A few last questions...luggage tags and cell phone

Now that I'm flying up to Seattle to meet my niece for our cruise to
Alaska instead of driving up with my fiance, and have some questions.

First of all, I'm not going to staple my pre-printed Princess cruise
luggage tags on my suitcases before checking it through at the airport.
We are staying at a hotel the first night and taking a cab to the
dock, so there are no transfers with the cruise line. My question is,
would it save a bunch of time to take a little stapler with me to do it
before checking in at the pier, or do they quickly staple it there? I'd
rather just do what moves the process along smoother.

I'm also more interested now is using my cell phone to call home. I've
already asked T-Mobile about making calls from Alaska. All they've been
able to tell me is that I won't get charged extra, but they couldn't
tell me anything about coverage. From personal experience with any cell
phone provider...can you usually make cell phone calls from port in
Alaska? We'll be in Ketchikan, Skagway and Juneau. Plus, if we are in
port in Seattle or Alaska, do calls from the ship use towers on land at
that point, or do you still go through the ship? And, I keep hearing it
costs a lot to call from the ship at sea, but how much is a lot? Are we
talking about $3 a call or $30? Thanks.

Marcia

In article ,
"Marcia R." wrote:

Plus, if we are in
port in Seattle or Alaska, do calls from the ship use towers on land at
that point, or do you still go through the ship?
If you are in a port, then they usually turn off the ship's towers.
Most likely contract requirements. The easiest thing to do is once you
get into port, turn on the cell. If it is not roaming go ahead, if it
is, then decide based on your roaming costs.

And, I keep hearing it
costs a lot to call from the ship at sea, but how much is a lot? Are we
talking about $3 a call or $30? Thanks.

Kinda sorta both. Check in with T-Mobile, but my Sprint is less that
$3.00 a minute. Ship-to-shore is a bunch more.


Marcia

--
I want to find a voracious, small-minded predator
and name it after the IRS.
Robert Bakker, paleontologist

In "Marcia R."
wrote:

I'm also more interested now is using my cell phone to call home. I've
already asked T-Mobile about making calls from Alaska. All they've been
able to tell me is that I won't get charged extra, but they couldn't
tell me anything about coverage

http://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/pcc...mst_global_cvg

--
Bert Hyman St. Paul, MN

In peter
wrote:

Use them only in a Titanic type of emergency to say goodbye. They
will probably waive the fee in a case like that.

"All circuits are busy. Please hang up and try again later."

--
Bert Hyman St. Paul, MN

On 6/16/10 3:37 PM, Marcia R. wrote:
Now that I'm flying up to Seattle to meet my niece for our cruise to
Alaska instead of driving up with my fiance, and have some questions.

First of all, I'm not going to staple my pre-printed Princess cruise
luggage tags on my suitcases before checking it through at the airport.
We are staying at a hotel the first night and taking a cab to the dock,
so there are no transfers with the cruise line. My question is, would it
save a bunch of time to take a little stapler with me to do it before
checking in at the pier, or do they quickly staple it there? I'd rather
just do what moves the process along smoother.

I'm also more interested now is using my cell phone to call home. I've
already asked T-Mobile about making calls from Alaska. All they've been
able to tell me is that I won't get charged extra, but they couldn't
tell me anything about coverage. From personal experience with any cell
phone provider...can you usually make cell phone calls from port in
Alaska? We'll be in Ketchikan, Skagway and Juneau. Plus, if we are in
port in Seattle or Alaska, do calls from the ship use towers on land at
that point, or do you still go through the ship? And, I keep hearing it
costs a lot to call from the ship at sea, but how much is a lot? Are we
talking about $3 a call or $30? Thanks.

Marcia

Just in case you have trouble getting a connection in port...

One of the least expensive methods of staying in touch with those back
home is to text message from the ship. Texting was 50 cents per text to
send, and 5 cents a text to receive.

Compared to phone charges of $2.49 per minute, or getting a lot of
internet minutes on the computer, texting is very inexpensive.

--Tom

I have AT&T and calls from ports were free (cell to cell) had at least 4
bars in all ports. Sitka, Skagway, Juneau, Ketchican


John


"Marcia R." wrote in message
...
Now that I'm flying up to Seattle to meet my niece for our cruise to
Alaska instead of driving up with my fiance, and have some questions.

