Cell Phones in Cancun

[HammieJ]

What carriers work the best in Cancun?

I know I've had sprint, nextel, verizon, helio, at&t, and virgin mobile over the years..... i don't remember which one worked the best down there.

I know most of the time we couldn't call outs..... but we could receive calls. We could also send and receive texts... and we would get voicemails.

I am just thinking about trying to get a hold of people while im down there. I don't want a ton of fees.... and right now i have virgin mobile with texts since it's easier. Last year I just had people call the room and leave a massage.... since we spend a lot of time at the hotel/resort. we would just check it in between meals and pool visits.

I guess we could always use the hotel phone again if it came down to it... i was just thinking if we were downtown or something and wanted to text someone.... which carriers would work.

[mormis]

sorry hallie, i cant answer this for i have no idea how carriers work there...

all i can tell you is that you can get a Telcel phone for like 30 USD and you can text international numbers

[HammieJ]

Originally Posted by mormis

sorry hallie, i cant answer this for i have no idea how carriers work there...

all i can tell you is that you can get a Telcel phone for like 30 USD and you can text international numbers

where at? in mexico or where?

[Venom]

All I know is the phone is shut off the second the pilot tells you to shut it off when they start to taxi to the runway. and it stays off til I land back in JFK airport. I dont wanna know nothing!

I make a call home from the hotel and leave the hotel phone# and room number for any emergencies when I get there and another call to make sure someone picks me up when I land.

other then that, I have no need or desire to talk to anyone from home. thats why im on vaca to begin with.... to get away!

but I do remember that the hotel phones are pretty cheap.

[HammieJ]

Originally Posted by Venom

All I know is the phone is shut off the second the pilot tells you to shut it off when they start to taxi to the runway. and it stays off til I land back in JFK airport. I dont wanna know nothing!

I make a call home from the hotel and leave the hotel phone# and room number for any emergencies when I get there and another call to make sure someone picks me up when I land.

other then that, I have no need or desire to talk to anyone from home. thats why im on vaca to begin with.... to get away!

but I do remember that the hotel phones are pretty cheap.

well trust me, unless my husband cant find a cheap ticket....i have no reason to call home! lol its just to keep in touch with my cancuncare friends.... as where we are meeting up for what night.... where we are(if we are on our way to meet and running late), change of plans, or whatever else

[chaz517]

why are you going to spring break if you are married? that seems pointless to ME. is he going with you?

[HammieJ]

Originally Posted by chaz517

why are you going to spring break if you are married? that seems pointless to ME. is he going with you?

ive been married for 2 years. I don't go to wild out...... i go to enjoy the beauty, lay on the beach topless, visit friends i only see once a year for a week at a time... and enjoy the downtown life, tours, and adventures

[hw711]

Sprint doesn't have international txting. Voice roaming internationally is ridiculously expensive (something like $0.99/min). That's why I only use email and blackberry IM to stay in touch with people.

[HammieJ]

Originally Posted by hw711

Sprint doesn't have international txting. Voice roaming internationally is ridiculously expensive (something like $0.99/min). That's why I only use email and blackberry IM to stay in touch with people.

oh wow! alrighty.... thank you!! Good to know!

[chaz517]

Originally Posted by HammieJ

ive been married for 2 years. I don't go to wild out...... i go to enjoy the beauty, lay on the beach topless, visit friends i only see once a year for a week at a time... and enjoy the downtown life, tours, and adventures

didnt some guy have his face in ur ass last yr at the CC party? i duno im just sayin lol

[KP_Da_CANCUN_LEGEND]

Telcel best way to go....Cheap Mexican phone cost about 20 usd with a phone #, have used the same one for the last 7yrs definitely worth it. I think the closet Telcel Store from the Oasis is in La Isla Mall. Although I have a blackberry that excepts the sim...I would prefer using the Nokia Telcel over it anyday. (((You Can Drop It)))

[Venom]

Originally Posted by HammieJ

well trust me, unless my husband cant find a cheap ticket....i have no reason to call home! lol its just to keep in touch with my cancuncare friends.... as where we are meeting up for what night.... where we are(if we are on our way to meet and running late), change of plans, or whatever else

aight, I feel ya on that.

i just have enough trouble not losing the few things I carry on me as it is. I dont need a phone on top of that. and like I said, I dont wanna know nothing! whatever you wanna tell or text me is just gonna have to wait til I land in JFK at the end of the week!

[ToriB]

When I was on Vacations here, I always had Verizon and it was very expensive .99 a minute for calls, .50 to send texts and .25 to recieve. When I moved here I got an AT&T phone, had it unlocked and bought a Telcel Sim, and I was good to go. AT&T and T Mobile are the only US carriers that use SIM cards.

[KP_Da_CANCUN_LEGEND]

Originally Posted by ToriB

When I was on Vacations here, I always had Verizon and it was very expensive .99 a minute for calls, .50 to send texts and .25 to recieve. When I moved here I got an AT&T phone, had it unlocked and bought a Telcel Sim, and I was good to go. AT&T and T Mobile are the only US carriers that use SIM cards.

Sprint Offers GSM...Cellphones with sim option. But not required to use them for your regular plan. I will test this out when I touch down in March with my Blackberry Tour

[HammieJ]

Originally Posted by chaz517

didnt some guy have his face in ur ass last yr at the CC party? i duno im just sayin lol

haha ohhh thats one of our best friends brice.... my hubby saw those pics and just laughed..... we are both very goofy.... and open. i always let him motorboat and stuff.... and brice was completely wasted..... those pics are priceless!! lol....although i did peck BC and some random mexican Fernando. lol but hubby still didnt care.... he knows he has my heart

[HammieJ]

sucks that i have virgin mobile

[mormis]

get a telcel! you can text whichever number and pay like .12 for each text...

you can even get those telcels at the OXXOs...

