Cellularphones on cruises
L Kings
Hi! I just got a webtv and is wonderful, I found this newsgroup and I
love it, I have some question , I will go on a cruise (my first one) and
I want to know if I can use my cellular phone on board, Also I want to
know how my son can get this group, he has Prodigy. Thank you to all of
you
Hopper
I had a cellular phone with me when I took my last cruise and I am happy to
report to you that it worked perfectly during the first part of the cruise-
the part before we left the dock in Tampa.
Leave your cellular phone at home or in the bottom drawer in your cabin.
Isn't that why we go on these cruises- to get AWAY from things like cellular
phones? You can always phone home from the ports of call if necessary or use
the onboard ship to shore in an emergency.
Have a great time.
Hop...@pc-central.com
L Kings wrote in message <26874-35...@newsd-113.bryant.webtv.net>...
Cal Ford
Hopper wrote:
>
>
> Leave your cellular phone at home or in the bottom drawer in your cabin.
At times I think a better idea would be to keep it at the ready on deck.
Ready to throw at the Flying Fish that is.... ;-)
Cal Ford
Lido Deck Cruises
Charles
L Kings wrote in message <26874-35...@newsd-113.bryant.webtv.net>...
>I want to know if I can use my cellular phone on board, Also I want to
You can use it in port or close to shore, but you will not get any signal
when the ship is out to sea. There is a reason why it is called a cell
phone. There have to be cells (radio tower, repeater transmitters, etc).
There won't be any of this infrastucture in the middle of the ocean.
jleq
Hi--Others have answered you first question, allow me to answer
your second. Some of the people who post here have Prodigy
addresses. Have him go to Internet...look up Usenet (Prodigy
might call it newsgroups) and sign up.
If that doesn't work, he can sign up via the Deja News WWW site.
The address is:
--jim
L Kings <LKi...@webtv.net> wrote in article
<26874-35...@newsd-113.bryant.webtv.net>...
George in NY
On Thu, 2 Jul 1998 17:39:34 -0400 (EDT), LKi...@webtv.net (L Kings)
wrote:
>Hi! I just got a webtv and is wonderful, I found this newsgroup and I
>love it, I have some question , I will go on a cruise (my first one) and
>I want to know if I can use my cellular phone on board, Also I want to
>know how my son can get this group, he has Prodigy. Thank you to all of
>you
>
You can use your cell phone when in port or near many land areas. Cell
phones require a land cell within transmission range. On land it is
about 10 to 20 miles I believe.
I always bring mine now as a matter of convenience during pre-stays in
Miami and while in ports. Although I agree to leave the business at
home there are reasons that some might still wish to have the option
of having the cellphone available. We have friends that routinely
cruise with us in June. This year they are cruising with us on our
October cruise instead. We decided to call them from the ship to wish
them a happy anniversary ( we met them on Zenith and stood up for them
when they were married on St.Thomas during that cruise ). We were
docked at San Juan and calling alternatives were in cabin phone,
$15.50 per minute, leaving ship and waiting on line at payphone in
ship terminal, or using cell phone. I used the cellphone.
Here's how it worked in San Juan for my phone ( I have Bell Atlantic
). I placed the call and a recording came on offering asking me to
select if I would be paying by phone card number or credit card. I
choose my AT&T phone card. After entering the number a recording
advised that this card was unacceptable or unrecognizable. I then
replaced the call and used my credit card. You entered number, exp
date, and zip code from home billing address. A recording then asked
if I would like rate information. That was 1.25 initial set up fee and
$1.95 per minute. We called and spoke for several minutes, the charge
was $13.25 on my Master Card. The convenience of making 6 minute call
form my cabin for less than a one minute call by ship phone. At sea,
of course, there is no choice.
In Miami I called and checked my messages via cell phone. I know what
cell phone costs, hotels and payphones can have varying prices and can
have other service charges or very high per minute rates. In Miami my
NY based cell phone service is recognized so it is merely a roaming
call. Most services no longer have any additional set up fees so the
rate is whatever your normal roaming per minute rate is. In my case
.99 a minute. The real advantage besides knowing what the cost will be
is not having to spend ten minutes figuring out how to place the call
from a payphone ot hotel phone.
