Glacier Bay cell phone service?

[Bollycats]

I had a hard enough time using my phone in Alaskan cities, I wouldn't chance it in Glacier Bay. 

 

Here's a thought, when he calls in who is on the other end of the line? Someone he knows, a random person, an automated line? Can a trusted friend or relative back home call and pretend to be him? If he's not talking to someone known, with all the pertinent information, they might be able to get away with it.

[Papa Yoda]

Hopefully something like that can work. 

 

But no one seems to know if Cellular At Sea is functional in GB, I hope they check with that outfit to see if they can "assure" service up there.  Voice is very low bandwidth but sensitive to jitter.  Cell service from ship uses satellite uplinks so it doesn't need  terrestrial towers.

 

So we're still hoping for firsthand reports that CAS works or doesn't.

[pdmlynek]

On 3/19/2022 at 5:15 PM, Coral said:

Would there be satellite phone service?

 

On 3/20/2022 at 12:43 PM, Glaciers said:

Good read from one of the Glacier Bay tour operators that discusses communication devices.

 

 

“Important to note: There are three global satellite telephone systems in place:  Iridium, Globalstar and Inmarsat.  Iridium is considered to be more dependable.”

 

 

https://glacierbayseakayaks.com/backcountry-trip-planning/planning-details/communication-devices

 

 

My understanding is that satellite phones are forbidden on cruise ships.  See, for example, https://www.ncl.com/freestyle-cruise/prepare-for-your-cruise/what-to-pack#notbring 

[Papa Yoda]

23 minutes ago, pdmlynek said:

 

My understanding is that satellite phones are forbidden on cruise ships.  See, for example, https://www.ncl.com/freestyle-cruise/prepare-for-your-cruise/what-to-pack#notbring 

 

Not so on Princess https://www.princess.com/learn/faq/pre-cruise/prepare-for-your-cruise/ 

Prohibited items doesn't list Sat Phones.

[pdmlynek]

2 minutes ago, Papa Yoda said:

 

Not so on Princess https://www.princess.com/learn/faq/pre-cruise/prepare-for-your-cruise/ 

Prohibited items doesn't list Sat Phones.

Interesting.  

 

NCL: "..., Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRB), ham radios, satellite phones, transformers, lasers and laser pointers are not allowed onboard."

 

Princess: "The following items will not be allowed on board without a valid lawful reason: ... Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRB), Ham radios, transformers, lasers, laser pointers, ..."

 

 

The list is the same, except that NCL disallows satellite phones, but Princess does not. I wonder why the different policies.

[Moondogy]

If the OP is interested in a sat phone and wants to risk it they can be rented by the week. They run from between $100 up to $1000 depending on Global or USA and amount of minutes needed. But, I do see the small print from Princess.

The above list is not exhaustive. The Ship Security Officer and Staff Captain are authorized to make a professional judgment as to the legality of any item, declared, detected or discovered.

[beg3yrs]

On 3/20/2022 at 9:09 PM, brisalta said:

 

You are assuming a satellite phone will work at that latitude. It may or may not depending on the particular atmospheric conditions and the azimuth of the particular communications satellite.

Satellites for sat-phones are in MEO and LEO orbits that are inclined well above the equator. They even provide coverage at the poles.

[Daniel A]

IMHO, if the job is that important to him, why take any risk at all?  Can't you book different dates?

[adstz]

This was to be a family trip that had been cancelled in June 2020. There is no way to cancel or change dates now because of all the people involved.

It appears no one has actually made a phone call from Glacier Bay. I don't think we will chance it.

It's just disheartening to take a family trip without one of the family. Especially when this was supposed to be a celebration of a family member being 10 (now 12) years cancer free.

Thank you for all the replies.

[Papa Yoda]

 

20 minutes ago, adstz said:

This was to be a family trip that had been cancelled in June 2020. There is no way to cancel or change dates now because of all the people involved.

It appears no one has actually made a phone call from Glacier Bay. I don't think we will chance it.

