Cellular phone service, Canadian Maritimes

[thetravelkids]

Could use some info....we're traveling to the Canadian Maritimes this year...New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, P.E.I, and Newfoundland.
I called my cellular provider, Verizon. They have a plan for $5 per day per phone which could cost us over $300 while we travel.
But us course, the convenience could be worth that.
Anyone have any experience / suggestions?

[CampFire Junkies]

Try to go back in time where there wasn't anything remotely like a mobile device... and enjoy the peaceful tranquility!

[osok]

They have a $25 per device plan than you have to dig deep into the bowels of website to find. We used it last year on our Maritimes trip to all the same provinces you are visiting. Go to trip planner, after signing in answer estimated usage questions and it will finally tell you what plan they recommend due to your questions. But next to recommendation is options to click on (just numbers 1,2,3 etc.) and under one you find the $25 plan. Service can get spotty when away from major towns. Most campgrounds had WiFi but just like in U.S. parks it was rarely very good but for emails. Wonderful trip and sure you will have a great time!

$25/Month
Canada
500 minutes
500 sent messages
Unlimited incoming messages
1 GB data allowance

*Overages:
$20.00 per GB
$0.05 per minute
$0.05 per message sent

[brian-nicola]

Take it-Canada has the most expensive cel rates in the world,especially if you are buying prepaid sim cards

[jpharley]

We turned off our phones while in Canada and let family and friends know that they should contact us by email and then we were able to check email every day using free wifi. If you do not get a special plan, be sure to turn off roaming because your phone will ping off a Canadian tower and it is very expensive. We had a big discussion with Verizon about refunding charges for phone use in the U.S. that pinged off a Canadian tower. We had to escalate it up the supervisor chain before we received a credit and they were not nice about it.

[kstanton]

We also turned off our cellular voice and data service while in Canada. We use Whatsapp for messaging and also phones call with good Wi-Fi. Most of our family is now using Whatsapp (great for videos as well). For those that didn't use Whatsapp we let them know to use email as primary contact. I also used good old fashion pay phone a few times to make tour reservations. Most of the pay phones take credit cards.

[MisterT]

check with VZ, their Unlimited Plan may include Canada, and may not cost you near as much to switch to it while traveling there - then switch back when you return... check with them to see.

we are with ATT and switching to their Unlimited Plus plan during our Canada - Alaska trip for several months... only $50 more per month for our 4 iPhones, and the plan is Unlimited data, phone, text anywhere you have an ATT signal...
of course, unlimited means possibly slowed after 22gbs, but that's agreeable for us, and 10gb per device hotspotting limit, as well - but much better than our last trip to Canada where you had to pay $2 per day per device for ANY usage, and you had very little data allowance, I want to say it was certainly less than a single gb(absurd!).

[Hit_the_Rhod]

Originally Posted by jpharley

We turned off our phones while in Canada and let family and friends know that they should contact us by email and then we were able to check email every day using free wifi. If you do not get a special plan, be sure to turn off roaming because your phone will ping off a Canadian tower and it is very expensive. We had a big discussion with Verizon about refunding charges for phone use in the U.S. that pinged off a Canadian tower. We had to escalate it up the supervisor chain before we received a credit and they were not nice about it.

jpharley, that is a great piece of advice that I can verify from Personal Experience!

Our carrier is ATnT. Some years ago, I was doing a consulting job in Detroit Michigan. I never set foot into Canada, but when I received my phone bill, there were MANY "International Roaming Charges" with (I think) the cellular provider "Rogers" in Canada. Amounted to several hundred dollars.

I disputed the charges, as I never left the United States. ATnT stated their billing was done based on whatever tower that my phone pinged to which was generally the strongest signal available.

I pointed out that if ATnT's service and reception was so poor in the United States, that a cell phone provider in another country, farther away, offered better reception and service to customers in the United States, perhaps ATnT should upgrade their towers/infrastructure in their service area instead of trying to scam their customers with bogus "International Roaming Charges!"

They refused to budge. I spoke to a supervisor, got his name and calling center location. He wouldn't budge either.

I then informed him that I was going to file a formal complaint with the FCC . . . the entity who licensed the bandwidth to ATnT for them to conduct business . . . . for fraudulent billing practices, and suggest that the FCC investigate further and see how many ADDITIONAL customers ATnT was pulling this scam on! He immediately refunded the bogus charges . . .

He then stated that if it happened again, I would have to pay the charges since I had been "warned".

