Facts about Cell Phones on Cruise Ships
Using Cellular Services and Mobile Phone Rates on a Cruise
Aug 4, 2009
For some travelers, one of the biggest challenges of taking a vacation is keeping in touch with the outside world. Since cruise lines typically charge between $7 and $12 to use the ship phones, bringing a cell phone or using the internet can be a more affordable option. But is it that much cheaper? Here is some information about bringing a cell phone or PDA on a cruise ship.
Cruise Lines with Cell Phone Service
Although Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd was one of the pioneers of cellular service on cruise ships, most other cruise lines also offer an onboard network for passengers to use their own cell phones while at sea.
Some cruise lines have designated areas to use cell phones on cruise ships (i.e., Disney restricts use to staterooms only). Or, many cruise ships are designating specific areas as quiet zones (i.e., dining rooms and theatres), meaning no cell phones allowed.
Using a Cell Phone on a Cruise
How it works – A company called Wireless Maritime Services (WMS) offers the advanced roaming network onboard most cruise ships. The shipboard service activates when the ship leaves the range of the closest land based cell tower. Once in port, the ship’s system is turned off and guests can connect to local land based roaming networks as permitted by their home carrier.
Type of cellular service available – Cruise guests can make and receive voice calls and text messages using their own handset or PDA while the ship is at sea, just as they would if they were on land.
Type of cell phone needed – The WMS network is accessible by cruise guests with either GSM or CDMA technology in their cell phones. WMS provides roaming services to many wireless telecommunication carriers worldwide, such as AT&T, T-Mobile, Vodafone, and Rogers Wireless.
Cost of Cell Phone Rates on Cruises
How cruise guests are billed – International roaming charges still apply and are billed to the customer by their wireless home carrier. While roaming at sea, the cell phone will display a network such as cellular@sea rather than displaying the home carrier of the customer.
Cell phone rates on cruises – The customer’s home network will determine the international roaming rates billed. For example, AT&T, Verizon and Sprint all charge $2.49 per minute whereas T-Mobile’s onboard rate is $4.99 per minute. And Rogers Wireless charges a whopping $7 per minute.
If the cost of phone calls outweighs the convenience of bringing a cell phone, then there is another option. When in port, passengers can buy local phone cards that are available at most convenience stores. Head to the nearest calling station, internet cafe or phone booth and make a phone call that will cost less than $1 per minute.
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