Hawaii and cell phones
 

Heading to Maui and Kauai in about a week. We have Cingular as our cell phone company and I was wondering what type of service others have experienced. Coverage on the islands, as well as calling the mainland.

Hmmmm. you've been on fodors for quite a while, so you should know the search:
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34754534

We have Cingular in Hawaii, as well as Verizon, TMobile, Sprint, ATT, etc. The only island that you'd have <b>real</b> problems on is Lanai and maybe Molokai.

I used my Cingular mobile phone all over Hawaii this past December without any problems whatsoever.

I too used my cingular phone in Kauai and Oahu with no problems. Enjoy your trip.

We used our Cingular Cells in Kauai last summer. Had a hard time getting reception in our rooms at the Hyatt in Poipu, but if we went outside it was fine.

Watch out for analog roaming areas, which under most plans will cost you roaming charge.

The service in some of the more remote areas tend to go analog. Be sure to understand your plan with respect to roaming charges and watch the indicatior on the phone. I would call your provider and ask exactly what your plan is.

We were in Maui last September and used our Cingular phones without problem, mostly in the Kihei area. We called local numbers and numbers in California.

We also experienced a small thrill when the phones changed time automatically to reflect the difference in time zones from California time to Hawaiian time.