Going abroad

[TALKTALK0436C2]

Good morning, im going on a cruise on thursday, flying from Newcastle to Dubrovnik then visiting Malta, Italy, Sicily, corfu , montenegro them staying back in Croatia for a week. I use my phone alot. What's the best way to avoid large bills? 

[PandJ2020]

Many of those locations are covered by the roaming passport - which is £2/day to access your usual plan.

HOWEVER, not all are covered (e.g. Montenegro) which are very expensive - see info https://www.sky.com/help/articles/sky-mobile-roaming-destinations-and-charges

[TimmyBGood]

@TALKTALK0436C2 

Also be aware that even when standing within a country covered by £2 'roaming' it may be quite possible to inadvertently connect to a cell tower in a neighbouring country which isn't.

Corfu - Albania has been mentioned in this forum several times.

Croatia - Bosnia and Herzegovina also seems likely

Presumably a ship travelling that coastline could quite easily put you in range of many different land-based networks.

[TimmyBGood]

@TALKTALK0436C2 

For reference, £2 per day roaming only applies to the EU/EEA plus the countries listed in bold below. 

The vast majority of global destinations are 'rest of world' rate and consequently extremely expensive.

Aruba (Netherlands Antilles)
Austria
Australia
Azores
Belgium
Bonaire (Netherlands Antilles)
Bulgaria
Canada
Canary Islands (Spain)
Christmas Islands (Australia)
Cocos Islands (Australia)
Croatia
Curacao (Netherlands Antilles)
Cyprus (Incl. Northern Cyprus)
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
French Guiana (French West Indies)
Germany
Gibraltar (UK)
Greece
Guadeloupe (French West Indies)
Hungary
Iceland
Italy
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Madeira (Spain)
Malta
Martinique (French West Indies)
Mayotte (French Territories in the Indian Ocean)
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Reunion (French Territories in the Indian Ocean)
Romania
Saba (Netherlands Antilles)
Sint Eustatius (Netherlands Antilles)
Sint Maarten (Netherlands Antilles)
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
Spain
St Barthelemy (French West Indies)
St Martin (French West Indies)
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
USA
United Arab Emirates

[TimmyBGood]

@TALKTALK0436C2 

Also watch out for hugely inflated cruise ship data charges...