Alaska Verizon Question

[Penny61]

I will be going to Alaska on the Pearl in a couple,of weeks and I have a question about Verizon service in ports. Will there be any extra fees on my Verizon bill for using my phone for calls, texts or emails while in ports? Do I need to contact Verizon to add any type of add on service for Alaska travel? Thanks!!

[GrabMyWrist]

Nope. Your regular plan works fine. Just be careful if you ride the White Pass Railway heading into Canada. That would be your only issue.

Edited July 7, 2014 by GrabMyWrist

[littlelulu01]

Our bill did not cost any extra. The last day it bounced back between Canada and USA. No roaming fees this day either on ship but I suppose one could incur fees depending on which tower you pick up. We did not have any sort of extra plan added. If we were out at sea and could not see land we did not make calls as I'm sure we would have been using the ship service. I think the phone displays network avail so pretty foolproof

[don't-use-real-name]

Major cities no problem - riding the Alaska RR between Fairbanks and Anchorage

some coverage lacking - deep in the Denali Park also.

Reaching the city limits of cities along the RR tracks might result in loss of signal.

But McKinley Village just on the edge of the park was OK.

Shuttle driver in Fairbanks said there are some areas in Fairbanks that if you

get disconnected just wait till he drives to the next block and reconnect -

strange phenomena.

Something about a new frontier for Verizon - perhaps cell towers need to be

spaced differently for better coverage.

 

It is helpful to use an ear piece to mask out back ground noise.

 

Sailing - - -

If you are less than 20 miles out to sea and can see land go to the highest deck

on the ship and try to connect sometimes it works. It did for me on the

repositioning cruise in 2006. At night I could see lights on the shore line and

the reception was not too bad but faded as the ship moved further down the

coast till another big city with lights and cell towers could be linked.

Left SFO and connected with cousin in Monterey signal was great for about

5 minutes off of Santa Cruz - enough to say Hi wish you were here !

The very edge of fringe coverage - don't expect anything great for any length

of time ! A quickie and that is it for the most part.

But it is all FREE roaming with some Verizon plans - mine incurred no charge.

Careful though if connecting on Canada soil (Vancouver) don't know how that

works - wasn't there long enough to find out.

 

YMMV with who and whatever carrier you have and your plan and how new your phone is.

The phones are getting better and better each month - the next thing you

will be doing is talking to your collar pin - "Beam me up Scotty" !

 

In any event if you can use your cell phone with out ship assistance it is going

to save you lots of wampum and communicating with a blanket and smoke

signals and terribly slow speed internet by pony express and telegraph.

If you care the cruise lines squirrel cage motor can speed your message

transmission at breath taking speed (that is for the squirrel)!

Yeah I know a cruise is supposed to be relaxing and getting away from it all

but I would not like to miss a beat in getting another great deal on travel.

[garycarla]

Alaska is still part of the USA (with or without Sara Palin - LOL!). Assuming you have a nationwide plan, and calls made from Alaska cities are part of your plan.

 

Your phone will always indicate which carrier you are connected to in bar at the top. If it says something different, do not use it unless you want to pay the extra fees. Canada is of course International.

[time2cruise1]

Verizon was all but unusable in Skagway. The system for a town with less then 1000 residents is overwhelmed when multiple ships come in.

[garycarla]

Verizon was all but unusable in Skagway. The system for a town with less then 1000 residents is overwhelmed when multiple ships come in.

 

Now that you mention it. We were able to do email just fine in Skagway, but I noticed that internet on my phone was rather slow to respond. We were on AT&T and the high number of folks in town may have been to blame.

 

So, yes it works, but the system is very busy. And, since we were in the USA, no extra charge.

Edited July 7, 2014 by garycarla

[NMLady]

We have Verizon and had no problems using our nationwide calling plan in AK.

I am presuming you have the nationwide plan. If so, no charges, just your minutes, once the ship towers are turned off in port.

Edited July 7, 2014 by NMLady

[time2cruise1]

Now that you mention it. We were able to do email just fine in Skagway, but I noticed that internet on my phone was rather slow to respond. We were on AT&T and the high number of folks in town may have been to blame.

 

So, yes it works, but the system is very busy. And, since we were in the USA, no extra charge.

 

I had AT&T and worked ok. Both my friends had Verizon and could only get connected after many attempts. Our guide who lives there has verizon and said they have grown used to it when the ships are in.

[fishin' musician]

Be careful in Victoria as there will be significant roaming charges applied.

[fergusonvt]

On the Verizon Wireless website there is a place to enter where you are going (even cruises) and they type of phone you have and it will come back and tell you the cost for receiving and sending texts and phone calls. Easy to use and you will know for certain.