Using cellular cell phone on NOS

[seapad]

Anyone used their personal cell phone (Cingular) while staying in the ship - Navigator of the Seas? Do you know if there is roaming charges and how much?

Thank you.

[rjg41]

First, I assume you realize that no regular cell phone will work at sea unless you are within site of land with service. As for other service, check with you cell phone company as to where they have service. Some countries you can connect to a local provider but you must provide a credit card number to call and the fees can be sky high.

[TrentS]

Wrong rjg41, the world has changed... You CAN indeed use your cell phone on Navigator while AT SEA in the middle of nowhere. RCI and I believe NCL are in the process of installing this system fleetwide.

 

I made a couple of calls from my Cingular phone while on Navigator in January (from my cabin for those who get all upset over this sort of thing!). The service is provided by AT&T Maritime Services, and Cingular's roaming charges are $1.49 per minute.

[kato92]

Wrong rjg41, the world has changed... You CAN indeed use your cell phone on Navigator while AT SEA in the middle of nowhere. RCI and I believe NCL are in the process of installing this system fleetwide.

 

I made a couple of calls from my Cingular phone while on Navigator in January (from my cabin for those who get all upset over this sort of thing!). The service is provided by AT&T Maritime Services, and Cingular's roaming charges are $1.49 per minute.

 

DOes that mean you can also receive calls?

 

8 more days till Navigator!!:D :cool:

[rjg41]

I had heard that this was being considered and will be on future ships but it is good to hear it is here now.

[7nucruzers]

sorry but i'm not happy about being able to use cell phones while at sea! Yes, I know it's cheaper than using e-mail or cabin phones but it was sooooo nice to not hear a cell phone ring at dinner or while lying at the pool for a week!! Made our vacation so much more relaxing - and yes we had children back at home. Ours were teenagers staying alone (they had neighbors watching out for them). We gave them the ship number for emergencies - we had complete confidence in our girls while we were gone that they would do like they were supposed to and they did. We were very proud - and we have great friends to help us out. Anyway, I know people have to stay in touch by cell phones but honestly they can be quite annoying to those who do not use them every second. And those "Nextel" two way phones are absolutely rude!!!! I don't care to hear everyone else's conversation and when that thing beeps for an incoming call it's more annoying than a cell phone ring. Just my opinions - everyone has their own!

[JonP]

We made calls from Sea while sailing on the NOS Eastern.

We also made calls from St Thomas.

We are on a nationwide plan and never did see any addittional charges.

[island lady]

My DH used his cingular cell phone to call me every day when he was working on the island of Puerto Rico. No roaming charges, regular service and good signal. I think the U.S. owned islands are all in the network, including the islands of Hawaii.

 

I was able to pull up the coverage area on cingular.com to check ahead of time to be sure we would not be whacked for huge roaming charges.

 

But I do agree with previous poster that I like to think of no cell phones on a vacation, and always leave the emergency ship number for relatives and my cat sitter.

 

Cheers!

[arrow3]

Cell phones are a necessity now because people like to check on people at home. If you leave a pet back home or some other members of your family, it is nice to call and see how everything is doing.

[island lady]

Cell phones are a necessity now because people like to check on people at home. If you leave a pet back home or some other members of your family, it is nice to call and see how everything is doing.

 

I just have not been able to figure out how to get my cats to answer the phone to talk to "Momma"!! ;)

 

Cheers!

[TrentS]

DOes that mean you can also receive calls?

 

8 more days till Navigator!!:D :cool:

I think you can receive calls, BUT keep in mind that you are charged international roaming charges, which in Cingular's case is $1.49 per minute, so unless you know exactly when someone's going to be calling it could get pretty expensive waiting for them!

 

JonP, it takes a couple months for the charges to show up. Unless you were still too close to St. Thomas or San Juan when you made the calls you should get billed... Unless you got lucky! :)

 

Yes island lady, St. Thomas, San Juan and of course Hawai'i are all part of the US and are covered under most Nationwide calling plans so there are no charges from there.

