Verizon Wireless/cell phone use

[allisonfamily]

Sadly, the carrier is a fountain of misinformation!

It takes a good 20 minutes wandering around Verizon's websites to see a map that makes it look like Verizon cell service--both phone and data--are widely available at virtually every port of call in the Alaska panhandle.

 

I *think* that really means the service is available, but ... is it all roaming?

 

A quick phone call to Verizon yielded nothing. Permahold.

 

Thus I turn to CruiseCritic, the source of true facts.

 

I've seen where we're told that Verizon Voice should be arriving "this summer." Has anyone been recently? Was there Verizon voice coverage in the panhandle ports of call?

 

Please? And thank you!

[TinCan782]

Alaska itself is "domestic"...In the U.S. Domestic roaming (except data) should be fine. It is with Sprint.

 

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

[bottom-dragger]

People often rave about TracFone in Alaska. Just another suggestion. It uses multiple carriers for their coverage.

 

yes, TracFone contracts with the major carriers. i can stand next to you and connect as you do some weird dance trying to get two bars.

 

for me it makes my bouncing around alaska connections more reliable but it is not cheap and i wouldn't use it as my routine daily connection.

 

but it will get you connected.

[DentoAlaska]

We just upgraded our Verizon phones and made sure to verify that we will have coverage in Alaska. We were assured that in the major cities we will have coverage at no additional cost. FYI we have a standard plan with Verizon not a "pay as you go" or "prepaid" plan.

[las313]

I spoke to Verizon yesterday. She says to leave the phone on airplane to avoid using data. When you are in port be sure not to turn it on within 50 feet of a ship since you then may pick up their signal and be charged.

[TinCan782]

I spoke to Verizon yesterday. She says to leave the phone on airplane to avoid using data. When you are in port be sure not to turn it on within 50 feet of a ship since you then may pick up their signal and be charged.

 

It is my understanding that cruise ships are required to turn off their cellular service to protect the residents of the port, not necessarily for the benefit of the cruiser. Shipboard cellular service is turned off to prevent residents from "accidently" calling through the ship system instead of their home system. When the ship's system is off, you will connect through a shore based system (if available) even if you are still onboard.

[SilkySal]

It is my understanding that cruise ships are required to turn off their cellular service to protect the residents of the port, not necessarily for the benefit of the cruiser. Shipboard cellular service is turned off to prevent residents from "accidently" calling through the ship system instead of their home system. When the ship's system is off, you will connect through a shore based system (if available) even if you are still onboard.

 

Yes!! I hope this is true!! When we arrive in Seward, I want to connect with our friends, who should already be there and did not know whether to call/text them when we get to Seward or just before we arrive to avoid the ship's charges to my cell!:eek: I hope this info is, as Mel B would say, "spot on!!";) Thanks!!

[Jruns]

We were just in aruba and had our phones on airplane mode and turned off our cellular data under settings and had use of the hotels free wifi and I texted all week long (garycarla) BUT the texts would only go through to verizon carriers - once I tried to send a text to a non verizon phone and it said I had to switch my settings which I didn't do. But keeping it in airplane mode with wifi and cellular data turned off but connected to wifi I was able to text to my kids and neighbor all week verizon to verizon.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[allisonfamily]

It takes a good 20 minutes wandering around Verizon's websites to see a map that makes it look like Verizon cell service--both phone and data--are widely available at virtually every port of call in the Alaska panhandle.

 

A quick phone call to Verizon yielded nothing. Permahold.

 

OK, a bit more digging, and a quick email exchange and phone call with the Alaska Director of Verizon Enterprise Solutions got me past the Permahold, the confusing website maps and the even-more confusing newspaper articles.

 

(I needed to find this out for work, but the info is applicable here as well.)

 

ALASKA

Verizon has their own voice and 4G LTE data in Anchorage, Juneau and Ketchikan. Verizon has partners for voice and data in Skagway and Sitka, but from a billing standpoint, the partner connections are the same as their "own-network" connections. These connections support voice, texting and data applications like email. In other words, there are no roaming fees for those locations. It's the same deal that you have for CONUS domestic. (I only asked about those five ports. I did not ask about other locations.)

 

CRUISE SHIP

Most cruise ships have their own cell towers. They don't charge their own separate charges. Instead, they get treated as an International roaming location by your own carrier. So the roaming rates come from your carrier (in this thread, that's Verizon). The ships turn off their towers (as someone else pointed out) when they get near a port (12 miles for HAL) not for the passengers' convenience but to avoid accidentally providing high-expense service to residents in those ports. Verizon has a "Trip Planner" that shows you specific rates for specific ships, but it appears that all of Verizon's "Cruise Rates" are the same: Voice Rate Per Min Standard: $2.49 Pay as you Go data rate $0.020/KB ($20.48/MB) Text Rate $0.50 send $0.05 receive. Plus they offer a prepaid Global Data Plan $25/100MB. Since Pay As You Go data rates work out to $20/Megabyte, and 100 MB works out to $2,048.00, it seems like there are 2,048 reasons to either buy the Global Data Plan or hold a strict line on Airplane mode when on the ship. Oh yeah, and texting is texting. With, you know, text. Not multimedia sharing.

