iphone

OK, Deanna, only the Verizon 4S will work in the EU, but you don't have to upgrade to another crummy overpriced two year contract. Verizon offers a free phone that you can take to the EU, and use. My cousin did this last year when we went to Spain. She was on her Veriizon loaner,and I was on my AT&T phone. Please go to their website and do some reading about the options that they offer if you travel to the EU. Both Verizon and AT&T offer travel plans that can be quite competitive. Both my cousin and I bought packages that lowered? the cost of phone calls, and gave us cheap texting. Then we used Skype to make free or super cheap (2.3 cents/minute) phone calls, to anyone in the world, and texted to each other the rest of the time. If you really have to have data, they offer pretty good plans for that also.

Hi Deanna: Your trip sounds lovely, but as Harold stated on your other post, you may be really tired. That has always been my experience. Another good point Harold makes is it's an easy trip from Sorrento to Naples. That way you can take in the full experience of the museum in addition to enjoying Naples' famous pizza (as recommended by Steve). Insofar as the iPhone 4s, if you're contacting people with another iPhone 4(s) or iPad2, you can locate a place with wifi (perhaps your hotel) and FaceTime for free...It's very cool. It's free because you connect via your email addresses. Just a thought. Happy travels Deanna! Take care,
Jan

As said, the iPhone 3 from Verizon will NOT work in Europe, except as a WiFi device; no standard calls or texts, and no data outside of WiFi zones. "Simplest" and "cheapest" are, as so often, two different things when it comes to using US phones in Europe. It also depends on what you need the phones for. Calling local numbers like taxis, hotels, or restaurants? Calling your travel companions during the trip? Calling back to the US? Calling other countries besides the US or Italy? Receiving calls from the US? Are you planning to make a lot of calls, or just a few? And, can you use text instead of calls (much cheaper)? Simplest: get the loaner Europe phone from Verizon. Price: high for calls, not too bad for texts. This is also easiest for those in the US who want to call you - they dial your normal cell number. You, however, pay a lot per minute for all calls sent and received. Cheapest, if you already have (or can borrow) an unlocked GSM phone with European frequencies: Just buy an Italian SIM card when you arrive. This will give cheap calls within Italy, and usually cheap calls back to the US as well. And ALL incoming calls are free. However, this gives you an Italian cell phone number. Calls to this number from the US will be expensive (more than calls from the US to an Italian landline; texts are much cheaper), and your callers will have to know how to dial internationally. If you don't already have a phone that will work in Europe, you can buy one in Italy, but this will be more expense and hassle (although RonInRome has places to get one in the Rome airport). If you tell us what you want/need the phones for, we can give you more specific advice.

thank you Harold. My husband has two businesses, one of which his daughter runs and that is mostly who he will be communicating with. What I think we will do is use our upgrade to iphone 4s because he has a droid and I honestly feel he will love the iphone. Epecially with the assistant that everyone is raving about on the new one. He is 70 years old and feel it will be easier for him to use. Plus it has a better camera so we don't have to be concerned about buying a small camera. I have the iphone 4 not 4s. I can have them show him how to use facetime at the verizon store. He also has the ipad 2 he can facetime. I really don't want to have to buy a phone in eu and deal with different numbers etc. willing to pay a little more for convenience. I think I have been convinced to spend the nite in naples and do the museum when it opens next morning and then leasurely head to sorrento/positano have not decided that yet. Travel agency recommends private transfers over using the rail system. do you agree? sorry for all the questions but you've been a great help

Deanna, A few comments to add..... If you have the iPhone 4, it will ONLY work in Europe in Wi-Fi areas, and will NOT be capable of phone calls or texting. You would need to upgrade to the 4S in order to use the phone functions in Europe. For those in your group travelling with an iPhone 4S, you will have to get Verizon to enable the GSM capability. AFAIK, this is disabled by default. One other point to keep in mind is that if you're travelling with your home phone numbers, it's a really good idea to notify all your contacts NOT to phone you when you're abroad. There's nothing more annoying than being awakened at 03:00 by some moron that "forgot" you were travelling! One other VERY IMPORTANT comment. When travelling with an iPhone 4S (or other Smartphone or iPad with 3G), you must be VERY CAREFUL with data roaming. It would be a REALLY good idea to switch-off the cellular data roaming and only access net or E-mail in Wi-Fi areas. That means NO web surfing, E-mail, checking Maps or whatever EXCEPT via Wi-Fi. The costs for data roaming can be huge, so this is something you'll need to be very careful with. One user in this area came home to find a $37,000 bill waiting in the mailbox! Regarding the advice provided by your Travel Agency, it's always a nicer experience to use a private transfer rather than the Circumvesuviana, but that's NOT the cheapest travel method. If your budget will allow, that's an option to consider, but private transfers are not something I'd be able to afford. Happy travels!

I'm not quite ready to upgrade my iPhone 4 yet, but was hoping to be able to use it in case I needed to contact hotel, tour operator, etc. also so my daughter can contact me once I arrive in Madrid before we head to Italy.
Definitely do NOT want any surprise bills when we get home, though! Would my best bet be getting a cheap phone once I get to Europe? (& this may be a silly question, but would phone purchased in Madrid work in Itay?)

A phone purchased in Madrid should work in Italy in that the radio frequencies for both countries are the same. You may or may not need to get a new SIM card depending upon whether the Spanish cell card allows you to roam. I'd bet lots it does, if you have enough credit loaded on your account, but I have no personal experience with that. You can buy a new Italian prepaid SIM and use that once you arrive and shouldn't need to buy a new phone. The one caveat is that the phone you buy must be unlocked. I think most sold in Europe are - that at least has been my experience - but you should check before buying to be sure. There are other options, including getting a SIM from a travel phone company, or getting an account with T-Mobile, or, better, AT&T before you go. You may be able to get a plan without committing to a 2-year contract so you could cancel it when you return. T-Mobile prepaid is supposed to be allowing its customers to use their phones overseas but I haven't had an actual user confirm this yet. The cost is high and you have to select a specific foreign provider when you enter a new country. Check their web site for details. AT&T non-prepaid plans may be better because you can sign up for a world traveler package with lower rates (but still high) and even the option for very modest data usage.