Cell Phone Coverage?

[jarpar]

Getting ready for our trip in May. I've seen lots of comments here about phone cards for calling home and also about using walky talkies at the resort to stay connected when one is in the room and the other is on the beach.

Is there cell phone coverage there? we are on Verizon.

[SoonToBeMrsCook]

If you have an iPad or Tablet, download Tango, Skype or Oovoo (haven't tried this one) and have the recipient on the other end download it too and you can video chat for free over wifi. If you have Blackberrys there is a walkie talkie app called Loudtalks Lite that works off wifi. I know Droid has something similar and I'm sure iPhones would too. Years and years ago, made the mistake of calling my then-BF at home in NH when in Ocho Rios and my bill was HUNDREDS more than it should've been due to the international data charges for not more than a total of 30 minutes. Don't make my mistake

Enjoy your trip!!!

[madtown mom]

if i leave my phone on airplane mode, i should have no strange charges, correct? i want to use it as a camera

[lovinsean]

We actually found calling from our room to be the cheapest way to call the U.S. Even our cell phone would have been more. I can't for the life a me remember the rate but it is surprisingly cheaper than I expected. We called home twice a day and paid it out of our $100 resort credit (I think we only charged $24 in phone calls).

[shellyb]

We will be at Couples Negril for the first time Jan 22-28. We are also on Verizon. I called Verizon the other day to find out if we will be able to make calls. I was told by customer service that they have the same towers there as we do here and that reception should not be an issue. He did quote me a price of $1.99 per minute for phone calls and .25 for outgoing text messages and .05 for incoming text messages. He warned me to stay away from using any data. We were able to change our data plan for the time that we are there, in case we need to google something and not near wifi. We plan on skyping with our son back home over wifi instead of making phone calls.

[nguc54t]

Which resort are you going to? We were at CTI and have Verizon cell phones however, there is no coverage in the resort itself. Out on the main road, they worked just fine.

[Karl]

Highly recommend that everyone put their smart phones in airplane mode, but turn ON the WiFi.
We did this last year and using GoogleVoice were able to send / receive text messages for free. There are also other apps that use your G-Voice number to send and make calls.. All over WiFi which is included ( and VERY available) throughout CSA.. I presume the other resorts have similar WiFi networks.

[mick7602]

I just leave my cell phone on the night stand at home, No problem, I don't even notice the service level available

[2-4-Jamaica]

Please no cell service at Couples, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE.

[warren.cple]

The wife and I have Verizon, and while a rep told us we could get coverage, and that we'd have to add a (free) international option to one (or both) of our phones, we weren't able to get a signal the entire time we were in Jamaica. We only set the wifes phone to have the special plan, and from the time we got to our room, until we got back into Charlotte Int'l, she never had a signal.

We stayed at CTI. What we did to stay in touch was we just called from the room, using the room phone. Cost about what it might have ran to use her cell, and made it easier to get her Mom off the phone (Ma, we're paying a buck a minute, I can't stay on long, how are things with the pets and house? Good? OK, we'll talk to you tomorrow around this time again, thanks again for watching the house!) We did, of course, make sure on both our phones (both Android smartphones) to disable data roaming (and mine was put into airplane mode and left there.) As for the wireless at CTI, we were in building 3 (I think) and the WiFi from the pool bar could be picked up in the morning but later in the day became rather problematic. Not that I minded, I was on vacation...

I wouldn't worry too much about bringing walkie-talkies, at least to CTI. The resort is small enough that you're likely to find each other in a couple minutes of looking. If you're wanting to be able to stay in touch (Honey, come on down to the beach, there's a dolphin! {sadly we didn't see any...}) then I could see bringing a set, especially considering they don't take much room or space.

Jason
CTI in 499 days, 13 hours, 19 minutes!!

[jillmohn]

Hey I have a suggestion - SKYPE. We sign up for skype and call who ever we want using our laptop in our room. Yes you do have to take a laptop with you. We take our laptop with us and leave them in the room and have not had a issue. This way I can touch base with all the family back in the states and not have to worry about a big bill. - Just a thought.

[Myapapya]

jillmohn, thats what I was thinking too. I got my 14 year old a laptop for xmas. We leave her off at grammas and granpa's house. So, it will be alot cheaper to just skype!!

[StonyplainClint]

Wifi and Airplane mode works great. Another great app to use is called Viber. Free texts over wifi and super cheap phone calls if you must phone home. It is availabe on iPhones and Androids, not blackberry though.
We used it alot at CSA this past December, can even send pictures. Made the wife happy to be able to stay in touch with the dog sitter at home!

[Melvin76]

Hey I have a suggestion - SKYPE. We sign up for skype and call who ever we want using our laptop in our room. Yes you do have to take a laptop with you. We take our laptop with us and leave them in the room and have not had a issue. This way I can touch base with all the family back in the states and not have to worry about a big bill. - Just a thought.

exactly what we've done

[michigandaisy]

Call your cell phone company.
They may have a World Travel Package.
I just returned from a week at CTI.

I have AT&T. The World Travel Package is 5.99 a month then calls to USA were 1.69 a minute or 2.89 without the package.
I only got the package for 1 week so they prorated it at 1.50 for 1 week.

Calls from your room are $1 a minute but you need to have $350 credits for them to open the line.

I made my calls from the cell so I could sit on my balcony & talk.

Whatever you choose to do, make sure you check with your carrier to make sure you call make international calls on the phone you have.

[tanfastic]

iPhone to iPhone you can use FaceTime (app comes on the phone) via the wifi for free.