Carnival now has cell phones at sea

[kryos]

Its coming! I imagine that, within a few years, this will be as standard as wifi is now.

Of course it will ... and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Some people, unfortunately, have a legitimate need to stay in touch ... not just with the "office," but also with home. Maybe they have a sick relative, or children that they've left at home and want to check on. Maybe they have a job where they just can't be out of touch for an extended period of time and thus are now restricted to selecting vacation destinations where that won't be necessary.

 

I don't see a darned thing wrong with cell service at sea. In fact, I think it's a good thing that will allow more people to cruise. I also don't see it as something that will be abused ... like people yacking on the phone all day like you see at home. Those rates for service won't be cheap ... and those minutes will not be the ones included under your calling plan. The extra fees paid to yack on the ship will, by necessity limit the length and frequency of calls. I doubt you'll be seeing people "yacking" all day all over the ship.

 

And, of course, I am sure there will be cellular "hot spots" ... places onboard the ship where you will have to go to make or receive a call. Of course, I would hope the cabins would have service, as well as open decks. But, I can't imagine HAL or any other cruise line would have a hot spot in the dining room or the show lounge ... or any place where passengers could be disturbed by the ringing of cell phones.

 

Let's all be open minded here. Maybe some of us can leave the cell phone at home ... but for others being out of touch could be a real hardship ... severe enough to make them unable to cruise.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[AZjohn]

When I first started to read this post the first thing that hit me was how much money can HAL earn with this service (it has to be about profit, right?)

Lets say a rough average of 1,500 passengers per ship per day

There are 13 ships, so that’s 19,500 passengers per day

Let’s say an average a 10 minutes per day cell phone usage, that’s 195,000 minutes per day.

The cost is $2.50 per minute, that’s $487,500 per day

365 days a years comes out to (just got a error on the calculator…) I think it’s about 178 million dollars a year… That’s a lot of money.

I too don’t want to see it. I so enjoy no phones, news, e-mails, etc. But that is me on my vacation. I understand people wanting to be available by phone for emergencies, but don’t we have a phone in our cabins that can be used? But sadly, the cruise lines are in business, and they will always be looking to increase revenue for the stockholders I guess.

[mrskmirolla]

We were on the aft deck of the Lido on the Maasdam last month and there was a man on his cell phone conducting business very loud, I guess he had a right to but it was anoying. There was a lady talking on her phone too, so it may be on more ships than we know. I take the commuter express downtown LA from the valley and let me tell you all the phones that are in use and in many languages. I can see it if the bus is late and they have to call work but trust me this isn't the case. Sad thing none of us really want to listen to other peoples conversation but when they are practically yelling come on:eek:

 

 

Kathy

[kryos]

When I first started to read this post the first thing that hit me was how much money can HAL earn with this service (it has to be about profit, right?)

Lets say a rough average of 1,500 passengers per ship per day

There are 13 ships, so that’s 19,500 passengers per day

Let’s say an average a 10 minutes per day cell phone usage, that’s 195,000 minutes per day.

The cost is $2.50 per minute, that’s $487,500 per day

365 days a years comes out to (just got a error on the calculator…) I think it’s about 178 million dollars a year… That’s a lot of money.

I too don’t want to see it. I so enjoy no phones, news, e-mails, etc. But that is me on my vacation. I understand people wanting to be available by phone for emergencies, but don’t we have a phone in our cabins that can be used? But sadly, the cruise lines are in business, and they will always be looking to increase revenue for the stockholders I guess.

The price to use the phone in your cabin is ridiculous. I give out my cabin number and the HAL shipboard number for emergency contact ... but it would have to be a major illness or death before most people would use that.

 

The price to use a cell phone at sea is $2.50 a minute? My lord! That's high. I don't think most passengers will be using them at that price.

 

Those figures you quote leave out one very important factor. HAL will have to pay the cell phone signal carrier so much a minute too ... and that won't be cheap. They will also have to pay for the onboard hardware to make that work, and also the ongoing maintenance on that hardware. As for your figures of 10 minutes per day per passenger, I don't agree with that. Most passengers won't even bring a cell phone onboard ... so I think that estimate is way too high.

 

The people this is gonna appeal to, at those high per minute prices, are folks who either have family problems at home (an ill relative, children, etc.) and need to keep in touch, and business people who must be in touch with their offices. Since HAL's passenger base is predominantly populated by older folks, most of them will be retired and not have to worry about the office. Many of the younger family-type folks who sail the shorter itineraries may not have family issues to deal with, and their kids are right onboard with them ... so unless they have offices they must keep in touch with, they're not gonna be interested in paying that high cell phone rate.

 

I don't see this as being anywhere near as profitable to HAL as your estimates, though I am sure they will make some money on the service.

 

I think people are getting way too upset about this new "service" to be offered aboard cruise ships. They're picturing folks walking around all day yacking on their cell phones out on deck, in the Lido, etc. I just can't see it. I'm sorry. But, I just can't imagine people with cell phones glued to their ears at those prices. It's not like at home where you get free long distance after a certain time at night, and so many "anytime minutes" that cost nothing beyond the cost of the cell phone plan. Of course, in everyday life people make full use of their cell phones and will yack for hours ... but no way at a cost of $2.50 a minute. Most people with sense would rather spend that money in the casino or the spa ... not give it to a cell phone carrier.

