Wi fi in Alaska

[gizmodog]

Is it worth it to purchase wi fi while on Alaska cruise? How is HAL wi fi?

[Arizona Wildcat]

2 minutes ago, gizmodog said:

Is it worth it to purchase wi fi while on Alaska cruise? How is HAL wi fi?

You need to decide.  There is free wifi and good mobile phone service in every port.  We do not usually use our phones except when on port.  Others are on theirs all the time.

The service like every ship is very slow compared to at home.

[boze9999]

I find wifi when sailing through the inside passageway and the ocean route ok @gizmodog. The big challenge with ship wifi in Alaska is when parking at the ports with massive stone mountains blocking internet signals - that will interfere with ship wifi. Also Remember you're in the US so your cell phone coverage works in Alaska! FYI - you won't get wifi when you're cruising in Glacier Bay. 

[YourWorldWithBill]

58 minutes ago, gizmodog said:

Is it worth it to purchase wi fi while on Alaska cruise? How is HAL wi fi?

We used our wi-fi when at sea cruising Alaska, but the connection was not great. It worked for simple stuff.

[terrydtx]

In 2019 on an Alaska cruise on the Noordam we used only our phone cell service which worked very well at all ports. Unless you need the Wi-Fi while out of cell service areas on sea days, I would not buy any Wi-Fi.

[kangforpres]

remember you will have cell service in all the ports, and it will be domestic US cell service, not roaming international.

[robotpony]

4 hours ago, kangforpres said:

roaming international

 

Assuming you're from the US! Roaming for Canadians in Alaska is pretty reasonably priced for most providers (CAD$7-12/day), and this worked well for us last August.

 

WIFI was adequate for email, some messaging, instagram, and Facebook (the mid tier). Some of the time it was unavailable, and it was slow much of the time. 

 

It's worth noting that WIFI can appear to stop working and it may not always be a weak satellite connection (try re-connecting through the app and it may start working again). We found this at least a few times on our last few cruises. 

[kangforpres]

true