Hello and thank you everyone for all the help. Once again, a question, what do you use for international calling. We have service with AT&T for our iPhone and we will not be bringing any other electronics with us.-- should we get international calling for the week, or just use Wi-Fi at the hotel or the app "whats up".

Check out Talkatone. As long as you have wifi, you can call anyone in the U.S. or Canada. The other people don't have to have any app. You can call any phone. They can call you from the states to your talkatone number (you get another number free when you sign up).

I’ve not tried it yet, but if you are connected to wifi, won’t the iPhone wifi calling (Settings, Phone, Wi-Fi Calling) work to avoid any mobile or long distance charges?

If your calling another iPhone you can also use the face time feature along with whats app.

My understanding with AT&T WiFi calling is that calls to the US won’t be international, but calls to St Maarten/St Martin will be. So depending on your calling needs it might be better to pay for the international day pass ($10) that lets you use your talk, text, and data on the island.

I have Verizon, not ATT, but I'd follow this rule of thumb if you want to keep the budget down, even if buying the international day pass. If the ATT international day pass works like like Verizon's, you don't have to pay for any day you don't use it. BUT, not just the first call but the first byte of cellular data that you use activates it for the day, so you have to remember to turn off your cellular data because many apps use data in the background even when you aren't using them. You can still use the apps, and wifi calling, etc, but use them on wifi. And of course if you find you need to use an app over cellular while you are out and about with no wifi, like Google maps if you need a little help with navigation out on the road, its still available to you - just turn that app back on for cellular data, and off again when you are done. A little settings management goes a long way on this one. You can also reset your phone's cellular data usage tracker when you arrive if you want to keep tabs.

Yup, got burned once when too many pictures were being shared on WhatsApp, and didn't buy a plan for my wife's phone because I thought we didn't both need it. Oops, thought it was on wifi, but nope, was over cellular. That was a few hundred $ worth of data... doh!

Oh, and if you are going to be there a long time, you can always buy a local SIM card at the phone store. I usually don't do that unless I am going to be there a while though and with a group calling each other a lot.

On our most recent visit we just signed up online for Verizon's $10-per-day plan which bills you only when you actually use your phone. Maybe AT & T has something similar. Verizon's weekly plan was something like $70, and we don't use the phone that much when on vacation. In fact, we actually called and texted the states on just one day (mother-in-law, sons, etc.) to see how things were going, so our bill should increase by just that $10 amount and nothing additional. Maybe that's an option for you.

That Verizon $70 is for a month not a week.

If you have AT&T you can use the method that you described. However, the people back home will not be able to call you and have it be a local call (I think). With talkatone you don't need any particular carrier and the people can call you anywhere you are from the states and it's a local call for them since you'll have a U.S. number.

I have Verizon and was in SXM for 5 weeks. I found texting @5 C/txt satisfactory. If I had to call the charge was $1.79/min. For what few calls I needed to make, the unit
phone @75 C/min was reasonable.

I used WIFI calling in SXM with AT&T and since it was my home number, there was no problem and no charge for people at home to call me in SXM.
It was a local call.
When I called a restaurant in SXM, that was international, and cost me under $2.

No charges with Whatsapp on WIFI either. Didn't use it for any calls in SXM, but I've heard that many places have it.
Then that would be free.

Update: I checked with my carrier (Bell Mobility in Canada) and apparently wifi calling is only available on my plan in Canada 😡. I think international calling is less than $2/min, and we can use FaceTime or WhatsApp on wifi, so we’ll just go that route. Don’t plan on making too many calls anyway.

We have an international plan with Xfinity, but we still get charged extra. I just plan on keeping mine on airplane mode and only using it once or twice.

I hate to bring this up again and again but I just want to make sure I understand it all and end up with no surprises.
I have Verizon. If I enable WiFi Calling and put my iPhone in AirPlane Mode I will be able to make and receive calls from or to anyone in the US and not be charged. I should also turn off Cellular Data so that the phone does not try to connect to the Internet but will still be able to access the internet through WiFi. All of this is contingent on actually being connected to WiFi
If I contact Verizon and set up the International Calling Feature they provide, I will be charged $10.00 per 24 hr period only if or when I make or receive a call while not connected to WiFi.

If I have all of that correct, my next questions are how is the WiFi at Beachside Villas and do many restaurants or other establishments offer free WiFi?

Thank in advance for any answers provided.

Bingo...dead on correct. International Calling is great for emergencies when not on wifi. Other than that calls to the USA (or to USA cell phones in SXM) are free. I've been using this method for years. Incoming calls from home connect perfectly.....texts are not a problem. Even calls made to SXM numbers are made at a minimal cost...definitely not ten bucks a day

Keep that phone in airplane mode unless you have an off wifi emergency. No need for a sim card etc.

Can't comment on the BSV wifi but I would assume it's decent

We used Whats App with WiFi and worked great to make restaurant reservations. Lots of restaurants use Whats App. As long as your in Airplane mode there is no worries about Data.

Thank you boucharda I appreciate your response

wifi at Beachside is normally good enough for regular websites, email, etc. but don't expect to be able to download movies, etc..

Thanks Carol. Not looking for that. I want to make sure that I can make calls like I described above.