How's the cell reception in the Mediterranean while at sea?

My brother and I will be cruising around the Mediterranean this coming August. We will have our phones with our UK SIM cards for this trip. My understanding is that Vodafone no longer charges for roaming in the EU. We hope to use our phones (especially the data) while at sea and in port without paying the cruise ships rates.

Thoughts?

While at sea, you are not in Europe. The cruise ship is treated as a foreign country in most cases. Mostly likely you will get a very large bill.

My brother and I will be cruising around the Mediterranean this coming August. We will have our phones with our UK SIM cards for this trip. My understanding is that Vodafone no longer charges for roaming in the EU. We hope to use our phones (especially the data) while at sea and in port without paying the cruise ships rates.

 

Thoughts?

You should have one or two bars of 3G as long as you are within sight of land. However, for those long "days at sea," I think it is highly doubtful that you will get wireless signals.

Be very careful with this. If you have data roaming on when on shore you will pick up local networks and be able up minutes/data in your package (or access reduced rates as your provider offers).

However if you have it onewhen you are at sea the ship will be producing its own signal "cellular at sea" usually and this entirely separate. If you pick this up and use data or even leave you phone on roaming using background data you will be charged heavily!

What I usually do is once my phone has found a local land network I switch my network roaming from automatic to manual. That way you phone will only seek that signal and not swap to the stronger signal of "cellular at sea" once you set sail. Eventually as you move away from

land the local signal will fade away but you can probably get some signal for an hour or so. I then switch off roaming, put network back to automatic and do the same at the next port.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums