Cell Phones Alaska cruise

[Doug J]

Going to Alaska and have to make daily contact with care providers back home. I know in port shouldn't be a problem however on seas days i will still need to contact. Currently have Verizon, i know can get a one month global upgrade, however is there a ship's cost to tie into their system. If there is how much?

[Mary Ellen]

$2.49/minute. It will appear on your phone bill. Cellular at Sea charges for the satelitte time.

Edited February 23, 2014 by Mary Ellen

[janmcn]

Yes, there is a cost…about $7/min when I inquired a few years ago. You'll use Verizon's international plan, but to use it, it requires hooking into the ship's cellphone system which is the sticky wicket…expensive. Email was cheaper.

[localady]

$2.49/minute. It will appear on your phone bill. Cellular at Sea charges for the satelitte time.

 

Actually when sailing portions of Inside Passage we were able to get Verizon service on our balcony while sailing as well as being able to connect in port. We were not charged for Cellular at Sea satellite time, we connected directly to a Verizon cell tower. Since it was in the US, there were no international or extra charges.

 

Hopefully this will save you some cost also. Have a great cruise.

Edited February 23, 2014 by localady

[POA1]

Look in your phone's menu system. You should be able to choose the network that you connect to. With Verizon, it will have to be a CDMA network, and you want to select either VZW or one of their partner carriers.

 

You can connect to the ship's cellular network, but it's pricey.

[Himself]

I have VERIZON WIRELESS and as soon as I cross the border to Canada Roaming charges kick in!

[kjw869]

Going to Alaska and have to make daily contact with care providers back home. I know in port shouldn't be a problem however on seas days i will still need to contact. Currently have Verizon, i know can get a one month global upgrade, however is there a ship's cost to tie into their system. If there is how much?

 

For voice, $2.49 a minute. Text is five cents for texts received and fifty cents for sending texts.

 

The rates including the data plan are listed on Verizon's website. Click on the link below and scroll to the bottom.

 

http://www.verizonwireless.com/wcms/global/plans-and-pricing.html

Edited February 23, 2014 by kjw869

[pcur]

Having a 90 year-old MIL, and a 94 year-old stepfather, we go to great lengths to make sure we can stay in contact with our parents' care staff.

 

My recommendations:

 

If it's a status report, then have them text your cell phone. As mentioned above it's MUCH less expensive.

 

If it's non-urgent questions and information, then email works well.

 

If it's urgent, then have them text you to call them. You can choose whether to use your cell phone or the ship's phone.

 

We have set up this "tiered" approach to communications and it works well. The care staff can decide which method they want to communicate, and if email isn't an option, they still have text and calling, but it keeps the cost down.

 

Of course, we are assuming a "no news is good news" status quo.

[nana51]

To that end, if I wait until in port (Alaska only, not Canada) will I be able to use my phone as if I'm at home in San Diego?

[lazey1]

To that end, if I wait until in port (Alaska only, not Canada) will I be able to use my phone as if I'm at home in San Diego?

 

Yes, we did on 3 of the 4 Hawaiian Islands. Alaska and Hawaii are both local calls for anyone that has Verizon nationwide plan. :) Once on board check with the front office if there is a plan to use the ship's phone for Xnumber of hours for a lessor rate. (The front office arranged for me to use the ship phone @ $8.00 for 30 minutes when my mother passed).

[igraf]

Verizon will allow their USA customers to switch to a USA/Canada calling plan for one month. We did this when we went on the Canada/New England cruise. It was not expensive to do this and then you can call from Canada to the USA as if you were at home.

 

To answer your question, calling San Diego (our home city as well) from Alaska is part of Verizon's standard coverage, but not if you are on one of their lower cost prepaid plans.

 

igraf

 

 

 

To that end, if I wait until in port (Alaska only, not Canada) will I be able to use my phone as if I'm at home in San Diego?

[PatsyAnne]

I have VERIZON WIRELESS and as soon as I cross the border to Canada Roaming charges kick in!

 

 

This summer we got an inexpensive Canada voice package added for a couple of months. We just used wifi for data when we could find it. I think it was something like $15/month.

 

 

Trish