Jun 16, 2008 5:24 pm US/Pacific
Call Kurtis: Cruise Ship Cell Phone Coverage
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) ―
Be careful where you use your cell phone on vacation. We call on Kurtis Ming with the Northern California man whose AT&T bill that amounted to almost as much as his eight day cruise.
"I'd like to find out why I'm being charged $447 for roaming," asks Rick.
Rick Santa has never missed vacation more. He is back on solid ground after a Celebrity Cruise and fighting with AT&T over his phone bill.
"I don't think this is a correct charge and I want to get it taken care of," says Rick.
Turns out, Celebrity Cruise line and most others offer cell phone service by transmitting signals on their own onboard cell towers instead of land based towers owned by carriers like AT&T. Bottom line, use your cell phone on a cruise ship and you could pay an international roaming charge which varies depending where you are.
The Santa's, all on a family plan, agreed they would only use their phones in Port and in US waters. They called each other while docked in Portland, and several more times before reaching the Canadian boarder, thinking land based local towers were connecting their calls. But apparently, they were out of range and therefore roaming; transmitting calls through the ship's wireless service.
"I was charged $2.49 for every minute that I used for mobile to mobile calling," says Rick.
AT&T offered to cut his bill in half. But he wants all roaming charges erased, and AT&T is considering it.
Celebrity Cruises policy says cell service reverts to local towers in port. AT&T says your phone will connect to the strongest signal in port which could be through the ship.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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