$9.99 per minute for cabin phone calls in 2000 - Who remembers?

I took my first cruise in 2000, and i was traveling solo on the non-smoking Paradise ship. What a wonderful memory. However, I decided I would get around paying that crazy high phone charge of $9.99 per minute! My smart self came to the conclusion that if I called “collect,” I would avoid it. :') Well, my smart butt was not only charged the fee on the ship, but you guessed it, my phone company also charged me for those collect calls! Now 24 cruises later, and I always smile when I look at that cabin phone. I never used one again. :D Who remembers that charge? I think it’s $1.99 per minute now, so much better!

Yes, I remember. We called our boys to make sure all was well at home and then hung up FAST. :eek:

Never made that mistake, but did make the mistake of calling home from my cell phone once in the mid 2000's. Called out like 3 times because the first 2 calls didn't connect on my end and was dropped, then on the 3rd try got through and was on the phone for like 5 minutes.... my phone bill for those 3 calls was like $45! Never made that mistake again.

Now, I sit back and laugh my butt off when I see people chatting away on their cell phones in the middle of the ocean and all I can think to myself is do you realize what that is going to cost you when you get home. I think it is still like $5.99 a minute or something when you use your cell and are "roaming" off the ship.

:o

On my very first cruise back in 1992 we cruised with a large group. One girl called her mother and talked for hours each day. Her phone bill was higher than her cruise fare..........heck, she could have brought her mother and her whole family and sailed in a suite!

One of my sister's had a cell bill of $245 her daughter called her three times a day. Drove us nuts especially at 6:30 am in the AM. Another cruise my youngest sister could not deal being away from her boyfriend. She disappeared constantly to talk to him on the cell. Till this day she will not admit how much that next months bill was. I warned her.

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Now I sit back and laugh my butt off when I see people chatting away on their cell phones in the middle of the ocean and all I can think to myself is do you realize what that is going to cost you when you get home. I think it is still like $5.99 a minute or something when you use your cell and are "roaming" off the ship.

 

:o

Maybe they use a phone from mobal.com?

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I remember those days and also remember deciding never to use it unless it were an extreme emergency. That also went for family/friends back home calling us. Email from the ship's on-board computers were the preference (no social media back then).

I’m glad you all remember.

Speaking about cell phones, I also worry about people forgetting to put their phones on airplane mode when they use the phones for taking pictures. Won’t emails and text messages still get thru, therefore accruing a charge?

I remember those days and also remember deciding never to use it unless it were an extreme emergency. That also went for family/friends back home calling us. Email from the ship's on-board computers were the preference (no social media back then).

Yes, you are right. We had to go to the computer room to send an email. Times have truly changed.

Hey, in 1992 what was a computer room????

One of my sister's had a cell bill of $245 her daughter called her three times a day. Drove us nuts especially at 6:30 am in the AM. Another cruise my youngest sister could not deal being away from her boyfriend. She disappeared constantly to talk to him on the cell. Till this day she will not admit how much that next months bill was. I warned her.

 

 

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Wow, $245! Did your sister ever cruise again without the boyfriend in tow? I’ll bet those calls were shorter the next time!

On my very first cruise back in 1992 we cruised with a large group. One girl called her mother and talked for hours each day. Her phone bill was higher than her cruise fare..........heck, she could have brought her mother and her whole family and sailed in a suite!

Yep, it was probably more expensive than the trip itself!

Never made that mistake, but did make the mistake of calling home from my cell phone once in the mid 2000's. Called out like 3 times because the first 2 calls didn't connect on my end and was dropped, then on the 3rd try got through and was on the phone for like 5 minutes.... my phone bill for those 3 calls was like $45! Never made that mistake again.

 

Now, I sit back and laugh my butt off when I see people chatting away on their cell phones in the middle of the ocean and all I can think to myself is do you realize what that is going to cost you when you get home. I think it is still like $5.99 a minute or something when you use your cell and are "roaming" off the ship.

:o

I would have to explain this to any young people with me.

Oh yes, I remember getting billed $100.00 when I called to check up on my son. That was the most expensive 10 minutes I've ever spent.

My husband found this out the hard way! He had a $200+ phone bill over 2 bill cycles. I tried to warn him.

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I was in Key West on the ship for a cruise and called a few people. Still US but for some reason the carrier (Verizon) thought I was on the boat a few miles off shore. I was not. I called them and they took the charges off when I told them I was in port. That was an expensive phone bill. I couldn't imagine the cost of what it would be back in 2000. I don't think I have ever used a room phone on a ship. My klutzy self would accidentally call Japan or something.

Back in 2006 my sister in law called home to my nephew at least 3 times a day on her cell phone. A month later a $300 cell bill.

I cruised for the 1st (and 2nd) time on the smoke free Paradise in 2003. I remember seeing the $10 charge per minute to call home, work, whatever.

I never used it, and learned how to relax unplugged, what a pleasure. Even today, I board a ship and my cell phone goes into the safe. I don't look for an internet pkg on the ship, nor an internet cafe in port.

I think I made one 3 minute call from a ship since they lowered the rate to $1.99. I'm on vacation, and that means unplugged. No Cruise Critic reports, no messaging or photo transfers, just totally unplugged. All will be okay when I get back to the home port, life doesn't need me to be always connected to make the world go round.

Oh do I ever. On our second cruise, we left our young kids (ages 1, 3, & 5) with my mother and her husband for the eight days we were gone. We came back to our cabin at one point to a message from a doctor at a hospital near my mother who wanted to talk to us before providing treatment to our 5 year old. I panicked and tried to call the dr back but didn't get through so I called my mother. Long story short, he went to the ER and they thought he needed surgery, but it eventually resolved itself, then they discovered he had pancreatitis and since he also had asthma, they were testing for CF, and needed extra consent for the genetic testing (he does not have CF!!). By the time we talked to my mother, the surgeon, and the pediatrician, we rang up a $200 phone bill. Now, we knew ahead of time the cost per minute, but we really didn't want to rush the doctors, so we accepted the cost. We are, however, very happy that the fees have dropped in the years since this fiasco.

Bring it back and DUMP the WI FI

I started cruising Carnival in the '90s, so yes, I remember those expensive phone call days. I agree with evandbob. One of the first things I do on the ship is turn off my cell phone and lock it in the safe. I'm "plugged in" all the time at home for work, so I'm happy to get completely away from that on a cruise. It's bad enough to come home after a week at sea to a couple hundred emails!

Hey, in 1992 what was a computer room????

Hi. I started cruising in 2000, not 1992. In reference to the computers, while Joepeka and I was speaking about the phone prices, we were just adding that we also remember using the computers back in the day. We never said it was the year we started cruising. I think someone else was speaking about their phone experience in 1992. That’s probably where the confusion came into play.