How t-mobile in Alaska worked for me in port during my Alaska cruise

Hi there!

 

If you use t-mobile in Alaska, you have lower data limits compared to being in the rest of the United States using your phone normally at home!

 

👆 If you have t-mobile and go to Alaska, you will be roaming. I received a text message from t-mobile when I was in Alaska that I was approaching my limit for roaming. I was in Whittier when I received this message.

 

Well, I should preface this to say that I love t-mobile.

T-mobile is the best for international travel.

With a standard plan, you can use your phone in countries around the world, and you get free data.

Of course, confirm that your t-mobile plan includes international roaming!

Basically, as far as using my phone, I felt like I was traveling internationally when in Alaska, because I was roaming in Alaska, and because of the data limits.

If you use t-mobile internationally, you have lower data limits compared to being in the US.

Well, compared to being in the lower 48 of the US and Hawaii.

Similar to traveling internationally, you also have lower data limits when using your t-mobile phone in Alaska, compared to being in the rest of the US!

 

So, my t-mobile experience in Alaska was quite terrible.

Okay, not terrible. It was fine.

It’s just that it wasn’t what I expect at all.

I didn’t think I would be roaming the whole time in Alaska.

I mean, I am using my US phone through one of the biggest phone carriers in the US, in the capital of a US state, and I am roaming?

Basically it felt like the way I could use my phone in Alaska was the same way I could use my phone outside of the United States.

Which, is pretty good with t-mobile! But it was more so that I wasn’t able to watch as many episodes of my TV shows from my phone’s hotspot in Alaska, because I was not using my phone on the t-mobile network. 🤣

It’s more that I call it terrible because it was quite surprising and unexpected to me that I couldn’t use my phone in the US state of Alaska in the same way I could use my phone in literally any other state in the United States.

And, that included the capital of Alaska!

As far as the way I could use my phone, even though I’m in the capital of a US state (Juneau) or the biggest city in a US state (Anchorage), because I was roaming, there were low data limits.

T-mobile is not in Alaska.

Instead, they “partner” with a local carrier, GCI.

You might also end up on another network if you have t-mobile, but I think I mostly (only?) saw that I was on the GCI network.

Which, for most people who are just traveling to Alaska for a short time, is not a problem at all.

If you are on one of t-mobile’s standard plans, you won’t be paying extra for this roaming in Alaska, but you do have limits that you wouldn’t have using your phone at home.

So if you are just using your phone for just regular things like emails, social media, and maps (aka not trying to watch shows), then it’s very likely you won’t notice the data limits.

And even if you do reach the data limits, you won’t automatically be charged extra, your data will just get slower.

You can also call t-mobile and buy more high speed data if you do use your high speed data all up.

If you use up your roaming data, you’ll get a text message.

You’ll also get a text message when you’re approaching your free data roaming limit too.

 

👆 Text message I received from t-mobile while I was sitting in the Whittier cruise terminal passing time before my 26 glacier cruise after disembarking from the cruise ship. I had been watching some TV shows. 😆

 

I was in airplane mode most of the time I was out and about in Alaska. (I do this often as a way to save battery.)

But since I did not buy cruise ship internet during my Alaska cruises, the data when in port was the only way I would get online.

So I did try to get online on my phone in every cruise port I was in.

Most of my days in Alaska were quite full, so I didn’t always pay close enough attention to what type of data service I was getting to confidently tell you in which cities I got service just fine and which I didn’t.

But I do believe I generally had data service as would be expected (aka like most other tourist cities in America) in Juneau, Ketchikan, Whittier, and Anchorage.

This means that I was able to use my phone as I would expect to be able to use my phone, the same as if I were anywhere else in the US that is not rural America.

I was also in Skagway, Sitka, and Icy Strait Point.

The first time I was in Skagway, I am pretty sure I didn’t notice any problems, but I also hardly used my phone to say definitively. I am pretty sure I was able to see emails.

But the second time I was in Skagway… I was not able to connect to data AT ALL!

And I did try.

Because I was walking around in Skagway, trying to use google maps to get to Yakutania Point from the cruise port, and I couldn’t get online.

Luckily I had downloaded offline maps so it worked out just fine in terms of getting to where I wanted to go, so I was really happy about that! Good for me! 🤣

In Juneau, I did notice I didn’t get much if any data when at Mendenhall Glacier, but that was not unexpected.

Mendenhall Glacier is in Tongass National Forest, and it is often the case in going to many/most national forests and national parks across the US that there is no service. So I almost expected that and it was fine.

Since I took the bus to Mendenhall Glacier, in this case it meant that I did a general check for bus timings beforehand just to have a general idea.

Icy Strait Point. I was in airplane mode when on a whale watching tour in Icy Strait Point.

Icy Strait Point is considered one of the best cruise ports for whale watching in Alaska!

Right after I got off the boat, I turned on my phone and immediately got some sort of text message about how I was roaming.

This was my very first Alaska cruise port, and it freaked me out to get such a message so I immediately turned my phone back into airplane mode. 😂😅

Even though I was obviously on land, I was afraid that since it was rural Alaska it might mean they were not able to distinguish where I am and think that I’m roaming at sea or something 😅, which I hear can be very expensive.

Once the cruise ship is out to sea, I put my phone in airplane mode. If you are still relatively close to land, you might be able to still get regular data.

But now that I understand that there is no t-mobile in Alaska, I won’t be so quick to put my phone into airplane mode if I do get a message like that. 🤪

I don’t remember much about Sitka, but I do think I was online using my phone for maps, because I walked to Sitka National Historical Park.

I don’t think I had downloaded offline maps for that.

It is easy to get to if you plan ahead, though… which I didn’t since I expected to be able to use google maps online in the tourist areas of Alaska!

I would treat a trip to Alaska as if I am going to rural America… which you basically are… and I would download offline maps ahead of time.

For my second Alaska cruise, I had downloaded offline maps, which is why I was fine for that Skagway walk!

 

This is based on my experience and understanding of how t-mobile works in Alaska!

I was in Alaska in May of 2023.

Your experience may vary!

Your understanding may be better!

T-mobile’s coverage may change!

 

HAPPY USING T-MOBILE IN ALASKA!