Godd Morning ALL,
First time cruiser; second time chatter.
Question: Will my cell phone work on my cruise?
On the boat, on land, in port, out of port?
My service provider is Verizon.

Thank you,
micary

You need to check with your provider for more detail. What ports are you talking about? When I was in the Caribbean mine had extended service in Puerto Rico (no charge), but in St Thomas had a roaming fee. While at sea it didn't have service. I have Verizon.

Thanks CF

In time most ships will offer cell service at sea but the cost will be prohibitive. It cost me $5 on our last Princess cruise to listen to a short voice mail. It'll be OK for emergencies but not to chat for any period of time about the weather.

I guess where I'm going with this and I think the GURU probably answered it.
We will be traveling with a couple that won't be with us 24/7, so we'll need to contact them in most any given situation i.e. ship to shore, shore to shore, within the ship. I've read about walkie-talkies you can rent from the ship services but don't hear much from anyone on the chat-lines. I'm not a cell-head; don't need the silly things except for emergencies but was thinking they might provide a means of comm in the event we four needed to contact.

.....over

The frs/grms walkie talkies are OK in a pinch but don't expect them to give a reliable contact all the time. Depending on what deck you & the receiving party is on it may work sporadically at best. Don't count on ship to shore communications unless the person is standing at the tender pier & the other is on deck. The advertized ranges are extremely overrated to the point I can't believe they get away with the exaggerations. Sometimes their more trouble than their worth but if you do decide to go that route, buy you own & don't rent them. With what you'll pay for rental will be far more than buying them outright. Do a search for radios & you'll find plenty of discussions about their use.

Understood....How about cell phones? I realize at sea, they're probably worthless, unless their signal is from satelite. But near or in ports, can you communicate off and on the boat with those that receive signals from towers?

If the ship has a cell phone system installed & is near a port they turn it off & you can then use the cell system from land. On the ships system you'll notice that you roaming. The ships extra charges varies form what I read but on our last trip on the Grand Princess I checked my voice mail (thinking we were close enough to land) & incurred a $2.50 per minute charge. (Verizon). If you use the ships service to call another Verizon for which there would normally be no charge (from Verizon) the ship still gets $2.50 per minute for use of their equipment. If you call another cell provider you'll incur the $2.50 per minute for the ship + the normal charge from you carrier for cell service. The charges will show up on you bill from you provider about a month later & they reimburse the cruise line. I suppose if it's a quick call to locate someone it might be worth the cost. Not all ships have the cell equipment installed yet. My provider does have coverage in Puerto Rico & Hawaii which doesn't cost me any extra for roaming but for most of the islands in the Caribbean I get billed roaming charges.

Rich,

Do you know what Verizon's coverage is like in Alaska?

From what I read in the past it's not all that good. I'll try & find the place where I read about it & post the info.

Hi tekdiva, I looked around for the reports about Verizon's coverage in Alaska & there doesn't seem to be a clear cut answer. I've read reports from being good to terrible depending on which towns you'll be visiting. In any event if you do have coverage you'll probably be hit with roaming charges most of the time. I can't give you a first hand report since I didn't have a cell phone when we were there last. Perhaps someone from this forum has been to the ports you're going to.

I have cruised Alaska and I have Verizon service. They cover all the typical ports well. And the service (in Alaska) is part of you coverage area. So there shouldn't be any roaming charges. I don't remember having any show up. Also, when you are in Canada, you will want to be careful as I don't know what the charges would be there. When in doubt, check your phone before you dial. If you see a little "Boxed R" symbol you are roaming and may be accessed charges.

If you are really concerned, call Verizon and tell them where you will be travelling too and ask them if those places are in your calling plan. You may have to enable your phone for us in Canada if you will NEED to use it when you are there.

Rich and Jim,

Thank you for the information. I probably won't be doing much calling while on vacation other than checking in with my dad and daughter so they know that I haven't been kidknapped or fallen overboard! However, I want to at least be able to do that.

Jackie

It appears that they've improved coverage from a few years ago - just look for an area that's digital so you don't get hit with roaming charges.

quote:

Originally posted by tekdiva:
Rich,

Do you know what Verizon's coverage is like in Alaska?

Hi again tekdiva, We just booked a last minute cruise to Alaska in June. Please let us know how the Verizon cell coverage is at your ports when you return. I believe you have a trip coming up soon. It still looks like it's cold up there.
Rich

I sure will! From talking to my friend in Anchorage, the weather in Anchorage is similar to SE Michigan this time of year! The average high in May will be mid 50s. So by June it may be up to a balmy 70 degrees! lol

I will test both of my phones (Verizon and T-Mobile) while in port. Both carriers claim that I should have no problem using my phones in AK - we will see....lol

I'm sure the weather in the mornings, even in June, will be a shock to my wife as we're located in SW Florida & only used to that temp in mid Jan/Feb for a short period. We'll be leaving here with the temps in the 90's - but it'll feel good to me for a change. I'll rough it with a sweat shirt & a water proof jacket.



The cell phone carriers from experience will tell you anything you want to here. The only true test is to here it from someone or go there yourself. I believe T-Mobil has a signal chart which gives strength down to street areas but I don't know if it's available for Alaska. Verizon just shows general areas which I don't trust. Not that we need the cell phones all that much but it would be nice to have in case of emergencies or my wife gets lost shopping.