The US Virgin Islands Best Guide

Communication devices on St. John

Notifications
Clear all

Communication devices on St. John

Please Register / Login to take part in discussions about the Virgin Islands.


(@Robin K.)
Posts: 1
 

Ok, I know most of you will tell me to leave my phone at home, but I need to stay in touch with my office. Will my verizon wireless service work on my cell phone and will my Blackberry work on St. John???

 
Posted : February 22, 2006 12:46 pm
 RM
(@RM)
Posts: 1
 

It should, I have Alltel and it works great, just like at home, because it is a US island at least with Alltel it is no different than using it in the states.

I would think that Verizon would be the same. Call the company and ask they will tell you, or go on line and look at the coverage.

If you go over to BVI different story, cost of using your cell there is really high. I think the last time I did there was a sur charge alongwith app. $6.00 @ minute.

RM

 
Posted : February 22, 2006 1:46 pm
(@lbrlwyr)
Posts: 80
Estimable Member
 

I was under the impression that only Sprint and Cingular will work on SJ. I have Nextel and plan on switching phones with my brother-in-law for the week since he has Sprint.

Eric

 
Posted : February 22, 2006 3:04 pm
 RM
(@RM)
Posts: 1
 

My Alltel has worked there for several years.

 
Posted : February 22, 2006 3:45 pm
(@VillaBob)
Posts: 1
 

Verizon does not include the Virgin Islands in their package as of yet. You will be roaming in the USVI and I must say it most times is not that clear. Call Verizon and put USVI on request....maybe someday they will listen.

 
Posted : February 26, 2006 11:39 am
(@bluwater)
Posts: 2026
Noble Member
 

No Verizon. I met a woman on STT a couple of weeks ago and she has Verizon Wireless at home. She couldn't use her phone and had to borrow an extra Cingular phone from a friend. As for your Blackberry, is the carrier Verizon Wireless Data? If so, same situation as the voice traffic.

 
Posted : February 26, 2006 12:17 pm
(@vislandbound)
Posts: 19
Eminent Member
 

My Verizon phone has worked for years on St. John. I was there in Dec. and it worked fine. I'm heading back down tonight, if it doesn't work I'll post next week when I get home.

 
Posted : March 4, 2006 6:41 pm
(@sjdck)
Posts: 1
 

Our family of 5 adults have all used Verizon for the past 8 years that we've been traveling to and staying in St John. Our son even got a call from home (PA) while on the ferry between St Thomas and St John. We've never had a problem making or receiving our calls; the only trick seems to be getting voicemail messages, you have to manually dial it through.

 
Posted : March 5, 2006 8:12 am
(@lori-f)
Posts: 68
Trusted Member
 

Check your Verizon Plan before you leave home. Our Verizon phones didn't work on our last trip in April 05, but had worked previously. I had changed plans in Feb 05 and apparently, the new one didn't include VI coverage. I'll be changing my plan again, before our April 06 trip, so that we have coverage. Our friends Verizon phones worked fine, they were on a different plan.

Lori

 
Posted : March 5, 2006 8:34 pm
(@bluwater)
Posts: 2026
Noble Member
 

Ooooh...so some Verizon phones work? Interesting. I thoguht they were all dead down there. I wonder why some work and some don't. I can see the charges being different, as some are included in the calling footprint and some aren't...but to work or not work seems odd. Is this a Nextel thing? And now they're going to buy Sprint....so it'll be even more interesting.

AT&T bought Bell South today (or made bid, which BS accepted). Are we down to two carriers now?

 
Posted : March 6, 2006 10:53 pm
(@vtxcafe)
Posts: 41
Eminent Member
 

We have Verizon and was there in Oct 2005 and it worked great till we got to the far east of STJ. Nextel is usless there so leave it at home. I can't say enough on how well my Verizon service was, got calls from the kids every night.

 
Posted : March 8, 2006 7:21 am
(@Jo-Ann)
Posts: 1
 

My Verizon wireless phone works in Cruz Bay, (roaming) but doesn't work anywhere else on the island. I usually get a calling card just in case of emergencies.

 
Posted : March 13, 2006 3:17 pm
(@manta)
Posts: 112
Estimable Member
 

When I moved down in 2003, I had a Verizon phone....called & talked to cust svc as well as their engineering dept (with proper notations on my acct, as this is relevant later...). They all said yes, St Thomas/St John are covered under their plan.

Now - they did tell me under what conditions my phone was 'roaming' by the little blinky things on the display. Well, all well and good, right? NOT! $2,000 phone bill later I was steaming mad. Needless to say, those account notes saved me a total of $2,300, and I was using it under the NON ROAMING conditions.

I am sure things may have changed since then, but they WILL work, and it will take the roaming charges a month to catch up - mine did. I'd suspect that because it is for work, you will be able to write off the charges, but I did find that my phone didn't work well on the whole of St John - mostly in Cruz Bay. I think the roam charges are roughly $1.00 a minute. If you can, get a prepaid long distance card and use that to check voice mail via a landline and save yourself some cash.

 
Posted : March 13, 2006 3:49 pm

St. Thomas Activities

Set sail on top-rated charters, explore underwater wonders with scuba diving, encounter exotic animals, and venture into the wild with kayaking and ecotours. Feel the adrenaline with parasailing, aerial tours, and water sports for a memorable vacation.
Book Your St. Thomas Adventure Now
Virgin Islands Books & Maps