Cost effective way to call

[Jax]

I am so confused about all of the different methods to use to call home. If someone could help with this I would really appreciate it. I live in the States but need to call and check in with my Grandmother who lives in Canada a few times while I am in Aruba.

I understand that using my Sprint phone is very expensive. Am I better off purchasing an international calling card? Does it have to be specifically Aruba or as long as it is "international" am I OK? Do I want to rent a cell phone but we are only there for 10 days?

If anyone can shed some light on this to a non-techie, I would greatly appreciate it!

Jacquie

[gaby]

we are going in december for 10 days and rented a phone, $40 for 57 minutes (that's for the 10 days). It would be about $31 for just 7 days. and no charge for incoming calls. those rates are for USA & Canada. They drop the phone off where you are staying and pick it up from you when you tell them. they also email you the phone number a few days before so you can give it to your family. i got the name from this forum. it is www.arubadiscountcell.com They are very nice.

[Arubalisa]

http://www.aruba.com/forum/tags/skype.html

http://www.aruba.com/forum/tags/cell...%20rental.html

[silverfox82]

magicjack if you have your laptop with you. $19.95 a year

[TomFrederick]

Where are you staying?
There are a few Phone Centers in Aruba. Very cheap to call the States and Canada from there. Do not use phones you see in Aruba that say call home using your charge card. These are very expensive calls.
Shops in some resorts sell those phone cards. Walk in to one and they can tell you the best way to use their card.

[Jax]

Thank you all for your help. I will be staying at the Tamarjin. When I have used the cards in the past, they were very expensive. Has anyone tried Vonage? Would that work? My Grandmother does not have a computer so the Skype thing would not be viable. I am leaning towards the the arubadiscountcell program but am still open to any other suggestions. THANKS!

[Arubalisa]

Since you are staying at the Tamarijn, IF you are not planning on doing a lot of talking, but just some checking in, another option is the phone center at the Alhambra Casino. This is probably what TomFrederick was referring to. You can walk or take the golf cart shuttle from the resort.

More info

www.aruba.com/forum/f7/phones-43845/#post166125

If worst comes to worst, you could always check out the phone center when you arrive and if it does not fit your needs you could then call Aruba Discount Cell and ask them to drop off a phone.

[Lewny1]

My suggestion would be either to use the call center (this is what my neice did last year) or to rent a phone with the prepaid minutes. I used my cellphone last year (for business calls) and my bill was over $400.00 (luckily I was able to expense it). We also tried the Ventaha (sp?) calling card but realized that you could only use it from certain phones (those phones were not readily available in the low-rise district). JMO.

[Dom]

Even if your grandmother does not have a computer, you can use skype. It is possible to use Skype to call an actual telephone number (either land line or mobile) using your computer. Although it is not totally free to make the call, the cost is only about 2.3 cents/minute. Go to www.skype.com and you can check it out.

[cynbar]

Can someone tell me where the Phone Centers are located, and how they work? Do you need a credit card?? Thanks for your help.....