Getting a Cruise Connect Phone

[Craig_K]

So what's the best way to make sure my family gets a Cruise Connect (WOW) phone? We will arrive at the terminal early, but then what and exactly where do we go? I don't want to wander all over the ship to find them and risk running out. I understand there are a limited number available so that is my first priority when we get there.

 

My teenage son is Diabetic so I want to make sure as much as possible I get one of those phones for him.

 

Any suggestions or inside tips are really appreciated.

[FLOATMYBOAT01]

I saw no cruise connect phones used on Oasis, Dec. 1-5; that doesn't mean, however, that they don't have them available now. I'd call RCI or your TA and put them to task on the questions you asked. In the event they are not going to be available, you can purchase for under $50/set two-way radios; I got mine thru Amazon.com and they worked beautifully. RCI charges $25 for these phones per week. Also, "house" phones are abundantly available on Oasis. Hope this is helpful.

[RBKL]

There are several previous posts on where to get the phones and what they cost. Recommend you scroll to the other pages and you'll find them.

[RBKL]

I saw no cruise connect phones used on Oasis, Dec. 1-5; that doesn't mean, however, that they don't have them available now. I'd call RCI or your TA and put them to task on the questions you asked. In the event they are not going to be available, you can purchase for under $50/set two-way radios; I got mine thru Amazon.com and they worked beautifully. RCI charges $25 for these phones per week. Also, "house" phones are abundantly available on Oasis. Hope this is helpful.

 

 

Here's some info from another post from last week's cruise:

 

4. If you want an i-phone to use on the trip get it right away also. We happened to pass the table on the way to signing up for ziplining because they held the sign ups in the ice rink on the first day. (usually the sign-up is on deck 15 at the flowrider desk but they were doing some repairs so they were at a table in the ice rink). We asked about the phone and said we would think about it and the woman told us they would sell out soon. We signed up at about 2pm on the day of embarkation met our friends for lunch and told them to go down and by the time they did an hour later they were sold out. There are only 150 phones available right now they will be getting 150 more for the Jan 16th sailing and then more every two sailings until they have 800. We took two phones at $17.50 each for the week. They were very cool to have. You can call and chat, the daily compass is right on the screen and they have a sort of GPS where you can find the other passenger with the other phone. Beware-- it is $1000 if you lose or damage the phone in any way.

[JSR]

Since you have a medical reason for having one or two of the iphones I would alert the access department. They maybe able to reserve one for you even though this is not the usual procedure. I have had them do out of the ordinary things when we have needed it.

Access Department at 1-954-628-9622. or 1-866-592-7225 or at special_needs@rccl.com.

I always use the 866 number as it is toll free.

 

Have a wonderful cruise.

[mamagina]

I was the one who posted about the phone above. The desk to rent the phones and fill our the forms was on Deck 4 outside the comedy club at 2:00pm on the day of embarkation--for us January 2nd. We picked up the phones from the conference center after 3:30 that same day. I would bet they would reserve one for someone with a medical problem. definately call.

[drarill]

So what's the best way to make sure my family gets a Cruise Connect (WOW) phone? We will arrive at the terminal early, but then what and exactly where do we go? I don't want to wander all over the ship to find them and risk running out. I understand there are a limited number available so that is my first priority when we get there.

 

My teenage son is Diabetic so I want to make sure as much as possible I get one of those phones for him.

 

Any suggestions or inside tips are really appreciated.

We rented ours at the Conference center, deck 3 (forward). We had to fill some papers and were told to go back at 6:00PM to pick the phones. We rented two and gave our two children the tracking devices. We were traveling with a large group of friends and it was great to have the phones. I also liked knowing where our children were all the time. They are still working some issues, like the battery life of the tracking devices. For suite guests, if you want to rent a wow phone, ask the concierge to reserve one before you arrive to the cruise. Although the concierge is suppose to have a number of phones on the CL, they didn't have any on the January 2 cruise.

You can call other wow phones or any phone on the ship, track your children and other members of your party (same cabin) that have a phone, text people with the wow phones and access the daily compass.

If your childs tracking device stops working you have to bring back all the phones to the conference center.

[Craig_K]

Thanks for the replies. I did send a message to special needs a while back and got no response. And I do plan to bring 2-way radios as backup just in case.

