Different kind of cellphone question

[KarenCT]

I've been reading different posts about cell phone use in Aruba. Here's our question. We will be traveling with another family and both of our families have teens. We would like to offer them a little bit of freedom to roam across the street to the mall (we are staying on palm beach) or perhaps next door to another hotel where other friends are staying and would like to keep in touch. We will not be making any calls back to the U.S. Would renting cell phones still be a good idea? Or would it simply be worth it to just use our own from home but will they even work? Advice needed please!

[phillyboater]

Newer Verizon phones work if you call and add International Calling. No charge to add. They say rate is $1.99/minute, but in November used my Verizon phone quite a bit and additional roaming charge was only around $8.00. I know more than 4 minutes. No detail on bill so I'm not sure what the per minute really was.

[JohnL]

I would rent 2 cell phones. You can get them at the kiosk at the airport when you arrive and drop them off there when you leave. www.arubafastphones.com

OR, you can take walkie talkie's from home, but distance and reception might be a factor.

I wouldn't use your own cell in Aruba with teens- cost would be an issue with the way teens use phones.

Good Luck,

John L.

[popcorn]

Hi I was using walkie talkies they are suppose to covered 14 miles although the reception wasn't 14 miles it was more like 1mi . What I found was parents on board the cruise ships speaking to there kids. in the mall across the street.My daughter bought some.They came 4 in a pack with a charger for $50 and when she went back home she returned them to the store, If they worked more then a mile we would of kept them.

http://www.arubavacationgetaway.com

[hyemyrig]

I always bring my cellphone (Boston, Verizon) with me to Aruba for use once I land in Boston. Last year I turned it on at the beach and it worked!! I texted my daughter (in Boston) and she replied. We texted a couple of times and my phone was charged $.60 only once. I'm sure it was a fluke but you can be sure I'll try it again this year. Might be worth a try!!

[Kim L]

Our AT&T phones worked just fine. Need to call and add the International calling.

[popcorn]

International Plan

verizon aruba to boston $1.29
verizon boston to aruba $0.33
verizon aruba in aruba $1.29

http://www.arubavacationgetaway.com

[danadog56]

We brought walkie-talkies one year when a bunch of us girls (13)...were there to celebrate a landmark...(age50..YUK)..anyway, they worked great as long as we were not in the jeeps (open air) trying to talk. We were never really farther apart than about 2 miles, but they worked...
If you have some at home bring them along, can't hurt, if they dont work, throw them back in suitcase and then try renting a cell on the island.'
BTW...there are a couple of car rental agencies that offer free cell phones if you rent a car through them..you just have to buy the card with minutes. Check out the rental agencies on this website....might help...

[FFgoo]

Just got phone bill which included Aruba trip of two weeks ago...it was roughly 56.00 extra added which figured out to be what they said it would be 1.99 a minute. If you need your phone during your vacation just double check with carrier...might be cheaper to get phone on the island-I just liked having the comfort of my own phone....Bon Nochi

[Judy L]

Last time we used our verizon phone on cruise and in Aruba it took about 3 months for total charges to catch up.First seemed cheap but later it was about $3-4 per minute.I am going to Verizon before we are there for month of Feb and get the answer direct