International cell phone??

[readytogo2]

Thanks for posting about Magic Jack. We have been looking for the best option for months and it seems this may be the best but it does sound too good (and too easy) to be true. I have a few questions: Where do you buy it? My husband says he thinks he saw it at Walgreens. Do they assign you a phone number if you don't want to transfer your number to it (I wouldn't want to be receiving calls, only calling to the US from Med. and Baltic ports). Did you get yours online at the website you posted? There is a free trial but no details. Also, we leave in 3 weeks so I am wondering if we have time to receive it by mail if we order online.

I guess this means if you want to use it in port, you have to carry your laptop and a landline phone with you, right? We a small, cheapy basic laptop. Will any laptop work? I am trying to visualize myself at a cafe in Europe with a laptop and a cheap, bulk, landline phone

So calling from Europe back to the US is free but if you use it to call Europe from the US, you have to buy international minutes, is that correct?

I bought mine in radio shack but walgreens and also walmart carries it I believe.It plugs in the usb port, you could talk without a phone if your laptop has a microphone and speaker but when you use a phone. it sounds as clear, as landline phone. You can call unlimited to any US or Canada number. My cousin bought one here and brought it to her home in South america, so we can call her on that number unlimited for no charge. After you plug it in your computer for the first time, they will give you a choice from lists of telephone numbers to pick.

Good luck and enjoy your cruise!

[calliopecruiser]

I'm very interested in Mobal......I'm also in Canada and we pay astronomically high cell phone charges compared to the rest of the world. Whenever I travel to Europe I like to have a cell phone for emergencies and quick calls, and in the past I have always bought an inexpensive local phone with some included minutes. Not ideal, but I didn't want to unlock my iPhone and I certainly didn't want to buy overpriced minutes from my local carrier.

 

I'm off to Lisbon next year and I'm considering unlocking my iPhone and buying a local SIM card, but I'll look at Mobal too. Thanks for the tip.

[World Gallery]

I bought mine in radio shack but walgreens and also walmart carries it I believe.It plugs in the usb port, you could talk without a phone if your laptop has a microphone and speaker but when you use a phone. it sounds as clear, as landline phone. You can call unlimited to any US or Canada number. My cousin bought one here and brought it to her home in South america, so we can call her on that number unlimited for no charge. After you plug it in your computer for the first time, they will give you a choice from lists of telephone numbers to pick.

Good luck and enjoy your cruise!

 

Thanks! Sounds like a winner. I sure hope it is.

Do you remember how much you had to pay to actually get service? Or, after you buy it, that is the service? I am getting closer to understanding. I plan to to go Radio Shack tomorrow.

[World Gallery]

I bought mine in radio shack but walgreens and also walmart carries it I believe.It plugs in the usb port, you could talk without a phone if your laptop has a microphone and speaker but when you use a phone. it sounds as clear, as landline phone. You can call unlimited to any US or Canada number. My cousin bought one here and brought it to her home in South america, so we can call her on that number unlimited for no charge. After you plug it in your computer for the first time, they will give you a choice from lists of telephone numbers to pick.

Good luck and enjoy your cruise!

 

Hi again. I just read this to my husband and he has some questions:

Can you call from Europe back to the USA for free? If so, do you need to use the US country code or just dial with the area code?

Thanks.

[luvtheships]

Thanks! Sounds like a winner. I sure hope it is.

Do you remember how much you had to pay to actually get service? Or, after you buy it, that is the service? I am getting closer to understanding. I plan to to go Radio Shack tomorrow.

 

You are going to carry a landline phone around with you?

 

A corded one? a cordless one? Dont they need a charging base? You will be carrying not only a laptop in port but a landline phone and wires? Won't you need an electrical outlet in order for the landline phone to work? Just to make a call? On the ship you still need internet access..which will still cost you about $100 minimum.

 

Go for the Mobal and be done with it....they run specials...4 years ago I paid $99 for the phone and it came with $100 in free minutes. We only got our first charge for minutes in 2011! You can call Mobal at a toll free number and speak to someone whose first language is English..as they are based in the UK.

 

Ask for a deal!!! Tell them you have alternatives and if they want your business..what can they do for you?

