Taking an Alaskan cruise for our 20 year anniversary. Fly into Fairbanks, couple of days in Denali, train down to the ship, cruise the inner passageway down to Vancouver, fly home. Anyone done this trip? I know cell phone will be OK on land in Alaska. We can do a AT&T Passport for Vancouver. What about on the Holland America ship? Thanks Scott
I have no experience in this department. 
What about a backup plan like skype? Pretty much anywhere you have internet you can call/text, but I don't know how often you will have internet but no cell signal.
Bon voyage!
from what I understand.. you pay by the minute for internet on a cruise ship.. and it is -not- cheap. I know it is all done by satellite upload, so your speeds will vary too
The only suggestion I can offer is this.
It's your 20th anniversary, talk to your wife.
Have fun, I'd like to do the inside passage one day.
I have to bring her along? 
She is the one who is freaked out of being out of touch!
How far from shore will you be? Cell phones are good for several miles offshore, I've heard as high as 20.
If she's really stressing, look into renting a sat phone for a week. Then forward her cell to it.
A quick search shows they start at about $20 a week. I'm not sure if they have a minimum.
In reply to Spitsix:
I just got back from Ketchikan last week. You didn't have to get too far from town to lose signal. I was on a 22' sport fishing boat though. I'd assume that a cruise ship would have some big antennas and repeaters on board.
Kenny_McCormic wrote: How far from shore will you be? Cell phones are good for several miles offshore, I've heard as high as 20.
I think all the islands of the inside passage kind of hinders that.
Spitsix wrote: She is the one who is freaked out of being out of touch!
Maybe I'm old, but isn't the whole point of vacation to be out of touch with the real world back home??
Did this last summer. Good reception at the docks. It goes away quickly. Wifi on the ship and cell service is available but it's not cheap. Enjoy the ride. It's not that hard to unplug for a day and a half. Do some fun side excursions. There's much more interesting stuff to look at than a screen.
EvanR wrote:Spitsix wrote: She is the one who is freaked out of being out of touch!Maybe I'm old, but isn't the whole point of vacation to be out of touch with the real world back home??
This. People look at me like I'm from Mars when I give them my house number ,but won't give out my cell number. I like to be left alone sometimes.An Alaskan cruise would be a good opportunity to get some alone time.
But, if your wife can't be without the electronic tether keep her happy......happy wife,happy life applies.
We did an Alaskan cruise last summer- check your coverage at the stops. Sprint didn't have anything at one spot, but did at one other. Canada, well...
Depending on who your coverage is- you may have special deals for on ship calls. I know ATT has a deal for ship calling. All ships have some kind of internet- but its generally slow. Not skype capable. For your sanity, if the sites you visit have a mobile website, use it- most of those use much less data, and are faster. Most ships will have some kind of package- they are not super expensive anymore- as I see people posting FROM cruises now. Big pictures and all.
We cruise a lot, and rarely use the services, but do know they exist. And are better than nothing.
You'll need to log in to post.
