Cell Phones in Alaska

[gf]

What are your experiences with cell phone use in Alaska? What carrier and type of service?

 

We are going 7/20 to Ketchikan, Skagway, Juneau, Sitka and to Denali and would like to choose the carrier with the highest rate of success.

 

Thanks for your help.

[Coral]

I have Sprint. I paid an additional $5 a month to add roaming to my plan (I don't usually have it) and I had good coverage in Juneau, Ketchikan and Anchorage. I didn't try Skagway.

[jrask]

I have Verizon. We had coverage in Juneau, Seward, and all around the Anchorage area. We had signal for about half of the drive from Anchorage to Denali and then nothing. No coverage in Ketchikan although others reported coverage there for Verizon. No coverage in Skagway.

[clopaw]

If you call your carrier, they can tell you where you will and won't have roaming charges.

[cruisebie]

jrask, did you have to pay roaming charges with Verizon? Just wondering if Alaska was covered under their nationwide plan.

[jrask]

Alaska and Hawaii are both covered on the nationwide plan. Of course, under Verizon's nationwide plan, parts of every state can be roaming. We certainly went on the extended network (which is free under the nationwide plan at least as I have it) during parts of the drive between Anchorage and Seward (other areas had no signal on this drive)...possible that we also hit some patches of roaming on the drive, but I can't remember. The rest of the time we either had normal signal or had no signal.

[DaveP]

gf: I used Cellular One last summer in all the places you are going. Excellent service in all ports. Used the All USA package no roaming fees.

[cactuscruiser]

We were hiking in Sitka last summer, about halfway in on the Indian River Trail. Very remote -we thought, and then our Verizon phone rang! Ruined the whole mood! :)

[cruisergrandma]

We have Cingular and used our phone in both Juneau and Ketchikan. No problems. Good reception.

[Budget Queen]

I have both Verizon Nationwide and American's choice plan. NO ROAMING with the Nationwide and I had coverage a good portion of the Parks Highway- over several trips. I was not without coverage for probably more than hour when driving. With the America's Choice, roaming kicks in outside of Anchorage and Fairbanks, at least it did last year. Service areas are always changing.

[mrr210]

I have T-Mobile, and while I had great coverage in Vancouver, I had almost no coverage in Alaska. My brother and mother both had verizon and they were able to get service in all of our alaska ports, but whatever plan they were on they had very expensive roaming charges. Like the above posters said, I would call your phone company and ask about roaming. It seems from reading the above and from personal experience that verizon gets pretty good service in alaska.

[chalky_bertie]

Can I just ask - when people say they had roaming charges does this mean that had to pay an additional monthly charge for using it abroad?

We will be coming from the UK and am bringing my Quad Band phone, all we will pay is the cost of the calls (expensive) but no extra charges. Not sure what Network they will use in Alaska but from the sounds of it it should work.

[stephenandrew]

We were hiking in Sitka last summer, about halfway in on the Indian River Trail. Very remote -we thought, and then our Verizon phone rang! Ruined the whole mood! :)

 

 

Agree--I am sure there are many people with the need to stay in touch while away, but the constant ringing of cell phones really does "ruin the mood". Wish folks could take a vacation fomr their cell phones.

[emund]

I agree cell phones can ruin the whole ambiance of being on vacation, but they can be a great safety net (if you have service), and it is reassuring to know that you can get in touch with someone if you need to. I have T-Mobile, and I'm bringing mine, but I don't have much expectations for service from what I have read here.

 

Erik

[Cruisin Gomer]

I don't normally use my cell phone while on vacation - it sits in the luggage. Was glad I did take it with me last year when we cruised. We were on the Century when hurricane Jeanne hit Florida. The captain kept us out two extra days(gosh darn). He took us in close to Key West so our phones worked and we could call home to let people know we would be delayed. Can you believe it, people actually complained about an extra two days vacation. That has been the only time I was glad to have a cell phone available while on vacation. It was also the only time it was turned on!!!!!

[Budget Queen]

Roaming is per minute charges. You may be better off with a prepaid phone card. Walmart sells reasonable ATT cards.

[Giantfan13]

I may be wrong, but I thought roaming is when you are out of your area and your immediate network and the phone had to 'roam' to find a local carrrier to take the call, or something liike that. When you use the phone in your home area, you have no roaming, it's usually when you are away from your main area. I have a plan with T-Mobile that has free roaming. we used the phone extensively in Vancouver and in anchorage, but in between, no luck. As was said, a cheap calling card is worth it;s wait in gold.

[Shirleya53]

When I changed to Cingular from ATT last September (before they announced the merger), I specifiaclly asked about calling from anywhere in the US to anywhere in the US (all 50) without roaming fees and they said yes.

[Joaniemae]

I have Verizon 50 state plan. When I had the Nationwide plan I had roaming charges in Juneau. There are spots in Juneau where the phone doesn't work very well. Take into consideration, there are 10,000 people who just got off the ship in a town where most of the year there are only about 35,000. The local cell phone service is overwhelmed. Cellular One is the local service in Juneau. AT&T is lousy in Juneau.

[KenP]

Be careful with the nationwide plans in Alaska.

 

I've got an old plan and phone through cingular which have several modes including analog (but not GSM) and the plan has true no roaming charges and no long distance extra charges. Even if you connect to "Bubba's Wireless Inc." analog tower in a remote area, the phone works and there is no additional charge.

 

However now with cingular they seem to be pushing GSM only phones and plans. They may not even work in remote areas, even though you may have the nationwide plan.