Do Cell Phones Work?

[4theloveofdisney]

Can you call out or receive calls in on your cell phone while on the ship. If so, how is reception?
Thanks!

 

[djs113]

not while at sea - no cell towers out there

depending upon your carrier,

I was able to use my cell phone on St Thomasand obviously within Key West, since it is part of the US

Not in St Maartin or Grand Cayman

and not on Castaway Cay

- David

 

[PorterBob]

You're on vacation, leave it at home

 

[MrsMork]

We got reception as we sailed past Puerto Rico and at St Thomas...Verizon

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

You're on vacation, leave it at home

Ooh, no leavey at home... you may need it for whatever reasons on the way there and on the way back. But I agree, stash it during the trip and pretend it doesn't exist- if you can.

 

[rjh8115]

We have Cingular (old AT&T) with international (GSM) phones. We had service in Nassau, Grand Cayman, Key West, and Cozumel. No service on Castaway Cay or while at sea.

 

[TiggerKing]

Just remember, if you do have a GSM (world phone), you may still need to advise your carrier that you need to initiate international roaming. Cingular didn't do this when I first bought my phone for overseas travel, and I spent the first 1.5 days using $2 per minute AT&T to have my wife call Cingular on my behalf.

 

[Rence]

This varies a lot between carriers and even with a given carrier it can depend a lot based on what phone you have and what plan you have.

The best way to find out where you will get coverage with your specific carrier/phone/plan combo is to call your cell phone provider. (They guys in the stores and at the kiosks tend to know a lot about the phones and local coverage but are frequently misinformed when it comes to internaltional coverage so it is best to call).

Just have a list of ports ready and they will go through them with you one by one and let you know if you have coverage, if it is covered by your plan and if there will be any additional charges. They may also be able to recommend some temporary changes to your plan that could change you a lot of money.

We also had the case where coverage was newly added at one port. Our phone needed an update to work in that port. They were able to do this over the phone. We got the update and our phone worked. My sister had the same phone, same company but had not gotten the update and she couldn't get a signal in the same port.

 

[matchtrader]

If you bring a laptop for whatever reason (we bring ours for the kids to play games, watch movies, etc. on the plane), you can purchase some wireless internet time and use Skype or another VOIP provider to make cheap calls home. Can be trickey to receive calls since you have to be connected when the call comes in, but for outgoing calls, I am guessing this will work fine. At least I hope it does when we are on the Magic in a couple of weeks from now!

 

[4theloveofdisney]

Thanks for the info. Just wanted to be able to check in back home from time to time.

 

[tam012864]

I have Cingular too...my phone would work while we were at sea..but not while we were in Nassau..I didnt try it on Castaway Cay. Go Figure!!

 

[4theloveofdisney]

I have Cingular too...my phone would work while we were at sea..but not while we were in Nassau..I didnt try it on Castaway Cay. Go Figure!!

We also have Cingular. Guess I will call them and see what I can expect. Thanks!

 

[robertgp124]

Sprint on the 4 Day Wonder to Nassau was a no go. We had excellent reception until we were about an hour underway from Port Canaveral. It abso-positively did not like Nassau.

 

[Mmketeer]

Hi,

I also have GSM Cingular phone and just got off a cruise Dec 17th,2005 and I was able to even use it "in" my oceanview stateroom from the following ports while onboard RCCL's Grandeur.....Cozmel & Grand Cayman. I have also been able to use it from Jamaica in the past and I am excited to see that I should be able to use it in Nassau this time according to these posts. I have to check on babies with the pet sitter!
Happy sailings!

 

[MV_Photon]

Royal Caribbean and Celebrity have offered cellular service aboard via satellite link & Cingular for over one year: http://www.mtnsat.com/press/2004/pressrelease_12032004_RCCL Celebrity Stay In Touch.htm

Fortunately for my wallet, that service proved to be incompatible with my US_Cellular phone last summer. Cingular evidently employs 800/1900 mHz TDMA technology, while US_Cellular is 800/1900 mHz CDMA.

 

[Tarabra]

You're on vacation, leave it at home

It's funny, on our first cruise, I was going nuts because I saw a couple of people w/ pagers on. I was like, "why would they bring their pagers on vacation?" Then I realized they were for the kid's clubs!! Whoops! I do like to have access to a phone, in case something crazy happens at home or at the office. I know Key West was a go, and St. Thomas for sure. Not sure about Grand Cayman, Cozumel or St. Maarten. Didn't try it there.

 

[rottie110]

I was doing some research on this too, from what I have read St. thomas uses Sprint as their primary cell carrier, SO we should be able to get service that is not international,doubt we will try, but wanted to make sure there was a way. You can always leave the Ship to shore # with a family member in case of emergency, I plan to do that also. I will def leave the phone away except when in St. Thomas just in case LOL...

Leigh

1 st time cruiser with big family and little man 2/18/06

 

[MV_Photon]

The Shore-To-Ship phone numbers for DCL are:

• within US (888)-322-8732
• outside US 1-(732)-335-3281

 

[tvguy]

We leave the ship phone number and our cabin number with family. In 7 cruises haven't gotten any calls, and made just 1 outgoing, and that was just for fun.
As my dear mother, who is nearly 83 puts it "there is absolutely nothing I can do from the ship is something happens, so don't call, I'll deal with it when I get home"

 

[4theloveofdisney]

Thanks for all of the info! The shore-to-ship number is great as well! While I don't plan on calling up friends and chatting, I just feel better knowing that if I need to get in touch with family back home, just in case, I can!

Thanks again!