Cell phone on alaska cruise

[Cease1955]

Hello fellow cruisers: I was wondering if sprint cell phones will work onboard ship. I assume for the most part, we will be fairly close to land, therefor I am hoping that my sprint service will pick up.

As we are on our 20th wedding aniversery, we will be leaving our 3 teenage children at home. It would be great if we do have cell service so that we can keep tabs on them.

Thanks for any info.

 

Chris and Denette Neville

[meemeec]

Hi

 

We have Verizon service and had pretty good service when we were in port but none when we were under way. This was almost 2 years ago and cell service may have been improved.

Congratulations on having three teenagers that you CAN leave!!

[Nitemare]

Agreed with meemeec, when you're near a city, you're ok, but between cities, there's no cell service. Towers only cover up to 5 miles max, and there's nothing for miles around between ports.

[Coral]

Hi,

 

I have Sprint also. Make sure you have roaming on your plan. If you don't - you can add it for $5 for the month and take it off when you get back.

 

I had roaming coverage in Juneau, Anchorage and Ketchikan. I did not try Skagway. I know we didn't have coverage while at Glacier Bay and College Fiords - I couldn't get any signal there.

 

Theresa

[tx2cruiser]

I was in Alaska last year and have Sprint - got coverage in a FEW ports, but Def. not all. Be aware that many days there was no internet access in the Internet Cafe, either. I don't know if this was afluke of my Cruise (Diamond), or happens often in Alaska.

 

 

Have fun!

[GloriaF]

How about Cingular/ATT Wireless service?

 

Does Seward have coverage?

[prarie cruiser]

Used my Cingular in most ports last summer, but again not able to do so for the most part when ship not at port. I think there might have been one port I was unable to get a connection. I have the national roaming plan so no extra charges incurred.

[Princess Chatterer]

Anchorage isn't shown as having PCS coverage but Sprint PCS digital worked perfectly when I was there a few years ago. I made lots of free calls back to the lower 48 from Anchorage. Had to switch to analog roam in the other Alaskan ports. I made sure I had an analog roaming deal with Sprint PCS long before I went north to Alaska. I tossed in Sprint PCS Canada roaming as well for Vancouver and an extended vacation to Calgary via Rocky Mountain Rail Tours.

 

PS. No cell phone coverage whatsoever way back in Glacier Bay. I was shocked. Totally shocked. ;)

[Budget Queen]

No you will NOT have any service while sailing and only pick it up a few miles out of port. I have Verizon and get good service with the Nationwide plan, no roaming. Also there are public librarys in each port, for free email access if needed. No problem with service in Seward and Anchorage.

[Stevesan]

Every cell phone company will provide you with a map, usually pocket size, that displays coverage areas for both analog and digital. Try calling Sprint, visiting a local Sprint store or visiting their web site.