 

What I was concerned about is it seems like there is not yet a standard procedure or location for renting these things. One person a while back said there was a desk in the boarding area, another said conference center and another got one outside the comedy club.

 

I'll be on a full ship in Febuary and I know how crazy it gets being bounced from one place to another trying to get something taken care of.

 

Hopefully in time, there will be a "normal" rental procedure coming to the surface.

[mgg42]

I'm not sure I'm liking the sound of this new service. One of the nice things about cruising is getting away from the nitwits who can't seem to go five minutes without having their phone ring, and then proceed to shout their whole conversation so everyone nearby has to hear it.

 

Am I now going to have to listen to these phones on deck? in the DR? in the theaters?:mad:

[MickeyB426]

I'm not sure I'm liking the sound of this new service. One of the nice things about cruising is getting away from the nitwits who can't seem to go five minutes without having their phone ring, and then proceed to shout their whole conversation so everyone nearby has to hear it.

 

Am I now going to have to listen to these phones on deck? in the DR? in the theaters?:mad:

 

No need to panic.

 

First of all, the number of phones available are minuscule compared to the number of people on the ship. At most, there will be 800 phones, and that won't happen for a while until all the kinks are worked out.

 

Secondly, you can only call other people who have the same phone, and even THEN, you need to pre-assign their number into your phone (if I remember what was written about it correctly).

 

Finally, consider the alternative...instead of one "nitwit" in the movie theater with a phone, you have one with a two-way walkie-talkie where you can hear squawks of BOTH ends of the conversation.

 

Had you not read this thread, I doubt you'd even notice they were there.

[Craig_K]

And I believe they support text messaging which is a less intrusive way to communicate.

 

For me, I think they are really a great thing if you have teenage kids to help keep in touch, or like in my case, a Diabetic son who feels more comfortable having access to us in case there is a problem.

 

Obviously, as with anything, you have to hope people are considerate in their use.

[mgg42]

I guess I'm just leery of the person whose going to get in the pool and leave their phone on their lounger, only to have it ring and ring and ring.

 

I can see how they might provide a convenience, but I still say it's totally and completely unnecessary.

[MickeyB426]

I guess I'm just leery of the person whose going to get in the pool and leave their phone on their lounger, only to have it ring and ring and ring.

 

I can see how they might provide a convenience, but I still say it's totally and completely unnecessary.

 

I would disagree that it's "totally and completely unnecessary". The OP, for sure, has a necessary reason. For me, I'll be sailing with 6 teenagers (3 of them mine) who I'll need to keep track of. And they'll know that they have to act responsibly with it.

[mgg42]

I would disagree that it's "totally and completely unnecessary". The OP, for sure, has a necessary reason. For me, I'll be sailing with 6 teenagers (3 of them mine) who I'll need to keep track of. And they'll know that they have to act responsibly with it.

 

I didn't say useless. I said unnecessary. And with all due respect to the OP, diabetes is hardly a reason someone needs to have immediate telephone contact with a family member at all times. Yes, I admit it may give the parent piece of mind. But we're not talking about wandering around in the wilderness here, we're talking about a cruise ship with thousands of people. If there is a problem, it's no different than being in a nice resort.

 

Phones are nice, but they are a convenience. After all, people cruised 25 years ago, and no one had phones. So why is it now a "necessity"?

 

It's amazing how our thought process changes. I remember being in college in Miami and driving home to Massachusetts, stopping at payphones to check in. Now, I try and drive across town without my cell phone and the world comes to an end.

 

Again, a convenience? perhaps. Necessary? Absolutely not.

[MickeyB426]

I didn't say useless. I said unnecessary.

 

I didn't say useless either, so I don't know where you think I misquoted you.

 

So I'll say it again.

 

"Necessary" is in the eye of the beholder.

 

And I'll say this again.

 

Had you never heard of these phones, you likely wouldn't have known they were there.

[trixie54]

How does one contact the concierge prior to cruising?

[mgg42]

I didn't say useless either, so I don't know where you think I misquoted you.

 

Sorry for the confusion. I didn't mean to intimate that you said that. I was just trying to clarify.

 

I was merely reflecting that as times change, something that at one time wasn't even an option, then became a special luxury, then became commonplace. And now we have decided we can't seem to live without it, when such a short time ago, we did just that!

 

I'm sure you're right, that I won't notice them now. But I'm not so sure that will be the place in a few more years.

[drarill]

How does one contact the concierge prior to cruising?

