People with cell phones for the most part are irritating. They will talk on them in theaters, at the dining table and any public area. They talk louder than they would in a normal conversation and the most irritating are the walkie talkey type. One night during our pool league one of our team mates made a call on his phone. The rest of us were talking and he shouted to us "Hey I am on the phone can you keep it down?" We looked at him and basically told him to @#%$^. He got up in discuss and walked outside. For the most part when I am on a vacation I am trying to get away from everything and there is no one I need to talk to. If cell phones were allowed with restrictions they would not be enforced.
Boy you sure are opening a BIG can of worms. I absolutely detest cell phones. They are great for emergencies, but I'm tired of hearing about everyone's personal life's. Things that they wouldn't ever tell you if they were sitting beside you, but because they are on a phone it seems alright to discuss every aspect of their life out in the open. It seems to give people just another way to be rude in public. I have a cell phone for emergencies, if I use 50 minutes a month that is a lot. My best experience was at the airport...the man in front of me waiting in line to check in was on a cell phone talking and when it was his turn to go up and check in he just kept talking and pushed his paperwork to the airline person didn't even aknowledge her, She pushed it right back and told him to step to the side and when he was finished she would help him. Boy, I wish I had a camera to capture the expression on his face! She signaled for the next person in line to step up and started to process them. Believe me he ended that call quickly!!
I don't mind if people use them, as long as they are off to themselves somewhere, perhaps in a secluded area of the deck, or (as Tom & Mary suggested) in their own cabin. Seems manners have disappeared among cellphone users - I guess they feel there is another set of conduct rules for them!
Although there have been occassions when I wished I had my phone with me (family crisis and the like), overall I enjoy cruising for its ability to allow me to escape reality. Besides, cell phone use does seem to have gotten out of hand; and for the most part, their use and common courtesy seem to be opposing concepts.
Even internet cafes on cruise ships have somewhat marred my ability to remain isolated from the real world while on a cruise. Now, I feel obliged to keep in touch (both with family and work - sigh!)
Nancy
Nancy - Just curious. Why do you feel obliged to use the Internet while on your cruise. First it cost alot of money. And for me, before I leave I let everyone know where and how I am going. When I get back, get the pics uploaded I tell everyone about the wonderful time that we had....without c-phones, and Internet!
I don't mind cellphone users onboard the cruise ships so long as, someone said, use a little manners while using them.
I brought my cellphone with me to call my family periodically. However, I discovered the cellphone was useless once the ship got to open sea and it's ports of call.
They had ship-to-shore phone service which was insanely over-priced (almost $8/minute). They had Internet access aboard the ship. It ended-up costing just as much as the ship-to-shore.
I only wish I could afford one of those satelite phones that work anywhere on Earth.
A lot of that is a moot point because most of the US cell phone companies do not have cellular towers in a position to reach most of the cruise ships. If you notice when you are sailing, it doesn't take very long out of port to lose a signal and it is too costly for the cell companies to have satellite service. When you get closer into the islands, they may have cellular towers, but it is a different technology than in the states. It's kind of like using a cell phone in Europe... you can't take the one you have here. You need the specific handset for that technology. So it may be longer in coming than they thing.
There were lots of people using lots of cells on our Hawaiian cruise in September. It was truly annoying, and the only time they were usable was when we were in port. However, the bigger annoyance was with those whose phones were also walkie-talkies - - they were being used all over the ship by those needing to know where their comrades were at any given time. I personally don't see the need for cells phones at sea - but then, mine is usually off. I understand having one with you - as I did use mine for calling our shuttle in port, but never did use it onboard.
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