Internet or Not

[nanasandy]

We are sailing on Coral Princess on June 19th.  What are the pros and cons on paying for internet.  Since we are in the USA we should be able to use our cell phone service to get internet when in port or close to.  I know sailing around the Glacier Bay and another day at Sea before docking in Vancouver we shouldn't get any service.  I like to download my newspaper on my IPAD every morning and don't want issues?  Your thoughts?

[fishywood]

When the ship is not in port it turns its own cell towers on. Don't even THINK about trying to download your newspaper then, the data roaming charges will be enough to pay for a second cruise. If you are not going to switch your device into airplane mode except when in the three US ports, at least disable data roaming as while at sea your phone could easily catch a signal from Canada as well as the extortionate Cellular at Sea service.

 

Cell signal is weak at best in Whittier, so on embarkation day do all your downloads in Anchorage. If you can't live without your hometown news for three of the next six days you will have to invest in an internet package.

Edited June 9, 2019 by fishywood

[mrell345]

From what i have been reading, the internet service on Coral is not very good either.

Edited June 9, 2019 by mrell345

[JF - retired RRT]

It won't be that long. Catch the news on TV and wait till you're in port or at home.

[Haboob]

In Alaska, all the satellites hang very low in the sky, and the high-bandwidth MEO satellites are below the horizon.

 

In Glacier Bay, no GEO satellites will be above the mountains either ( = no internet ), and depending on just what berth the Coral will be using in various ports, that may be true when docked as well.  Davis Island makes Juneau problematical, and the mountain next to the Railroad Docks in Skagway does the same.

 

BTW, if you're not going north of Seattle / Southampton next time, look into "WiFi Calling".  If your phone and provider support it, then you can route incoming and outgoing calls and texts at sea via a ship's internet plan for no extra charge instead via of it's piratical-rate cell tower.   Such has drawbacks, though:  I got woken up at 5:30 one morning in Hawai'i by a robocall informing me that trash pickup would be a day late because of a holiday and which thought I was at home and it was 8:30.  Grrrr!

Edited June 9, 2019 by Haboob
Removing superfluous line-breaks

[crystalspin]

Just read on another thread, two people back from Alaska said internet (wifi) was miserable even on a ship with Medallion Net. I have purchased MN for our equatorial So.Pacific cruise, but will not for our five-person Alaska one. There are a few ports that are 3rd time repeats for all on board, maybe we'll find a wifi-pub and check in with the world (or maybe not).

[Times Prince]

Check your cell phone coverage carefully for when in port.  On our Alaska cruise we needed to do a family chick-in while in Alaskan ports and got hit with roaming charges. And that was when we had Verizon.

 

[Lindaru]

27 minutes ago, Times Prince said:

Check your cell phone coverage carefully for when in port.  On our Alaska cruise we needed to do a family chick-in while in Alaskan ports and got hit with roaming charges. And that was when we had Verizon.

 

I get my Verizon bill in the morning.  I will have to let you know whether I let out a sigh or let out a scream as we also contacted family in the Alaskan ports.

 

😲

 

[Lov1ngLife]

AT&T told me I could use my phone in Alaska ports whenever I had a signal (phone calls only not data) without a roaming fee. Did they misinform me? Wouldn’t be the first time. 

[pablo222]

13 hours ago, Haboob said:

BTW, if you're not going north of Seattle / Southampton next time, look into "WiFi Calling".  If your phone and provider support it, then you can route incoming and outgoing calls and texts at sea via a ship's internet plan for no extra charge instead via of it's piratical-rate cell tower.

The poster asked about cell data, so they could download their hometown newspaper

 

How will wifi calling help them?

 

Call someone at home, and have them read the newspaper over the phone?

 

[Ep010835]

We’ve never, ever had data/cellular charges while in Alaska.

 

We use ATT and Alaska is among the 50 United States. 

 

Am I missing something here?

