jerseysusan

As I have mentioned in other posts, I am going to Egypt on a Grand Circle tour. My DH is hoping to stay in contact with us. Our concern is the portion of the trip we will be on the cruise.
We have researched different cell phone options and are hoping to benefit from the experience of others. We are considering a blackberry, MOBAL World phone and PC Edge. Has anyone used any of these? Have you sent text or email messages with any of these options? I am slightly tech challenged and need advice. Thanks for your help.

tumbleweed_nd

Our son works for Verizon Wireless and he is setting us up with a new Blackberry Storm for our trip.
But, you might also consider
http://www.celtrek.com/
Their rates a cheaper than any of the major carriers. You can get a phone and 100 minutes for $258. Or just buy there sim card for youer own phone.

KRNS

In Search on top of page I typed in "sim" card ( I don't know what that is) and some posts relating to cell phones show up.

sf7307

jerseysusan, what cell phone service do you have at home? We have AT&T and enabled it for international roaming. The per-minute charges are high ($2.29 a minute US to Egypt for phone; 50 cents per outgoing text). We texted to and from all our phones (6 people) and called when necessary, paying the exorbitant roaming charges. But we still certainly spent way way less than $258.00!! If you text once or twice a day, and call home once a day for a couple of minutes, you'll spend maybe $5-10 a day at most, with no hassle -- no buying a new phone, or a new SIM card, etc.

jerseysusan

sf7307 - we have Verizon - I thought you needed a blackberry from them to have the intl roaming. I need to check again. I do remember that the minutes are quite expensive.

sf7307

Its true, most Verizon phones do not work internationally.

tumbleweed_nd

Verizon wireless has 3 "Global" phones. The Blackberry Storm, Samsung Saga and Samsung Renown.

Most American carriers rates are around $2.50/min for voice. Celtrek rates are $0.34/min for outgoing voice call to US and $0.24/min for Incoming call.

We will be taking the Blackberry and paying the price..sigh.

mrcamp

As you mentioned that your concern is the portion that you will be on the cruise. Well, most cruise lines now have on-board tower. So, you should be able to use a GSM phone with the appropriate bands. Of course, using your phone anywhere else should not be an issue.