Verizon Question...

[ptcbass]

So for our upcoming St. Thomas/San Juan cruise I looked up what it will cost for us to use our phones there. From what I understand it will all be covered by our current plan except voice on St. Thomas and that is 1.99 per minute. Then it said you have to call and have international roaming turned on before you travel. Did anyone else do this? Does it have to be done?

 

[BelleWannabe4]

If you don't turn on international roaming before you travel, your phone will not work internationally. It's a pretty quick call. I'm not sure about St. Thomas, but it happened to me in Tokyo. It's a real pain to try to fix it once you are abroad but easy to set up in advance.

 

[LizardQueen8]

I've turned on international roaming with Verizon before. It is just the one phone call and it is super easy.

 

[ptcbass]

Ok, Thanks everyone. I will have to look that up and do it tomorrow. Do you have to call and have it turned off when you get back?

 

[artnerds]

Ok, Thanks everyone. I will have to look that up and do it tomorrow. Do you have to call and have it turned off when you get back?

There's no harm in leaving international roaming on, unless you live in a border town and might inadvertently pick up Canadian or Mexican cellular networks.

 

[LizardQueen8]

They'll ask for your return date and will automatically turn it off for you .

 

[ptcbass]

Ok so I just called and as usual Verizon customer service stinks. The girl first told me I have to add an additional plan to my account and she would let me know what those plans would cost. Then I said no there are no charges for Puerto Rico and she just needed to turn on international roaming. She argued with me for a minute and then decided she would look it up for herself. I even read directly from the Verizon website what it said and she said no she can't just turn on international roaming. Then she says - OK your going to San Juan in Mexico. I said NO I am going to Puerto Rico NOT Mexico! She looked and said yes she could turn on "?com" (I don't know what she said). She says she doesn't know how much it will cost cause it doesn't list any charges in her system. Then she said she turned it on. I ask her if I need to call and have it turned off and she said no since it is a free service we can just leave it turned on.

Customer service just isn't want it used to be..... I don't even know that I can trust that she did what she should have.

 

[Michellynn]

Ok so I just called and as usual Verizon customer service stinks. The girl first told me I have to add an additional plan to my account and she would let me know what those plans would cost. Then I said no there are no charges for Puerto Rico and she just needed to turn on international roaming. She argued with me for a minute and then decided she would look it up for herself. I even read directly from the Verizon website what it said and she said no she can't just turn on international roaming. Then she says - OK your going to San Juan in Mexico. I said NO I am going to Puerto Rico NOT Mexico! She looked and said yes she could turn on "?com" (I don't know what she said). She says she doesn't know how much it will cost cause it doesn't list any charges in her system. Then she said she turned it on. I ask her if I need to call and have it turned off and she said no since it is a free service we can just leave it turned on.

Customer service just isn't want it used to be..... I don't even know that I can trust that she did what she should have.

In my experience...when a Verizon customer service rep acts like that..chances are they did not get it done correctly. When the call goes smoothly...my phone typically picks the signal right up in my international travels....when the rep has stumbled around is when I have arrived and found that it hadn't been done right and I have to scramble to get a hold of Verizon while I'm out of the country....with a non-functioning cell phone. LOL Needless to say...I would call back and ask another rep just to verify that your phone has been set up properly.

 

[ptcbass]

I just called back and the automated system told me international calling was already enabled on my phone so maybe she did get it right. Gotta love Verizon!

 

[PandL]

I don't have Verizon, but St. Thomas is a US territory and I was able to use my phone there previously without issue or extra charges.

 

[ptcbass]

I don't have Verizon, but St. Thomas is a US territory and I was able to use my phone there previously without issue or extra charges.

What all did you do? I might want to send a text with a picture. The Verizon website says calls from St. Thomas are $1.99 per minute.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I've used my Verizon phone in Puerto Rico before without turning on international roaming and no additional cost for voice and texts. I could not access data though.

ptcbass is correct that Verizon's website says calls from St. Thomas are $1.99 per minute so I would count on getting billed extra for using your phone on St. Thomas.

 

[phinz]

I don't have Verizon, but St. Thomas is a US territory and I was able to use my phone there previously without issue or extra charges.

Verizon is *not* in St. Thomas. This is one of the reasons I switched carriers before our last cruise (among other things).

 

[ptcbass]

I've used my Verizon phone in Puerto Rico before without turning on international roaming and no additional cost for voice and texts. I could not access data though.

ptcbass is correct that Verizon's website says calls from St. Thomas are $1.99 per minute so I would count on getting billed extra for using your phone on St. Thomas.

Yeah the website shows a charge for calls but not for text. But it is still kind of confusing what is covered. Oh well, might just skip using it while there.

 

[PandL]

We had AT&T at the time. Maybe the carriers are different. We didn't need to do anything just make calls and texts as usual. My phone didn't even roam while there.

 

[phinz]

We had AT&T at the time. Maybe the carriers are different. We didn't need to do anything just make calls and texts as usual. My phone didn't even roam while there.

Correct. AT&T and Sprint have the island locked up. Verizon can't get in.

http://www.disboards.com/threads/verizon-coverage-in-st-thomas.3247939/