cell phones

[CGC33A]

My suggestion is to take your on board, then turn it off for the cruise & turn it on again when you are back in Port Canaveral. On my first 3 day, I had to contact my TA from the ship to ask some questions. Don't know how I would have done that easily or quickly without it. You might need to make that "emergency call" to make sure you turned off the coffee pot or to remind someone to feed the fish (wish we had done that on another trip so our cat would have been fed). after you are out of port, turn it off & enjoy yourself.

 

[vgaskin]

We like ours so that if there is an emergency, that we can get ahold of without someone paying $7 a minute or whatever it was.

On our first Cruise(carnival), my 13 yr old daughter's grandmother was dying of cancer. It was my ex-mother in law. We knew it could be anyday. My 13 yr old was at home staying with my current mother in law and then on the weekend, her dad. The morning that we were to leave for the boat, we got a call at 6 oclock in the morning at the hotel telling me she had passed. The funeral would not be until Monday(and we would be back) and they were not going to tell the kids until after school that day which was Thursday. My ex father in law convinced me to continue on my trip(my exmotherinlaw was a travel agent) but we were really worried about my daughter. They were not telling her until late that night so I wanted to talk to her after they did. We had cell phone service up until we left for dinner(late seating) but when we came out of dinner, cell phone service was gone. So we called her from the room, didn't talk very long and the call was over $40. So those are the reasons we like to take our cell, not to chat or do business.

Also, we took a 2 way radio on our last cruise and could never get it to work very well. Finally turned them off, very annoying. We used it to keep in touch with my 14 yr old who was at the clubs all the time. But finally just told her our plans and left notes in the stateroom. We didn't have the fancy kind that you have to pay to register or whatever.

 

[KenP]

AT&T Digital One Rate

I noticed that AT&T digital one rate (all USA, no roaming, no long distance) plans now include St. Thomas. I've found the pay phones in St. Thomas a pain to use. They require 50 cents even for 800 numbers and frequently block access to certain prepaid phone cards.

Having said that, FRS 2 way radios are the way to go for on ship communication and the internet cafe is the cheapest and most efficient option for that sometimes necessary communication with the "real world" back home.

 

[tenna45]

You're on vacation, I would just leave the phone at home.

 

[donnaMD]

As a good realtor, even though I leave my business with the best agent I can find,it gives me a good feeling to check my home messages to make sure I do not miss a good lead from a former client; if messages aren't returned in a timely fashion, I could lose the potential sale. My husband does not want me to say we are out of town, because of robberies, even though the message will say if this is a business call for Donna, call the office, many do not since I usually work out of my home office and former clients who refer business to me know this. When we went to Europe a few years ago, I lost a really good sale because of it. However, I will not micromanage my business on vacation.
We will not select internetl service, and if I can call from the islands, I will just check my home messages once a day.
I appreciate your comments. I am one who never leaves my cell phone on, since I do not want to be disturbed while showing houses or spending time going out to dinner, etc. I use the cell phone only to call out and when I have it on it is only so my daughters' school can call me in case of emergency or my husband can call me. I have not even memorized the cell phone number!

 

[MarkRG]

Sorry if I sounded too nasty, I wasn't trying to be, just get annoyed around here how everyone has to be on the cell while walking the dog(no joke, saw that today), driving, etc. Then to see it on Castaway Cay which is supposed to be purposely away from civilization, was just a bit too much. Some people need to learn to unplug once in a while. Falls back to what I always tell people: you're on vacation! I really think some people have issues of not being able to be by themselves for even the tiniest moment.

Now, to answer the original question, as was pointed out eariler.

No, the ship itself does not support any cell service. There is the land-to-ship emergency number that you should give people back home:888-322-8732 Everyone else in this post has covered where you might be able to pick service up pretty good if you need, which is in the ports for the most part.

 

[FredS]

Originally posted by MarkRG
. The purpose of a vacation is to leave the home stuff behind AT HOME. If you can't do that, maybe you need to look at how you take vacations a bit more.

Since you don't walk in others' shoes, and have a clue about why they might desire/need to maintain some level of communication with the real world, then maybe you need to look at how to post more civilly. You are entitled to your opinion, but why you felt the need to try to slam someone who inquired about cell usage, or anyone who might be interested in its availability on the cruise, is beyond me.