[IBCruisin19]

I just got off the phone with Verizon as this was a concern.  We are leaving for our cruise Friday.  I was told that I was good (no roaming charges) while in Alaska.  If I wanted to use it in Canada (we port in Vancouver and fly out) then I would get the roaming charges.  To waylay this, they added a TravelPass for $5.00 a day IF YOU USE IT.  If you do not use it, there will be no charges.  It was a no-brainer -- we added it as we have several hours to kill before our flight leaves Vancouver for US.  They did suggest that whenever possible though, use WIFI. 

[c-boy]

11 hours ago, Times Prince said:

Check your cell phone coverage carefully for when in port.  On our Alaska cruise we needed to do a family chick-in while in Alaskan ports and got hit with roaming charges. And that was when we had Verizon.

 

340 dollar roaming fee's  surprise !

[Kingofcool1947]

22 hours ago, nanasandy said:

We are sailing on Coral Princess on June 19th.  What are the pros and cons on paying for internet.  Since we are in the USA we should be able to use our cell phone service to get internet when in port or close to.  I know sailing around the Glacier Bay and another day at Sea before docking in Vancouver we shouldn't get any service.  I like to download my newspaper on my IPAD every morning and don't want issues?  Your thoughts?

 

Ship Internet is molasses slow, and expensive.

Ship to shore will be expensive.

Do not use your dats plan unless you must.  Use WiFi.  

Plenty of news stations available on your stateroom tv.   Usually international.

Can’t you just wait until you get into port to hop on the Internet?   Plenty of Starbucks in Alaska, and Vancouver has fast 5g through the out the city.

 

Edited June 10, 2019 by Kingofcool1947

[Lindaru]

I was relieved to see that we did not incur any roaming while docked in Alaska with Verizon.  Just thought I would let you know.  This was talking and texting.  We do not have internet on our flip-phone and I would have used my tablet for internet.

 

[Hlitner]

20 hours ago, Times Prince said:

Check your cell phone coverage carefully for when in port.  On our Alaska cruise we needed to do a family chick-in while in Alaskan ports and got hit with roaming charges. And that was when we had Verizon.

 

You do realize this is based on your own Internet plan.  About 3 years ago we spoke with a few entertainers on a European HAL cruise who quickly convinced us we should change our cell provider to TMobile.  So a few months later we purchased the Tmobile Senior plan which cost $55 a month (total for DW and me) which gave us unlimited phone, data and text.  But the best part (for travelers) is that this included coverage in over 140 countries with zero roaming charges.  When outside North America we pay 25 cents a min for phone service but data and text are no additional charge.  As to Alaska, it is just one more State and included as is Canada and Mexico

 

For those that might travel a few days a year, it is probably best to live with what you have.  But for those of use who do a lot of travel it is hard to beat T-Mobile.  But I am puzzled by any US Plan that would charge roaming fees in Alaska.  Other then some of the really cheap no-name plans just about everyone offers nationwide coverage.

 

Hank

[Shelldor]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

You do realize this is based on your own Internet plan.  About 3 years ago we spoke with a few entertainers on a European HAL cruise who quickly convinced us we should change our cell provider to TMobile.  So a few months later we purchased the Tmobile Senior plan which cost $55 a month (total for DW and me) which gave us unlimited phone, data and text.  But the best part (for travelers) is that this included coverage in over 140 countries with zero roaming charges.  When outside North America we pay 25 cents a min for phone service but data and text are no additional charge.  As to Alaska, it is just one more State and included as is Canada and Mexico

 

For those that might travel a few days a year, it is probably best to live with what you have.  But for those of use who do a lot of travel it is hard to beat T-Mobile.  But I am puzzled by any US Plan that would charge roaming fees in Alaska.  Other then some of the really cheap no-name plans just about everyone offers nationwide coverage.

 

Hank

Same thing with Sprint, but the monthly charges are higher.  We used our cellphone in the Baltics, including St. Petersburg with no roaming charges what so ever. 

[geoherb]

Our friends took a Celebrity cruise to Alaska earlier this year. The husband had to have internet for work. He used a mobile hotspot through Verizon. His bill was over $1,000.

[WisCruiser2]

As I understand it (and have seen it addressed on the Alaska board), roaming charges come into play if you ping Canandian cell towers, even if you're in Alaska.

