cell phones

Will I be able to use my cell phone while on the ship (Pearl)? If not what is the best way to stay in touch with home? ($$$$ money wise)

Leave your cell phone at home and buy a calling card. There are plenty of pay phones in Alaska. We enjoy our peace and quiet up here and would like to keep it free of needless cell phone chatter!!!!!!!

Our Sprint phone was available in Anchorage and Juneau without roaming. We added digital roam, which worked most other places. It was $5.00 extra for a month, plus a small amout, I believe 20 cents or less a minute.

We needed to check on our business, sometimes a phone is necessary. Every time we tried to use a pay phone there were lines of crew waiting for it.

on the ship, you will be charge the fee for using the ship's tower as well as the cost of the call from your provider. if you wait until you get to port, depending on your service, you should be able to call. we had to tell my FIL to turn off his phone, so he wouldn't be charged the tower fee for incoming calls. but in all the ports he was able to call all his friends and talk. you would need to talk to your company and see if on your plan alaska would be roaming or not and if they have service in your ports.

the family has cingular and we had service in juneau, skagway and ketchikan.

Hi All,

Toyz711......... When did you travel to Alaska and use your Cingular service? Was it in 2007 since the turnover to AT&T? We will be traveling in September 2007. Thanks for your input

we were there in sept, 06. last year the ones with cingular had more service then some of the others services. interested to hear if the change to at&t changed that?

as soon as we got to port, FIL went out on our balcony and started calling his friends. he had great service, better then the place in texas he lives 1/2 the year.

I just called Cingular/AT&T to ask them about charges I ran up May 20 - 27... I only used the phone while in port, off the ship... they said I was only charged roaming charges in Victoria, Canada (nowhere in Alaska) and in Canada, when my phone said Roger's something (can't remember) it's 79 cents a minute. OUCH.

I wanted to get is straightened out, because last cruise I had to argue with them that Key West was in the US and that I shouldn't be charged roaming. I won that battle, but had to put up quite a struggle.

I just called Cingular/AT&T to ask them about charges I ran up May 20 - 27... I only used the phone while in port, off the ship... they said I was only charged roaming charges in Victoria, Canada (nowhere in Alaska) and in Canada, when my phone said Roger's something (can't remember) it's 79 cents a minute. OUCH.

I wanted to get is straightened out, because last cruise I had to argue with them that Key West was in the US and that I shouldn't be charged roaming. I won that battle, but had to put up quite a struggle.

Every national company should have service in the ports. Locals who travel outside town get satellite phones, so if you happen to have one of those, bring it! If you have a nationwide roaming plan, even though you'll be on a local company's network, the price will just be minutes.

But, yes, remember that Victoria/Vancouver are in a foreign country! I get service through most of BC and YT, but the charges are higher, to the bite above.

But, yes, remember that Victoria/Vancouver are in a foreign country!

Um... I knew that:cool: I just didn't realize how much foreign minutes cost.

Um... I knew that:cool: I just didn't realize how much foreign minutes cost.

:D I'm sure, but I think some people can be fooled by seeing that they have a signal. I sure hoped that it meant I was getting some sort of cell bleed from over the border until I got the bill the first time!

Leave your cell phone at home and buy a calling card. There are plenty of pay phones in Alaska. We enjoy our peace and quiet up here and would like to keep it free of needless cell phone chatter!!!!!!!

Yeah, it's kind of sad to see 90% of the people on the street with a phone stuck to the side of their head, not even looking up at the beautiful mountains. But as a person who has the name 'third arm' on her cellphone, I can understand withdrawal.

And I've tried to use a regular pay phone at the docks before, and they were all being used by crew members. Let's assume they were going to be a while; seats have been built into the booth. Also, a friend who sailed this year said they warned her onboard that pay phones are a racket, and you could end up with a $100 bill on your credit card. No idea what that's about.

My sister has Cingular and it came in in every port. She shut it off while in Vancouver. It also said Rogers.

