Using mobiles overseas

strawb_shortcake

Please move if this is not the place.

I'm going on a cruise with P&O in Oct/Nov first port is Madeira then the Caribbean. My mobile phone is with Tesco mobile, how do i get the most reasonable charges for phoning home? I understand the Wi-Fi on board can be patchy. My parents got stung last year for making a few calls do want to avoid this.
Not too worried about using the internet but could be a bonus if a cheap way of doing so.
Many thanks

Doshwaster

I would expect that Madeira would count as the EU as it is part of Portugal so call/data roaming would be free.

Neil49

Firstly, Madeira is within the EU so normal free roaming will apply.

Once you reach the Caribbean you will find most cruise terminals or nearby bars offer free WiFi. Either use this facility to send text messages, use WhatsApp or post on Facebook / Instagram etc.

If you want to phone home then try to get them setup onto WhatsApp before you go (assuming they don't already use it) and use a free data connection while in port.

Normal phone calls will be expensive so search the Tesco mobile website for charges for each country.

Ship based wifi is both slow and expensive and I would avoid it wherever possible.

Turn off your data connection while on the ship and in the Caribbean otherwise your phone could automatically connect to a network without your knowledge.

Finally, have a nice cruise.

TELLIT01

You may also find that once away from land you link into the maritime networks which will cost an arm and a leg to use. Check with the ship once on board. Don't trust what staff in a travel agent may tell you.

maman

Id agree with using free wifi whenever possible in ports and phoning/messaging through WhatsApp. We were in Turkey (not in EU on my provider) for 3 weeks last month and using the phone didn't cost me a penny.

strawb_shortcake

Thank you for all your responses, I'll stick to Wi-Fi off the ship. We have a few days at sea so will have to give phoning the husband and children a miss for these days.
9 weeks to go ��

TadleyBaggie

TELLIT01 wrote: »

You may also find that once away from land you link into the maritime networks which will cost an arm and a leg to use.

I've never had that happen on a cruise.

NoodleDoodleMan

I've never had that happen on a cruise.

Doesn't the maritime network involve a satellite linkup, and is costly to use ?

That's the mantra we've heard on 15 cruises.

TELLIT01

TadleyBaggie wrote: »

I've never had that happen on a cruise.

There have been multiple warnings on various travel related programmes. Maybe you've just been lucky, or used the phone so little you haven't noticed.

sazaccount

Get your family (and yourself) to download either/or, facebook messenger (if you use FB) WhatApp (personal preference) skype (I use this to call uk landlines adding credit when needed) And call via wifi, the only thing the other person needs is their data on in the UK, depending on your ship the wifi can be pretty expensive so messaging would be better and call instead of video chatting to conserve data.

wilson1972

All the advice is good (turn data etc off)

Could you not get a sim card whilst in the Caribbean though?