walkie talkie advice

Traveling with party of 12. Any advice on good walkie talkie brand to purchase? 5 kids have a history of killing the "cheap toy ones." Also, how likely that we'll be sharing the frequency with all the other cruisers?

Howdy Dr.MomW!

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Thank you for your inquiry regarding walkie talkies. However, you have posted on the forum where members find the "How to ..." type of information for using Cruise Critic's software such as avatars, signatures, countdown clocks or tickers, attaching pictures, etc. It is not the place for your type of post and the information you seek is off topic here.

Per the Community Guidelines and to help you out, I am moving your thread to the Family Cruising Forum at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=49 where it will be on topic. The new location for your thread is a better location for more of your fellow Cruise Critic members to see it and to be able to help you with the information you seek.

I hope you don't mind another friendly suggestion, but you need to read the Community Guidelines and FAQ. Especially the "Getting Started" section in FAQ. You will see how a new topic should be consistent with the specific forum you choose. It also gives a brief summary of the topics covered in some of the forum sections. Click here http://boards.cruisecritic.com/index.php for the list of all the Cruise Critic forums and be sure to read all Announcement and Sticky threads at the top of the various forums for additional information too.

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Kat

We just bought the COBRA brand ones at Costco for our upcoming WIND cruise...anyone know anything about this subject?

What I can tell you about walkie talkies I learned on our most recent cruise. They are incredibly overused and really annoying to everyone. I am not trying to start a fight or anything, but please if you must use walkie talkie use them as sparingly as possible.

What I can tell you about walkie talkies I learned on our most recent cruise. They are incredibly overused and really annoying to everyone. I am not trying to start a fight or anything, but please if you must use walkie talkie use them as sparingly as possible.

Our experience was the same as dosi.

We took W/T on our first cruise a few years ago. We had them on about 3 hours the first day. There are so many people who use them ... you end up hearing and/or responding to many other conversations. They are really a big pain in the ear .. IMHO.

The best way to keep track of everyone we have found is 1) Regularly scheduled checkins and 2) A note pad in the room to write quick notes. When dealing with kids (Teens/those old enough to be on their own) we have found that ours usually are in about 1 of 5 places .... Buffet area, pool, teen club, arcade, or in the room.

Hope that helps ... Have a great cruise.

We had a different experience....we bought 4 good quality ones, and ended up rarely being able to use them because there was so much metal on the ship that it interfered with the transmission. It was very frustrating to keep hearing garbled responses, after they clearly heard our questions. I would not rely on them again.

:) Thanks everyone- I'm going to skip them. Once again, this site has given me useful information.

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/customersupport/faq/details.do;jsessionid=0000Go9zLiq6VuwnMG9_yozQGvR:10ktdmkdk?pagename=frequently_asked_questions&pnav=5&snav=2&faqId=2717&faqSubjectId=334&faqSubjectName=Life+Onboard&faqType=faq

i found this on rccl site it may be the answer you are looking for.

We wouldn't go cruising without our Walkie Talkies and have used them on 8 cruises. We even bought some to give as Christmas gifts for our upcoming family cruise in June. We found some great Motorola Talk-Abouts on ebooboosdotcom and they are the good ones with sub-channels so we rarely have anyone else on our frequency. We have found them to be as valuable OFF the ship, as they are ONBOARD. We take them off shore to the beach, to shopping areas, etc. and we can always find each other. "Hey, Honey, bring me a Margarita on your way back from shopping!":p

Be sure to buy the good, rechargeable kind with subchannels, not the toy store variety.

Before you reply with negative posts :mad: , I might add that we are courteous when using our Walkie Talkies onboard, even to the point of putting them on "vibrate" so no one else hears them beeping. We also use discretion in how and where we answer them. :D

One last tip: When cruising, be sure to bring a power strip for you cabin so you can recharge everything all at once: Walkie Talkies, camera batteries, I-Pod, electric shaver, etc. Happy Cruising:)

I borrowed some from a friend, and they weren't helpful. Other people were on our same frequency, and they started fighting with each other when I was in an elevator. It was funny, but embarrassing to hear a couple air their dirty laundry. If you use them, be careful!!

We have 4 Cobra radios rated at 8 miles. The upper GMR frequencies tend to be clearer. (This does officialy require and FCC licence which I have). These have worked well for us in the past. The last cruise we got the Dect phones and they work much better.

We have cobras they are a 5 mile range and that was good enough for us. Actually on our last cruise we had a friend going on a diff ship but to the same port on the same day as us so they had one and we had the other and we got to the port about an hour before them and saw their ship coming in and as soon as we saw them we started calling and got them right away it was great! They cost us about $30 pc DH bought them so I don't know where but I have seen them in many different stores. He paid $30 for them. I recall seeing the same ones on the ship for sale for $50!!

We wouldn't go cruising without our Walkie Talkies and have used them on 8 cruises.

 

I could not agree more!

 

It is the best way of keeping track of a child on a ship. It is a Mom/Dad I'm leaving the kids club and going back to the room. Or getting some Ice cream etc. Ok, call me when you get to the room so I know your in. To those who don't like them. Too bad. Im not about to forgo keeping track or allow my kid not to inform me as to his whereabouts. I do agree about the vibrate type of walkie talkie.

 

To those who complain about the use walkie talkies I would like to know how it is different when two or more people sitting on a lounge chair are having a conversation discussing where they are going to be or do next on the ship; where people in the immediate vacinity can hear the conversation. I suppose those people would appreciate manditory silence on ships.

Please advise make or model of walkie talkie that worked best for you on your cruises please...

Thanks

m.c.

