Cell phone service on Azamara - Cell at sea??

[Communik8r]

Hi, I've searched the forum, but I don't see any comments about cell phone service.  We will be doing the Alaska cruise and have two questions.

 

First, does Azamara have any type of "Cell at Sea" service that we should be aware of?  I don't want any surprises because I forgot to put my phone in airplane mode after we leave port. 

 

Second, other than when in port, can we get cell service from land on the inside passage of Alaska while cruising? I'm not sure how far out to sea we are and if the cell service can reach.  We are on T-Mobile, which partners with GCI, the local telco in Alaska.

 

Maybe nobody knows because the Quest has not been in the inside passage yet, and from what I hear, Alaska is a one and done year for Azamara.  It is currently in Kodiak, according to this website:

 

https://*****/ships-position-azamara-quest

 

 

 

Thanks!

 

Michael

[excitedofharpenden]

They do have cellular at sea service. These are the details from the Azamara site that may help you pin it down. I can't give you experience though as I've never used it. 

 

https://www.azamaraclubcruises.co.uk/life-onboard/stay-connected

 

Phil 

[hubofhockey]

ATT at Sea is the only one I am aware of that has deals with cruise lines.

[MNgardens]

Has anyone tried making calls over the internet?

[Communik8r]

OK, so I called Azamara and then T-Mobile and here is the deal for T-Mobile users:

 

When in port, your normal cellular services apply.  With my T-Mobile ONE, Canada and Alaska are treated the same as the Continental 48.  When at sea, the ships Cellular service takes over.  Someone in another forum stated that is 12 miles out.

 

I verified that Azamara does in fact use "Cell at Sea" .  Azamara doesn't control the cell service, it is done by your cell phone provider.  From the T-Mobile rep -  you can not opt out of any Cell at Sea service, but they don't support cellular data.

 

For T-Mobile users, at least they don't do Data over Cell so no accidental charges there, but their voice calls are $5.99 a minute incoming or outgoing.  Yikes!  Incoming SMS Texts don't cost anything, but sending SMS does.  Unanswered calls are not charged, so let it go to voicemail and turn off that ringer.

 

@ MNGardens - Azamara will block voice over WiFi and VPN access, so that won't help. No calls over the internet.

 

Here are the charges from T-Mobile.

 

Data	Text	Talk
All T-Mobile Plans T-Mobile ONE and Simple Choice Plan Customers get these rates automatically. Not on one of these plans? Activate these rates by adding the World Class service to each line through My T-Mobile.	No Data	Sending$0.50/txt  ReceivingDeducted from your domestic texting plan’s allotment.	$5.99/min

[QueenP]

16 hours ago, MNgardens said:

Has anyone tried making calls over the internet?

Yes I've made calls on Viber no problem.

[audobon_tx]

On 5/26/2019 at 9:42 PM, MNgardens said:

Has anyone tried making calls over the internet?

WhatsApp works fine.

[BBMacLaird]

On 5/28/2019 at 9:46 AM, flyingshoes said:

WhatsApp works fine.

WhatsApp is what my DH used from Deck 11 in Asia a couple years ago when he had to respond to issues at his business.  (Happily he is now retired :))