cell phone in Spain
Sep 9th, 2005, 06:04 PM
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cell phone in Spain
Traveling to Spain for 2 weeks in late Sept., including a 4 night Med cruise (France, Corsica, Mallorca, Barcelona). Please advise on the best way to economically acquire (rent or buy from whom?) and use a cell phone for every other day calls home (my wife's Mom is in the hospital) and for emergencies. Any provisions for calling from a cruise ship. Thanks.
Sep 10th, 2005, 01:51 AM
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The Mobal phone for $49.95 seems to be the best buy. www.mobal.com . I bought one. Check it out..it may just do the trick for you...good luck.....
Sep 10th, 2005, 10:45 AM
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I'd normally second the suggestion to contact "On Spanish Time" to rent a cell phone for Spain, but you will not be able to use it in France without paying roaming charges. Besides, Jer appears to be away on vacation until the 3rd of October (http://www.onspanishtime.com/web/index.htm)
Since you do not have a GSM world phone, I would suggest that you buy one on eBay, where you can pick up am 'unlocked' Samsung world phone for as little as $30 and buy a SIM chip when you arrive in Spain. A cell phone will not work at sea. About the only possibility would be a satellite phone, which is very expensive.
The last and simplest option would be to buy a GSM world phone from Verizon before you leave on your trip, but I’m not sure Verizon Wireless offers service in Europe.
Since you do not have a GSM world phone, I would suggest that you buy one on eBay, where you can pick up am 'unlocked' Samsung world phone for as little as $30 and buy a SIM chip when you arrive in Spain. A cell phone will not work at sea. About the only possibility would be a satellite phone, which is very expensive.
The last and simplest option would be to buy a GSM world phone from Verizon before you leave on your trip, but I’m not sure Verizon Wireless offers service in Europe.
Sep 10th, 2005, 11:23 AM
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Verizon does offer you the chance to either buy a gsm tri band or dual band and provide a sim card for gsm service while in Europe but it's expensive.
We've been down this road with renting mobile phones often here.
For the most part, unless it is a quick 1 or 2 day trip, renting a mobile phone given how cheap unlocked mobile gsm dual or tri band phone are is kind of well throwing money away especially as one person noted he or she had been to Spain 3 times..
Spring for it and get an unlocked mobile dual or tri band on e bay or on some of the other web sites and then
1. If you're gong to primarily be in Spain, buy a local Spanish prepaid service. You will find mobile phone stores everywhere in most Spanish cities. This is the way Europeans do it now. The advantage is of course that receiving calls this way is FREE like in FREE. You can e mail or text message your friends your Spanish mobile phone number or open up an account with kall8 to get a US 800 number keyed to your Spanish mobile number and then pay roaming rates while in France or
2. You can get a riiing sim card on ebay which will give you the free reception of calls in both Spain and in France and do some of the things noted above.
The advantage of doing it this way is you will have the phone for future trips to Europe.
We've been down this road with renting mobile phones often here.
For the most part, unless it is a quick 1 or 2 day trip, renting a mobile phone given how cheap unlocked mobile gsm dual or tri band phone are is kind of well throwing money away especially as one person noted he or she had been to Spain 3 times..
Spring for it and get an unlocked mobile dual or tri band on e bay or on some of the other web sites and then
1. If you're gong to primarily be in Spain, buy a local Spanish prepaid service. You will find mobile phone stores everywhere in most Spanish cities. This is the way Europeans do it now. The advantage is of course that receiving calls this way is FREE like in FREE. You can e mail or text message your friends your Spanish mobile phone number or open up an account with kall8 to get a US 800 number keyed to your Spanish mobile number and then pay roaming rates while in France or
2. You can get a riiing sim card on ebay which will give you the free reception of calls in both Spain and in France and do some of the things noted above.
The advantage of doing it this way is you will have the phone for future trips to Europe.
Sep 10th, 2005, 06:36 PM
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Lots of good advice. Will definitely buy a phone. Went to mobal.com and can see a GSM phone for $49.95. Can I buy prepaid SIM cards for making calls or would I be required to pay $1.95 per minute as described at mobal.com?
Sep 10th, 2005, 08:22 PM
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The key question with the mobal offier is whether the phone is locked or unlocked. If the phone is locked, you, in theory, can only use the mobal service. Actually there are many ways to unlock the phone which have been discussed on this forum constantly. Once the hone is unlocked, or if it is sold unlocked, you can use any sim card you want.
Sep 11th, 2005, 04:37 AM
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This leaves you with what to do when your ship is AT SEA and the phone is probably going to be inoperable.
We recently took a combined land/Med Cruise trip. I have a quad-band Motorola and my Cingular plan includes calls in Europe. BUT that phone didn't work at sea, either.
