i cruised on the Sensation on October 15th...a freind called me from NY while I was out to sea about 2 hours from the port and I got charged $65.00 for 33 min...just a heads up for you cruiser's
I answered the phone thinking "why do I still have signal way out here" now I know.....It's all about the money........if I knew this I would have hung up or not answered it...just a tip... by the way It was worth it just to rub it in that I was out to sea and he had to go to work that night...lol dontcha just love it?

CCL Sensation, CS
14 Sun 10/15 05:31PM 352-281-5309 INCOMI CL 33 FA22 65.67 65.67

MrOctober, that's a bummer!! But, I'm surprised it wasn't more than that! Thanks for the warning though! You'd think the phone companies make enough money without sticking it to us.

According to the Cingular web site (Cingular is a partner in the cruise ship provider that most lines use and most cellular carriers are compatible) the per minute charge is $2.49/min. Much better than the $6 +/min using your cabin phone but still a little greedy.

$2.50 a minute is not bad for those that absolutely HAVE to be in touch. Some people do. BUT, you should have been warned better that the rate was that high AND that you didn't have to do anything special to roam on th ecruise ship. If the cell coverage on the ship was not per your plan, you should have been told.

Live and learn I guess. Still not as bad as the $36 I was charged when my daughter tried to call my cell phone from the room before we left Galveston. My phone was already turned off and sitting in the safe in the cabin. But my daughter tried twice and left me a voicemail. Total of about 3 mins of time, but connection fees and ship to shore charges added up to $36! At leas tyou got to talk and rub it in that you were cruising!

Rolling on the Floor Laughing!

HAHAHA

Reason I'm laughing. Yes my teenagers all have cell phones..... They weren't with us on the cruise. BUT I saw that Victory which I just got off on sunday had All kinds of teenager on board. All with Cell phones, ALL cell phones GLUED to their ears. I hope that they all aren't GOUNDED til Spring when their parents receive the bills. I did rack up a big bill on internet usage on teh ship (136.00) but my connection to Canada was slow, and I have 4 kids I needed to write daily to. Much better than the 9.99 connection charge, then the 6.99 a minute to Canada. I totalled that in my head quick, 250 minutes of internet use, if I were to call from the ship instead, that would have cost:
$9.99 connection
250 minutes @ $6.99 a minute = 1747.50

People, thats a total of $1757.49
(If I were to use the ship phone)

Cell phone at 2.49 a minute $622.50

Amazing when you put it that way eh!

Anothe rtip to save money, wait til you get to shore, there are lots of internet cafes, whcih charge literally peanuts to use the computer and write home.

Glued to their ears during the cruise? Or just in port? If in port, then the ground based cell system would have taken over. But once out at sea.. the old money maker clicks on... oouuchhh.. that's going to leave a mark.

Best of just remembering that you are on vacation... turn off the phone!

Jim C:

My sediments exactly! But the teenagers on the ship all used their cell phones on the ship! I was shocked! I was reading some post that cell phone use on the ship was 2.49 a minute, but I guess it really depends on the service provider you use. I was shocked to see that many kids allowed to use their cell phones on the ship, if those were my kids, and I even caught a cell phone in the baggage, it would have been confiscated! ha!

Off to my sons Rugby game now, their team is undefeated and going for the County Title at 3pm! Go Bishop Smith Crusaders!

Jim, jump right in here if I get too far afield.

The equipment to establish mobile connectivity on the ship itself is not that expensive nor "special"; BUT the equipment to find and TRACK the satellite that carries the signal from/to ship and shore is expensive and VERY special. When I was setting up satellite ground stations for my business, I always opted for the more expensive fixed orbit satellites vs. the relatively inexpensive declining orbit satellites because I wouldn't need to spend additional money for a tracking system to maintain connectivity and signal strength.

The ship is moving in various directions (pitch, roll, yaw) and not just forward and the antenna has to keep "pointing" to this little thing in the sky that we can't even see with the naked eye. So yea, that equipment is expensive AND it's expensive to maintain. Who pays for that - the consumer. Is the mobile company making a profit - I hope so. Is the cruise line making a profit - you better believe it.

ChucksOk- You are dead on. The cell repeater equipment is fairly common. We provide a mobile cell tower for emergencies and call it the COW (for cell on wheels) I guess this would be a COB (cell on boat?) Anyway, the backhaul (connection from the cell repeater into the telephone network) is most likely just the ship to shore satellite connection that the ships already have. The excess charges are more than likely a result of that network and not the cell companies charging more. They SHOULD be able to make it so that the "local ship calls" would not be charged the high fees because the cell equipement maintains a list of which numbers that are in its cell radius. A little bit of programming and calls within the cell (the ship) could be done without any connection to the ship to shore network. BUT, then there would be no revenue stream there.