Ability to use cell phone varies by island. First the island must have
cell phone service of course. Islands such as Bermuda, St. Thomas,
Cayman, etc all do. CoCocay is merely a small island for private use
and has no real population hence no cell phone service. I would
imagine staff living there use short wave radio or satellite
communications to their base office.
You should call your provider and inquire about roaming services for
your itinerary. Sometimes they know and sometimes they don't but worth
a try. Some areas allow for you to set up an account through your home
provider before you go so you can use your phone without making
payment arrangements over the phone.
A caveat - My Master Card provider - seeing a charge for calls in PR
placed a call to my residence requesting verification that my card
was having authorized use. Of course I was in PR, not home to answer.
The message stated that until I verified that all charges on my Master
Card would be routed to the authorization center, in other words a
store running my card through an automated verification system would
have been directed to call for authorization which could have been a
pain. It wasn't a problem since I used a card that I wasn't using for
anything else including my onboard account.
When I arrived home and verified I got the impression that the first
thing that automatically flagged this transaction was that I was using
an AT&T Master Card that included a phone card number. That number
hadn't worked as I stated. You might wish to use a seperate CC though
just so it doesn't result in any undue inconvenience.
Another reason I bring it. God forbid that an emergency comes up and
arrangements had to be made to take care of something at home or to
get yourselves home or whatever. I feel more comfortable having ready
communication alternatives at my disposal instead or having to rely on
one method of communication.
Then there is the mean streak in me. As I said, normally our friends
cruise with us in June. In October they stay home. It has become
tradition to call and busttheir chops from a lounge as we sail away
from NY to advise them that my first Jamaican coffee has arrived and
that as we speak we are passing under the Narrows bridge. This year
they are coming with us. They can't stand that phone call :)
I got carried away in my answer me thinks. Sign me long winded this
morning :)
George in NY
CRUISE NEWS - CRUISE LINKS - PHOTOS
http://pages.prodigy.net/georgehny
mike cordelli
If you are planning on using a cell phone in anything but the 48 states make
sure you check with your carrier first, they may have to "authorize" you for
the areas you are travelling to. For example - As a good part of the fraud
comes from the Caribbean, some carriers do not allow calls from there
without prior authorization. No sense in bringing the phone if your carrier
has blocked your area.
From any port the cheapest way to go is the voicenet calling card. Their
rates are very low, and they have toll free numbers into their network from
just about anyplace (something like 18/minute in the states, England is 25
cents per minute to call the states). No surcharges, minimum, or any of
that, call 1-800-377-1490, or they are someplace on the net if you search
for them. It's not a case of getting what you pay for either, they are just
cheap (when I travel we use it to call from the states to where I am too,
it's that inexpensive)
Mike
bs...@my-dejanews.com
In article <26874-35...@newsd-113.bryant.webtv.net>,
LKi...@webtv.net (L Kings) wrote:
>
> Hi! I just got a webtv and is wonderful, I found this newsgroup and I
> love it, I have some question , I will go on a cruise (my first one) and
I have a Pacific*Bell PCS fone. In May, we sailed from Los Angeles on the
Sun Princess at 5 pm, bound for Vancouver. We had late seating. At 9:42 pm,
during dinner in the dining room, my PCS fone rang! It sure scared me. It
was my son wanting to know if PCS service still worked. I have no idea where
we were, almost 10 hours into the voyage, but I tried it that entire night,
and it worked until I went to sleep, but sadly, not again until we got to
Vancouver.
-----== Posted via Deja News, The Leader in Internet Discussion ==-----
http://www.dejanews.com/rg_mkgrp.xp Create Your Own Free Member Forum
Mike Gow
In Central and South America, we came across a number of ports where local
entrepreneurs were selling long distance calls on local cellular networks to
N. America at some great prices, especially compared to the ship rates
$1.50 or so a a minute. I ASSUME that they were legitimate phones, they had
multi-phone kiosks set up on the dock so they must have local port authority
permission, but down there with the greased palm network you never know.