[Glaciers]

You won’t have cell service in many places although you should be able to connect when in port or close as you noted. Even when not in port you’ll find brief glimpses of service as you sail past communities. We were standing on deck with only islands in sight when my phone notified me of text messages. The signal was gone in 5 minutes. We had service near the entrance of Glacier Bay both entering and departing since we were close to Bartlett Cove and Gustavus.

 

You can add an internet package at any time, if needed.

[Thrak]

7 hours ago, geoherb said:

Our friends took a Celebrity cruise to Alaska earlier this year. The husband had to have internet for work. He used a mobile hotspot through Verizon. His bill was over $1,000.

 

Ouch! We have Verizon and no restrictions in Alaska. In Canada we get a "welcome to Canada" text that says there will be no roaming charges but we are limited to .5 GB of data per day.  We recently returned from a 15 day cruise tour with 3 days in Canada added onto the end. Our bill is the same as always.

[billco]

18 hours ago, Hlitner said:

You do realize this is based on your own Internet plan.  About 3 years ago we spoke with a few entertainers on a European HAL cruise who quickly convinced us we should change our cell provider to TMobile.  So a few months later we purchased the Tmobile Senior plan which cost $55 a month (total for DW and me) which gave us unlimited phone, data and text.  But the best part (for travelers) is that this included coverage in over 140 countries with zero roaming charges.  When outside North America we pay 25 cents a min for phone service but data and text are no additional charge.  As to Alaska, it is just one more State and included as is Canada and Mexico

 

For those that might travel a few days a year, it is probably best to live with what you have.  But for those of use who do a lot of travel it is hard to beat T-Mobile.  But I am puzzled by any US Plan that would charge roaming fees in Alaska.  Other then some of the really cheap no-name plans just about everyone offers nationwide coverage.

 

Hank

I have the senior plan with Sprint that includes the same features as T-Mobile. I have gone back and forth between both carriers, because they tend to offer incentives to keep me. Don't know what T-Mobile offers now, but with Sprint you can upgrade the free slow internet to high speed internet in those 140 countries for $5/day or $25/week.

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, billco said:

I have the senior plan with Sprint that includes the same features as T-Mobile. I have gone back and forth between both carriers, because they tend to offer incentives to keep me. Don't know what T-Mobile offers now, but with Sprint you can upgrade the free slow internet to high speed internet in those 140 countries for $5/day or $25/week.

Funny you should mention that plan.  Just today we got an e-mail and text from T-Mobile about a promo on their "Travel Pass" which offers a high-speed upgrade in 210+ countries.  It is priced at $5 per day, $35 for 10 days or $50 for a month.  There are also some generous gb limitations such as 15 gb on the monthly plan.  With this plan their 2G data speeds (overseas) would theoretically be increased to LTE (if available) and the 25 cent per minute phone call charge would be eliminated.  

 

When we have traveled in Europe and Asia, and sometimes been throttled to 2G, it was fine for our purposes.  But 2G can be a real drag (lag) for downloads or some streaming programs.  We would consider a month plan for a future lengthy trip in Asia but normally would not have any major reason to buy the extra speed.  Also consider that somebody taking a month trip would break-even if they simply used 200 minutes of phone in the entire month.

 

What I do not know is how long T-Mobile will keep the current promo pricing.

 

Hank

[phillies fan]

I was on the Coral Princess cruise from June 5-12.   As a Platinum level guest, I got 150 free minutes and decided not to opt for an internet package until they were all used up.   

I only tried to connect when we were in port cities and found the internet very slow and unreliable.   I first tried using my iPad in my cabin and then started using the computers in the Internet Lounge.   Opted to only look over emails needing immediate attention (which were few in number) and left the ship never coming close to using the free minutes.

After a few days, I began to enjoy not having my phone on my hip and being off the grid     

[Thrak]

On 6/15/2019 at 6:19 AM, phillies fan said:

Opted to only look over emails needing immediate attention (which were few in number) and left the ship never coming close to using the free minutes.

After a few days, I began to enjoy not having my phone on my hip and being off the grid     

 

We rarely use up all of our free minutes. It's fine that way. 😎