Cell Service - Alaska

[BunnyHutt]

Can anyone advise the quality of cell service they had while in Alaskan ports? Trying to figure out if I want/need to upgrade to unlimited (non-streaming) package. 
 

And before anyone says anything about not keeping my head stuck in my phone/computer while cruising, I’m vacationing with a friend and leaving my husband and teens back home. Awesome for me but I’d still like to be able to keep in touch fairly regularly. 😉

[WestCoastDeb]

I had pretty decent coverage while off of the ship with Verizon. 

[retired714]

I’ve been to Alaska twice. We have ATT and our service has always been fine. We didn’t need to do anything to get service because Alaska is a state

[9tee2Sea]

you might not get cell service while cruising the inside passage ( or any sea day).  You are surrounded by  tall mountains on both sides, cell service probably will not ping far enough down into the channel ( that would be my guess).  But you will have no issues on dry land.  

[catsarealiens]

ATT in Alaskan port stops works fine for me.  The wife's T-Mobile ---- not so much.

[kikipug]

Verizon worked just fine for us in Alaska when we were docked and off the ship. (We did Juneau, Ketchikan and Skagway) Even in port, you don't get good reception onboard.  

[wil e coyote]

Similar to others - we had reception in every port with our Verizon phones (Anchorage/Seward, Icy Strait, Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan. Even on the ship we had good reception while in port. Bear in mind that reception will be much better near windows/balconies than when you're deep inside.

We had spotty reception while en route between ports.

(I mostly know this from my kids, who can't stand having their phones turned off!) 😀

[BirdTravels]

19 hours ago, BunnyHutt said:

Can anyone advise the quality of cell service they had while in Alaskan ports? Trying to figure out if I want/need to upgrade to unlimited (non-streaming) package. 
 

And before anyone says anything about not keeping my head stuck in my phone/computer while cruising, I’m vacationing with a friend and leaving my husband and teens back home. Awesome for me but I’d still like to be able to keep in touch fairly regularly. 😉

We have AT&T and there was no cell service in Icy Strait Point. 
 

And there will be periods of blockage where you won’t get Wi-Fi in the Alaskan fjords. 

[BunnyHutt]

Thanks, everyone! I’ve got VZW and will just plan on reaching out with to my fam while in ports. 😁

[MSUjohn]

Verizon user here that did Alaska in 2019

 

i had service in every port except icy point straight/Hoonah. 

Edited May 16, 2023 by MSUjohn

[graphicguy]

Verizon worked fine for me.  LTE or 5G data off ship was fine, too.  On ship data while in port was dismal….almost like NCL was jamming it.

[NengEuis]

Most of us that have national carriers have AT&T and Verizon up here. All good. T-Mobile not popular. 

[TrinityFL]

Make sure you have roaming off and airport mode on when not at a port. My neighbor in the next cabin on our Hawaii-Alaska cruise got hit with a $100 charge from AT&T. The internet desk personnel said he heard passengers getting hit with $500 charges.

 

Wi-Fi through the ship is iffy. People used the local library at ports.

Edited May 17, 2023 by TrinityFL

[cruisequeen4ever]

My in-laws are currently sailing Alaska with ATT. They discovered they had cell service just before Hubbard Glacier, likely since they were close to Yakutat, and then they had very limited cell service just as they were entering Glacier Bay. All ports have plenty of cell service; we know that from having done many AK cruises before.