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A large number of threads have alluded to buying or renting a phone for the trip. I'd love to do this... Anyone have a handle on average cost? Verizon will work there, but it is horribly expensive, and I really would rather not take my work phone ( and the potential for work calls) if possible. Heck, if it's a disposable phone I will give it away at trip end.
The following quote was posted July 28/12:
Do a forum search to find the entire thread - but unless things have changed, I'm going with Lime unless it's closed by the time I get there (I arrive Sat. afternoon, in Negril Lime closes at 5:00, Digicel closes at 6:00)Quote:
Re: Cell phone question.
okay mi did the Jamaican cellie shuffle in Negril a week ago..........
it was a Monday morning and mi waited till 10AM and hit the Cambio at Bourbon Beach......yes they have one there
and then took mi $100J red plate taxi to the roundabout and proceeded to the Digicel Store.........
within a minute mi have the pricing for the cheapest Digicel cellie, sim and tax = $4,500J's
next mi went to the Electronic store on the second level of Coral Seas Plaza........
and within a minute mi had the pricing for the cheapest Digicel cellie, sim and tax = $4,000J's
then mi went door to the Lime store on the second floor above ValueMaster..........
and within a minute mi had the pricing on the cheapest Lime cellie, sim and tax = $1,800J's
so guess which one mi took........of course the Lime or Slime as mi call dem.......lol
the Lime came with 100 free credits too so it was a no brainer.......
mi gave her a copy of mi passport and the nice lady wrote it up........
plus mi bought $1,000J's worth of credits.........the Lime cellies are actually cheaper to call North America too.....
now if mi had been der the Friday before.....
they had the same cheap cellie, sim, tax and 100 free credits for $1,185J's as a one time special promo......dayum mi missed it.......lol
nice Lime Lady setup the cellie, checked to make sure it took a charge from the adapter and added mi minutes
FYI the sim card from Lime or Digicel is $300J's plus tax.......cheap mon
the Lime Store and Digicel Stores are open to 5PM weekdays........
the Lime and Digicel have about the same cellies........
mi got a Samsung that has the FM radio but never used it........
Lime had two choices for their cheapest cellie.......Digicel only had one when mi was there......
okay so mi had 1,000 credits.......so someone guess what mi had left on the cellie when mi left Jamaica......
approx 750 credits........lol......mi hate using phones on vacation but they are must when you need dem......lol
you can text from the USA or call Jamaica on Slime but you are roaming on the Cingular network........
the text messages aren't too expensive but you'll go right thru your credits if you talkie on it........lol
personally mi use eztop to top off the cellie.........you can see it right on the phone when you do it too.....
hope dat was some help........so go Slime.....lol........Digicel cellies are way too expensive to buy in Jamaica
Cool Runnings, Marko
Digicel has a store in the plaza near Burger King in Negril. For about $40 US (possibly less) you can get a decent phone, with a sim card and buy credit for phone usage. Considering that Verizon costs ~ $1.59 per min with their International Plan, more if you don't have that on your account, but the cost of using Verizon for just 25 minutes worth of calls would be the same as the cost of buying a phone. Even without International plan, it is cheaper to call US from JA using local phone.
If you have an unlocked Quad Band phone, you could use that & just buy a sim card from your choice of local providers.
PEACE
I think I will just go with the lime phone. Our hotel has no phones in room, and I really do not want to bring mine. The expense is bad enough, but since I use it for work, it never really stops ringing. When we were in negril last year, I found myself wishing for a phone a few times to find our cabbie and to make reservations. Thanks for the heads up guys.
Ask your friends if they have an older ATT phone sitting around that uses a sim card. You'd be surprised how many still do.
I've been seeing a lot on here about having a "Jamaican phone". Is it possible to just use your iPhone down there, or do you need a different kind of phone? I have no clue how this works!
Just a small question - perhaps Rob or Lisa could answer. I have digi but think that if someone has another company, they are charged more if they call out of their "zone". I know it used to cost me more to call friends who had C and W.
I raise this to see if the same thing would apply to Lime etc.
I got a cell phone, charger, minutes and SIM card for $40 at the Digicel store down the street from Sangsters Airport.
We used the iPhone last year. It was not cheap (verizon). Here is my main issue... The phones are incredibly expensive to replace, and I have a ton of personal info on mine... I am not the most responsible traveller (when kindles were new, broke one on two consecutive trips)... It is almost a guarantee that I will lose it on an outing or somehow manage to break it. $40-$100 is not a big deal in my mind to pay for the ease of contacting a cabbie, calling for dinner reservations or what have you. Since I plan to go in search of a donkey pony, it is even more likely :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Baylee
You can get a phone, sim card, and credits for around $40 at Digicel. It's a basic phone that makes phone calls and works fine. You can also take an old AT&T phone, spend the $1.99 to get an unlock code off of Ebay and just by the sim card and credits which will run you about $20. Or you can go across the street from Digicel and hit the Lime store and get the same package as Digicel for cheaper. What model Iphone do you have? If it is the Iphone 5 it is already unlocked if it is from Verizon and you can go to lime and get a sim from them and put it in your Iphone. The Iphone sim is smaller than a standard sim and you will need a cutter.
If I could do it all over again I would still just go with a cheap phone package. And if you get hooked like many of us are you will be back sooner than later and can use the phone again on your next trip. In Jamaica you make yourself a mark by flashing nice phones, jewelry, etc. I leave my Iphone in the hotel safe because my drunk a$$ would end up losing it.