Pre paid SIM prior to NZ trip

[Sallyandtex]

Hi,

My Aldi doesn't include international roaming, so I have 2 SIM phone and want to order a prepaid SIM for NZ.

I would just be checking some websites for planning and perhaps booking trips, emails and weather radar occasionally. Messenger service for sending messages home. 

One provider has an option for $25 for 2Gb.

Do you think this is enough for the 2 week cruise (minus the days over and back from Sydney)?

For comparison I never get through my 2GB allowed each month although e, but I do have WiFi at home as well.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Given what you want to do you'd be better getting an internet package on the ship. You will not be able to use the phone at sea, other than as an internet device connected to the ship's internet, as cellular connections at sea cost a fortune and you usually can't connect to local telcos unless you're in a port.

[cheznandy]

36 minutes ago, Sallyandtex said:

Hi,

My Aldi doesn't include international roaming, so I have 2 SIM phone and want to order a prepaid SIM for NZ.

I would just be checking some websites for planning and perhaps booking trips, emails and weather radar occasionally. Messenger service for sending messages home. 

One provider has an option for $25 for 2Gb.

Do you think this is enough for the 2 week cruise (minus the days over and back from Sydney)?

For comparison I never get through my 2GB allowed each month although e, but I do have WiFi at home as well.

Aldi does include International Roaming,  we have used it just to sms friends/family etc exy if you want to check websites etc. It needs to be activated before you leave

Here is a link that may be helpful

https://www.aldimobile.com.au/pages/roaming

[andlep]

Pre covid I used simsdirect. Worked great.

[Sallyandtex]

2 hours ago, cheznandy said:

Aldi does include International Roaming,  we have used it just to sms friends/family etc exy if you want to check websites etc. It needs to be activated before you leave

Here is a link that may be helpful

https://www.aldimobile.com.au/pages/roaming

Yes thanks, I should've said my plan doesn't include it 😄, rates are quite expensive 

[Sallyandtex]

2 hours ago, andlep said:

Pre covid I used simsdirect. Worked great.

Thanks that is one I looked at. 

2.5 Gb and unlimited calls and texts $29 pretty good.

 

I am mainly wanting it ashore to make minimal texts, and logistical reasons, quickly check bookings/emails and searching timetable perhaps maps.

 

Edited October 7, 2022 by Sallyandtex
Added info

[Snowgums]

I have just done the 23 day transpacific crossing on Carnival Splendor. I was able to purchase a 24 hour internet package on board 3 times for about $13 a day. This allowed me to have internet access and contact family using Messenger video. It was all I needed. 

[Sallyandtex]

4 hours ago, Snowgums said:

I have just done the 23 day transpacific crossing on Carnival Splendor. I was able to purchase a 24 hour internet package on board 3 times for about $13 a day. This allowed me to have internet access and contact family using Messenger video. It was all I needed. 

Thanks, HAL medium plan is $25 USD a day , and we would want calls and text on land so we have decided to go with the NZ sim. We are in ports each day except getting there and back.

[resordanis]

21 hours ago, Sallyandtex said:

Hi,

My Aldi doesn't include international roaming, so I have 2 SIM phone and want to order a prepaid SIM for NZ.

I would just be checking some websites for planning and perhaps booking trips, emails and weather radar occasionally. Messenger service for sending messages home. 

One provider has an option for $25 for 2Gb.

Do you think this is enough for the 2 week cruise (minus the days over and back from Sydney)?

For comparison I never get through my 2GB allowed each month although e, but I do have WiFi at home as well.

When I was with Aldi mobile, you were able to put some dollars on the account for use whilst overseas. We used to put $30 each on both ours and it was a lifesaver at times. Now with Telstra so they cannot assist. I just purchased the $29 sim from Sims direct for NZ in November. Super quick, received within 5 days of ordering. I won’t  activate at the moment, so hope it is ok. There are quite a lot of places in NZ for free wifi though!

[cheznandy]

8 minutes ago, resordanis said:

When I was with Aldi mobile, you were able to put some dollars on the account for use whilst overseas. We used to put $30 each on both ours and it was a lifesaver at times. Now with Telstra so they cannot assist. I just purchased the $29 sim from Sims direct for NZ in November. Super quick, received within 5 days of ordering. I won’t  activate at the moment, so hope it is ok. There are quite a lot of places in NZ for free wifi though!

