Hi, myself and my husband both took our mobiles to the DR and we were able to send and receive texts. Can't comment on calls as we didn't try (thought it would be too expensive) , both of ours are on Virgin.
Hope I was of some help, Sunaholic.

My son is going to Dom Rep in a couple of days time & I want to be able to get in touch with him if possible (first time away on his own with his friends & I'm being an over concerned mother) He has an orange network phone but he also has an O2 chip. I will need to find out the roaming code but that should not be a problem

Sandra

Sandra, I've been to the DR many times and phone reception is a bit hit and miss, this year it was brilliant, last November in the south I couldn't get the darn thing to work at all. Beware also that I ran up a huge bill on a contract phone while in Barbados and I couldn't get a call in or out in the first week
Being a Mum myself I can understand you wanting to keep in touch, and the best advice I can give as a back up incase the phone doesn't work is for your Son to use the INTERNET access that is usually available (for a small charge) in the hotel or nearby and to mail you his room number and the phone number of the hotel and arrange to be in his room at a certain time on a certain day (don't forget the time difference) and for you to call him using the link below which makes it the cheapest way to call.

http://www.telediscount.co.uk/additional_info.php

I usually use this method to keep in touch with my partner when I go away with my Mum, even when the mobile worked this year it was so much cheaper to arrange for him to phone me than to use it.
You can also use the INTERNET to 'chat' on one of the messengers if you have them but he will have to remember to take his user-name and password with him. Give me a yell if you need any further help.

And please try not to worry

Lynn
ps where is he staying?

Thanks Lynn you have been a huge help.

He is staying at Superclub Breezes Puerto Plata.Fairly sure he will be o.k but you can never be too careful these days. Heard various reports (not safe to go outside the complex etc) but I think he is reasonably sensible.

I will certainly use Telediscount and get my son to set up an e-mail acoount. Thank you for all your help and information as I can use this when I travel abroad as well. Wish I had know about Telediscount sooner as I had a nightmare trying to reach my family from the Maldives earlier this year.

Sandra

we took an 02 phone in April, 2 calls (to the insurance co, 2 @ 20 minutes)
cost us £51. It is quite expensive!

What about pay as you go phones?

What about pay as you go phones?

I put £40 on mine in 2 weeks and that didn't allow much time for chatting, I was able to let my other half know I was in the room for him to phone me back using the discount company on the above link. I did make a couple of calls of about 5 minutes each but it does gobble up the credit fast.

Lynn

We have just returned from Dom Rep and had no luck whatsoever with our phones. We have 02 pay as you go and neither worked. Other people had intermittent luck with their phones. We bought phone cards which are readily available and then phoned home from our hotel room. Instructions are easy to follow and the calls are probably much cheaper than using your mobile anyway. Remember - you are on holiday to get away from it all. The number of people around the pool who are on the phone all day ..... get a life people!!!!

We have used our mobile in DR many times but the costs are less than others have reported. This may be because our phone is on Orange which is also the only network I have ever found in DR.

Best way is to call UK and get them to ring you back ( using http://www.telediscount.co.uk prefix ? ) which is cheaper than you calling home.

Scubaman

I successfully used a dual band pay as you go phone on the O2 network in Punta Cana this year May/June. I didn't expect it to work I only took it to use to and from the airport and as an alarm.
When I landed I changed the time zone and to my surprise it registered an Orange signal but wouldn't let me phone out. I then got a text from O2 telling me to use my roaming code, which for O2 is *111* then the number as you would in the UK no international prefix or dropping the first 0 after the number you put # then press the green button. An English voice tells you that you will be called back and when you are its ringing. I did find it difficult to phone out at certain times of the day and the signal was weak in some parts of the hotel. For the first few days I was able to text then that stopped working for some reason. The text message also told me how I could put more credit on using my debit/credit card and that worked also.
In contrast I took a pay as you go tri band phone on the Vodafone network to Juan Dolio in November and never got it to work it just used £27 worth of credit trying to connect me, they did give me it back though when I got home.

Hope this helps
Lynn

It was a bit hit and miss in Jan only certain times of the day could we get a signal. Tesco which uses O2 worked fine when we had a signal.

http://www.sim4travel.com
they do a cheap sim card deal which works out a lot cheaper than using the roaming on your network provider.

http://www.dezineasite.co.uk/makadi/mobiledomrep.jpg

hi I am going to dominican in oct does anyone know if i have to have any other travel adapter to charge my mobile as last time was there all electrical items worked with the travel plug i had but would not charge the phone.

Rob

Just checked the cost of using my mobile in the Dom Rep:

Make a call: £2.40 a minute
Receive a call: 80p a minute

I've started looking at the travel Sim cards you can buy, has anyone tried one of these?

I've started looking at the travel Sim cards you can buy, has anyone tried one of these?

After my Jamaica phone bill this year I'm thinking of going down that route too but need to get my phone unlocked from my network first.

From what I have read so far you have to travel at least a couple of times a year because they have to be used for a chargeable call at least every 9 months.

I went to san Juan in Dom Rep and ive got a Virgin Sim. It varied where i went n the hotel if i got signal. If i walked onto the beach then I got signal. Calls cost £1.70 to make and 80p per min to receive. Texts got 35p. I only got an Orange signal but it wouldnt let me ring out only text out.

Hi all

Sorry, I couldnt find any postings on this although i'm sure there are some.

can anyone tell me if mobile phones can be used in Punta Cana DR easily to phone home and if possible, the likely costs?

I'm with o2.

leaving kids at home so would like to call at least a couple of times.

Is it better to leave at home and buy a phone card over there? We are staying at Grand Palladium... 35 more sleeps!!!!

Thanks

A tri-band phone will work in the DR but its hit and miss for various reasons.

You must let your supplier know you are going abroad or they presume your phone is stolen and it takes a week for it to become active.

Reception is sometimes a problem, you might find it won't work in your room but will on the beach or out the front of the hotel depending on which way the signal is coming.

Making and receiving calls is very expensive, texting is less so but check with your supplier before you go if they have any deals or extras you can add to make it cheaper.

No matter how much I try not to use it, I always come back to an enormous bill, its so much cheaper to use the Internet to keep in touch via Messenger.

There are a few companies that do travel sims which you can top up while away but you would need an unlocked phone to use them.

Have a great time, the DR is lovely.

Merged with existing topic

Pippy

Thanks Pippy

I new there'd be some previous postings somewhere!

Watford Travellers