Cell Phones in Caribbean

[hillsi6]

i'm going to be sailing in the caribean for a month or so and am wondering about getting a cell phone there to stay in touch with family

[TOYOTA61384]

I don't have boat experience, but when on multiple trips from cruises and all inclusive at Jamaica etc. my Verizon phone worked just fine down there. They will put you on a different data plan and usage plan, but you should be fine in a lot of areas I would think?

You can look on Verizons site and it will show where they have service if you wanted to consider one of the larger providers. Were going to Playa in December and it works fine there too, just a bit more expensive.

Good luck!

Robert <><

[mikefp60]

It can get a bit involved. Read, expensive. What I have now is a prepaid phone for Grenada and Carriacau. Spent summer around there. And I have an ATT phone with international roaming. $1.20-$2.00 a minute depending on whose cell net your tapping into. Grenada through the Grenadines it worked fine. Always had good signal if you were within a couple miles of land. USVI and Puerto Rico cheap and unlimited. In the past we have bought Sim cards and or phones on various islands as we went to but I like the setup I have now. Keep calls short and don’t download data. Text without pictures use very little phone time. Then go ashore and find some free Wi-Fi and email and Skype to your hearts content.

Where are you from and where are you sailing?

Regards,

Mike
S/V Vivo

[rpoint16]

I had Qwest wireless, Verizon bought their towers 2 years ago. I had excellent service on & around the USVI & most ov Tortola. East of Tortola I was on roam.

[Tom.B]

Magic Jack

[karenmccraw]

How much success do you have using Skype? I've used it successfully in many places where I manage to find a wireless signal.

[maytrix]

Originally Posted by karenmccraw

How much success do you have using Skype? I've used it successfully in many places where I manage to find a wireless signal.

I'd second that. It seems most places you can find Wifi. Skype works pretty well over most connections.

[Palarran]

What I would suggest is go to the local phone shop of the island you are on and buy the cheapest quad-band cell phone they have. It should be under $100. This phone will last you for a long time and work anyplace in the world. Then, get a prepaid sim card. Put maybe $50 on it. When you move to another island, get their local sim card. If you go to Europe, get one there.

In St. Maarten, TelCell is about $.30/min to call the USA. If you talk for a hundred minutes, it's saved you $70 over a US based cell phone.

BTW, if you do a Cruisers Forum Google Search, there are a lot of threads on cell phones in the caribbean. Under the search tab at the top of the screen, hit the down arrow and choose the second search box.