Mike
L Kings wrote:
> Hi! I just got a webtv and is wonderful, I found this newsgroup and I
> love it, I have some question , I will go on a cruise (my first one) and
SherriZ366
I have had varied luck using a cell phone. It didn't work in Ft. Lauderdale
but that was Bell Atlantic. However, we had good luck out of Miami. One of my
favorite sail-aways was on the Grandeur of the Seas, sitting on my balcony
going past South Beach and talking to my daughter at Univ. of Ga. I don't
think we tried it at any of the ports. Sherri Zedd
Richard Dervan
On Thu, 2 Jul 1998 21:11:50 -0400, "Hopper" <hop...@pc-central.com> wrote:
>phones? You can always phone home from the ports of call if necessary or use
>the onboard ship to shore in an emergency.
Yea...and pay $8/min ship to shore instead of $1/min roaming fee....
-Richard
George in NY
Sherri,
I've used mine, also Bell Atlantic, in FLL with no problem. Must have
been some sort of service outage during the time frame you attempted
use or were in Fort Lauderdale.
Bebe194011
My husband and I decided not to take our cell phone on our first cruise in
Sept.....we figure, if it's an emergency, the cost of the cabin phone won't
matter and if it's not an emergency, why do we need to call anyone, anyway? We
will be celebrating our anniversary, our (grown)kids know how to contact us
(and know it should only be for a REALLY BIG emergency!) So why bother?
We're planning to have fun, relax and get away from all the gadgets! : ) Liz
Judi Drews
George,
We used ours last Sunday on the way out, and this Sunday on the way
back, mainly to "tease" friends and family who weren't with us!
As for other uses, last year we had a limo picking us up at NYC. When
we got out of the terminal, it was nowhere to be seen. I went back in
to call them on the phone, and all public phones were being used by
ship's crew/personnel. It's the only time they can call family and
friends. I didn't have the cell phone with me, and spent several
anxious minutes wondering if/when we would be picked up. Luckily, the
limo arrived after about 1/2 hour...traffic snafu just outside the
terminal. If I had had the cell phone with me, I would have been able
to call and find that out!
Judi
MikePotter
cellphone/pager network. I do not work for them, it is just something new. It
is satellite based that will also work with existing cellular networks when it
is available. More info can be
had at their website http://www.iridium.com.
Have a great cruise,
Mike
Dan
Fair Seas
Dan
Charleen Bunjiovianna
especially looking forward to getting an Iridium phone for the very reason that
I'll be able to play with it on cruises.
I am still completely in awe that the Iridium consortium was able to put
66 satellites in orbit with a 100% success rate. That's a tremendous
achievement. And this is happening during my lifetime.
People are all different, that's what makes life interesting. If we were
all the same, no one would ever have a new idea. Iridium was born because
the wife of a Motorola exec was vacationing in the Caribbean (probably on
a cruise ship :-) and couldn't place a cellular call to the United States.
You might not ever want to make a cellphone call from halfway around the
globe, but after September 23, if you want to, you can. To me, that is
so exciting.
Charleen
(who gets passionate about technology -- can you tell?)
--
Charleen Bunjiovianna
char...@diadem.com
char...@netcom.com
Charles
Charleen Bunjiovianna wrote in message ...
>To some people, cellphones are fun electronic nerd toys, like GPSes. I am
>especially looking forward to getting an Iridium phone for the very reason
that
>I'll be able to play with it on cruises.
When the Iridium phone is using the satellite it is not a cellphone. Again
the only cells anyone can access on a cruise are when close to shore. I
believe Iridium has lately been billing the phone a "handheld phone".
Have you checked the price? I don't know if it true, but someone told me the
phone itself is $3000. Calls will be $3 to $5 a minute and the yearly charge
may be $3000 plus. This would be an expensive toy. Iridium is geared to the
international business traveler. If you need one, and happen to take it on a
cruise, that might make some sense, but getting one to play with on a cruise
would not be to sensible.
Mary Foster
impressive flash an Iridium satellite produces. I've seen the flash twice, and I'm
totally awed by it. He's due to e-mail me a new schedule for my longitude and
latitude. What a thrill to be looking at a dark sky and see the satellite fade in,
get almost painfully bright, and then fade out; all in less than 30 seconds. I can
only imagine at this point how it would look from a dark spot on a cruise ship's
deck!
Mary
--
Mary Foster
Cruises & Travel of Spokane
1-509-292-8800
1-509-292-0906
Charleen Bunjiovianna wrote:
> To some people, cellphones are fun electronic nerd toys, like GPSes. I am
> especially looking forward to getting an Iridium phone for the very reason that
> I'll be able to play with it on cruises.