Teens don't think about the fact that even though they are texting the person sitting on the chair next to them that the message is sent all the way back to the states where a computer forwards the message back to the ship because that is where the recieving phone is located. I wonder what the text message rates are?

Sorry to say all you cell phone USERS you are on vacation, lets put the phones to rest. When I go on my cruise (exactly 2 weeks today) I will not be bringing my cell phone nor am I bringing a lap top, nor am I bringing my children as I am going away to escape reality, kick back and have some fun with good friends old & new....if you are that lost without your ear buzzing cell buddy, might I suggest you wait till you get on shore and purchase a phone card and call your recall, if there is anything pressing use your phone card to make that pressing call, you can even rub it in then, and trust me, it is soooo nice to rub it in peoples faces, but after all is said & done joke is on us so I'd rather put the extra $$$ to my bar bill not my cell phone bill.... or my next cruise!

Leigh--- put the kitty claws away there.. If you re-read the thread you'll note that none of us are saying we need to use our cell phones. In fact we were pointing out that its crazy to do so. The only one that did was Mr O and that was "by accident"....

ok kitty claws are put away, wasn't directing it to anyone in particular but the last cruise I was on I was amazed at the amount of people with cell phones attached to their ear. Unfortunately no one really believes how expensive it really is till they try it.....I say just leave it at home. That was the only point I was trying to get across, just havin a little fun with it, thats all. Not to mention Mr O accidently answered but 33 minutes? A very expensive accident I would say.
I really wasn't out to offend anyone, just aother tip on cell phone useage on your cruise.

JimC,
Actually, I have used my cell phone on my last few cruises to stay in touch with my daughter. I have, however, used text messaging as opposed to actual voice connections. I have T-mobile, and the cost to transmit a phone call on the ship is $4.99 a minute (not a great bargain) - BUT, text messaging is only $.35 per text message to send and $.10 for each message that is received (or they are applied to our bundle of 400 text messages that each of us has per month and there is NO charge)- turns out to be MUCH cheaper than the Internet connection.
Nancy

we took our cell phones and lap top only problem we had no reception in grand turk kept in touch with family becaue of my dad got to talk to our grandson it was great internet use 55.00 for 100 min did not use all of it but it was nice to keep in touch we had a wonderful vacation on the elation the best ever

Nancy- That is a great deal! What provider do you have and I assume that was on a Carnival ship?

I just assumed that the text fee would be at least as high as internet usage fees... but I don't mind being wrong. From what you say, that is a go alternative to using the phone for quick home checks...

Funshp Freddy, I'm concerned that you haven't been on enough cruises. Have you considered taking some time off and going on vacation?

I used my Cingular phone most of the time I was on my last cruise without being assessed a roaming charge. We sailed out of NYC (NCL) and stayed so close to the shore that I guess we were somehow still in range. First and second ports were in Florida. When we got to Nassau it said "Bahama Net" or something like that, so obviously I didn't use it. If it says Cingular, go for it.

JimC,
Actually, I have used my text messaging on RC and Celebrity - my cell phone carrier is T-Mobile (which is why it is $4.99 per minute, rather than $2.99 per minute with Cingular for actual phone calls from the ship). Check with your service provider for their text messaging charges - but, for me, the text messaging service was practically free.
Nancy

quote:

Originally posted by MrOctober:
i cruised on the Sensation on October 15th...a freind called me from NY while I was out to sea about 2 hours from the port and I got charged $65.00 for 33 min...just a heads up for you cruiser's

Sateillite phone, baby!!

Looks like you can get Iridium pay as you go, it's a satiellite network that reaches the entire planet, even the poles, a phone is 800 USD and you can get 500 minutes for USD 700. Not only will it work on the ship, but it will work throughout Europe and the far reaches of the world!

btw, how much does data access cost on cruises? that is to say, the Ethernet port in your stateroom? Is it included with the $1000 one way ticket?? I hope so On submarines there's no live internet access, for obvious reasons, also all the messages get screened for classified information and personally sensitive stuff...if your wife emails to say "I hate you! I want a divorce!" the CO will probably wait until the boat is in port to tell you about that one...

what about using the phone onboard? is that an arm and a leg aswell?