Tariff cost in Japan

[Lorraine54]

I'm cruising round Japan with many land excursions in October. What is the cheapest option of keeping in daily contact with my family in the UK?

[Daniel0210]

@Lorraine54 

Japan is not covered with Skys £2 daily roaming charge. It will be very very expensive and i believe it's currently £2.16 per MB of data. Cruising may prove even more costly. Perhaps someone who has done this can provide more advice but also consider a cheap local sim when on land. 

[Lorraine54]

Thank you for responding Daniel. Do you happen to know what a call costs to a UK mobile and landline and also a text? What is the cost to receive a calll or a text?

[PandJ2020]

£2.16 per MINUTE to call UK

£1.80 per minute to receive calls

50p per SMS

[oj01]

@Lorraine54 When cruising (especially outside the EU) the cheapest option is to use WhatsApp for messages and calls over WiFi.

Switch off data roaming, turn your phone onto Airplane Mode and switch WiFi back on (if Airplane Mode has turned it off).

To use it on the ship you would need to purchase the ship's WiFi package (it won't be cheap but without it using your mobile at sea is astronomical). On land you can seek out cafes and bars etc that offer free WiFi.