>
Charles
Charleen Bunjiovianna wrote in message ...
>
>It truly is the Haves versus the Have Nots. Only in this case, it's a clue
>that the Have Nots lack.
If you are a Have, I am happy to be a Have Not.
Charleen Bunjiovianna
>
>
>Have you checked the price? I don't know if it true, but someone told me the
>phone itself is $3000. Calls will be $3 to $5 a minute and the yearly charge
>may be $3000 plus.
So?
>This would be an expensive toy. Iridium is geared to the
>international business traveler. If you need one, and happen to take it on a
>cruise, that might make some sense, but getting one to play with on a cruise
>would not be to sensible.
Sigh.
I love Usenet.
It truly is the Haves versus the Have Nots. Only in this case, it's a clue
that the Have Nots lack.
Waiter, would you please bring one of whatever Charles is drinking, and put
it on my tab.
Charleen
Stuart Portner
blew up, and another (cluster of several satellites) went into a "wrong"
orbit.
Still, a great accomplishment- done with private $$$ and several different
"providers" (read governments) of space launches.
And I'm sure the Iridium phone will be a great toy- but out of my price
range <G>.
--
-=Stu=-
To E-mail a reply, please use the E-mail link at my website.
Visit my non-commercial website: "All About Wheelchairs" at:
http://www.seflin.org/wheels
Charleen Bunjiovianna <char...@netcom.com> wrote in article
<charleenE...@netcom.com>...
<snip>
> I am still completely in awe that the Iridium consortium was able to put
> 66 satellites in orbit with a 100% success rate. That's a tremendous
> achievement. And this is happening during my lifetime.
>
><snip>
Charleen Bunjiovianna
>
>Charleen Bunjiovianna wrote in message ...
>
>>
>>that the Have Nots lack.
>
>
Charles, I was rude to you, it's true.
But hang it all, you clipped the part where I said people are different
and we should celebrate our differences, and proceeded blindly into critiquing
my choices as if they were your own.
Men have been telling me all my life that doing this is silly, that is
impractical, this other thing is too expensive ("what *can* you be thinking,
anyway?"), or I'll never have the skills to do such-and-such. I've ignored
'em all and have a career I love, along with enough money to blow on
expensive toys if I so choose.
And I do.
Dave and Sue Whitfield
better woman! <G>
nothing wrong with YOU having YOUR toys, God knows men have had expensive
toys for enough years and we woman have done without to give to our
families! If your capable and able to provide yourself with expensive toys
and your not harming anyone else in the way to them, GO for it! and Please
take my daughter with you, it is getting expensive for these designer labels
and Rodeo Drive!
By the Book
caution everyone (male and female) that these things are expensive, not make
a gender statement, but you're right, I seldom note a man being cautioned on
this newsgroup that a purchase he is considering isn't worth it to himtoo ,
or frivolous or expensive for him, etc. Hey, if you can afford it, go for
it. I can't always afford what I want, but I make no apology for wanting
it. And when I can spring for the best, I don't feel bad about that either.
What frequently happens on newsgroups is that you get an "answer plus" to
your question. You ask a question, like "I'm going to buy this - how much
does it cost?" You're not asking anyone's opinion if you should buy it, just
what it costs. And someone gives you the answer ($3,000) "plus" their
opinion (it's not worth it, it's too expensive, whatever.) This happens
with every subject.
Post about a ship you're booked on and want to know a specific question like
"Are there hairdryers in cabins?" Answer (yes) and plus ("but you won't
like the cabins, they're too small.")
Post about a cruise line "I'm booked on XYZ cruise line in July. Is anyone
from here going to be onboard too?" Answer (no) and plus ("that ship is
only good for an inexperienced cruiser.")
Sort of like the price you pay for getting the info.
Sometimes you get lucky and the plus is great - "I loved that ship!" "Great
food!"
Sometimes the plus isn't great, but you get some helpful advice.
Sometimes though, you don't even get the answer - just the "plus!" Remember
the woman who asked which cruise line would be best for her teenage son?
She only got the "plus" - "I suggest you don't bring him!"
Kate in NY<~~~asks VERY specific questions on here, hahhahaa!
Dave and Sue Whitfield wrote in message <6o7r7n$osp$2...@news.citnet.com>...