coverage in St. Thomas but it was just added. We had to get the software in our phones updated in order for it to work there. We did and it worked great. My sister had Sprint, but did not get the update and her phone would not work.

It varies by port and by carrier, so check it out with your carrier for the most current and accurate information.

 

[Donalds_best_pal]

We have cingulair/att. On the night which is basically an extended eastern we got cell phone signal in all ports but CC. I was afraid to use my phone though in antigua and st martin, st lucia because its international and didnt want to may high roaming fees. St Thomas is considered USA and they dont charge roaming there with most providers. I dont remember wether we got signal on the western or not.

Matt

 

[markºoº]

As stated, generally the phones will not work at sea. However, it is hit or miss depending on the phone and the service provided. At certain points while at sea the ship will pass close enough to some land for some phones to work. You have to know exactly when to try it and then have the right phone and provider.

On our 8/25/04 cruise which was extended due to the hurricane, we sailed along the coast of Florida during the day on the return trip. You could see the coast (Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, etc) and many people could get service. Some however, included us with Verizon, could not get a call to go through even though we did receive a weak signal.

Our Verizon phones worked in all the ports on the Western cruise.

 

[DVCajun]

St Thomas is considered USA and they dont charge roaming there with most providers.

Really? So you used your phone in St. Thomas and weren't charged a roaming fee? I have ATT too. It would be really cool to be able to place a couple of calls while there.

 

[two-foxes]

Really? So you used your phone in St. Thomas and weren't charged a roaming fee? I have ATT too. It would be really cool to be able to place a couple of calls while there.

Yep, we have att/cingular as well and we made calls from St Thomas with perfect clarity and we were not charged roaming, it is considered a US calling area. However, even though I thought we had ATT coverage in a certain area outside Antigua (my phone said we were in their calling area), we were charged international rates, which were not actually that expensive. Certainly cheaper than what DCL charges!

One thing to check on PRIOR to leaving....make sure your plan covers nationwide roaming, not just local for your area. ATT/Cingular billed me incorrectly (charged me national roaming even though my plan included it, (almost all my calls in Orlando were billed with roaming) and I had a $545 phone bill for our trip (lots of calls made due to Miss Hurricane Jeanne)....they did fix it (only after taking the $545 out of my checking ) But it is good to double check that prior to leaving so there are no surprises!!

 

[Rence]

Sprint PCS at ST. Thomas was considered a local US call because St. Thomas is a US Terrirtory.

I don't know if this is true of all carriers. At them time we checked the Sprint Website and it was a bit confusing, so we called to verify. We told the customer service rep at Sprint our itenerary and she was able to tell us port by port, whether it would work, whether it was a local call etc. She also noted that we would probalby need an update to our phones to make it work in St. Thomas. For the update we just had to call a different number and the updated information was transmitted to our phone automatically.

 

[DisCrazzy]

We have T-Mobile and our cells phones did not work on any of the cruises. Not even at any of the ports we went to. We have been on both eastern, western, & the 4 night wonder. Nothing on any of them. (Except Key West on the Western, but that's because it's still the US.)

Jennifer

 

[minniemoms]

We have AT&T, and it worked on ST. Thomas, I have a nation-wide calling plan so no long distance or roaming. But I also called before I left to make sure I wouldn't have any additional charges, and they told me no since I was on that plan. I did have phone service on St. Martin, but I didn't know the foreign access number to dial out. But the service on St. Thomas was extremely clear and it was wonderful to finally talk to my children while out at sea for days....