I wrote earlier that I was frustrated by the fine print in Verizon contracts concerning how much data you get. Happily, shortly after that Verizon went to their unlimited plans and we quickly switched. In June we took a cruise with Royal Caribbean that went to Roatan (Honduras), Costa Maya (Mexico), and Cozumel (Mexico). Verizon’s international service is actually pretty good, particularly for the short term traveler, and I wanted to relay my experience here. Verizon cruise coverage is expensive in ships. but great on land in the Western Caribbean.
First things first- with the exception of huge emergencies, don’t use the wireless service provided by the ship. It is hugely expensive, and the data charges are even worse than the call charges. If you need to use your phone on the ship, it is much more cost-efficient to simply buy wifi from the ship and leave all cellular data and connections off. The speed is slow, at least on my cruise, but it is typically workable.
When we got to Roatan, it cost $10 a day. However, that wasn’t a huge charge as I was only there for one day. The signal was actually quite good, and that let me share my experience with friends and family back home. In Mexico, I was able to use my phone just like it was part of my domestic service. That was fantastic. The service in Costa Maya wasn’t as good, but the service in Cozumel was excellent. If I was going to be abroad for a longer time to places other than Canada and Mexico, I would have to look at other options. For trips to Mexico, however, and short trips to other places Verizon presented a very good option.
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