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10-18-2011, 10:30 PM
| #1 |
| Cancuncare Newbie Join Date: 23rd Apr 2011 Location: New Jersey
Posts: 6
|  Officialy leaving the states! After months of planning and saving I will be leaving next Wednesday to Cancun. I decided to stay at a Hostel (Ka'beh) for 2 weeks as I do my job/aparment hunt. I'm so excited and anxiously awaiting my departure but I still have a few bumps I could use help on. What do you guys recommend for cellphone plans/carriers? Could I just purchase a plan and sim card so I can keep my current phone? I've never learned to drive a car so I need to rely on public transportation for everything. Is there a way to get a monthly bus pass or something similar like that? Or is everything usually hiking distance? I will be on my own for a long while so any help/advice once I'm there next week will be greatly appreciated! Thanks guys looking forward to meeting new people! =] PS: Any recommendations for a dentist? (My wisdom tooth freaking hurts!) |
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10-19-2011, 06:56 AM
| #2 |
| I can choose my own title  Join Date: 13th Apr 2003 Location: Cancun. QR, Mexico
Posts: 2,543
| Telcel is the mack daddy company here. You can pay as you go or have a plan. YOU NEED TO CONTACT YOUR US CARRIER AND ASK FOR A SIM UNLOCK CODE. Tell them you are going to be traveling in Mexico and using a local carrier. It takes about 48 hours and you receive it by email. Without unlocking the phone, you cannot use it here. It is possible to buy this service online but it does not always work, depending on your phone. I have never heard of a monthly bus pass but the buses go pretty much everywhere. Obviously you need to select your permanent residence to be easily accessible to the bus route. Local routes, as opposed to the hotel zone trips, cost only $6.5 pesos per person. Cabs start at $23 but figure $25 for an average trip around town. Current exchange rate is about $13 Mxn to $1 USD. I have a car but I can walk to Walmart, Costco, Paseo Cancun Mall and many other places in 15 or so minutes and often do. Gas is $9.25 per liter. Many people recommend American Smile Clinic which is block from Market 28. Safe travels.
__________________ T.J. Cancun, Q. R. Mexico Jesus said: "My food is to do what God wants. He is the one who sent me and I must finish the work that he gave me to do." John 4:34 |
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10-19-2011, 08:06 AM
| #3 |
| Cancuncare Guru  Join Date: 12th Feb 2010
Posts: 656
| Everything TJ said above is 100% correct. The only thing I'll add is that I wouldn't recommend getting a cell phone plan. Customer service with Mexican carriers (Telcel especially) is horrendously bad with way too many hidden charges. In other words, everyone ends up paying tons more than the plan actually costs. I don't know a single person with a plan who is actually happy with it. (Feel free to correct me if you're happy with it, but that seems to be the experience with my friends and family.) With pay-as-you-go, you won't even have to step into their offices. There's a particularly good new pay-as-you-go method with 3G internet. (Paying just $500 pesos a month at the local Oxxo store gets you 30 days of internet plus $400 pesos worth of credit to other Telcel members.) I use this method and I believe ToriB does as well. I get everything a plan does, without the hidden fees and enraging customer service normally tied into a Telcel plan. |
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10-19-2011, 08:27 AM
| #4 |
| Cancuncare's Most Interesting Man  Join Date: 10th Jan 2008 Location: Calgary, Alberta Canada
Posts: 1,827
| Gas is $9.25/L? Wow! I just did the conversion for what I am paying for gas while doing work up in Ft. McMurray, Alberta. It comes to $16.12/L (on $1.22/L in Canadian dollars). Yup sure glad I am doing work in the world's largest deposit of oil! Maybe I need to look into moving there lol!
__________________  As seen on http://www.facebook.com/keith.pottruff  APRIL 20th to May 1st, 2012 Trip #11, The Great one RETURNS! |
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10-19-2011, 09:08 AM
| #5 |
| Cancuncare Enthusiast Join Date: 26th Aug 2011
Posts: 28
| I have read here in the Forum and I have on my notes the Amigo Plan - rechargeable - as cell phones plans are concerned. Hope it helps. |
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10-19-2011, 11:11 AM
| #6 |
| Cancuncare Newbie Join Date: 23rd Apr 2011 Location: New Jersey
Posts: 6
| Thanks for the awesome advice! Looks like I'm getting pay as you go then. Shame about the bus pass but I guess I'll learn to manage. As for the dentist, l trust you know the best so I'll make an appointment first thing on my arrival. Hopefully one day I'll get the courage to learn to drive. Afterall, I'm turning 24 and never learned how. Anyways what would you recommend as an absolute first visit to Cancun? Like where should I go to dive right into the culture? Any recommendations are appreciated. Thanks again for the help! |
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10-19-2011, 04:38 PM
| #7 | |
| Cancuncare Enthusiast Join Date: 27th Mar 2004 Location: Littleton, CO and PDC
Posts: 22
| Can you tell me more about this internet plan. I'm in PDC and need internet when I'm there or when it's rented. How do I go about setting this up. It sounds like a better idea that trying to get Cablemas to connect the service. Thanks. Quote:
__________________ A day without sunshine is, like, night. | |
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10-19-2011, 09:42 PM
| #8 |
| Cancuncare Regular Join Date: 16th Feb 2006
Posts: 239
| I am the Administrator of American Smile Clinic. Pm me when you arrive and I will personally make your appointment in case your Spanish is not yet up to snuff...my secretary speaks "mostly Spanish". And thanks TJ for the referral! |
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10-19-2011, 11:27 PM
| #9 |
| Cancuncare Newbie Join Date: 23rd Apr 2011 Location: New Jersey
Posts: 6
| Everyone has been so friendly. Thank you CancunNurse, I will definitely need that appointment. Right now I've been taking antibiotics to help with this infection that swelled up my face and prescription pain killers. I hate that my tooth decides to act up the week before I leave. I should have had my wisdom teeth pulled out years ago! |
