You can also Skype using wifi on your smartphone. I've done that from both the US and the Caribbean (Canadian cellphone companies' roaming charges are brutal).

Quality isn't too bad for voice calls. Not sure about other smartphones, but there's a Skype app for the iPhone.

My friend calls her mother from Paris on her IPAD via Skype. She used to buy a phone card but says Skype amounts to only pennies per call.

Pjk

Depends on what kind of phone you have, but there are several phones out right now that are global phones (Verizon's iPhone 5 for instance) that work for both data and voice in many countries. Of course, it can be pricey unless you're on a global plan, but they do work. As PJK mentioned, using WiFi is a great option.

Being Canadian I checked out internet use with my service provider. It cost an extra 40.00 for one month of phone use only. Internet service would incur massive roaming charges and I was advised to turn off all data on my phone. I use my laptop for pretty much everything but in case of emergencies ( or ordering pizza) it's nice to have a phone.

Not sure what type of phone you have. But smart phones just use the wifi, turn of the phone part. No extra charges, unless the wifi isn't free.

I agree - many places offer free WiFi. If you turn off the mobile network (data) and take advantage of free WiFi, there should be no roaming charges for data use.

Dude when I'm on vacy the phone goes away. My wife happily takes the pictures , updates, weather checks etc etc. As for me when I'm on vacay I could'nt care less about anything else other then enjoying my lil getaway!!!

With data turned off on the phone, are you still able to do data using wi-fi? That seems counter-intuitive. I believe that on my Droid RAZR that it would not work that way, and I tried it in several European countries, but perhaps I did something wrong. I believe that I got a message that said that data had to be enabled in order to use the wi-fi for data, but I may be mistaken about that, or perhaps I was not doing it correctly. ?????

BTW, I do have SKYPE on my Droid. Also, you can get a fairly inexpensive phone plan for European countries ($4.99/month?) for Android systems, but data is very expensive. I'm with Verizon.

Try this...In settings, turn your airplane mode on. This will disable your phone portion. In a wifi hotspot, turn you wifi on. You will now be connected to the internet without using any of your data plan associated with your phone.