Cell service around the islands

[cgattis]

This may be a very stupid question, but do all the major cell carriers have service in the islands? I assume whatever service you have on the mainland, if that carrier has service there, you wouldn't be roaming? (I don't even know if roaming is still a thing LOL)

And one other question....on the POA cruise, is that far enough out in the water to still hit the island towers, or am I roaming (or whatever) then?

Thanks for any help!

 

[kdonnel]

I had no issues in the past with AT&T. My next trip will be with T-Mobile. Their coverage map shows what looks like decent coverage.

 

[drcoulsey]

How's is the cell service for Verizon?

 

[Soccerluvinmama]

I had no issues in the past with AT&T. My next trip will be with T-Mobile. Their coverage map shows what looks like decent coverage.

I have T-Mobile and have never had any issues with coverage when I'm there

 

[kdonnel]

I have T-Mobile and have never had any issues with coverage when I'm there

Good to know. Switching to T-Mobile is saving us about $2100 a year, almost a whole vacation. So far so good with the coverage. We have only come across one place that has no coverage and that is a road trip we only take once a year and amounts to no service for part of the trip but service once again when we arrive out our location.

 

[cgattis]

Good to know. Switching to T-Mobile is saving us about $2100 a year, almost a whole vacation. So far so good with the coverage. We have only come across one place that has no coverage and that is a road trip we only take once a year and amounts to no service for part of the trip but service once again when we arrive out our location.

That's great to hear! We've bern considering a switch too, and just last night decided TMobile seems like the way to go!

 

[kdonnel]

And one other question....on the POA cruise, is that far enough out in the water to still hit the island towers, or am I roaming (or whatever) then?

Thanks for any help!

Forgot to take a stab at answering this one.

I have never taken the POA cruise but I have taken many cruises. You generally have cell service as far as 10 miles from shore. On some cruise ships they have their own cell tower that they turn on once they are far enough away from shore to not cause interference. In those cases you have to be careful because your phone will roam on the tower if you do not turn off the cellular radio on your phone.

In the case of the Pride of America, it does not have a cell tower so any signal you pickup will be from a regular land based cell tower. If it is from your provider, your phone will just work like at home.

https://www.ncl.com/about/staying-connected-sea-cellular-phone-service-texting
Note the fine print at the bottom that states: NOTE: CellAtSea Service is not included on Pride of America.

 

[cgattis]

Forgot to take a stab at answering this one.

I have never taken the POA cruise but I have taken many cruises. You generally have cell service as far as 10 miles from shore. On some cruise ships they have their own cell tower that they turn on once they are far enough away from shore to not cause interference. In those cases you have to be careful because your phone will roam on the tower if you do not turn off the cellular radio on your phone.

In the case of the Pride of America, it does not have a cell tower so any signal you pickup will be from a regular land based cell tower. If it is from your provider, your phone will just work like at home.

https://www.ncl.com/about/staying-connected-sea-cellular-phone-service-texting
Note the fine print at the bottom that states: NOTE: CellAtSea Service is not included on Pride of America.

Excellent! I didn't see the fine print; that's exactly what I was trying to avoid. Really appreciate the info on this thread!!

 

[TagsMissy]

We had no issues with T-Mo during our last trip on Oahu, can't speak for the other islands.

 

[Soccerluvinmama]

Good to know. Switching to T-Mobile is saving us about $2100 a year, almost a whole vacation. So far so good with the coverage. We have only come across one place that has no coverage and that is a road trip we only take once a year and amounts to no service for part of the trip but service once again when we arrive out our location.

I don't know that any carrier have 100% coverage. Everyone is going to have dead and weak spots. T-Mobile has done a great job of building out their network, and is now on par with Verizon. And like you said, you save so much money with them! We switched over because of the free (no data charge) to stream music. The list of things that no longer require data has grown, but not that it matters. They have the most cost efficient no limit data plan out there. And their customer service is top notch. Very happy with them!

 

[buffettgirl]

verizon coverage is great. The only time I don't get coverage is on the beach in Waimanalo.

 

[OKW Lover]

We did the PoA cruise two years ago and there was good cell service in all the ports. We have AT&T but others have different carriers. No issues with any of them unless you go to a really remote part of one of the islands.

 

[dclpluto]

Good to know. Switching to T-Mobile is saving us about $2100 a year, almost a whole vacation. So far so good with the coverage. We have only come across one place that has no coverage and that is a road trip we only take once a year and amounts to no service for part of the trip but service once again when we arrive out our location.

How many people on the plan?
That's a lot of $$$$

 

[kdonnel]

How many people on the plan?
That's a lot of $$$$

4.
2 data hungry teenagers, 1 data hungry lite father, and 1 moderate data using mother. We average about 60gig a month between the four of us.

AT&T would be $350 for 60gig and four lines. I pay $175 with T-mobile only because I pay $25 extra for my line to have LTE speed tethering instead of 512k. A savings of $175 per month or $2100 per year. Verizon would cost similar to AT&T.

 

[Midoria]

Nope. You're gonna be stuck with the coconut phone.

Sorry, I'm always waiting for the chance to make a bad coconut joke.

Anyway, like as others have said, we have cell phone coverage in most areas. Even on Molokai which sports a whopping population of 7,000(ish) people - though it's certainly the worst out of all all the islands. Of course, going to a very high altitude like Haleakala will lower or totally block your coverage.

 

[nkereina]

How's is the cell service for Verizon?

We had good coverage everywhere we went on Oahu, Kauai and Maui. A touch spotty in Kauai near Port Allen, but manageable still.