Edited June 18, 2014 by allisonfamily

[SilkySal]

OK, a bit more digging, and a quick email exchange and phone call with the Alaska Director of Verizon Enterprise Solutions got me past the Permahold, the confusing website maps and the even-more confusing newspaper articles.

 

(I needed to find this out for work, but the info is applicable here as well.)

 

ALASKA

Verizon has their own voice and 4G LTE data in Anchorage, Juneau and Ketchikan. Verizon has partners for voice and data in Skagway and Sitka, but from a billing standpoint, the partner connections are the same as their "own-network" connections. These connections support voice, texting and data applications like email. In other words, there are no roaming fees for those locations. It's the same deal that you have for CONUS domestic. (I only asked about those five ports. I did not ask about other locations.)

 

CRUISE SHIP

Most cruise ships have their own cell towers. They don't charge their own separate charges. Instead, they get treated as an International roaming location by your own carrier. So the roaming rates come from your carrier (in this thread, that's Verizon). The ships turn off their towers (as someone else pointed out) when they get near a port (12 miles for HAL) not for the passengers' convenience but to avoid accidentally providing high-expense service to residents in those ports. Verizon has a "Trip Planner" that shows you specific rates for specific ships, but it appears that all of Verizon's "Cruise Rates" are the same: Voice Rate Per Min Standard: $2.49 Pay as you Go data rate $0.020/KB ($20.48/MB) Text Rate $0.50 send $0.05 receive. Plus they offer a prepaid Global Data Plan $25/100MB. Since Pay As You Go data rates work out to $20/Megabyte, and 100 MB works out to $2,048.00, it seems like there are 2,048 reasons to either buy the Global Data Plan or hold a strict line on Airplane mode when on the ship. Oh yeah, and texting is texting. With, you know, text. Not multimedia sharing.

 

Thanks so much for the great info!;)

[plenox]

Right now Verizon serves Alaska through agreements with a local cell company. They are installing their own equipment and should have it switched on in the next few months. But either way, your Verizon phone will work fine in all the ports and major towns in Alaska.

 

that is good to know

[lafngas]

Check out this app for iPhones and it should also work on Android systems.

It's a VOIP-Voice Over Internet Protocol. FREE texts and calls to others who are also Viber users. It's totally FREE to sign up!

Voice clarity is better than the iPhone-sounds like you are on a very clear speaker phone.

I have used this with friends in Stockholm,Sweden while I am in the US-they sound like they are right next to me and it is FREE!

However, you must be connected to WiFi when you text or call and the person you are contacting must also be online.

Great system!

[allisonfamily]

OK, a bit more digging, and a quick email exchange and phone call with the Alaska Director of Verizon Enterprise Solutions got me past the Permahold, the confusing website maps and the even-more confusing newspaper articles.

 

(I needed to find this out for work, but the info is applicable here as well.)

 

ALASKA

Verizon has their own voice and 4G LTE data in Anchorage, Juneau and Ketchikan. Verizon has partners for voice and data in Skagway and Sitka, but from a billing standpoint, the partner connections are the same as their "own-network" connections. These connections support voice, texting and data applications like email. In other words, there are no roaming fees for those locations. It's the same deal that you have for CONUS domestic. (I only asked about those five ports. I did not ask about other locations.)

 

CRUISE SHIP

Most cruise ships have their own cell towers. They don't charge their own separate charges. Instead, they get treated as an International roaming location by your own carrier. So the roaming rates come from your carrier (in this thread, that's Verizon). The ships turn off their towers (as someone else pointed out) when they get near a port (12 miles for HAL) not for the passengers' convenience but to avoid accidentally providing high-expense service to residents in those ports. Verizon has a "Trip Planner" that shows you specific rates for specific ships, but it appears that all of Verizon's "Cruise Rates" are the same: Voice Rate Per Min Standard: $2.49 Pay as you Go data rate $0.020/KB ($20.48/MB) Text Rate $0.50 send $0.05 receive. Plus they offer a prepaid Global Data Plan $25/100MB. Since Pay As You Go data rates work out to $20/Megabyte, and 100 MB works out to $2,048.00, it seems like there are 2,048 reasons to either buy the Global Data Plan or hold a strict line on Airplane mode when on the ship. Oh yeah, and texting is texting. With, you know, text. Not multimedia sharing.

 

OK, we're back from our trip. Wow, what a surprise. And not in a good way.

 

We had four people, carrying four cellphones from three different carriers. *ALL* of us ended up having different successes and failures in different ports of call.

 

I was *assured* that my Verizon phone would work fine in every port of call, and it almost never worked. The AT&T phones worked pretty well, but not consistently. To be fair, they had an earthquake the night before we landed in Juneau, which apparently knocked out most of the area's Internet. And I assume that if Internet is gone then the phones are probably affected too, but still ...

 

My advice: Everyone bring your phone, and when you're in port (in Alaska), everyone turn 'em on. See what you get.

 

P.S. Vancouver was a different story. Roaming rates apply, but coverage and connectivity was never an issue.

 

Hope this helps!