AT&T on Carnival or call home from room?

We’re headed to the Bahamas Sunday through Thursday 0800. We have two small children (4.5 and 1.5) we’re leaving with my mother who I flew in from Canada to watch them. We’re leaving her with power of attorney over them and all the emergency info etc. that said, we want to be able to call home Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday to check and make sure everything is okay and to say hi to the littles.

For anyone who has had to do this did you go with a cruise plan? Added international roaming? Used the ship’s phones?

Our calls should be 5 mins or less each day.

Unless something has changed, the ship’s phones ($1.99 minute) are cheaper than using Carnival’s Cellular at Sea ($2.49 minute)

If you are in-port and your phone does WiFi calling, find a free hotspot

Uncle Google can help you search

We purchased the social WiFi plan on the ship and used Facebook messenger to text each other on board and also used it to call home. Through Facebook you can do a regular call or video call which may be good for the kids. We found out quick it was a little too upsetting for our little one to see us because he didn't understand.

AT&T now offers international plans for a set price that you can use at the multiple ports you’ll be visiting. It includes data text messages and phone call minutes. You might want to look into it and weigh out your options.

https://www.att.com/offers/international-plans/cruise-packages.html

The AT&T international covers the Bahamas at $10 a day, text, talk, and data. I even used it as a personal hot spot since the ships wifi was pathetic

Thank you for all of your feedback. I'm going to look into the $10 a day with ATT for the two days we're in port and then the $1.99 / min for the sea day.

I understand the value of completely disconnecting, we just don't have that luxury due to various issues regarding our situation.

AT&T now offers international plans for a set price that you can use at the multiple ports you’ll be visiting. It includes data text messages and phone call minutes. You might want to look into it and weigh out your options.

 

https://www.att.com/offers/international-plans/cruise-packages.html

Thanks for sharing this, I am definitely going be using this.

My son in law purchased the WiFi plan for one day only because he had to submit a paper that was due that night (he is completing a PhD program) and they were able to Skype with me to talk to kids (I was babysitting them) that one evening. But my daughter is like me, and vacation is for totally unplugging. She knew if there was an emergency I’d contact her by contacting the ship. Like your mother, I traveled to do this babysitting from Buffalo, NY to their home in Minot, ND. I had everything I needed to handle these kiddos, so she knew she left them in good hands.

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We always leave our kids (now 15 and 11) with my mom when we cruise. We use the cabin phone to check on them, and always designate a set time that we will call each day. All we do is ask if everything is okay, then hang up. When the calls are under one minute, you don't even get charged.

Use the room phone to call home. A quick checkin for about $4.00

I just bought a ship plan from AT&T. $50. Worth it for my peace of mind.

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We have used the cabin phone at sea for $1.99 per minute for quick calls. In port we use the ATT Day Pass for $10 a day. It works off of whatever calling plan you have with ATT with no extra charge. For $50 you can have their cruise ship plan. It might be worthwhile you adding up the potential cost of your calls and seeing what would work best for you.