TUAW Tip: Using your iPhone on a cruise ship

If you're going on a cruise vacation, don't be concerned about being out of touch. Chances are excellent that you can use your cell phone.

Reader Steven Madow reminded TUAW that many cruise lines use a service called Cellular At Sea to provide you with satellite-linked cellular service. Almost 100 ships currently use the service, which is a joint venture between AT&T Mobility and SeaMobile.

Madow said that with his iPhone, configuration was a simple matter of looking at the settings (right) for a carrier called "Cellular at Sea." The cost of the service varies depending on your home carrier, but for AT&T users it is about $0.79 per minute. While that's not exactly cheap, it's priceless if you need to keep in touch in case of an emergency.

Most cruise lines also provide Wi-Fi based onboard Internet service. Rates for these services usually range from $0.75 per minute down to $0.30 per minute. The more time you prepay, the lower the rate is.

To find out if your favorite cruise ship has Cellular At Sea or Internet service, click the Read link or visit the website for the cruise line.

Thanks for the tip, Steven!