 

Hey, you know I have lots of kids and we travel Europe frequently so I know all about logistics and responsibility and understand completely why you are concerned about communications...but if someone needs to contact you..in an emergency...just be sure they have the ship's info number and all the hotels you are staying at. Give many people your itinerary. Carry an international cell for when you want to check in with them.

 

In a true emergency..which they will not be any, btw;)...they can conntact you the old fashioned way...by leaving a message at a front desk or guest services.

 

Also, if you buy a phone card...and make 100% sure to use a public..not private pay phone...you can call home for dirt cheap....you can also use a phone card to make dirt cheap calls from a hotel room phone..or better yet.......use your international cell phone to alert those back home that you need to talk to them and have THEM call you on your hotel room phone. This is what we do all the time when the kids are in Europe on their own dime.

 

I call them on my Verizon cell phone which I set up to use for international calls...US to Europe...while they are away..7 cents a minutes and a 1 dollar weekly access charge..prorated for the time you need international service to Europe

 

of cpurse I have no idea how often you plan to be calling home..maybe you have an elderly relative or business to care for or house issues...still I would go with a Mobal or some other international cell phone regardless of cost....no way am I lugging laptop and landline phone every place.

 

of course I may be wrong about this Majic Jack thing...but I have a question? If someone wants to call you..won't you need to be online and set up to receive the call at that exact time? So it doesn't really act like a cell..it just acts like a cheap form of communication? The convenience of getting to you 24/7 is diminished or non existant as you would need to be set up to receive the call, correct? Good for hotel rooms but not so good for a day in port, if I understand this correctly.

[calliopecruiser]

Also, if you buy a phone card...and make 100% sure to use a public..not private pay phone...you can call home for dirt cheap....

 

A lot of people forget this, but I found public pay phones were much more common in Spain and Portugal (at least the areas I was traveling) than they are back home. I had no problem using a phone card and pay phone for the few times I needed to call North America, and it was really cheap. (That was when I found out that the Portuguese phrase for "phone card" is, apparently, "phone card".)

[readytogo2]

Thanks! Sounds like a winner. I sure hope it is.

Do you remember how much you had to pay to actually get service? Or, after you buy it, that is the service? I am getting closer to understanding. I plan to to go Radio Shack tomorrow.

Service for the first year is included in the price, after that its 20 bucks.

Hi again. I just read this to my husband and he has some questions:

Can you call from Europe back to the USA for free? If so, do you need to use the US country code or just dial with the area code?

Thanks.

You can take it to Europe and call the US for free, when you make calls, you must use the area code but the country code is not needed.

[readytogo2]

You are going to carry a landline phone around with you?

 

A corded one? a cordless one? Dont they need a charging base? You will be carrying not only a laptop in port but a landline phone and wires? Won't you need an electrical outlet in order for the landline phone to work? Just to make a call? On the ship you still need internet access..which will still cost you about $100 minimum.

 

Go for the Mobal and be done with it....they run specials...4 years ago I paid $99 for the phone and it came with $100 in free minutes. We only got our first charge for minutes in 2011! You can call Mobal at a toll free number and speak to someone whose first language is English..as they are based in the UK.

 

Ask for a deal!!! Tell them you have alternatives and if they want your business..what can they do for you?

 

Hey, you know I have lots of kids and we travel Europe frequently so I know all about logistics and responsibility and understand completely why you are concerned about communications...but if someone needs to contact you..in an emergency...just be sure they have the ship's info number and all the hotels you are staying at. Give many people your itinerary. Carry an international cell for when you want to check in with them.

 

In a true emergency..which they will not be any, btw;)...they can conntact you the old fashioned way...by leaving a message at a front desk or guest services.

 

Also, if you buy a phone card...and make 100% sure to use a public..not private pay phone...you can call home for dirt cheap....you can also use a phone card to make dirt cheap calls from a hotel room phone..or better yet.......use your international cell phone to alert those back home that you need to talk to them and have THEM call you on your hotel room phone. This is what we do all the time when the kids are in Europe on their own dime.

 

I call them on my Verizon cell phone which I set up to use for international calls...US to Europe...while they are away..7 cents a minutes and a 1 dollar weekly access charge..prorated for the time you need international service to Europe

 

of cpurse I have no idea how often you plan to be calling home..maybe you have an elderly relative or business to care for or house issues...still I would go with a Mobal or some other international cell phone regardless of cost....no way am I lugging laptop and landline phone every place.

