cruiseguy1016 Posted February 19, 2009 #1 Share Posted February 19, 2009 I will be sailing on AOS out of San Juan in a couple of weeks. I have cell service with Verizon. Verizon has free coverage in San Juan. If I try to make a phone call from the ship while still docked in San Juan will my cell be using a free, land based tower or will it try using the tower on the ship causing me to pay the ship's rate for cell service? Anyone with experience with this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomCat32174 Posted February 19, 2009 #2 Share Posted February 19, 2009 I will be sailing on AOS out of San Juan in a couple of weeks. I have cell service with Verizon. Verizon has free coverage in San Juan. If I try to make a phone call from the ship while still docked in San Juan will my cell be using a free, land based tower or will it try using the tower on the ship causing me to pay the ship's rate for cell service? Anyone with experience with this? From my understanding, the ship's cell service is not active when it is in port to avoid those on land using cell phones getting on the tower and making calls that would charge them for roaming, so, you should be fine. We had Cingular when we were in San Juan once and made calls while the ship was docked, no issues or roaming charges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cb at sea Posted February 19, 2009 #3 Share Posted February 19, 2009 That's my understanding, as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiseguy1016 Posted February 19, 2009 Author #4 Share Posted February 19, 2009 From my understanding, the ship's cell service is not active when it is in port to avoid those on land using cell phones getting on the tower and making calls that would charge them for roaming, so, you should be fine. We had Cingular when we were in San Juan once and made calls while the ship was docked, no issues or roaming charges. I thought this was the case but I wanted to make sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bakechef Posted February 19, 2009 #5 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Just make sure that the banner on your phone says "verizon wireless" or "extended network" and you will be fine, if it says "roaming" you will pay roaming fees. I think that there is another compatible signal in Puerto Rico that Verizon does NOT have a roaming agreement with and you could possibly pay roaming while on land with them. As long as the phone says Verizon Wireless or Extended Network you will be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeDaDog Posted February 19, 2009 #6 Share Posted February 19, 2009 When you are "connected" to the ships service the screen will say cellular at sea. As long as that isn't showing you should be fine. I sailed with my Nextel and good ole Nextel was not available until we got back up to Jersey. This was fine with me as work couldn't reach me and I got to enjoy my cruise. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bakechef Posted February 20, 2009 #7 Share Posted February 20, 2009 When you are "connected" to the ships service the screen will say cellular at sea. As long as that isn't showing you should be fine. I sailed with my Nextel and good ole Nextel was not available until we got back up to Jersey. This was fine with me as work couldn't reach me and I got to enjoy my cruise. :) Verizon phones will not display the name of the network that you are connected to on the screen like some. It will either say verizon wireless, extended network (free roaming), or roaming (costs extra). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msmayor Posted February 20, 2009 #8 Share Posted February 20, 2009 I used my T-Mobile service while on the ship during the time it was docked at San Juan and was NOT connected to the Cellular at Sea. It was (if I recall correctly) the SunCom network, and was not charged at all for the minutes. When I contacted T-Mobile prior to our cruise, they told me that in both San Juan and St. Thomas my regular plan minutes would be used for calls from those locations...no roaming charges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.