phones calls from mexico to US

While on my cruise next month I will need to keep in contact with a sickly relative in Florida. How best to call from Mexico or the cruise ship? I will be giving a contact the cruise ship phone #, but will still need to call once or twice during the cruise either on land or on the ship.

Who is your cell phone carrier? Many offer free calls to the United States from Mexico, such as T Mobile. Some will let you add on a temporary plan. If you call from the ship, you will pay the ships rate.

i have Verizon yes I realize it will cost big time

If you have T-Mobile it costs nothing to call the US. Some ATT plans (such as the pre-paid Gophones) cost as little as 20 cents a minute. But with Verizon, I believe you need to upgrade (at least for a month) to international coverage...or it can be expensive.

Hank

While on my cruise next month I will need to keep in contact with a sickly relative in Florida. How best to call from Mexico or the cruise ship? I will be giving a contact the cruise ship phone #, but will still need to call once or twice during the cruise either on land or on the ship.

i have Verizon yes I realize it will cost big time

Talk to Verizon. You also need to have a phone that is compatible with Mexico's "signal"(? not sure of the term). I just got a newer phone because my old phone wouldn't work in Mexico nor Canada.

Also, ask about the $2 per 24-hour plan while in Mexico. Roaming charges are extra, of course.

Calling from the ship is pricey. Don't remember the exact cost.

Have you considered using something like whatsapp? With this all you need is a wifi hotspot. Many people in Mexico rely on whatsapp almost exclusively for low cost communications. Of course the person you want to contact also needs to have the application as well.

Go to whatsapp.com for information.

I also have Verizon. When we went on our Mexico cruise in February, I contacted Verizon and signed up for their plan for just Mexico and Canada. Once you sign up, that's all you have to do. So when you are in port and have service, you can use your phone and you will be charged $4. for the next 24 hours. So you can make all the calls you want for 24 hours from the time you made the first call.

Once you sign up, it's good anytime you visit Mexico or Canada. $4 per day, no roam.

Call them.

thanks for the advice, I do have Verizon and will look into the plan you mentioned.

We also have Verizon. It's called TravelPass, $2 per day per line. Have used successfully twice in Canada.

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We also have Verizon. It's called TravelPass, $2 per day per line. Have used successfully twice in Canada.

 

 

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I wonder why the price difference seeing as how Verizon charges me $4. for that (in Feb 2016 anyway). Would the price vary from state to state?

Oops, I checked with the official bookeeper ,the wife. It is $2!! That's even better than I thought so its good to be wrong on this one.

Cheers!

T-Mobile considers Mexico and Canada the same as US calling-included in my plan

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T-Mobile considers Mexico and Canada the same as US calling-included in my plan

 

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Yeah, we tried to "tell them so" a few days ago :). When we realized that T-Mobile works just about everywhere (including Mexico, Canada, Europe, and parts of Asia) we quickly switched carriers. Now, our phone just works! No need to deal with turning on special options, paying extra fees, etc. When we found that our T-Mobile account worked perfectly in places like Russia, Shetland Islands, and even the Faroe Islands....we were hooked.

Hank

If you're looking at saving money, While at port, the absolute cheapest way is to go to a local OXXO (like a 7-11) and pick up one of those cheap non smart phones and get a Movistar SIM card. I believe it's about 3 bucks per hour. Or if your phone is unlocked you can just get the SIM card. While at sea, if you can't get a Mexican cell signal you can use your Verizon phone, or get a data plan and call via Skype. However I have not been able to make a decent Skype call while on a data plan at sea. My two cents.

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Not sure about Verizon. But ATT will work fine in Mexico and uses Telcel (the largest Mexican phone company). If you have a prepaid ATT Go Phone (easy to pick up in the states at any Walmart) you will pay 25 cents a min for calls. If you have T-Mobile,.,,,your phone will work fine and you will pay no extra fees. As to buying a phone or SIM in Mexico....it is not as simple as it was years ago...because Mexico has added some hoops to try and prevent druggies from using burner phones. So to get a Mexican phone number usually requires ID (sometimes even a Passport). Some local phone stores probably have ways around this requirement...but most cruisers would not know where to go :). Another good thing about getting a GoPhone (before you leave home) or just using your regular account is that people from home can call you on your US number.

Hank