I need help/advice from all you cell phone experts

[Rerun]

I don't have a clue about how cell phones work and all this stuff about roaming charges.

Here's the scoop.... I am heading down to the Caribbean for 10 days (on a cruise) and I would like to take my phone with me (have a Galaxy S Android smartphone) but I don't want to come back to a huge phone bill due to roaming charges, data charges, etc. (you hear horror stories all the time).

I just want a phone for emergency purposes just in case something happens down there or something happens here in Calgary and they need to get a hold of me.

What should I do?

Leave my phone at home and buy a prepaid phone down there? Can I take an old phone that I have and use it down there on a prepaid plan that I get there?
Is there something I can do with my Android phone (I am with Telus) while here so I can use it there without it costing me an arm and a leg?

[sec304]

leave your phone at home, buy a calling card and check in ever once in a while.

[Bigtime]

Don't most cruise ships have phone services to call out? Sure they may be a little pricier but like you said you would only use it in an emergency.

Check with your cruise line and see what numbers you can give people back at home to contact you in an emergency.

Heck we had that type of phone service available in a little Russian ship down in the Antarctic, I'm sure the Caribbean is easy compared to that.

Or, take your cell down. Disable data while roaming and don't use it. Should have no charges (unless you keep getting texts).

[Hack&Lube]

Is your phone unlocked? If so...

This is your SIM card. Take it out.
http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/2191/08galaxystutorial.jpg

When you are in the Caribbean, buy a prepaid sim card (cell phone stores, airport, convenience stores?) and put it in. Give people you want to have the number the number.

The other option is to keep your current plan, but screen your calls. Only pick up calls from numbers and people that you know. Turn off all 3GS functions, you don't want to use a roaming data plan for internet unless it's absolutely neccessary.

[Rerun]

I've never done anything to the phone since I bought it from Telus... so I assume its unlocked? Whats unlocked mean? Is this legal?

How do I unlock the phone? Once its unlocked and I take your suggestion and by a sim card in the Caribbean can I now use my phone to surf the web relatively inexpensively and make and receive phone calls from Canada relatively inexpensively?

By unlocking the phone, will this screw anything up? Will I still be able to use it with Telus once I get back to Canada?

[Hack&Lube]

I've never done anything to the phone since I bought it from Telus... so I assume its unlocked? Whats unlocked mean? Is this legal?

How do I unlock the phone? Once its unlocked and I take your suggestion and by a sim card in the Caribbean can I now use my phone to surf the web relatively inexpensively and make and receive phone calls from Canada relatively inexpensively?

By unlocking the phone, will this screw anything up? Will I still be able to use it with Telus once I get back to Canada?

Phones in Canada are locked to providers. That means if you have a Rogers phone, you can only use it on the Rogers network with a Rogers plan and you can't just take the phone and swap the card for another service and have it work instantly. They want to keep you trapped on their contract with their business.

If you bought the Galaxy from Telus, I'm sure it's probably locked as Bell's are locked to them. Unlocking phones is not illegal. You will probably have to root it or find someone else to do it. It's actually very simple. Check out the popular Android thread on CP. Many people in there know what to do. http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=89510

Phones are unlocked to providers in most of the rest of the world. It's their natural state. We're just backwards in Canada and allow providers to use monopolistic practices that are unfriendly for consumers. All my phones are unlocked and when I travel, I Just buy sim cards at convenience stores, etc. in different countries because phones are unlocked by default there.

You won't be able to surf the web on your typical prepaid SIMs. They are just for making calls.

If that is too complicated, just buy a normal calling card for normal phones. Use the internet on the cruise ship, etc. to talk to people. Keep your phone on you with roaming for emergencies but only pick up calls from close friends/family.

[blankall]

I've never done anything to the phone since I bought it from Telus... so I assume its unlocked? Whats unlocked mean? Is this legal?

How do I unlock the phone? Once its unlocked and I take your suggestion and by a sim card in the Caribbean can I now use my phone to surf the web relatively inexpensively and make and receive phone calls from Canada relatively inexpensively?