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10-20-2011, 12:45 PM
| #10 | |
| Cancuncare Guru Join Date: 12th Feb 2010
Posts: 656
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10-20-2011, 01:00 PM
| #11 |
| Cancuncare Enthusiast Join Date: 1st Apr 2008
Posts: 33
| is there anything like a 'tracfone' available in cancun, where you buy a phone and pre-buy minutes? |
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10-20-2011, 02:59 PM
| #12 |
| I can choose my own title Join Date: 13th Apr 2003 Location: Cancun. QR, Mexico
Posts: 2,543
| jayg. For some reason I always think of Beyonce when I see your posts. Telcel will sell you a phone and a chip (SIM card) for like $400 and it includes $50 of prepaid credit. Or, if you have an unlocked phone you can buy the chip for $149 and that also includes $50 in credit. You can then prepay credit as you need it. The more you buy, the bigger the bonus. $100 gets you $100; $200 gets you $250; $300 gets you $450 and $500 gets you $900 and sometimes $1,000 when the have promos. You also get to have 3 of your "favoritas" or friends numbers where you can call the first five minutes for free to any of those numbers. I want to find out more about the Gringation /ToriB plan that I just heard about lately. I have a plan, with the internet or media package and 300 extra text messages and it runs about $880 a month with taxes. But I go over on some things on a regular basis and my bill averages about $1,000. Gringation or ToriB - Can you please confirm that: 1. The media package that I am paying for on a plan, that includes unlimited internet, is the same that you are getting, basically for $500 a month. 2. That after I chew up my $400 I can buy the credits as with the Amigo card or just adding to my account at OXXO or whereever. 3. Are you sure that the calls are only permitted to other Telcel phones as part of this deal? With the Amigo deal or the plan, you just get credits for X number of minutes, whether to a land line, Telcel or other carrier. Is this not the case? If you can only call other Telcel numbers what do you do when you want to call me at home or on a Nextel or MoviStar or whatever? Or long distance? 4. With my plan I get 6 (Telcel only) numbers I can call for free for the first 5 minutes. The Amigo deal gives you 3. Do you get any with your deal? I must admit that I hate Telcel but they are still the best game in town and a virtual monopoly. Way to go Sr. Slim. Thanks
__________________ T.J. Cancun, Q. R. Mexico Jesus said: "My food is to do what God wants. He is the one who sent me and I must finish the work that he gave me to do." John 4:34 |
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10-20-2011, 04:19 PM
| #13 |
| Cancuncare Guru Join Date: 12th Feb 2010
Posts: 656
| 1. The media package that I am paying for on a plan, that includes unlimited internet, is the same that you are getting, basically for $500 a month. It's not unlimited internet, it's 3G (whatever that means)... but I've never used it up and I use quite a bit of internet. (email, Facebook, WhatsApp, some Youtube videos) 2. That after I chew up my $400 I can buy the credits as with the Amigo card or just adding to my account at OXXO or whereever. Yes. You're using the Amigo Kit, so everything in terms of credit is exactly the same. 3. Are you sure that the calls are only permitted to other Telcel phones as part of this deal? With the Amigo deal or the plan, you just get credits for X number of minutes, whether to a land line, Telcel or other carrier. Is this not the case? If you can only call other Telcel numbers what do you do when you want to call me at home or on a Nextel or MoviStar or whatever? Or long distance? The extra $400 gifted credit ("regalado") is only for other Telcel numbers. Since I communicate via other Telcel numbers, email and WhatsApp 99% of the time, I really only need regular credit to order sushi once a week. I might put in around $30 pesos per month to cover those random calls. (I understand that's how it is with all gifted credit, but I didn't learn this until 2 or 3 months ago. I think it might be a new change, but I'm not sure because I'd been on Movistar for so long.) 4. With my plan I get 6 (Telcel only) numbers I can call for free for the first 5 minutes. The Amigo deal gives you 3. Do you get any with your deal? It's not a "deal" per se, it's just the Amigo Kit, then you order however many days of internet you want separately. More of a service than a deal. I think it only gives me 3 numbers, but I haven't registered any and I never run out of credit ... $400 a month in credit is more than enough for me. |
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10-20-2011, 05:23 PM
| #14 |
| Cancuncare Enthusiast Join Date: 27th Mar 2004 Location: Littleton, CO and PDC
Posts: 22
| Yes, I need internet and television. I talked to the folks at Cablemas in July who said they would have to come check the pole, decide whether I could have service, come an tell me about their decison, come back a week later and install if I could have service.....I didn't see a good outcome here and I needed to leave Playa for a few months anyway. Now, I'm back at square one. I could do the plug-in thing for the internet but I've not heard great things about it and dont' know where to get one.
__________________ A day without sunshine is, like, night. |
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10-20-2011, 10:47 PM
| #15 |
| Cancuncare Sun Care Advisor  Join Date: 23rd Jan 2009 Location: Cancun via PHILLY!!!
Posts: 1,199
| Teeeej, I second everything Laura said, I just want to add that when I check my balance, I have two accounts. The first is the "all other service provider" account; and the second is where the $400 bonus credits go for telcel calls/sms messages. If you add credit at any point after the monthly 500, the amount will go into the first account and if the amount had any bonus credits, they go to the second. I hope that all made sense. After 3 or 4 months, I two have never ran out of credits. |
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10-21-2011, 07:49 AM
| #16 |
| I can choose my own title Join Date: 13th Apr 2003 Location: Cancun. QR, Mexico
Posts: 2,543
| Gracias ladies |
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