 

For those who are upset about cell phones on vacation. The cost of leaving a phone on is VERY expensive. The roaming charges for Cingular would be $90 per hour, so I don't think you have anything to worry about, not many people can afford to do that.

[DMage]

Cingular only charges you roaming when you are actually talking on the phone. Just being on a international network by having your phone on does not incur roaming fees. People may still have their phones on and ringing but may not answer them (screening calls). Or, that bring up another question, how much is text messaging on the boat? Will I be hearing everyones phone beeping from incoming and outgoing text messages?

[TrentS]

Hmmm... That wasn't how it was explained to me, but it wouldn't be the first time the "kids" in the Cingular store gave me the wrong info! :rolleyes:

 

I only turned it to make a couple of calls so I don't know... No clue about text messaging, I don't use that.

[marcmedic]

I guess you just can't make everyone happy. People complain about people bringing children on a cruise, and if you do leave them at home, people complain that you can use a cell phone to talk to them. I think some of you need to lighten up a little bit. So a cell phone rings...WHO CARES!!! They paid for a vacation also. I can't possibly imagine spending an entire cruise looking for things that other prople do that bother me. What's the difference if they're talking to the person sitting next to them or if they're talking on the phone? Sure, I feel that hearing a ringing phone during a show or during dinner may be annoying. But is it really going to ruin my vacation? I could not possible imagine an entire week going by without talking to my kids. And why should I have to pay the 7.95 a minute that the ship charges, or stand in line in port to use the phone?

[island lady]

I guess you just can't make everyone happy. People complain about people bringing children on a cruise, and if you do leave them at home, people complain that you can use a cell phone to talk to them. I think some of you need to lighten up a little bit. So a cell phone rings...WHO CARES!!! They paid for a vacation also. I can't possibly imagine spending an entire cruise looking for things that other prople do that bother me. What's the difference if they're talking to the person sitting next to them or if they're talking on the phone? Sure, I feel that hearing a ringing phone during a show or during dinner may be annoying. But is it really going to ruin my vacation? I could not possible imagine an entire week going by without talking to my kids. And why should I have to pay the 7.95 a minute that the ship charges, or stand in line in port to use the phone?

 

Ouch!!

 

My previous comment was that I liked cruising without having to use my cell phone, as to NO calls from customers or my company. I do like taking my cell along, and always do, to be able to use if I need it and simply keep it turned off and in the cabin. Then I just check once for messages at night.

 

I also like the back up of having the ship's emergency number for cat sitter and family, in case they can't get through due to a bad cell signal. If I were in your situation with kids at home, I would indeed carry it with me at all times.

To each their own.

 

Cheers!

[seapad]

Thanks everyone for the great response. I've been away and can't access email.

I'm cruisng with family who all uses Cingular plan. If we were to call one another on NOS with our Cingular phone, is there roaming charges? Also is there long distance charges? Will the charge apply to both the caller and receiver?

Next question is travelling in Cozumel or Cayman. I assume there is roaming, but does anyone know if there is long distance charge? WIll we incur roaming on both the caller and receiver?

 

Thank you.

[MermaidMomma]

I will be sailing on Voyager on April 23, so I won't have cell service on the ship, but I called Cingular/At&T Wireless to find out about service in the islands. The customer service rep said there would be service in Grand Cayman, Cozumel, and Ocho Rios. She explained that roaming charges are 1.49 per minute as was mentioned in previous posts. She suggested a way to avoid the roaming charges. If we call a week before and order the international service plan, and pay the monthly fee of 5.99, there will be no long distance or roaming charges. She also explained that we can cancel the service when we return, and pay for only one month of International Service. I repeated it all back to her, because I couldn't believe what she was suggesting, and she confirmed add International Service for 5.99 right before the cruise, and cancel when we return. Pay for only one month.

 

Happy Cruising!