cell phone coverage

[BLONDIE35]

we are leaving saturday on the Star amd will be in Ketchikan, Skagway and Juneau. Does anyone know if we will have cell phone coverage from cingular????? we don't want to pay high fees for using our phones but we do have to check messages while we are gone. I really need to know about cingular. Thanks:cool:

[Poconolady]

I checked this very issue at a Cingular store yesterday. According to the map these is limited coverage in Juneau and possibly Ketchikan. They were the first to admit that we won't have lot of reception.

[Toyz711]

none from the ship, without using the expensive ship's tower.

FIL called out in juneau and ketchikan...don't know if he called anyone from skagway. he called from our room once and the open deck another time.

[tabnab]

we sailed out of Vancouver last year and here is what we did. when in vancouver we text messaged back to the US for the normal fee. As soon as we left Vancouver we lost our signal and did not have any signal until just before hitting port. we were in the same ports as you listed and had coverage in all three. we have cingular and there were no extra charges. our ship did not have cell towers at that time so we called home from our room when we had a signal. be sure your ship doesn't have a tower on before you call to avoid extra charges.

[lalawgirl]

Thanks for the info; I have Cingular as well.

 

Is there any way to tell if you are on the ships cell phone tower???

[Upper Bob]

The only Princess ship with an onboard tower is the Grand. Unfortunately, all RCI and NCL ships (both of which will be in the ports with the Princess Star) have towers. They are supposed to turn them off when they get very close to the port and while in port, but evidently there are occasional lapses reported. Visit the following web link for Cingular rates on various ships:

 

http://www.cingular.com/travelguide/coverage/cruise_ships_rates.jsp?PIDL=IRSD|IRWT

[minniemom]

What about Verizon or T-Mobile do they have coverage anywhere out there?

[qiangf2]

BLONDIE35, I got Verizon signal at all three ports. It does use roaming. but roaming is free for Verizon. hope this helps

[heyitsmejudy]

Please excuse my ignorance, but I want to make sure I have this straight since I once had to argue with Cingular that Key West was in Florida so I shouldn't have been charged $2.49 a minute.

As I'm reading this, if I wait until I get in port and off the ship, I should be OK and only using minutes, not running up a tab... correct?

[Toyz711]

when the ships are in port, you won't get charged for going through the ship's cell tower. extra charge for using the ship's tower. what you are charged while in port will depend on if you are on roaming or not. but there were signals for us while in port (cingular). FIL has a program where he has no roaming..he has no problem calling friends/family to tell them he was in alaska.

[Solara]

Dave, I have Verizon too. Did you use your phone when in the ports and not get charged for roaming or did you just get a signal.

[dawndelion]

I used Verizon in every port and did not get extra roaming charges or anything on my bill (I think the message on my phone said "extended network). Verizon doesn't do roaming charges unless you are on a regional plan (the one around here covers 3 states, but they don't even advertise it anymore). Alaska is totally covered by their national plans.

 

As for Cingular, I have heard it will display a "Cingular at Sea" message on your phone if you are the ships tower. If you see this, i woudl not call! Get off the ship and use the phone in port and you shoudl be on the land network. Cingular is a bit notorious at trying to sneak in extra roaming charges though, so be careful.

[gambit57]

Watch out for roaming charges while in Vancouver (if you stop there).

[Solara]

When I did call Verizon they did say if it said extended network you are OK and no roaming. Thanks for confirming that......always get so many different answers on the phone