Yes, you deposit it as PAYG. We had roaming on when we visited Singapore last and we couldn't send an SMS....realised we hadn't put any money on PAYG.

We only have a $15 plan each, the data rolls over, which is great as we have WIFI at home so never use it. 

The SIM sounds great for NZ, we would do that if there for a while.

[resordanis]

1 minute ago, cheznandy said:

Yes, you deposit it as PAYG. We had roaming on when we visited Singapore last and we couldn't send an SMS....realised we hadn't put any money on PAYG.

We only have a $15 plan each, the data rolls over, which is great as we have WIFI at home so never use it. 

The SIM sounds great for NZ, we would do that if there for a while.

Yes, that is the plan we had with Aldi, it worked well as long as you topped it up. I need to ring a landline in Australia, so hopefully this NZ sim will work. I did get another one from the Post Office to use in Europe but it was hit and miss. If I still had the Aldi mobile, I think I would just use that as if you don’t use all the top up, it doesn’t expire quickly like the Sims Direct sim.

[Sallyandtex]

1 hour ago, resordanis said:

Yes, that is the plan we had with Aldi, it worked well as long as you topped it up. I need to ring a landline in Australia, so hopefully this NZ sim will work. I did get another one from the Post Office to use in Europe but it was hit and miss. If I still had the Aldi mobile, I think I would just use that as if you don’t use all the top up, it doesn’t expire quickly like the Sims Direct sim.

And I guess you keep same number so if you text someone , they know it's you! 

Just thought the local carrier might be more stable, I might investigate which NZ carrier the Aldi use for roaming.

[resordanis]

28 minutes ago, Sallyandtex said:

And I guess you keep same number so if you text someone , they know it's you! 

Just thought the local carrier might be more stable, I might investigate which NZ carrier the Aldi use for roaming.

They use the Telstra network so could be whoever Telstra use? I was very happy when I had to use the Aldi network phone overseas and I also used free data whenever we could, sometimes just having a coffee somewhere in NZ. We only changed from Aldi because of where we live, we needed to use Telstra wifi calling. Just explore what Aldi have available before using the one off sim direct sim! Hope that helps! 
PS I have had that happen to us, using a sim from another country, our son kept seeing the country and said ‘call centre” until he realised we were in that country!😩

[Sallyandtex]

18 hours ago, resordanis said:

They use the Telstra network so could be whoever Telstra use? I was very happy when I had to use the Aldi network phone overseas and I also used free data whenever we could, sometimes just having a coffee somewhere in NZ. We only changed from Aldi because of where we live, we needed to use Telstra wifi calling. Just explore what Aldi have available before using the one off sim direct sim! Hope that helps! 
PS I have had that happen to us, using a sim from another country, our son kept seeing the country and said ‘call centre” until he realised we were in that country!😩

Thanks, very helpful. I am always dubious of using free WiFi, had problems before after using free ones in hotels.

 

[ZealandZinnia]

I'm traveling from the US to AUS and NZ. 

I want to get a SIM card to be able to makes local calls and local texts while in all ports.

I've heard that I can purchase a SIM card at the airport. Is there one that works in BOTH Aus and NZ?

Any recommendations or advice is appreciated. 

[andlep]

You can order a Happy card from amazon which gives you 60 min free local calls and 12gb data.

I have used simdirect before, which uses separate sims for each country, but you get unlimited calls to the US.

[lyndarra]

8 hours ago, ZealandZinnia said:

I'm traveling from the US to AUS and NZ. 

I want to get a SIM card to be able to makes local calls and local texts while in all ports.

I've heard that I can purchase a SIM card at the airport. Is there one that works in BOTH Aus and NZ?

Any recommendations or advice is appreciated. 

Different countries = different SIMs. When I go from Oz to NZ I usually buy one at the airport on arrival. I used Vodafone last time - no problems.

This may help

https://www.kiwiexperience.com/blog/the-best-sim-card-for-your-new-zealand-travels