Norfolk Sailors - Family & Friends

He won't be home till end of January.  I was going to do the ship it to me then to him through APO/FPO but the boxes are too small.  I have an Italian friend who I am going to have help me order it.  So did the guitar get there in one piece? 

Jmae,

He needs the ship to shore cards, you can't get regular cards. These cards are hard to come by on base and on the ship as my son can never seem to find them and says there is a long wait for them.

AAFES has them online at https://shop.aafes.com/scs/product.aspx?deptid=42000 but notice there are different ones. There are ones that say "ship to shore" and for use on navy ships. $20 for I think is 40 minutes if I remember correctly.

mik3tn

prayers for your sailor going out!!!  Keep us posted on his safe travels.

You need to make sure your Sailors ship has this service as I don't think they all do.

singingbird...you can order them from that website and have them shipped to him. It is actually even more expensive because there is a surcharge for every completed call so that takes some of the 40 minutes off the top before the talking ever starts.

E was trying to call us while underway and we told him to not worry about it and use his call to call his girl. We get to talk to him daily via email while he is underway. I'm going to send him with some cards when they go on their 9 month deployment so we hear his voice once in awhile.

Prayer for save journey. 

My son has made 4 calls in 6 weeks not sure how?

There is a number on the back of the 'ship to shore' card so you can reload it for your sailor.  The cards are sold at the NEX, so if you have one near you and are eligible to make a purchase, that's another option vs. online.   And be prepared 24/7 to answer every odd-looking numbers that show up on your phone :)   Getting a call from your deployed sailor - priceless!! 

Marcy, thanks my son had not told me there were rechargeable. I wonder why he is always on the hunt for a new card and doesn't just refill his? I'll have to inquire, thanks again.

we have an att card that we can re load by calling a toll free number.  our son has used it several years from everywhere.

Rod, even the ship? I don't think you can use the AT&T Universal Calling Cards from the ship, I think they need a special card and it only works from the ship is my understanding.

The card that my son has is from the ships store, is an AT&T card and it is rechargeable by anyone that has the number from the back of it and calls the toll free number and adds money with their credit/debit card.

http://www.corp.att.com/gov/militaryprepaidcards/navy.html

http://www.marineparents.com/deployment/comm-cards.asp

You can purchase them online:  AT&T Ship to Shore Prepaid Phone Card.  They ship to FPO addresses.  Be sure to give the ship's nine-digit FPO ZIP code so it doesn't get returned :)  

I asked my son if he needs these and he said anytime he has the time to call he just picks up the phone a calls. I guess he has a ship to shore in where he works onboard. Lucky boy. Maybe this is a need on big ships.

GoldnG8r--   I order the cards and just had them sent to me and then i put in a box to send to my sailor. that way i know he got them.

CO-Twin's Sailor is an IT and works in a space that has access to the phone lines that can call off the ship, every ship has them. The problem is they are supposed to be for official business and most Sailors in other rates don't have access to them. IT's that work in the radio division have access because it is their equipment.

No his Cell phone is on Military hold while he is deployed. that way he has no charges while he is gone. His ship has a phone in the Galley for the sailors to use and I think he has one where he works onboard that he can use.

He can only use that phone when he is off duty and it is not in use. But you are right one of the perks for IT's. It is nice they give the newbie IT a perk.

If you click on view comments then you can comment via a smart phone I think. do you have internet access on your phone?

Hi there!  My son is also on the San Antonio!

I put both my twins phones on military suspend during BC and now one again who is out on deployment. they suspend service until you reactivate it up to three years.  There are no fees during that time. 

My son leaves for Norfolk tomorrow. He will be looking for housing for himself and his wife. I have heard from others to avoid Portsmouth and Norfolk. What areas should he look at? What are come complexes that are mostly military?

My son is also in the hunt for accommodations. He liked Hampton but the commute through the tunnel is brutal so he ruled it out. He liked Virginia Beach but it was expensive. He's now looking at a gated complex in Norfolk that is a bit spendy but cheaper than VB and the commute is easy. 

Virgina Beach and Hampton are supposed to be the nicer areas to live from what I've read.

I know Great Lakes has military housing, doesn't Norfolk? The area in Great Lakes is very nice and open with parks and lots of green and a NEX right there.

The commute from Hampton is pretty awful, but from what I hear it is worth it because of how nice it is to live there. The other areas we have been told to look in are Virginia Beach, Chesapeake (near Greenbrier), and Old Town Portsmouth-which is different than Portsmouth! We have been told the further away from base you are the nicer it is, and I can definitely vouch for that! I haven't moved there yet but have visited enough times to know that I don't feel safe anywhere near base. No matter where you live the commute is going to be awful, whether it is Hampton with the tunnel or not so honestly I would tell them not to let that be the deciding factor. Our friends who live in Chesapeake, usually a 20 minute drive to base, it takes him 45 minutes to an hour in the morning. There are 80,000 Sailors on that base after all- with the majority commuting in at the same time, it's going to suck no matter what!

The guys that live in Hampton that work with my son say the commute is often times 1.5 hours each way. I would hate for him to spend 3 hours of his already limited time on the road commuting. He did really like it up there though so we'll see, he may end up there after all.

Thanks everyone for the information. It will help tremendously in his search for housing. From what I have heard, there is a waiting list for housing on the base.