[hw711]

Originally Posted by KP_Da_CANCUN_LEGEND

Sprint Offers GSM...Cellphones with sim option. But not required to use them for your regular plan. I will test this out when I touch down in March with my Blackberry Tour

I don't think your Tour will work with GSM in Mexico. I'm fairly sure Mexico uses GSM 850/1900 MHz frequencies like the US. Tour doesn't work with GSM 850/1900 MHz frequencies because Sprint uses CDMA technology in the US which is a competing technology with GSM. They only reason they got those world phones (blackberry 8830 and Tour) is because CDMA is not a popular technology is Europe and Sprint needs stay competive against the non CDMA carriers in the US when it comes to business travelers. Sprint world phones are designed to only work with Europe's and Asia's GSM 900/1800 frequencies so they don't have to worry about people using those phones on the US GSM networks.

[KP_Da_CANCUN_LEGEND]

Originally Posted by hw711

I don't think your Tour will work with GSM in Mexico. I'm fairly sure Mexico uses GSM 850/1900 MHz frequencies like the US. Tour doesn't work with GSM 850/1900 MHz frequencies because Sprint uses CDMA technology in the US which is a competing technology with GSM. They only reason they got those world phones (blackberry 8830 and Tour) is because CDMA is not a popular technology is Europe and Sprint needs stay competive against the non CDMA carriers in the US when it comes to business travelers. Sprint world phones are designed to only work with Europe's and Asia's GSM 900/1800 frequencies so they don't have to worry about people using those phones on the US GSM networks.

I will find out for certain in March...it will only be a simple test. If it does in fact work it will be nice to know. I prefer using my cheap 15 dollar nokia over my 300 dollar tour anyday. (((top shelf liqour makes me drop things)))

[army21]

i am going to bring my iPhone, if i lose it in Cancun o well i need a new one anyway!! so wouldnt be that bad! thats why i am waiting to i get a new phone till i get back from SB!!

[coby]

With a US T-Mobile phone/account the fee is $0.75 a minute to talk...not sure on texting. You have to call ahead of time and have them unlock international roaming though.

$0.75/min sounds like a lot, but a TelCel prepaid account (which most are) charges 7 pesos a minute (texts are considerably cheaper)...which is not a massive difference. So in the case of a T-Mobile user and depending on how much you plan on making/receiving calls, it might be cheaper to just get international roaming unlocked and use T-Mobile than to shell out $20-$30 for a [shitty] TelCel phone or chip.

[ACBUD420]

theres a place where u can rent phones while ur there... its been a while since ive done that.. but from what i remember.. it worked well and it wasn't that expensive.. i know there's a link to it around here somewhere

[KP_Da_CANCUN_LEGEND]

Originally Posted by ACBUD420

theres a place where u can rent phones while ur there... its been a while since ive done that.. but from what i remember.. it worked well and it wasn't that expensive.. i know there's a link to it around here somewhere

They have had to gone under by now... Makes no sense when you can own your own phone and have your own mexican # without a contract for as little as 25usd. Telcel is the place.

[ToriB]

Originally Posted by army21

i am going to bring my iPhone, if i lose it in Cancun o well i need a new one anyway!! so wouldnt be that bad! thats why i am waiting to i get a new phone till i get back from SB!!

Can you lose it on a night I may be around? I would really like to have one and they cost twice as much in MX.

[hw711]

Originally Posted by KP_Da_CANCUN_LEGEND

I will find out for certain in March...it will only be a simple test. If it does in fact work it will be nice to know. I prefer using my cheap 15 dollar nokia over my 300 dollar tour anyday. (((top shelf liqour makes me drop things)))

I know what you mean, I'm on my second Tour in 4 months.

[shalomtou]

last trip down there in Feb. of last year my son was able to call me and text me using Verizon......

[esteban]

Recently, I traveled to Germany using an unlocked cell phone. All I needed to do was purchase a SIM card (it actually came with 15 euros of call time) for around 25 euros, and then I was good to go - this was done through Deutsche Telekom. I have a US-based 'ghost line' that I can use to forward to any number of my choice, at no cost to me. This worked out perfectly as I could use e-mail/text to cheaply let someone know to call me, and they could do so at no additional cost to them by calling the US number - and all incoming calls were free for me. I could make local calls inexpensively - like 20 cents/minute.

Would I be able to use a phone like this is Mexico (i.e. purchase SIM card and minutes package and be good to go)? Are incoming calls free? Estimated outgoing call costs?

Thanks in advance :-)

[TDunleavy]

did you say they dont charge extra on AT and T for bbm on blackberries henry?

[hw711]

Originally Posted by TDunleavy

did you say they dont charge extra on AT and T for bbm on blackberries henry?

No, I said bbm uses your data plan which way cheaper than SMS. Like Sprint, I can upgrade my plan to an unlimited international data plan for like $1 extra per day (it's additional $29/month but prorated) and I can use bbm and email all day. AT&T rate is a little different. Their website says it costs additional $25/month for 20MB of data but I don't know if it's prorated or you have to pay for the entire month. 20MB is about 20000 bbm messages but email and surfing the net will count toward that 20MB too so you will have to use it conservatively.

[Nuno]

ill have my BB down there on tmobile with international data activated