I have Cingular and it works almost all over STJ (we switched from Sprint as they do not cover Coral Bay on STJ where we live) and it works on Jost BUT when on Jost you will be using a BVI tower and the rates are charged at an International rate so I (personally) would not plan on using it over there unless it is an emergency as it is very expensive (I have an International plan as my family live in England and I use it to call them)

Hope this helped alittle

Pia

I brought my Sprint phone last year and would get signal in Cruz Bay, Northshore, and along Centerline Rd. for the most part, but would lose it once we got down to our villa in Coral Bay. I agree with the previous poster about the BVI towers. We used our phone at Francis Bay and picked up a BVI tower by accident and got charged international rates. Fortuantely, Sprint was nice enough to delete the charges.

lbrlwyr

Anyone know if Verizon works in the USVI?

We've had Sprint for years (which works there), but I am so disappointed with the company lately that I'm thinking of switching to Verizon.

I have cyngular and have never had a problem on STJ didn't use it on Jost though

Someone we met in December was complaining that the charges per minute for Verizon were crazy. Said it worked, but too expensive for anything other than an emergency. If you use Cingular, keep track of days you use it in USVI . You may be charged for minutes if you catch a BVI cell when on STJ. They will readily take off those extra charges if you explain. They can be hefty too.

We have Cingular phones for our charter boat business and they work all over St. John, though some areas for no great reason get better or worse service. Some people say if you can see St. Thomas you get the best service and that seems to be fairly true. However, Cingular has a tower that gives coverage to Coral Bay as well and therefore many spots on the island where you cannot see St. Thomas. Generally the higher you are the better, but it works most places.

As for Jost, we are over there on day charters everyday and I use my phone to call my brother each afternoon to check in with him. You just have to be sure your phone can select which tower it wants to use. If I am picking up a BVI tower I have to turn off the wireless and turn it back on again until it picks up the Cingular network. If I had a better phone I could probably manually select which network I wanted to use. As long as my phone says Cingular network and not the BVI network it is the same as a local call for my minutes.

-Capt. Josh

We just returned from our trip to Jost and St. John and I have Verizon. I had absolutely no problems using my phone on either island (except a few small areas on St. John while traveling up centerline road). I received my bill in the mail yesterday and I was charged a very small amount for international rates (as I did bounce off the Tortola tower a few times), the roaming fees for using their tower was only $36.00. I have an amazing plan with Verizon, I have unlimited nights and weekends, no roaming within the U.S. free longdistance, and i have over 500 minutes a month. This is the only time I've ever paid more than my flat rate so I can't complain. $36.00 was the only additional expense I incurred due to the international tower. No biggy at all!

thanks for all of the advice. We'll figure something out.

Jill, if you don't mind, I may send you a pm with questions about Jost.

kimba

Please do................we had a fantastic out of this world vacation there and I'd love to answer any questions you may have......It is a beautiful island with such character.....let me know what questions you may have. Jill

Pia:

Do you know if Nextel works in the Coral Bay area? Also, can you help me with any more info on Sailview?
Thank you!!!

How do you know tmobile does not work?? That is who we have and I checked their website and it does say that tmobile has service in US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. I will need to my phone to check back at home throughout the week, so please let me know if you have any info regarding this. Thanks!

I have cingular as well, and every year we go to STJ and I never have a problem getting service. Also, you can go to Walmart or Target and get a prepaid on the go phone. Now when I go I call Cingular and tell them to put the international plan on my phone so I dont get charged all the crazy fees and when I come home I take it off. That plan I think is $9.99 a month. So its better to pay $9.99 rather than coming home with a large phone bill. We went to BVI and our phone calls from there were like a local call.

I figured that I'd revive this post, because this was one of the issues that I was researching as I prepared for my trip. I have a T-mobile phone, and they assured me that I can roam on Cingular (AT&T) towers while I'm on STJ and STT, as they are partnered with them. Because I have a nationwide plan, it's my understanding that it is no extra charge and just comes out of my minute bucket. According to the AT&T coverage map, it looks like we'll have pretty good coverage, especially because we're staying on the side of STJ closest to STT. He said that I do have international roaming and calling, so it'll be something like 79 cents a minute if I need to use my phone on Jost. I'm planning to only do that during emergencies. Mostly because I plan to turn it off while I'm over there, because it looks like it'll cost quite a bit to send and receive texts while I'm there too. So hopefully I'll just keep it turned off while I'm over there. We're only going for the day, so hopefully nothing big will happen while I'm there.

I'm trying to disconnect while I'm on this trip, but I will need my phone, especially to call the management company when my plane lands on STT so they can pick me up in Cruz Bay. Also, I know that villa phones aren't terribly reliable, and I'd like a way for folks to get me while I'm gone, if necessary.

Anyone have any experience using Tmobile while down there? Is what I've been told accurate? I've read too many horror stories here about $1200 phone bills when people get back, and I really don't want that to happen.