By unlocking the phone, will this screw anything up? Will I still be able to use it with Telus once I get back to Canada?

If it's an older Telus phone (greater than 1 year), it probably won't have a sim card. If the phone is CDMA (which is what all Telus phones without sim cards are) you may not be able to use the phone in the carribean at all for any price.

Here is the list of countires that you are covered in with a non-sim card Telus phone.

http://www.telusmobility.com/en/BC/cdma/intcoverage.shtml

Using your phone in any of these countries will, however, be extremely costly. Look for $8+ roaming charge/minute plus long distance fees.

Your cheapest option is to find an old GSM phone, and put a pre-paid sim card in it when you get down there. You will be assigned a local number on the sim card.

Edit: I just saw you are on a cruise. This means that you will be travelling between countries. A sim card you buy in one country will probably not work in another. In this case, you have no real cheap options to use your phone abroad.

[Rerun]

Doesn't sound to me like there is any inexpensive way to do this. Apparently, the cost to use a regular phone on the cruise ship is $7.95 per minute. At that price conversations won't be too long.

If I take my laptop down there, internet charges on the ship are $0.65 per minute. Not cheap but much better than $7.95 per minute. Maybe I will just stick to text messaging on the cell phone and not make any voice calls. I believe you can get a $20 flat rate from telus, for international text messaging.... and use the laptop for more detailed messaging.

Also getting a long distance calling card and making phone calls from whatever port we are in that day, from a regular pay phone, also sounds like the way to go. My wife and I will be leaving our dog with her parents (who will be staying at our house while we are gone), and it would be nice to be able to occasionally phone home and check in with them. Her parents won't have a computer while they are staying at our house and they don't have a cell phone either to text message.

[Bigtime]

Or you could you know, enjoy your cruise and disconnect yourself (except in an emergency).

[Rathji]

Put the phone in the drawer in your bedroom, go on vacation, have fun, come back pick up phone.

No roaming charges!

That is really the only way to do it if you are traveling outside of US/Canada. A lady at worked called Telus about roaming going to Mexico, and they wanted $100 for the month for the plan, plus her normal data charges.

[Rerun]

Or you could you know, enjoy your cruise and disconnect yourself (except in an emergency).

ya... that would be nice... if it was just me I'd be fine with that... :D

But I'm married and my wife will worry about the dog, about her parents, about the kids... etc. etc.... if she is out of touch. :whistle:

[Bigtime]

No problem, like I said before just get the contact info from the cruise line and if they need to contact you in an emergency they can.

[Yeah_Baby]

The internet. It's going to be a thing.

[MoneyGuy]

Is it as easy to unlock an iPhone as for other cell phones?

[wooohooo]

iPhones are easy to unlock. I believe the Galaxy is easy as well. There are numerous websites that tell you how to unlock. But for Telus I believe the Galaxy has a sim card, so a way you can do it for free is to call Telus and tell them your situation and tell them you need the unlock code. They should tell you within 24 hours and voila. Then you can either buy a sim card from any provider out there or you just have an unlocked phone to do whatever you want.

You can keep your phone on, just don't dial out. Some providers have free international texts in but texting out is like a buck or so. I'm not sure if the carribean is different from the States but I keep my phone on all the time in the states (roam) and never get charged even if I receive texts. I'm with Bell btw.

[QuadCityImages]

If you can get WiFi for $0.65 a minute (which is still crazy), you could put your phone in Airplane Mode with WiFi enabled and call out/call your voicemail using Skype out for an additional few cents a minute.

[blankall]

If you can get WiFi for $0.65 a minute (which is still crazy), you could put your phone in Airplane Mode with WiFi enabled and call out/call your voicemail using Skype out for an additional few cents a minute.

Skype is usually the cheapest option. This is the method I use. If no wi-fi is available, I use internet cafes. Most internet cafes in places with lots of tourists will have plenty of headsets for you to use while skyping.