Cell phone or phone card?

[Andrea J.]

there is coverage for verizon wireless.
contact them for pricing and to activate international/aruba plan
or check this thread below
click highlighted Cell phone

Originally Posted by irvinelmo

Hi,
I really want to be able to keep in contact with my friends in Aruba on a cell but unfortunately there is no coverage for Verizon wireless. should I rent a cell at an airport..how much are they..are they reliable???

[gaby]

Verizon does cover Aruba. However, it is $1.99 a minute to call out due to roaming charges. If you text out, it is 55 cents. If you receive a text, it is 5 cents. We are going in december. I decided for the one month to put the international calling plan on my home landline. it is $5 a month. this way my daughter can call for 25 cents a minute. when i get home, i'll cancel it. i am renting a phone from aruba discount cell for 10 days. they give you the # ahead of time, i did the cheapest plan which is with tax & everything for 10 days $40 for 57 minutes. You don't get charged for any incoming calls, only outgoing calls are used up by your minutes. I used my cell in Antigua before I knew this, got a whopping bill of $260 extra on my cell & I won't even tell you my home phone bill cause i thought it would be cheaper to have my daughter call me. Suffice to say, I learned my lesson.

[jeffnev]

Your Verizon wirelss phone will work in Aruba in case someone needs to reach you-but at about $2.69 per minute. Best to rent a cell phone if you think you will be using it for more than emergencies. I bought a cell phone with a sim card and just buy a new card every year when i arrive-worhtwhile if you plan to be returning to the island.

[marcengo]

Good people of this thread, its been a long time since nobody post something, but my doubts matches the subject of this topic.

Some people suggested a pre-paid SIM. Is it really subscription-free? Im thinking about buying one and using my smartphone for calls (duh!) and 3G data - facebook, foursquare and Google Maps. Is it a good deal for what Im planning to do?

[Andrea J.]

http://www.aruba.com/forum/tags/sim%20card.html
yes if your phone is an unlocked gsm

read some of the threads on the above linkQUOTE=marcengo;223631]Good people of this thread, its been a long time since nobody post something, but my doubts matches the subject of this topic.

Some people suggested a pre-paid SIM. Is it really subscription-free? Im thinking about buying one and using my smartphone for calls (duh!) and 3G data - facebook, foursquare and Google Maps. Is it a good deal for what Im planning to do?[/QUOTE]

[marcengo]

Sweet!

Thanks, Andrea J!

[ChrisinStl]

i noticed they sell the samsung phones, so i wonder if that means i can take my sim card out to use theirs??

i rented from discountcell, but were staying longer and would like to use our phones with prepurchased sim cards. especially with data plan

[charles]

Hi All,
For the recommendations, I say thank you from myself and Iris. To those that feel other companies are a better choice, go for it because at the end of the day, we are all here to make sure you have a great vacation with our part being to keep you in touch at a reasonable price.
Be well
charles

[charles]

In reading the below article, it seems normal that there is some confusion regarding the SIM card issue. Let me try and help.
Normally if you get a SIM card it comes with a specified amount of time on it. DIGICEL has notoriously been more generous in the past, however SETAR is also stepping up to the plate. The SIM card issue is something that you should give plenty of thought to. Remember that you are (in most cases) taking an expensive instrument that is loaded with information into a hostile environment. Salt is a monster for electronics and your cell phone is nothing more than a portable electronic device that you can communicate with. We have always recommended to our clients that they shy from the SIM only packages for this reason only. Give it some thought.
be well
charles


Aruba prepaid sim card options
There's been a few discussions about this, but none fully answer my questions so I will start a new thread...

I'm going to Aruba in a few days and looking to get a couple prepaid SIM cards to be able to comunicate with each other on the island and also to call back home. I understand that there's 2 providers in Aruba: Setar and Digicel.

What is the pricing for these cards (without phone rental)? It's difficult to locate this info online.. Digicel hides it somewhere on their site and I found it once and could never see it again. I think it was $20 US, but not sure anymore.

What about Setar, how much is their kit?

Do any of them include some credit to get started?

Do their long distance charges (for example to call Canada) have any additional charges. For example. It says on Digicel's site that calling Canada is 37 cents/min at all times, while calling a setar customer (fixed) is 84 cents (44 cents off peak). It doesn't make sense that a local call be more expensive than a call back home!

Which are easier to reload? (while on the island)

Do any have decent (or unlimited) data plans (for an iPhone)?

Do any carry micro sims (otherwise I'll just take my sim cuter)

What's the advantage of dealing with a reseller (like Arubafastphones) rather than the providers directly? Are the prices the same?

Thanks.

[marcengo]

Just for the record, i've made a full review about SETAR on this topic: Aruba prepaid sim card options