Cellular service on Labadee?

[MisterBill99]

We'll be visiting Labadee on Silhouette next month and I just discovered that my Verizon data plan is unlikely to work on the ship. Does anyone know if Verizon (and AT&T, for others) work on Labadee? I found some very old threads which seemed to indicate that there wasn't a signal, or if there was it was not very good.

[WestLakeGirl]

Doubtful that you'll find access to any US phone system there. You certainly don't in any of the Caribbean Islands other than the US Virgin Islands.

[Allygator14]

My AT&T phone data worked great in labadee. I was surprised. It actually worked better there than at other ports on the trip. I'm sorry but I do not know about verizon. One other thing to note is that AT&T phones were not working at all on the Silohuette but Verizon had a signal. Texts were spotty and I'm not sure about data. I hope this helps!

[MisterBill99]

Doubtful that you'll find access to any US phone system there. You certainly don't in any of the Caribbean Islands other than the US Virgin Islands.

That's not true. You can sign up for a data package on Verizon and AT&T for $25 that gets you 100mb of data and works in pretty much all countries. It works in Grand Cayman, Jamaica, Mexico, and Haiti (all of which I'll be visiting on my cruise).

 

It won't be included in your US data plan (and you'll pay a ridiculous amount per mb if you do not sign up for the package before leaving), but that wasn't what I was asking.

Edited January 24, 2014 by MisterBill99

[cruza]

We'll be visiting Labadee on Silhouette next month and I just discovered that my Verizon data plan is unlikely to work on the ship. Does anyone know if Verizon (and AT&T, for others) work on Labadee? I found some very old threads which seemed to indicate that there wasn't a signal, or if there was it was not very good.

 

We were there in December and we were able to call US using AT&T IPhone.

[jsf]

Your on a CRUISE why would you worry about phone service?

[EatonDoolittle]

Your on a CRUISE why would you worry about phone service?

 

Many (most) people have responsibilities of family, pets, and/or jobs to check in on. Being connected has become away of life, and staying connected may be the only way they can get away.

 

I know it was for me before I retired - had to check in with my boss periodically. Granted, I always take 10 or 14 day trips, but for may, even a short time away requires attention back home.

 

That said, I would be no doubt annoyed at hearing a loud nonsense call like "HI GUESS WHERE I AM CALLING YOU FROM?" while relaxing on a beach. :)

[WestLakeGirl]

MisterBill, thank you for that correction. My information was out of date

[MisterBill99]

That said, I would be no doubt annoyed at hearing a loud nonsense call like "HI GUESS WHERE I AM CALLING YOU FROM?" while relaxing on a beach. :)

 

We were on a Baltic cruise last summer and away from home for over 2 weeks and left our adult children at home (they still live with us). I texted them on a couple of occasions and asked if they wanted me to call, and they didn't want to hear from us (since we had not taken them as we had in the past).

 

In any event, I like to check my personal email while on vacation, and the friends we are going with may need to check his work email. I doubt I would bring my phone with me to the beach, but I could certainly use the phone when we get back to the ship, if it works on Labadee.

Edited January 25, 2014 by MisterBill99

[cruiserziggy]

I was NOT able to get a Verizon signal in Labadee approximately 15 months ago.

[MisterBill99]

I'm just back from my cruise and my Verizon LG G2 DID pick up a Digicel signal from my cabin on deck 12. It worked much better than the Internet service I had from the ship's cellular provider. Our friends, who had an older phone did not get a signal (and he had to do a call for work and had to use the phone in his cabin and paid a ridiculous amount, which he will charge to work).

 

I didn't bring my phone with me to the beach so I can't speak for how it worked there.

[tunaman2011]

Greetings

 

Just back from Labadee. Just above the beach area near the Zip-Line terminal there is a cell tower. Depending upon which phone you have, you should be able to access that network. There are 2 major cellular providers in Haiti. Not sure which one owns that tower. Digicel uses GSM technology and Haitel uses CDMA-2000 technology. You will be using the local service, not the ship service while in Haiti.

 

Good Sailing

Tom

[MisterBill99]

There are 2 major cellular providers in Haiti. Not sure which one owns that tower. Digicel uses GSM technology and Haitel uses CDMA-2000 technology. You will be using the local service, not the ship service while in Haiti.

Thanks for the detailed info. My phone was a dual mode CDMA/GSM so it used Digicel GSM. My friend's phone was not dual mode (CDMA only) and he was unable to use it (he really should have gotten a loaner from Verizon before leaving, bad move on his part).

 

According to Wikipiedia, "Haitel operated CDMA2000 1x network in 1900 MHz since 2005[54] till 2013[55]". Footnote 55 links to http://www.budde.com.au/Research/Haiti-Telecoms-Mobile-and-Broadband.html which does not mention anything about CDMA.

Edited February 18, 2014 by MisterBill99

[MisterBill99]

Your on a CRUISE why would you worry about phone service?

To further answer your question, when I was in Labadee (in 94f weather), it was snowing back home and my son was leaving to visit his girlfriend at college. It was good to know that he and my daughter had managed to shovel their way out of 16" of snow and that he made it to the train and bus OK.

 

You should get a broader view of why people need or want to use their phone while on vacation. Just because YOU don't need it doesn't mean that no one else does.

[MisterBill99]

I was NOT able to get a Verizon signal in Labadee approximately 15 months ago.

Did you have a dual mode phone? Did it work on other islands or the ship?

[Charles4515]

Your on a CRUISE why would you worry about phone service?

 

Why would that be your business?