We wouldn't go cruising without our Walkie Talkies and have used them on 8 cruises. We even bought some to give as Christmas gifts for our upcoming family cruise in June. We found some great Motorola Talk-Abouts on ebooboosdotcom and they are the good ones with sub-channels so we rarely have anyone else on our frequency. We have found them to be as valuable OFF the ship, as they are ONBOARD. We take them off shore to the beach, to shopping areas, etc. and we can always find each other. "Hey, Honey, bring me a Margarita on your way back from shopping!":p

 

Be sure to buy the good, rechargeable kind with subchannels, not the toy store variety.

 

Before you reply with negative posts :mad: , I might add that we are courteous when using our Walkie Talkies onboard, even to the point of putting them on "vibrate" so no one else hears them beeping. We also use discretion in how and where we answer them. :D

 

One last tip: When cruising, be sure to bring a power strip for you cabin so you can recharge everything all at once: Walkie Talkies, camera batteries, I-Pod, electric shaver, etc. Happy Cruising:)

I second this LOVE OUR WALKIE TALKIES but we use the vibrate ones too. we set up times for them to call us or if they leave an area call and tell us where they are going. and if I am in a area that is a quiet zone I just get up and go out and anwser the call so I dont bother anyone good luck these ships our huge and there are times when you cant find people.

what about getting dry erase boards to put on each door. We did that on our cruise and would write where we were going to be. It was great!

We are leaving Saturday!!!!!! On Holland America to Mexico. Our daughter, son in law and 18 month old granddaughter are two floors up and half a ship away. We plan to do lots of grandparent time but also alone time for all. Cells are so expensive- even texting. So we will be using good quality Motorolas to keep in touch. I think some of these complainers are just anti tech and grumpy. We will be polite and use vibrate mode, but people.....stop being so judgmental! This time next week. Well be cruising Bahia Magdalena.

I tried walkie-talkies ages ago. When the Motorola TalkAbouts were expensive. I wish they had "vibrate" back then.

I didn't find them useful. When it was on, the ambient noise on the ship prevented anyone from hearing it call, and, of vourse... 13 years ago, they kinda stunk in terms of sound quality.

Our last cruise, we went with family and friends. Thirteen of us in total. Seven adults and 6 kids. Norwegian Epic. We got around reasonably enough. We had adopted a late night meeting area (O'Sheehans) where we would find each other during the evening if separated, we had a favorite part of the pool deck where we would hang out around. And the cabin phones have answering machines.

Never had a situation dire enough to find our party immediately. If we were seeing a show, it's on a schedule. Dinner was at an agreed upon time, etc. excursions, pre-planned. When we were on the ship, it's only do big (even the Epic), so we didn't worry about the kids. A couple of younger teens and Tweens amongst the 6 of them, we gave them independence and, for the most part, would find them eating crepes at the buffet with other young teens.

thanks a lot! The reason we bought them was mainly because we will be sharing babysitting of our 18 month old granddaughter and if she were to require her parents, I'd like to be able to get a hold of them. Vice versa if her parents need us to watch her while they go to the gym or whatever.

We've all cruised before, but without a toddler, and we've had cabins nearby each other. This time, due to last minute booking, we are very far apart.

Leaving in three days! Can't wait.

Hello to all, we are with a group of 10 people on the explorer of the seas out of Seattle. Sail date July 8. We bought the 32 mile range gmr / fsr radios. I know that the miles is a over kill, but wanted to make sure we had enough power with all the steel of the ship. Hopefully, they work out for us. One of our prior cruises on the Grandeur of the Seas, we used lower power walkie talkies and were disappointed. We will have to see if the increased power output helps out or not. Take care and happy cruising.

We wouldn't go cruising without our Walkie Talkies and have used them on 8 cruises.

 

I could not agree more!

 

It is the best way of keeping track of a child on a ship. It is a Mom/Dad I'm leaving the kids club and going back to the room. Or getting some Ice cream etc. Ok, call me when you get to the room so I know your in. To those who don't like them. Too bad. Im not about to forgo keeping track or allow my kid not to inform me as to his whereabouts. I do agree about the vibrate type of walkie talkie.

 

To those who complain about the use walkie talkies I would like to know how it is different when two or more people sitting on a lounge chair are having a conversation discussing where they are going to be or do next on the ship; where people in the immediate vacinity can hear the conversation. I suppose those people would appreciate manditory silence on ships.

Since you ask - the main difference is that people sitting next to each other don't normally start shouting "hello ... hello - I can't hear you".

 

And why would you suppose that people want mandatory silence? It seems a strange thing to suppose. Highly unlikely, and not something I have ever come across.

This thread was started in 2007! Why resurrect such an old thread, when the info is likely to be outdated, rather than starting a new one?

My opinion is that the best walkie talkies are NO walkie talkies. :D

Hello to all, we are with a group of 10 people on the explorer of the seas out of Seattle. Sail date July 8. We bought the 32 mile range gmr / fsr radios. I know that the miles is a over kill, but wanted to make sure we had enough power with all the steel of the ship. Hopefully, they work out for us. One of our prior cruises on the Grandeur of the Seas, we used lower power walkie talkies and were disappointed. We will have to see if the increased power output helps out or not. Take care and happy cruising.

Its not so much the power of the radio that determines how well the radio waves penetrate steel obstructions, but the wavelength or frequency. The FRS/GMRS radio frequencies are not the best for steel penetration, so while a more powerful radio may help, it may not. Reception can vary with distance longitudinally in the ship and also with the number of decks in between. It will also vary by the number of doors between the radios and whether they are open at that time or not. Atmospherics will also affect reception, so your performance may vary from day to day or hour to hour, in between the same two locations.

The crew use 5 watt radios in the UHF bands that are higher frequency than FRS/GMRS, and the ship is also fitted with repeater antenna tuned for those frequencies around the ship.