I told him that I was returning for another three weeks to the same location and that I had lots of off time with the assignment to write that letter to the FCC which I would mail upon my return if my next statement showed any more of the charges. I would not call them again, I would just mail the letter.

My next statement arrived, showing numerous calls completed through the Canadian "Rogers" Network, all showing N/C, or no charge!

I guess he annotated in my file that I was a jerk or something!

[thetravelkids]

A big thanks to all who replied.
Turning off the phone…well, while that sounds attractive, we’ll still need to call ahead to campgrounds, make ferry reservations, and book tours while in Canada. Plus keeping up with three daughters and six grandkids.
osok, post #3 led me to Verizon’s International travel plan. As he posted, they have a $25 Month fee PER DEVICE on top of what your monthly cost is, but you get 500 minutes of talk, 500 sent texts, unlimited incoming texts, and 1 GB of data. That sure beats the $5 Daily international travel pricing.
To activate the Verizon plan, all that is needed to do is call the support number, *611 and ask for an agent. The customer rep I had was aware of the plan and explained everything well.
Verizon has a less expensive plan for $15 a month that allows 100 minutes of talk, 100 sent texts and unlimited received texts, plus 100 MB of data.
Once again, thanks to all who replied and again, a big thanks to osok for steering me in the right direction.

[daveRG]

I know this is off topic, but I'm doing the same trip this summer (minus Newfoundland). Are you making reservations in advance at CG's? Or just calling the same day? I really prefer not planning too much...but have never traveled through the provinces.

I've called the Campobello-Deer Island Ferry a couple times to find out the length restriction, but never get an answer...any body know? I have a 26' TT.

[RMSmithJr]

Originally Posted by daveRG

I know this is off topic, but I'm doing the same trip this summer (minus Newfoundland). Are you making reservations in advance at CG's? Or just calling the same day? I really prefer not planning too much...but have never traveled through the provinces.

I've called the Campobello-Deer Island Ferry a couple times to find out the length restriction, but never get an answer...any body know? I have a 26' TT.

My mother has driven her 31 foot Class C motorhome on that ferry, from Deer Isle to Campobello. I have seen semi trucks waiting in line.

[RMSmithJr]

Originally Posted by thetravelkids

A big thanks to all who replied.
Turning off the phone…well, while that sounds attractive, we’ll still need to call ahead to campgrounds, make ferry reservations, and book tours while in Canada. Plus keeping up with three daughters and six grandkids.
osok, post #3 led me to Verizon’s International travel plan. As he posted, they have a $25 Month fee PER DEVICE on top of what your monthly cost is, but you get 500 minutes of talk, 500 sent texts, unlimited incoming texts, and 1 GB of data. That sure beats the $5 Daily international travel pricing.
To activate the Verizon plan, all that is needed to do is call the support number, *611 and ask for an agent. The customer rep I had was aware of the plan and explained everything well.
Verizon has a less expensive plan for $15 a month that allows 100 minutes of talk, 100 sent texts and unlimited received texts, plus 100 MB of data.
Once again, thanks to all who replied and again, a big thanks to osok for steering me in the right direction.

Ditto!

That is the same plan we used last September for our week on Cape Bretton Island. The coverage was sturdy in unexpected places, were able to check in on Facebook at Meat Cove - literally the end of the road with nothing but the Gulf of St Lawrence in front of off us. DW works in IT was taking service support calls on the Cabot Trail while I pulled over at view points.

The North Sydney KOA has the best, most robust campground Wifi system ever experience.

[thetravelkids]

Originally Posted by daveRG

I know this is off topic, but I'm doing the same trip this summer (minus Newfoundland). Are you making reservations in advance at CG's? Or just calling the same day? I really prefer not planning too much...but have never traveled through the provinces.

I've called the Campobello-Deer Island Ferry a couple times to find out the length restriction, but never get an answer...any body know? I have a 26' TT.

Dave,
Unfortunately, we are on a schedule. We need to be at West Point, NY 0n September 27th, so we are going backwards planning our trip.
I've run into a few snags making reservations at the campgrounds where we plan on staying due to Labour Day in Canada. We're also planning staying at some very popular campgrounds and do not want to just show up and be told they do not have a site for us.
We're planning on taking the ferry from Sydney, NS to Newfoundland and return about 10 days later, so reservations at Little Bras d'or was a must for us as well as in the Halifax area where we've already booked the Anne of Green Gables musical and a city tour.
Halifax was another "must" for reservations since we would be there during Labour day. I think my wife said yesterday we'd be in Canada's Maritimes for about 40 days.
Bob

[daveRG]

Hmmm....we won't be up there during any holidays.