Sprint only came in without roaming in Juneau and Anchorage.

Sometimes having to use a cell phone on vacation is a matter of necessity not withdrawl. We would never have been able to take a vacation for as long as we did without the use of cell phones.

I posted this on your OTHER "cell phones" post. You have two of them going in case you didn't know:rolleyes:

I have SprintPCS. I also have a plan that includes roaming for $5.00 a month. I tried to get it taken off as I never roam but it's just part of the plan.

I was able to get service in Juneau just fine. But had to go to roaming in Sitka, Ketchikan and ,surprisingly, Victoria, BC! I used the roaming to call home but only briefly as a) it wasn't great reception and b) I didn't trust Sprint to not charge me more. I just got my bill and was NOT charged anymore for the roaming calls:D So while Sprint coverage sucked at least I had the roaming plan and was able to stay in touch.

My sister has Cingular and it came in in every port. She shut it off while in Vancouver. It also said Rogers.

Sprint only came in without roaming in Juneau and Anchorage.

 

Sometimes having to use a cell phone on vacation is a matter of necessity not withdrawl. We would never have been able to take a vacation for as long as we did without the use of cell phones.

I am simply amazed when I see statements like this. How did you get along 10-12 years ago WITHOUT a cell phone??? No vacations???? No calling home???

I own an international logistics company and have since 1978. I have truck drivers scattered all over the USA, in control of $150,000 of equipment and usually cargo valued at over $250,000. Communication is key to moving equipment and cargo. We have successfully communicated for almost 30 years, WITHOUT cell phones, email and the internet.

Why anyone thinks a cell phone is ABSOLUTELY MANDATORY is beyond my comprehension???

Nothing more irritating than going on a cruise to get AWAY from the constant phone calls, faxes, emails and everyone is on their cell yammering away. Not to say anything about ladies in the grocery store talking their way through grocery shopping.

Sorry for the rant, but there is a time and place for a cell phone. They are a convenience, NOT A LIFELINE. Shut them off, wake up and smell the roses. You just may see something absolutely priceless.

Sorry for the rant, but there is a time and place for a cell phone. They are a convenience, NOT A LIFELINE. Shut them off, wake up and smell the roses. You just may see something absolutely priceless.

Rant away if it makes you feel better. We always took vacations, even 15 years ago, but not 22 day ones.

No one ever said we got up and ran to the phone every day, just checked on things occasionally, not that it's any of your business.

There were land lines 15 years ago, and we never did cruise back then.

Guess it just makes my husband feel better to know things are under control while he is away. If that's all it takes for him to get away for 3 weeks, then it makes me happy. I'm so happy for you that you can walk away and shut out your family and work while you're away, it's not like that for everyone.

I would never be so opinionated as to say when or if someone should use a phone.

I have a cell phone. I used it for the grand total of 62 minutes last month. If I need to call my wife, children, in-laws and other assorted relatives I do it when I am not out in public. Life will go on, the sun will rise tomorrow and the bears will still leave scat in the forest even if your cell phone suddenly dies.

My family knows I care about them without me having to call every 23 minutes. If my house catches on fire or a tornado blows it off the face of the earth theres not a darn thing I can do about it if I'm 3300 miles away. Quiet frankly I'd rather find out about it when I got home so I could enjoy my vacation without the extra worries....

Cell phones and all these other extra electronic devices are nice to have but we will survive even after the batteries run dead.

Cell phones and all these other extra electronic devices are nice to have but we will survive even after the batteries run dead.

Thank you!!!

 

Cell phones and all these other extra electronic devices are nice to have but we will survive even after the batteries run dead.

I'm sure we will. In the mean time, I'll rely on them, so I can take longer vacations!!

When I was in Alaska in May, my TracPhone worked everywhere. I used it in Juneau, Ketchikan, Skagway, Denali & McKinley. I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't use any roaming minutes & I live in Ohio! Reception was perfect!

Sue