Make sure the people you must stay in contact with know how to reach you onj the ship...for that portion have THEM call YOU if necessary.
We recently took a combined land/Med Cruise trip. I have a quad-band Motorola and my Cingular plan includes calls in Europe. BUT that phone didn't work at sea, either.
Make sure the people you must stay in contact with know how to reach you onj the ship...for that portion have THEM call YOU if necessary.
Sep 11th, 2005, 04:47 AM
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Before I go to www.unlock.co.uk, does anyone know whether Mobal's phones (Nokia 1100) arrive locked or unlocked?
If locked, is it simple to unlock without a trip to Radio Shack?
If locked, is it simple to unlock without a trip to Radio Shack?
Sep 11th, 2005, 05:53 AM
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Fortunately, according to mobal.com, service is available in Corsica and Mallorca, leaving it inoperable during the cruise time.
What are the reasons to buy dual vs tri vs quad? Reliability, range, clarity?
What are the reasons to buy dual vs tri vs quad? Reliability, range, clarity?
Sep 11th, 2005, 06:05 AM
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steve....
Answers to several of your questions...
Very mixed reports about whether mobal phones arrive locked or unlocked. I know the one I bought from them was the tri band 3100 and it was most assuredly unlocked...but others have reported their cheaper phones are locked. About the only way to find out is to ask a friend on tmobile or cingular to borrow their sim cards and insert it into your phone. Now since the phone is a dual band it won't actually work in the US but if the phone is locked you will get an immediate message that the sim card is not compatible with the phone..if the phone is unlocked you won't get that message and it will attempt to register on sme service so you will see nothing...eventually you might get a message network not available but you will be able to set the time and date and add numbers to the phone's phonebook. This should answer that question.
Dual band vs. tri band? Price. Remember tri band (and quad bands) are necessary for the fact that in North America, they were doing other things on the frequencies European and the rest of the world settled on for gsm service. European gsm services operate on 900and 1800 and so a dual band phone with those frequencies will operate anywhere in Western Europe and most other gsm areas such as Australia, Singapore, South Africa, China....but the phone will not operate in the US and Canada. With the tri band, provided it is 900,1800,1900 you will be able to also use it on among other carriers T mobile US but Cingular would be a problem as they use both 850 and 1900 in the US but their tri band phone (850,1800,1900) lack the very necessary 900 frequency to ensure universal service in Europe....But as far as clarity and range are concerned, dual band and tri bands will have really no differences.
Finally depending how far out to sea the cruise goies some have reported their phones will register somewhat out to sea...last year I took an overnight cruise from England to Norway and for a good part of the cruise we were out of range but a good 3 or 4 hours before landing in Bergen, the phone was registering on Norwegian carriers so you really don't know.
Answers to several of your questions...
Very mixed reports about whether mobal phones arrive locked or unlocked. I know the one I bought from them was the tri band 3100 and it was most assuredly unlocked...but others have reported their cheaper phones are locked. About the only way to find out is to ask a friend on tmobile or cingular to borrow their sim cards and insert it into your phone. Now since the phone is a dual band it won't actually work in the US but if the phone is locked you will get an immediate message that the sim card is not compatible with the phone..if the phone is unlocked you won't get that message and it will attempt to register on sme service so you will see nothing...eventually you might get a message network not available but you will be able to set the time and date and add numbers to the phone's phonebook. This should answer that question.
Dual band vs. tri band? Price. Remember tri band (and quad bands) are necessary for the fact that in North America, they were doing other things on the frequencies European and the rest of the world settled on for gsm service. European gsm services operate on 900and 1800 and so a dual band phone with those frequencies will operate anywhere in Western Europe and most other gsm areas such as Australia, Singapore, South Africa, China....but the phone will not operate in the US and Canada. With the tri band, provided it is 900,1800,1900 you will be able to also use it on among other carriers T mobile US but Cingular would be a problem as they use both 850 and 1900 in the US but their tri band phone (850,1800,1900) lack the very necessary 900 frequency to ensure universal service in Europe....But as far as clarity and range are concerned, dual band and tri bands will have really no differences.
Finally depending how far out to sea the cruise goies some have reported their phones will register somewhat out to sea...last year I took an overnight cruise from England to Norway and for a good part of the cruise we were out of range but a good 3 or 4 hours before landing in Bergen, the phone was registering on Norwegian carriers so you really don't know.
Apr 14th, 2006, 06:24 PM
#17
I rented from Planetfone. It was great. Just tell them what countries you will be in and they will give you a phone that works there. Was about $60 for a week, plus fed ex back and forth (if you are in a hurry) plus about $2.00 per minute. Not cheap but very good.
Not sure about cruise ships. Depends on how close to shore they are.
Not sure about cruise ships. Depends on how close to shore they are.