First of all, I'm not going to staple my pre-printed Princess cruise
luggage tags on my suitcases before checking it through at the airport. We
are staying at a hotel the first night and taking a cab to the dock, so
there are no transfers with the cruise line. My question is, would it
save a bunch of time to take a little stapler with me to do it before
checking in at the pier, or do they quickly staple it there? I'd rather
just do what moves the process along smoother.

I'm also more interested now is using my cell phone to call home. I've
already asked T-Mobile about making calls from Alaska. All they've been
able to tell me is that I won't get charged extra, but they couldn't tell
me anything about coverage. From personal experience with any cell phone
provider...can you usually make cell phone calls from port in Alaska?
We'll be in Ketchikan, Skagway and Juneau. Plus, if we are in port in
Seattle or Alaska, do calls from the ship use towers on land at that
point, or do you still go through the ship? And, I keep hearing it costs
a lot to call from the ship at sea, but how much is a lot? Are we talking
about $3 a call or $30? Thanks.

Marcia

In "john"
wrote:

I have AT&T and calls from ports were free (cell to cell) had at least
4 bars in all ports. Sitka, Skagway, Juneau, Ketchican

If the OP's T-Mobile coverage isn't that good, s/he can walk into any
AT&T store and buy a pre-paid phone for less than $30 (I got one for
free simply by walking in and asking questions). They even have a couple
on their Web site for less than $10. Their basic pre-paid plan charges
$0.25/minute for voice calls, with no additional charge for long
distance.

It's all on their Web site http://www.wireless.att.com/

Just checking AT&T's coverage map for Alaska

http://www.wireless.att.com/coverage...yg#?type=voice

it looks identical to T-Mobile's.

--
Bert Hyman St. Paul, MN

On 6/16/2010 2:37 PM, Marcia R. wrote:

snip...
My question is, would it save a bunch of time to take a little
stapler with me to do it before checking in at the pier, or do they
quickly staple it there?
snip...

From personal experience with any cell phone provider...can you
usually make cell phone calls from port in Alaska?

Marcia

Marcia, I'm glad you are here, you ask good questions. About 80 of us
went to Alaska last year in May, and everyone used their cell phones. I
also made calls from the ship while I was on the balcony. We visited
the same ports you are visiting and we were not charged any fees during
the entire trip.

As far as your luggage tags, I would wait until I got to the hotel and
ask to use their stapler. You can get luggage tags at the pier, but the
pier was a mess when we were there. Our cruise was the 2nd cruise out
of the new pier and it took people forever to get on the ship. Arrive at
the pier early and after the cruise try to do a walk off.

Becca

Kurt Ullman wrote:
In article ,
"Marcia R." wrote:

Plus, if we are in
port in Seattle or Alaska, do calls from the ship use towers on land at
that point, or do you still go through the ship?
If you are in a port, then they usually turn off the ship's towers.
Most likely contract requirements. The easiest thing to do is once you
get into port, turn on the cell. If it is not roaming go ahead, if it
is, then decide based on your roaming costs.

Hmmm, how do I tell if it's roaming? Sorry, but I'm blonde. LOL.

Marcia

Becca wrote:
On 6/16/2010 2:37 PM, Marcia R. wrote:

snip...
My question is, would it save a bunch of time to take a little
stapler with me to do it before checking in at the pier, or do they
quickly staple it there?
snip...

From personal experience with any cell phone provider...can you
usually make cell phone calls from port in Alaska?

Marcia

Marcia, I'm glad you are here, you ask good questions. About 80 of us
went to Alaska last year in May, and everyone used their cell phones. I
also made calls from the ship while I was on the balcony. We visited
the same ports you are visiting and we were not charged any fees during
the entire trip.

As far as your luggage tags, I would wait until I got to the hotel and
ask to use their stapler. You can get luggage tags at the pier, but the
pier was a mess when we were there. Our cruise was the 2nd cruise out
of the new pier and it took people forever to get on the ship. Arrive at
the pier early and after the cruise try to do a walk off.

Becca

Thanks Becca, and everyone else. I haven't clicked on the T-Mobile
coverage link yet in a previous response, but I will right now. I did
try a coverage map a while back, and where there were areas with
coverage, it didn't actually list the city names so it was pretty
useless trying to figure it out.

Marcia