Cell Phones?

[threeprincesses]

I am wondering if cell phones work on the ship; particularly on the trip to the Bahamas. Thanks for any replies.

 

[Bmwdsny]

My cell phones worked only when the ship was docked on any of the islands or within about 3 miles from the island as the ship was cruising. But out in the middle of the ocean, NOPE!!

 

[vossjemi]

I'm curious about this too, specifically Sprint. Anyone know?

 

[TheWog]

Our Verizon worked on St. Thomas, but not St. Maarten.

 

[Bmwdsny]

Originally posted by TheWog
Our Verizon worked on St. Thomas, but not St. Maarten.

That is interesting...i have Verizon too, it worked on St maartin...I called my mom from there last time...

 

[jel0511]

When we took our Wonder cruise, we did have a signal for about 3 hours after departing the port and then lost all signal. When we arrived in Nassau, we did have a signal, but since the Bahamas isn't part of any US Cellular plan, the rates will be extremely high. We didn't have a signal in Freeport, nor at Castaway Cay. While at sea, there are no cell service regardless of plan. If you really need to be reach at all times, you might want to look into renting a satelite phone. We have Cingular with a National plan. Becareful using your cellphone while in St. Thomas. If you are on St. Thomas you should be fine, but if you venture over to St. John, you most likely will pick up cell service from the BVI's. If you place a call while hooked up to the BVI's, expect a HIGH bill. I should know, we fell into this during one of our many stays on St. John. We always stay on the North Shore (that's where Trunk Bay is located) and on that part of the island you pick up cell service from BVI's. The only part of St. John that is covered as part of US Cell service is Cruz Bay. Once you get out of Cruz Bay, it's pretty much a free for all as regards to cell service.

 

[DMS_cruisers04]

Just wait, according to the article here , cell service will be available even at sea eventually. Then those of you that just can't live without your cell phone can talk literally anywhere.
I know ...

 

[gratefulone]

I have service through Cingular Wireless and it worked while sailing past the island of Puerto Rico and when we were nearing St Thomas. I had strong signal all day while in St Thomas.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Question for the verizon customers that have used their cell phones. What was the price???? Was it just regular minutes? Was there a roaming charge? Never have tried it cuz I just don't understand charges and don't want to be surprised.

 

[EmmasGrammy]

For jiminyC_fan , I'm Emmasgrammy's DH and I am a Coordinator in the tech support dept at Verizonwireless. Right now the only service we have in the Caribbean is on Puerto Rico. We have negotiated roaming agreements with the carriers there and not only do you get the benefits of the America's choice plan ( if you have it) any mobile to mobile calls (Verizon to Verizon) will go towards your In _ Network calling. Beyond that though this would be the rule of thumb, if you can recieve a signal you would be able to use your phone, however you would be roaming and being charged for a roaming call, $.69/minute, along with Long Distance charges from the carrier that you are accessing. I have seen calls that have been billed upwards of $5 -$6 per minute and possibly even higher. The best suggestion I can offer is to purchase either international calling cards or look into our International Traveler program which would allow you to rent an international phone for $2.99 per day and either $1.49 or $2.49 per min for outbound calls depending on the country you're calling from. More info on this program can be found at the following link
http://www.vzwrentinternational.com/?cm_re=Home Page*Top Nav*Plans-InterntlPlans

I hope this helped to answer your question, if you need any other info just let me know!

 

[yodasdabomb]

I set a private message to you box about a specific verizon cell phone question! Thanks for all you help!

 

[tvguy]

Sounds like the in cabin phone isn't all that expensive compared to cell and satellite costs. But , went on the cruise to get away. Nothing that couldn't wait until I got home.

 

[TheWog]

Originally posted by jiminyC_fan
Question for the verizon customers that have used their cell phones. What was the price???? Was it just regular minutes? Was there a roaming charge? Never have tried it cuz I just don't understand charges and don't want to be surprised.

My DW made a 32 min call home while we went on our excursion using our cell phone and it cost about $7. Don't remember if it was roaming or not. She also used the in cabin phone to call home several times as it was really cold in NH when we left and she wanted to check the house.... I just looked at the bill the other night, over $200.00 in phone calls. I had originally thought it was $170.00, but found some others. No more calls from the stateroom. If the house freezes, I don't want to know about it anyway while I'm there. So to answer your question, it was not outrageously expensive to use the cell from St. Thomas.

 

[lilo62]

I had my cell phone turned off the ENTIRE cruise!!!! It was great - that and no computers!!!

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Hey EmmasGrammy DH. I am on the Panama Canal Cruise with you guys. Thank you so much for your response. I wouldn't want to risk high charges.

Thanks to everyone else.