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ccrago's avatar
ccrago
Neighbour
27 days ago

Alaskan Cruise

Hi all,

I am going on an Alaskan cruise soon and I wanted to know what coverage I would have.
My plan covers Canada and the US, but what I am reading is that it will be fine once I am in a US town, but will not work once I am at sea.

Is there something that I can use to get better coverage and not charged a lot for the roaming fees?

 

Thanks

1 Reply

  • TELUS_Support's avatar
    TELUS_Support
    Icon for Official Support Team rankOfficial Support Team
    27 days ago

    You're definitely right to inquire about that, as cruise ships can be tricky in terms of roaming charges. You're also right in that your plan will work great while docked in places like Juneau, etc as Alaska is of course covered in your plan.

     

    However, once the ship is out to sea (usually it's about 10-12km) your phone will switch to what's known as cellular at sea via satellite. Your plan will unfortunately not cover you out there. If your phone is connected to the ship's satellite tower only, you'll see rates usually around $7/minute and $0.75/text. To prevent bill shock, TELUS automatically blocks data usage on these maritime networks as well, so you won't accidentally run up a huge background data bill. Our best advice is to do the following:

     

    - Turn Airplane Mode on asap. As soon as the ship is leaving port, turn on Airplane Mode but then keep Wi-Fi on. This ensures you won't ping the satellite tower.

    - Before leaving, make sure Wi-Fi Calling is on in your phone. Then, when you're on the ship's Wi-Fi, you can often call/text to Canada/U.S. numbers just like you're at home.

    - If you have any port days, that's your time to browse, upload photos, etc.

    - Download Offline Maps before leaving. Google Maps lets you download the areas of your ports beforehand. This saves data and ensures that you again don't accidentally ping the satellite tower.

     

    Lastly, if you absolutely need data while at sea, inquire with the cruise line as they often have data packages to purchase. Enjoy your cruise!

     

     

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