 

Just my humble opinion ...

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[sail7seas]

What a pity it would be if some of those cell phones somehow landed in the deep blue........some users will surely tempt others to violate the nothing overboard rules!!!

 

 

[jhannah]

Sail!!! :eek:

 

I like your way of thinking!!! :D

[aaerobear]

Let the phones continue on the cruise..........:D

[sail7seas]

Actually, it's almost worth it for cell service to be available on the ships..........IF we could get to see the faces of the constant users when their bill arrives!!!! It could ALMOST be worth the disturbance when they see what all their jabbering cost them. :)

 

[michmike]

you're supposed to be on VACATION!!! short of the president, not many of us HAVE to be in touch with the rest of the world 24/7.. and if you are one of the few who feel you do, then do the rest of us a favor and stay home.

 

This is a TERRIBLE idea.. same thing with cell phones on the golf course.. what ever happened to leisure time? sadly we will be one of the last generations who understand that blackberries are only meant for jam and wine..

 

As rude and intrusive as all that electronic interference can be in day to day life, a cruise ship is the last place we should want it..

 

keep your type A butts off MY ship

[Pam in CA]

My story...

 

Last year, we were on a 21-day cruise from Manaus (Brazil) to Rome. One of the ports was Casablanca. We opted for an all-day tour to Marrakech, which entailed a 4 1/2-hour bus ride each way. A "gentleman" on the bus was on his cell phone the entire way, both ways, talking so loudly that we couldn't hear the tour guide. It was awful! We were prisoners to his conversations for hours.

 

Generally, I'm against cell phones on cruise ships but I'm also a realist. They're going to be available, no matter what we say or do. I hope that there are hotspots in just a few places on the ship, making cell phones unusable in dining rooms and most public areas. After all, some ships have cigar lounges and just about every ship now has an internet cafe. Why not a cell phone lounge?

 

On the same cruise as mentioned above, two weeks into our cruise, I received an emergency email from my daughter that my Dad had been diagnosed with a fast-moving, inoperable cancer. I was unable to talk to my Mom for several days until we reached Gibraltar. It would have meant a lot to both of us to be able to talk to her sooner. (As it turned out, I left the ship as soon as we arrived in Rome even though we'd planned to spend some extra days there and Princess was great, helping me to change my flight plans. As soon as I got home, I turned around and got to FL in time to say, "Goodbye". He passed away a week later.)

[kryos]

Actually, it's almost worth it for cell service to be available on the ships..........IF we could get to see the faces of the constant users when their bill arrives!!!! It could ALMOST be worth the disturbance when they see what all their jabbering cost them. :)

 

LOL ... if they yack on those cell phones like they do at home, the bill could actually come out to be more than they paid for their cruise! :)

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[RoyalC]

Of course it will ... and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Some people, unfortunately, have a legitimate need to stay in touch ... not just with the "office," but also with home. Maybe they have a sick relative, or children that they've left at home and want to check on. Maybe they have a job where they just can't be out of touch for an extended period of time and thus are now restricted to selecting vacation destinations where that won't be necessary.

 

I don't see a darned thing wrong with cell service at sea. In fact, I think it's a good thing that will allow more people to cruise. I also don't see it as something that will be abused ... like people yacking on the phone all day like you see at home. Those rates for service won't be cheap ... and those minutes will not be the ones included under your calling plan. The extra fees paid to yack on the ship will, by necessity limit the length and frequency of calls. I doubt you'll be seeing people "yacking" all day all over the ship.

 

And, of course, I am sure there will be cellular "hot spots" ... places onboard the ship where you will have to go to make or receive a call. Of course, I would hope the cabins would have service, as well as open decks. But, I can't imagine HAL or any other cruise line would have a hot spot in the dining room or the show lounge ... or any place where passengers could be disturbed by the ringing of cell phones.

 

Let's all be open minded here. Maybe some of us can leave the cell phone at home ... but for others being out of touch could be a real hardship ... severe enough to make them unable to cruise.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

 

Do you work for Cingular? Sounds like a P.R. reply to me. I can only say if being out of touch is a real hardship, why leave on a cruise? What is someone going to doing if Timmy gets sick at home? Call a helicoptor? That will be next. It can only ruin one's vacation to get a bad call when you cannot do anything about it. What did people do back in the 80s? Oh ya, they enjoyed themselves on a ship.

Next thing will be people suing cruise lines because they could not get to shore for an "emergency." What a time we live in.

[Navy_Chief]

You can get a bumper sticker for your car that says "Hang up and Drive!". I think I'll get some for my luggage that says "Hang up and Cruise!" :D

[richwmn]

As someone said on another thread, if it really is an "emergency" there are plenty of ways to get in touch with you without cell phones. All the ships have sat phones and maritime radio which can be used to relay messages of an urgent nature to you at sea. The cruise lines have always gone out of their way to insure that passengers with problems at home got their messages.