iPhones ahoy! Making calls on cruise ships, updated

The new Carnival Dream will have FunHubs you can access via wifi from any enabled device. Of course, any site outside the fun hub requires the Internet Access package but I am sure the new ship will have better bandwidth. Bandwidth unfortunately is just not being retro upgraded in older ships. For what its worth, there is an app for cruisers with countdown cruise clock and social “who is cruising” feature. http://www.alwaysbecruising.com/who/index.php

if you have an I phone during your next trip, try using the navionics i phone application with marine charts. You can geotag your photos of all the ports, create a log of your trip and share on facebook. Check under navigation in the i tunes application store.

If you're stopping in St. Thomas & are on AT&T, wait till you get there. It's not considered roaming there, so I was calling/texting/surfing my butt off that day :-) (this was Summer 2008 so check just to make sure...)

I travel extensively for work. Some years ago (2003) I bought an Iridium satellite phone. That has been the single greatest investment that I have ever made.

I hear horror stories from my colleagues about $400+ cell phone bills while they were "traveling".

When traveling and cruising on ships, the cost to call "back home" is totally outrageous. For me it is simple and cheap. It costs me about $1/min to call my family (who live in Japan). If you try to use hotel phones or even cheap calling cards it usually costs more than $1/min because of service fees and connection surcharges, etc.

The best part is that no matter where I am in the world (except North Korea - not sure why but my plan precludes me from making calls while standing in North Korea) I can call home for much cheaper than anything but Skype/VOIP.

Starbucks in Nassau offers free WIFI with any purchase... I've used that to my advantage on both cruises to the Bahamas to catch up.

WiFi on the Disney Wonder is $0.75 per minute or $25.00 for a 50 minute block. I logged on just long enough to check email. Definitely make sure you logout correctly. On this ship it was by typing in http://1.1.1.1
AT&T automatically sends you a text message if you leave your phone on giving you a rate of $12.95 per mb of data... so turn on airplane mode!

This is all you need

http://allroadsat.com/mobilerentals/info.aspx

just rent it for how long your cruise is. You get data and voice in one package.

If you lived in New Zealand you wouldn't bat an eyelid at a price like that as part of a regular phone bill....

I'm also looking for a way to make my mobile ring louder in libraries, museums, and at funerals. Also, any tips on how I can get the volume of my "push to talk" feature louder? I'm taking a cruise next month and want to holler at my boys with 15 minute updates "Where YOU at!?"

"My recommendation? " Leave the technology at home! It is a CRUISE, a VACATION. Hang out at the pool. Snap some pictures, or, frightening concept, meet some actual real people, face to face!