Not MMR - traveling internationally question

vlagrl29 · April 2015

This trip we are about to go on in a couple weeks has really snuck up on me. To talk on the cell phone and use our iPad while we are in the Caribbean do we need to buy some sort of international plan from our phone provider? We won't be with DD and are planing on face timing her every night. I'm kinda nervous about this trip because its the longest we have been apart from her.

lifeonthehill · April 2015

Our family has always used the computers in the hotel or on the cruise boat to communicate with my mom in the past. It worked really well and since we only talked for 10 minutes or so it was cheaper than changing her cell plan. She would only be gone for 7 days max.

hoffse · April 2015

So, to start, most of the rest of the world uses a cell phone system that the US does not use (yay America - we had to be unique). That means that there are a lot of US phones that are incompatible when traveling internationally. I have no clue if St. Lucia is on the global system or the US system, but your phone might not even work.

Not sure about international plans for St. Lucia specifically, but if you're going to be at a resort, you should have wifi. I don't ever buy international data. I just use wifi and turn all cell phone reception, roaming, data, etc. off so that I don't risk huge charges. Do a little googling and make sure you 100% know how to turn off roaming/data if you plan to have your cell phone on while out of the country. If you don't do it right, you might come home to 5-figure charges.

You should be able to facetime with wifi, but personally I would be inclined to just skype on a (cheap) computer that doesn't have data tied to it. H and I just travel with 1 cheap-o netbook, and we keep our cell phones off so we don't risk those massive charges. Actually, I don't even take my cell phone with me because it would cost more than my netbook to replace if it got stolen (I have an iPhone 5s). We carry H's (much cheaper) phone to call family when we land, but he keeps it off and in the hotel safe the entire time we are out of the country.

Now, it's possible St. Lucia is included in whatever plan you have since it's in the Caribbean (I doubt it, but it's possible). But honestly, I don't know that I would risk it.

If you must talk on the phone (not facetime/skype), look into skype's international calling plans. They're pretty cheap. Or go old school and buy a calling card that you can use from your hotel.

When we go to France this summer, H and I are going to buy a dumb phone that can work on the Euro system and get a SIM card once we land in France. But that's because we're renting a car and need to be able to call locally in case of an emergency. Whole thing should be about $30, and we'll be able to use the phone on future trips (just a different SIM card if we're in a different country). If we weren't driving around, we honestly wouldn't bother.

als1982 · April 2015

The disconnection is a HUGE part of why we love international travel.

That said, more and more hotels and resorts are offering free Wi-Fi (heck even the hop-on hop-off buses offer it now!) With that in mind, I'd just check to see if it's included with your stay, or how much it'll cost extra before adjusting your cell phone service.

Xstatic3333 · April 2015

I take @hoffse's approach when traveling internationally and put my phone on airplane mode to avoid scary charges. Most hotels have WiFi, but when I have been in the Caribbean it hasn't been of a consistently high quality, and I wouldn't rely on it to hold out for FaceTime necessarily.

That said, if I remember correctly, you are staying at a Sandals. That's a luxury resort that caters to Americans, and I bet if anyone has consistent WiFi figured out, it's them. I'd call or email ahead and ask how their WiFi is so you'll know if you need to get more creative. I bet if you even just explain the situation (the understandable need to check in with your daughter) they'll know just how to point you in the right direction.

I always give our resort's information to my parents' and landlords/neighbors in case of emergency, and tell anyone else who may need to get in touch with me that I'll check my personal email daily. Work email I put up an away message for and try my darndest not to check at all. It's so hard sometimes!

hoffse · April 2015

Yeah if you're at Sandals, the wifi ought to work. I can't speak to their St. Lucia resorts, but we went to Sandals Whitehouse in Jamaica on our honeymoon and had 0 connectivity issues.

vlagrl29 · April 2015

Thanks all! This helps, but I think I will check with the resort and double check. There is no way I can disconnect for a week so I need to at least be able to call.

AprilZ81 · April 2015

If for some reason you can't use their wifi, check the rates the hotel charges for long distance. The rates may be cheaper than your cell phone plan.

vlagrl29 · April 2015

looks like they have free wifi and a free app you can download to your phone or tablet that allows you to make calls as well.

Erikan73 · April 2015

Check with your cell phone provider to see if that area would be considered roaming & if international ratse apply. I know when my parents went to Germany, we added international plan to their cell phone which eliminated the roaming charges & the higher international rates. We picked a certain number of international minutes. We added it to their plan for the time period they were gone & removed it upon their return and were charged a prorated amount because we cancelled it mid-billing cycle. What is nice is that the phone we have through AT&T is compatible to use anywhere which is one of the reasons we stayed with AT&T because Verison didn't offer us that option, at least not when we were shopping around. Even though you plan to face time or skype and can log onto to the hotel wifi to do that, if it's your first time away and you want to be able to call too, you may want to adjust your cell phone package for the time frame you area away.

formerlyGDaisy09 · April 2015

we did Sandals and used wifi, it was just fine. we left H's phone at home. my whole family is on iphones, so imessaging, face-time, etc were all easy. I turned data off before we left the US.

Not MMR - traveling internationally question

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