Curacao Question

[Scott M]

Some dive buddy's and I will be traveling to Curacao in early Nov. We need information on the best (cheapest) way to communicate with loved ones back in the states while there.

Any thoughts?

 

[fins]

Some dive buddy's and I will be traveling to Curacao in early Nov. We need information on the best (cheapest) way to communicate with loved ones back in the states while there.

Any thoughts?

Scott,

I have been to Curacao twice and calling home to the states can be kind of tricky.
You cheapest way to communicate back to the states would probably be to communicate via email at one of the internet cafe's that are around the island.

An easy way, but who knows what the costs is: There are pay phones around (airport, hotels, Willemstad, etc) that are labeled something like "Direct Calls to the USA" Unfortunatley these phones do not list the rates.

Hope you have a great trip.

Mark

 

[Scott M]

Scott,

I have been to Curacao twice and calling home to the states can be kind of tricky.
You cheapest way to communicate back to the states would probably be to communicate via email at one of the internet cafe's that are around the island.

An easy way, but who knows what the costs is: There are pay phones around (airport, hotels, Willemstad, etc) that are labeled something like "Direct Calls to the USA" Unfortunatley these phones do not list the rates.

Hope you have a great trip.

Mark

Thanks for the info Mark. I figured as much but since I have never been there I wasn't sure if they had the interent cafe's or not. The hotel said phone cards but that is always a pain.

Thanks again

 

[Scuba_John]

Scott,
What Fins suggested is the best, the cost of voice calls is far from cheap upwards of 1.20us a min. Depending on the hotel you at you may get a local phone card for cheaper but still going to be over .75 a min.

 

[Desa]

Scott.

When my wife and I were there last week, we bought a 500 minute card from ATT at Walmart (before we left). On the island, use the hotel to connect with the AT&T operator. When they ask for the number to call, enter the 1-800 number on the card and then just follow the directions. It takes about 400 of your minutes to connect, but if you don't hang up when your party does, you can make a second or third call at no additional conect fees. Then before you do hang up, use a credit card and put 400 minutes back on the card for about $20.00.

It might sound expensive, but to use the phones on the island that are labeled "Call US", I checked into those. It was a $35.75 connect fee then $1.95 per minute rounded up.

The internet is by far the cheapest way to go. It was $4.00 (USD) for 15 minutes. Just remember, unless you are really fast at typing, 15 minutes is not very long. I figured out real fast not to waste time with spell check. Let the loved ones back home just figure out what you are saying.

enjoy the trip.

 

[Scott M]

Scott.

When my wife and I were there last week, we bought a 500 minute card from ATT at Walmart (before we left). On the island, use the hotel to connect with the AT&T operator. When they ask for the number to call, enter the 1-800 number on the card and then just follow the directions. It takes about 400 of your minutes to connect, but if you don't hang up when your party does, you can make a second or third call at no additional conect fees. Then before you do hang up, use a credit card and put 400 minutes back on the card for about $20.00.

It might sound expensive, but to use the phones on the island that are labeled "Call US", I checked into those. It was a $35.75 connect fee then $1.95 per minute rounded up.

The internet is by far the cheapest way to go. It was $4.00 (USD) for 15 minutes. Just remember, unless you are really fast at typing, 15 minutes is not very long. I figured out real fast not to waste time with spell check. Let the loved ones back home just figure out what you are saying.

enjoy the trip.

Thanks for the info. I will come in handy.