Keeping in touch on the Sun to Alaska

[Cindercat]

Hi all,

 

I didn't know whether to post this in the Alaska forum or here, but decided the NCL forum might be a better choice - hope it was the right one.

 

We are going on our first cruise to Alaska in one (!) week on the Sun out of Vancouver. Due to a sick pet I need to have reliable communication available at all times in case our pet sitter needs to get in touch with us. I have some probably dumb questions about onboard communications:

 

1. Will our cell phone work reliably all the time no matter what - in port and at sea? This would be the best option, I think.

 

2. I have read on these boards that the cell cost is $2.99/minute. This is a stupid question, but does it just show up on your cell phone bill or is it charged somehow to your onboard account?

 

3. In my cruise literature there is an email address for me to use. Does this mean I cannot use my account with my personal internet service provider?

 

4. I have an option to bring my own laptop. Would that be cheaper, or is the cost the same whether you use the ship's computers or your own?

 

Thanks to all you experienced cruisers for helping out a newbie!

 

Cindercat

[odblnt]

1. It depends on your current cell phone carrier. While at sea, the ships are connected by the following company: http://www.cellularatsea.com When they get within the range of the land towers, the ship system shuts down and you use their towers. Check your provider to see if they have roaming in Alaska. I can report that with T-Mobile we had very few problems. Our only problem was in retrieving our voice-mail messages. Our problems would have been overcome if I had looked up the instructions before our cruise.

 

2. It will show up on your cellular bill, not your ship account.

 

3. It is only for your convenience. This would be handy if your home provider does not have a way for you to access your e-mail away from your home computer. If you have a free web-based service (Hotmail, Yahoo, G-Mail), you can access them.

 

4. It doesn't make any difference if you use your own or their computers.

 

Good Luck - Enjoy

[Cindercat]

Thanks so much for the information! That is just what I needed to know.

 

Cindercat

[Got2Cruise]

We have AT&T cellular. Any calls to or from Alaska are free. Also, text messages are 50cents if you need roaming. I was amazed how well the reception from Alaska was when I called home in NY. The calls went through instantly and we were not cut off. Even from the Mendenhall Glacier.

[Cindercat]

Thank you Got2Cruise. We also have At&T cellular. It sounds like we might be OK with cell reception.

 

One more dumb question - when someone from home calls us on our cell phone, do they need to dial anything special, or just the area code + number? I saw somewhere else that someone needed to use a "+" sign before the number for calls to either Vancouver or Alaska, I don't remember which.

 

Thanks,

Cindercat

[Hi de Hi]

We are with Orange. Our mobiles would not pick up a signal on the ship and when in the alaskan ports they could only get emergeny coverage (911). It will depend on your network I suppose.

 

We didn't use the cyber cafe thingy but people were able to access their own email accounts etc.

[odblnt]

Thank you Got2Cruise. We also have At&T cellular. It sounds like we might be OK with cell reception.

 

One more dumb question - when someone from home calls us on our cell phone, do they need to dial anything special, or just the area code + number? I saw somewhere else that someone needed to use a "+" sign before the number for calls to either Vancouver or Alaska, I don't remember which.

 

Thanks,

Cindercat

 

No, all they have to do is dial your number just like if you were right there in your normal city and not roaming. The rest is done transparently with the cell phone company. (We had the same question when I was "roaming" and my wife was home. This was a few years ago and now she always "roams" with me. :rolleyes:)

 

You may need to use the + if you dial a stateside number from Canada. Check your provider.

 

Oh, and you need to dial an area code on numbers back home that you call from Alaska.

[Cindercat]

Thanks - that's good to know!

 

Cindercat

[time2cruise1]

We have AT&T cellular. Any calls to or from Alaska are free. Also, text messages are 50cents if you need roaming. I was amazed how well the reception from Alaska was when I called home in NY. The calls went through instantly and we were not cut off. Even from the Mendenhall Glacier.

 

That is true in port. Keep in mind when the ship is underway the ships service is turned on and you will see a $2.49 per minute charge for inbound or outbound calls on your next AT&T bill

[ute_fan]

In my cruise literature there is an email address for me to use. Does this mean I cannot use my account with my personal internet service provider?

 

Thanks to all you experienced cruisers for helping out a newbie!

 

Cindercat

 

DO use your regular email account! The shipmail ones end up being very expensive. It's around $4 to set it up, and another $4 each time you access it. I'd recommend signing up for one of the internet packages and then just using your regular account. We've used our Yahoo and gmail ones with no difficulty, and I could also access my work email at my last job.

 

We have unmarried kids at home and elderly parents, so we always need to keep in touch with them, too.

[Got2Cruise]

That is true in port. Keep in mind when the ship is underway the ships service is turned on and you will see a $2.49 per minute charge for inbound or outbound calls on your next AT&T bill

 

You can also call AT&T and have them block any incoming calls when you are in the "cellular at sea" range, or they tell you how to code your phone. You don't want to get charged for calls that are not important. And, $2.49 is more reasonable than the ship to shore of through the ship, that is something like $8.99 per minute.