Cheap way to contact kids back home..

[TXHillbillyGirl]

We are going on a 7-day cruise next week and leaving the kids home with my mother-in-law. I haven't been away from the baby (she's 6) for more than 48 hours at a time. This has me stressing a little. What is the best and cheapest way to call home? Calling card from a port? Cell phones? Ship phone? I want to figure this out so I can make sure to let the M-I-L know when we will be calling so she can make sure everyone is home to talk to us.

Thanks for reading this and for any help!

[mcwebber]

We are going on a 7-day cruise next week and leaving the kids home with my mother-in-law. I haven't been away from the baby (she's 6) for more than 48 hours at a time. This has me stressing a little. What is the best and cheapest way to call home? Calling card from a port? Cell phones? Ship phone? I want to figure this out so I can make sure to let the M-I-L know when we will be calling so she can make sure everyone is home to talk to us.

Thanks for reading this and for any help!

 

Probably a MagicJack to be used in port where there's a high speed connection would be the least expensive. Plenty of free or free with purchase of a coffee high speed connections in lots of ports.

Or, email itself from the ship is the cheapest. These days, who needs phones?

[SadieN]

Some ships you can call from the cabin for 99c a minute. Cellular at Sea is $2.49 a minute. Texts are around 50c.

 

If you want to do free messaging check out Currently Onboard on the Community boards on Carnival.com

[Gecko7]

Probably a MagicJack to be used in port where there's a high speed connection would be the least expensive. Plenty of free or free with purchase of a coffee high speed connections in lots of ports.

Or, email itself from the ship is the cheapest. These days, who needs phones?

 

I agree Magic Jack is the best if you access to a laptop or pc. I used it from Germany last year and it's like they are right next door.

[firefly333]

I find a internet cafe in almost every port nearby. To call about 35 or 40 cents a minute.

[Imoutatym]

Some vendors in some ports offer a free international phone call if you make a purchase from them. Look for signs in shop windows.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Buy a phone card at the ports

[shwabob]

The only way you're going to get somewhat reliable VoIP is in port. I'd just find an internet cafe in port and get connected via skype or google chat. Depending on your cell carrier, your phone may support wi-fi calling (T-Mobile does on my blackberry curve) or you could use the skypeout mobile app to connect your smartphone to a wi-fi access point in port and dial out.

 

There's always the whole "funville" forums on Carnival's website method that has been discussed numerous times to get text messages across without paying for an interwebs package. You could use a cipher application and a pre-shared key to protect the contents of the message you were sending if you felt so compelled: http://www.officeenigma.com/

[mcwebber]

Oh, almost forgot. Email on Kindle for free.

[kathy370]

Oh, almost forgot. Email on Kindle for free.

E-mail on Kindle? From the ship? How do you do that? I didn't know I could!

[TXHillbillyGirl]

Thanks for the replys.

My little one is just 6 and I didn't want to try e-mail or text. I wanted to call. You know, the old fashion way... lol

I may check out calling cards or see what AT&T offers for international calls. Anyone used your AT&T service while at sea or out of the country?

[melodystrother]

it cost us 1.99 a minute from the Ecstasy last week.

[westview1]

If you are bringing your cell phone, make sure you check with your carrier about adding international roaming to your plan. I have Verizon and I called ahead of time, let them know my itinerary and they switched me over for the cruise and let me know ahead of time the charges from each port.

[lidodeckbound]

E-mail on Kindle? From the ship? How do you do that? I didn't know I could!

Yeah, I'd like to know this too!

[cdamion]

I believe you have a couple of options to call.

 

First, most ports will have an internet cafe that not only has computers, but also has phones to let you call home for pretty cheap, like 15-20 cents/minute. Basically it is a voip call they route to a phone in the store. This is how I called home from my cruise when a family member was ill. If you are friendly with any of the crew members, they will be able to tell you exactly where to go.

 

Second, as others stated many smart phones have skype available now. You could call using skype from a wifi hotspot (the ship's internet is too slow for this). You have to be careful about this one though because you may also inadvertently turn on the data on the phone and get massive charges if the phone updates apps by itself. Trust me, I learned this the hard way.

 

Third, as others stated, is the magic jack. I really don't like to bring my laptop or netbook ashore, so I never tried this.

 

Fourth is the calling card, but payphones are getting scarce.

 

Fifth the cheapest, slowest, and oldest is the good ol' message in a bottle.