It's just disheartening to take a family trip without one of the family. Especially when this was supposed to be a celebration of a family member being 10 (now 12) years cancer free.

Thank you for all the replies.

 

Don't give up yet, the cabin phone should work, it's expensive but for 2 short calls.  And you can rent a Sat Phone as backup as noted.

[MsPAtSea]

I plan on getting ship WiFi to use and can text and WiFi call with that, but can I also get access to att regular service while sailing the Alaskan cruise or is the ship too far away from towers when at sea? Also, several of you have said you don't even get ship WiFi in Glacier Bay - is there a reason for that? Is that the whole day?

[1025cruise]

10 minutes ago, MsPAtSea said:

I plan on getting ship WiFi to use and can text and WiFi call with that, but can I also get access to att regular service while sailing the Alaskan cruise or is the ship too far away from towers when at sea? Also, several of you have said you don't even get ship WiFi in Glacier Bay - is there a reason for that? Is that the whole day?

You won't be close enough to land for cell signal.

 

Ship WiFi is based on satellite connectivity. If the satellite doesn't get a signal, then no wifi.

[adstz]

Just to let you all know he has decided not to go (and I agree with him). It isn't worth risking his job. I am beyond disappointed as that means part of the family won't be there. For what it is worth, he is a 31 year old who probably would have felt awkward on the ship. Really not his type of thing. He was only going to keep Mamma (me) happy.

[Daniel A]

8 minutes ago, adstz said:

Just to let you all know he has decided not to go (and I agree with him). It isn't worth risking his job. I am beyond disappointed as that means part of the family won't be there. For what it is worth, he is a 31 year old who probably would have felt awkward on the ship. Really not his type of thing. He was only going to keep Mamma (me) happy.

It sounds like he made the right decision.  Maybe this will give you an excuse to book another cruise with him sometime in the future.  ☺️

[nini]

Could he have used one of the computers on the ship? The ship has the computer rooms for passengers. Sorry he will not be going.

[Rick&Jeannie]

Worst case scenario...you could always make a standard "ship-to-shore" call.  Expensive...but you should be able to count on it.

[1025cruise]

I'm sorry your son had to cancel. But it also sucks that his employer wouldn't guarantee the days off, seeing that he has the days off surrounding the black out dates. 

[Papa Yoda]

On 3/25/2022 at 9:10 AM, adstz said:

Just to let you all know he has decided not to go (and I agree with him). It isn't worth risking his job. I am beyond disappointed as that means part of the family won't be there. For what it is worth, he is a 31 year old who probably would have felt awkward on the ship. Really not his type of thing. He was only going to keep Mamma (me) happy.

 

Sorry to hear that - I was rooting for you and him! 

 

I guess the last thing you'd want to do is make a ship-to-shore call in Glacier Bay and have it go through...   Maybe as a pay it forward, make a call and report back if it works or doesn't to add it to the knowledge base.  There are a few other occupations where you have to call off your shift by phone.

[Daniel A]

On 3/25/2022 at 12:10 PM, adstz said:

Just to let you all know he has decided not to go (and I agree with him). It isn't worth risking his job. I am beyond disappointed as that means part of the family won't be there. For what it is worth, he is a 31 year old who probably would have felt awkward on the ship. Really not his type of thing. He was only going to keep Mamma (me) happy.

Your son made the right decision.  What if he was told on the phone that he still needed to come into work anyway, even though he called?  FWIW, where I worked, one of my co-workers went to Florida for a two-week vacation.  There were three days toward the end of his time in Florida that he couldn't get approval for the time off as others had taken off the same three days first.  He called in sick each of those three mornings.  The third morning, the boss went to his house, called him and asked if he was at home.  He replied that he was.  The boss said good, please come to your front door as I am there to speak with you....  Several of his co-workers knew he was taking the trip to Florida and one of them spilled the beans.  In his case, he got many, many more days off than the three days he wanted to take.