Cingular Wireless Maritime Service

[jacdenv24]

Does anyone have any info on this cruise ship cellular service? Celebrity says they have it on all their ships so I'm assuming the other lines do also. It's only available in International waters-is that 1 mile out,3, 5?? When it's operating, your display says "roaming on At&T wireless". So would that mean I'd have to have an account with AT&T? I have prepaid with Virgin and when I called them for answers I got no where-when I asked if I could use the phone on a cruise ship she said yes, it would work anywhere in the continental U.S.
I've never used a cell phone a cruise before but we'll be gone for 16 nights and I'd like to have contact with my 94 year-old mother if it's available.

[am588]

Virgin more than likely will not work out to seas (they are a subcompany of Sprint, so use the Sprint towers.) Virgin and Sprint use CDMA technology, meaning they do not have sim cards= no international use (or extremely limited; Sprint phones might be able to roam, but they usually do not allow their prepaid to). My suggestion would be to pick up a cheap ATT go phone (they run anywhere from $14-100) so that way you can use your phone on the cinuglar/ ATT service, and won't have to worry about going over your minutes and seeing crazy fees.

Edit: I've been working with Virgin for a few years now, and unfortunately their customer service will almost always tell you anything you want to hear I'm 99% positive the Virgin phones will not work internationally