Using Mobile Phones at Sea

Be careful when using Mobile Phones at Sea or using a wireless card on a cruise ship even when you are docked in a port within your own country. One cruiser, Wayne Burdick decided to watch Chicago Bears on his laptop via his Mobile while in the port of Miami. He had a set up where he had unlimited minutes, however even with International Roaming switched off he was charged a whopping $27,000 to watch the game.

AT&T after pressure from the newspaper re-credited his bill, however others that use Mobile Phones at Sea will not be so lucky. I once had a look around Costa Classica when she made a very rare visit to Southampton and on checking my Mobile, I was logged into one of the Italian Mobile Networks. Making a call then would have cost me as much as if I was in Italy and what was worse, receiving a call, though in Southampton would have been the same.

So the moral of this story is simple, if you Cruise and are using Mobile Phones at Sea, be careful, wherever you are!