 

of course I may be wrong about this Majic Jack thing...but I have a question? If someone wants to call you..won't you need to be online and set up to receive the call at that exact time? So it doesn't really act like a cell..it just acts like a cheap form of communication? The convenience of getting to you 24/7 is diminished or non existant as you would need to be set up to receive the call, correct? Good for hotel rooms but not so good for a day in port, if I understand this correctly.

 

I have only used magic jack on a cruise ship as I usually get internet anyway. I did bring a cheap cordless phone with me once, but now we bring a cheap flip type phone i got on ebay that needs no electric. If I got a call and I wasn't online, a voice message would be emailed to me. You are right about being in port, I still carry my cell phone and in an emergency I would make or take a call no matter what the costs.

[World Gallery]

You are going to carry a landline phone around with you?

 

A corded one? a cordless one? Dont they need a charging base? You will be carrying not only a laptop in port but a landline phone and wires? Won't you need an electrical outlet in order for the landline phone to work? Just to make a call? On the ship you still need internet access..which will still cost you about $100 minimum.

This is really getting funny as I visualize my husband at a cafe with a corded phone connected to his laptop with all of the wires. Yes, we were going to bring one if we get Magic Jack. We have a cheap, corded one that is very light weight (cheap plastic)

 

Go for the Mobal and be done with it....they run specials...4 years ago I paid $99 for the phone and it came with $100 in free minutes. We only got our first charge for minutes in 2011! You can call Mobal at a toll free number and speak to someone whose first language is English..as they are based in the UK.

 

Ask for a deal!!! Tell them you have alternatives and if they want your business..what can they do for you?

I already looked into this option. None of our family or our employees have international calling on their phones so it would cost them to call us. That is another reason we are not getting a SIM card. It would cost them to call us. I just looked at the Mobal website. It seems this is the best option for people that do not have a phone that will work in Europe at all but our phones will work. The costs per minute are more than it will cost us to use our Iphone. For example, it is 1.25 per minute from Italy and our Iphone is .99 per minute

Hey, you know I have lots of kids and we travel Europe frequently so I know all about logistics and responsibility and understand completely why you are concerned about communications...but if someone needs to contact you..in an emergency...just be sure they have the ship's info number and all the hotels you are staying at. Give many people your itinerary. Carry an international cell for when you want to check in with them.

I plan to give them this. Plus, we will have our Iphone with us and from what I have read, they will work. We are putting the $5.99 per month international plan on our two phones. We know not to use them or answer then on the ship. They will be on airplane mode on the ship.

In a true emergency..which they will not be any, btw;)...they can conntact you the old fashioned way...by leaving a message at a front desk or guest services.

I agree, no emergencies!

 

Also, if you buy a phone card...and make 100% sure to use a public..not private pay phone...you can call home for dirt cheap....you can also use a phone card to make dirt cheap calls from a hotel room phone..or better yet.......use your international cell phone to alert those back home that you need to talk to them and have THEM call you on your hotel room phone. This is what we do all the time when the kids are in Europe on their own dime.

I am thinking that the phone card may be the best option now. We don't need to call much but would like to talk (not just email) a little bit. The whole trip is one month and that is a long time not to talk to people. I have read elsewhere it is about .7 per minute with a calling card you buy there. Does that sound right? Is it about the same for most European countries?

I call them on my Verizon cell phone which I set up to use for international calls...US to Europe...while they are away..7 cents a minutes and a 1 dollar weekly access charge..prorated for the time you need international service to Europe

 

of cpurse I have no idea how often you plan to be calling home..maybe you have an elderly relative or business to care for or house issues...still I would go with a Mobal or some other international cell phone regardless of cost....no way am I lugging laptop and landline phone every place.

 

of course I may be wrong about this Majic Jack thing...but I have a question? If someone wants to call you..won't you need to be online and set up to receive the call at that exact time? So it doesn't really act like a cell..it just acts like a cheap form of communication? The convenience of getting to you 24/7 is diminished or non existant as you would need to be set up to receive the call, correct? Good for hotel rooms but not so good for a day in port, if I understand this correctly.

About MagicJack - It would be for us to call out only. We wouldn't use it to receive calls. We thought it would be nice to be able to call home and not have to be watching the clock.