Cell phone required?

Cell Phones (smartphones) are handy to communicate with one another (txting AND calling). When you're connected to wifi at your hotel you can Facetime your family back home. Smartphones can also take great pictures, too. So instead of camera hanging around your neck why not just have a phone in your pocket? Not required - but it can make life a whole lot simpler.

We rarely use a cell phone in Europe. Having said that, however, I wouldn't think of traveling without one. Simply put, it's better to have it and not use it, than to need it and not have it. If you are away from the group during free time and need medical help, become ill in the middle of the night and need to contact the guide, if the airline needs to contact you due to changes for the return flight, or if there is an emergency at home, it'll certainly be good to have one. Not sure if this qualifies as "highly recommended", just food for thought.

I am a cell-phone convert when it comes to traveling overseas. I own "unlocked" smartphones and the first thing we do is get a local pay-as-you-go SIM with voice and data. This way, we can use the phones to keep in touch with friends and family back home as well as make travel decisions (directions, places of interest, make bookings, etc.) along the way.

I also provide the new (local) phone number to any transportation, lodging and tour bookings we have made. (It's particularly important to provide a local contact number to your airline as I found out on my last trip to Italy.) If I were to take a multi-day escorted tour, I would probably provide this number to the tour operator for the reason you alluded to.

I use my cellphone to confirm hotel reservations, get directions from train/bus stations, get alerts from the airline (seems to be more important every year), take photos (especially useful for photos of train schedule posters). I save a lot of stuff on it in case I am without internet access.

Having a cell phone during a tour is probably not "essential", but it's a really good idea (I assume you're referring to a RS tour?). The guides always provide their cell phone number to tour members, so if you were ever separated from the group during free time, having a phone would allow you to contact the guide.

I usually travel solo, and find that a cell phone (smart phone) is essential, as it allows me to keep in touch with family at regular intervals and contact others in case of medical issues or other situations. Based on personal experience, I will never travel without a cell phone.

I would put a smartphone in the category of nice to have but not required.

I find it convenient to have for figuring out how to get around. For instance, I can check google maps for how to get from my hotel in say London Trafalgar Square to the British Museum. It will lay out my options including what time the train or bus should arrive at the station. Or it will show me how to walk there.

It's also good for changing plans on the fly. In Sicily last year our first choice for dinner one night was closed. It was nice to be able to check TripAdvisor for alternatives. We were able to find a restaurant nearby and had a very nice meal.

I have been on RS tours covering 10 years. At no time were we ever called by a tour guide while on the tour.

I have always carried a cell phone with me starting with a pretty dumb flip phone and now with the latest greatest smart phone. I have placed a total of 1 call lasting 1 minute in those ten years. This was to a pre tour hotel to let them know I was at the airport ready for pickup.

It is nice to have a tour guide who worries about all the little details (was dinner cancelled? did the B&B give away our rooms, and so on) so I don't have to. I use WiFi at the hotels to do all of my necessary conversations with folks back home.

EDIT: And I did not buy a SIM or subscribe to any European special package ever. The total cost of my 1 minute call was $1.

I agree that you don't need a cell phone during the tour itself. Before or after (such as in your example of coordinating a hotel shuttle), it can be very handy.

What is your current cell phone model and carrier? For just a few calls and for emergencies, it's easier and cheaper, if possible, just to roam with your current plan. If your phone doesn't work abroad, or if you plan to use it more heavily, you may want to investigate the options for getting a local Italian cell phone.

No, you don't need a cell phone.

If I'm in a country and I don't know anyone there, I do not worry about having a cell phone. Who am I going to call? I do carry an iPod that works with wifi to IM my family in the evening to let them know I survived another day. I don't confirm reservations...let them try to kick a gray haired female out of the hotel who has the paperwork, I say. Easier to deal in person. Never had a problem. I don't google directions. I look at a map before I leave my hotel. I find my own restaurants, so I don't make reservations. And I wander. I use my head. Also, it is my understanding that in Europe if you dial the country's equivalent to 911, it has to work on your US phone, sim card or not, although once I leave the country the phone is put away in my suitcase so no help there. However, everyone else has cell phones and I'm sure a resident of the country would help me if I needed help. In fact, on our RS tour, two members could not find the bus after Olympia and the museum. They asked a ticket person to telephone the guide to get directions or, in this case, the bus picked them up. I used to travel with no reservations and it was freeing, but feeling more settled now in my more mature years I make reservations. The great thing about traveling is letting go and taking some risks. Getting out of you comfort zone. Getting out of your routine. I want off of the electronics and speak to people and see the sights where I am. No cell phone.

Oh, and I arranged for a pick up at the airport in Greece. I informed them I won't have a working cell. It was no problem. They knew what flight I was coming in on and met me.

No phones for us in Europe (yet) either. We have an ipad and ipod and do any communications needed via wifi with those: cheap and easy.