Carnival Cruise Lines announced plans to add cell phone service to appeal to people who don't want to lose touch with work and family while away on vacation.

The service will be available on all of Carnival's 21 ships by early next year as part of a deal with Wireless Maritime Services, a joint venture of Cingular Wireless and Maritime Telecommunications Network. Only one Carnival ship, the Triumph, currently offers the service.

Utilizing WMS' high-bandwidth technology, the service is compatible with any cell phone and allows guests to make and receive calls anywhere in the world from any cruising region. The new cell phone service requires no additional software or special dialing procedures - guests simply make and receive calls as well as transmit text and multimedia messages as they would on land using their personal cell phone. International roaming fees apply to all shipboard cell phone calls.

Carnival is the latest cruise line to offer the service. Wireless Maritime Services has deals with eight cruise lines covering 32 ships, including the entire Norwegian Cruise Line fleet. Royal Caribbean International plans to provide the service on all 20 ships by the year's end.

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1. Posted by Bushy Turtle	Fri Jun 23, 2006 10:46 am
great. now people can make drunk phone calls at sea.
2. Posted by GSMDude	Fri Jun 23, 2006 10:47 am
Hopefully this means cell phone calls on airplanes is next (and eventually Internet access).
3. Posted by booboy	Fri Jun 23, 2006 4:26 pm
its about time. being at sea without cell phone service is something many people would pay for. plus there's no interference with equipment like on airplanes. the problem with calls on airplanes is the flight equipment, not the location. so it think there is still a bit to wait until the faa gets this stuff sorted out. just like everyone else i still have my fingers crossed though.
4. Posted by mgoblue	Sat Jun 24, 2006 1:04 pm
it costs $2.49/minute. i'll leave my phone at home.
5. Posted by Jadall	Mon Jun 26, 2006 3:29 pm
on an airplane they would have to set up some kind of a relay just like I imagine on a cruise ship the tower picks up the transmission from phone and relay's it over some other kind of radio network I imagine. sounds cool and another thing is in emergency etc. if someone is near the cruise ship they could make emergency cell phone call.. (i would have a satellite phone or a regular radio if I was on a ship out to sea anyways.)
6. Posted by m2391	Sat Aug 05, 2006 6:36 pm
My grandmother used her cell phone on a cruise ship in port thinking she had free roaming - it ended up costing her $2.99 a minute. I think she was on RC cruise line on an Alaskan route. The bill came back - Roaming on Cruise Ship. Again $2.99 a minute. Now, it is not even safe to use roaming while in Port - only use cell phone if you are on your carrier while near or on a cruise ship. Even in a US port.
7. Posted by enhompe	Sat Feb 24, 2007 3:39 pm
A posting above says cruise ship roaming costs $2.49 per minute. If only that outrageous price were accurate! The rates are actually $4.99 per minute, a rate you will not find anywhere on Carnival's web site. The other cruise lines seem to have standardized on that price as well. Activate international roaming before you leave, and check the actual rates with your cell carrier to avoid the nasty surprise I got slapped with: $50 for 10 minutes of cellular calls. Bon voyage, indeed!
8. Posted by itsajoey	Sat Feb 24, 2007 4:28 pm
its a pretty neat service but geeze the price wow.
9. Posted by crmoores	Sun Apr 15, 2007 10:51 am
The ship to shore option can cost up to $10 per minute, depending on the location, I had to use it once at $8 per minute. So this cell phone looks like the clear choice in cases of emergency. Those who have a phone glued to their ear may want to leave their cell phone home

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