Fifthborn

We will be doing a Holland America Mediterranean cruise this summer with family members--visiting ports in Croatia, Turkey, Greece, and Italy. Not concerned about receiving or calling back to the US, only concerned about being able to stay in touch with family when we split up to take advantage of different shore excursions. I have a locked GSM triband phone with Cingular and can add Intl Roaming plan but do I need a quad band for these countries? Would it be better to purchase an unlocked quad band from a retailer and take it with me, purchasing SIMS at each port? Would I need a different SIM for each of those countries? Thanks for any advice!

jacketwatch

How about getting your current phone unlocked, then getting new SIMS? I did this with my triband pnone and it worked in India and Tahiti as well. It cost me $15.00 to get it unluked. Just a thought.

fmpden

We may be on the same cruise leaving Rome on May 30th. For the purpose your memtioned we use the FRS radios -- I know, I know, -- they are illegal. BUT, we don't engage in long conversations. Just use them for quick hook up or location id.

patandhank

Depending on how much travel you do internaitonally, take a look at www.mobal.com Before our cruise to the Med in Sep, we bought one of these phones. We bought the $99 model just so we could do the U.S. too and avoid carrying two cell phones or switching SIMS cards. It worked like a charm! Taking it with us in April to France.

Gardyloo

You shouldn't need a quad-band phone in most places, but having one wouldn't hurt. If it were me I'd buy a newish unlocked quad-band phone on ebay ($50 - $150+) and have Cingular switch the number to it. We use their global roaming service, which, while not super cheap, relieves us of having to hassle with SIMs in every country and leaving a bunch of unused airtime on the table every time you go from one country to the next.

bcirish

We too are doing the same cruise on May 30 - already counting the days. I checked this post to find out about the phone too and have discovered that I need to do some research about phones - don't understand the significance of unlocking and sims cards - does anyone know if the $99 one can be used in the Caribbean too?

jacketwatch

If a phone is "locked" it means it can't be used with any other provider except that with whom you have your plan. For example if you have say ATT you phone won't work on any other network. Getting it "unlocked" means you can use it with any provider and to do so means removing the chip or SIM card and replacing it with a locally bought SIM which are pre-loaded w/ minutes and are usually less $$. However bear in mind that when you get a local SIM you also get a new # with that SIM. Your original # is not lost, it will be there when you reinsert the orig. SIM. How simple is it? I got my phone (a Motorola v180 which came free with the service contract) unlocked for $15.00. Took about 10 min. We went to India, I purchased a local SIM and it cost me about 39 cents/min. to call the US vs. $2.29 per minute if I had used my Cingular SIM.
That being said be sure your phone has international calling capability. There are 4 world time band widths. Mine has capability for 3 (a triband) which is usually good for most of the world. I also used it in Tahiti to call home. Crystal clear too.
Some phones come unlocked, some don't and some don't use SIM card technology. You have to find out what you have first. If the phone is locked don't expect your plan provider to help you get it unlocked. However its pretty easy to do. I found a local service. No problems. Hope this helps. Larry

kfusto

My Cingular service and Motorola Razor work perfectly in Europe. I can direct dial out and also easily get calls.

I did not have to set up anything special to do so.

bcirish

Great explanation and thanks for taking the time. When people make reference to phones used in the US can't be used in Europe is that because of the sim card or the tri band or something else? I am going to look at my phone this afternoon and see what I can figure out - thanks again

jacketwatch

You're welcome bcirish (does that mean British Columbia Irish?) If you can't use the phone abroad its due to lack of international calling capability or not having a tri or quad band technology. Its not related to the SIM card. We changed from US cellular two yrs. ago when we went to India because USC can't be used for intl. dialing. BTW in Tahiti even though we could call home with my triband phone at time we were so far out (we cruised) we couldn't get a signal. Sometimes no matter what phone you have you could be too far away from a signal to use it. Cheers, Larry

sis8

Hi Jacketwatch:

I have my older Motorola V180 from T-Mobile. Last year, I replaced it with a Nokia and I now use my old SIM card (from V180) in the new Nokia. How do I find out if my V180 is now unlocked? If needed, where can I get it unlocked for $15? Thanks in advance for your advice.

jacketwatch

Hey Sis: Actually I just read a readers comment in CN Traveler about this issue which was the exact route I followed some yrs. ago for our trip to India so here goes. Find a independent phone dealer and ask. That is what I did. The one I tried did not unlock phones but gave me a number for a local business that did. Viola! No problem. I would suggest that you use the phone book, call some local places and go from there. You can also do this on ebay. Just search for unlock codes. In some cases you have to send the phone out, which I would not do and in other cases you can purchse the unlock codes your self. I would think you could find a place to do it locally while you wait. Good luck. Larry