They will email you a week before the cruise. Their email is OA_Concierge@rccl.com (OA_Concierge)

[elite_hawk]

can you call the rooms with this phone or can the rooms call it??

[mamagina]

You cannot call the room from the phone and the room cannot call it. AND you can only call someone else who has a phone and is traveling with you in your cabin. So if you have teens in a seperate cabin don't get the phone in their name because you will not be able to call them. You have to get the phone in the name of someone who is in your cabin with you and then pass it to the teen. Anyone can "message" with someone else with a phone as long as you enter their phone number into your phone first.

[dixiejen]

I have to jump in here, as a parent who plans to use walkie-talkies to keep up with my kids....

 

mgg42 -- the point you made about how times have changed is exactly WHY I plan to use walkie-talkies. I hope you would agree that this is a much more dangerous world than it used to be. Not that I feel danger is lurking around every corner on a cruise ship... But I'm not about to let my 12 year old daughter wander the ship by herself. I plan to let her participate in all the wonderful activities the Oasis has for her age group, but I will want to escort her from one location to another.

 

Walkie-talkies do come with a vibrate setting; some even come with texting features. Considerate people will make themselves as unobtrusive as possible. The inconsiderate ones?? There's little we can do about them. I would much rather see parents trying to keep tabs on their kids than letting them run completely unattended, even if it means hearing an occasional 2-way conversation nearby. Just me, though.

 

And as for the remark, "...diabetes is hardly a reason someone needs to have immediate telephone contact with a family member at all times." -- You clearly have never had a child with special needs. Regardless -- and with all due respect -- it is not your place to tell other parents how to deal with their child's special needs.

[welove2cruisedou]

I have to agree with dixiejen about the poster saying diabetes is hardly a reason someone needs to have immediate phone contact with a family member at all times. I have an aunt that has diabetes and on quite a few occasions she has had an attack. I was perming her hair one time and she went into a diabetic attack. This is not a laughing matter, you need to get help right away. If it wasnt for my quick reaction to call my uncle and ask him what I needed to do, she probaly would not of made it. Unless, you know someone who is diabetic and know what can happen to them, dont go saying that they dont need to have contact with their family members at all times. Not just anyone on the cruise ship is going to know what is happening if the person should go into an attack. You need to seek medical attention fast and someone needs to know what kinda attack they are having. To the poster who was asking about the phones .I would try to contact RC before you go on the cruise and see if they could reserve one for you in advance. Shame on you other people who dont take life seriously!!

[mgg42]

And as for the remark, "...diabetes is hardly a reason someone needs to have immediate telephone contact with a family member at all times." -- You clearly have never had a child with special needs. Regardless -- and with all due respect -- it is not your place to tell other parents how to deal with their child's special needs.

 

I'm sorry if I sounded judgmental. It may provide peace of mind, but it is certainly not a mandate that individuals with diabetes have constant telephone contact any more than it is for an asthmatic, a severe allergic, or a variety of other diagnoses.

 

Yes, it may be convenient. But THAT is the point to which I was speaking. Now we all have cell phones, so we are USED to being in contact. But twenty years ago, people didn't have cell phones, and guess what? We still let diabetics go off on their own. We didn't require constant supervision. So why now? Because it's now our new comfort zone!

 

I guess what struck me as off-putting was the possibility that this family should somehow be entitled to something like the phones because of this.

[MickeyB426]

I'm sorry if I sounded judgmental. It may provide peace of mind, but it is certainly not a mandate that individuals with diabetes have constant telephone contact any more than it is for an asthmatic, a severe allergic, or a variety of other diagnoses.

 

Yes, it may be convenient. But THAT is the point to which I was speaking. Now we all have cell phones, so we are USED to being in contact. But twenty years ago, people didn't have cell phones, and guess what? We still let diabetics go off on their own. We didn't require constant supervision. So why now? Because it's now our new comfort zone!

 

I guess what struck me as off-putting was the possibility that this family should somehow be entitled to something like the phones because of this.

 

Wow.

 

WHERE in that OP did anyone give off the impression that they were "entitled" to phones because of a disability?

 

You state that you don't mean to sound judgmental, then in the next phrase you say that it "is certainly not a mandate that individuals with diabetes have constant telephone contact any more than it is for an asthmatic, a severe allergic, or a variety of other diagnoses." Well, THAT'S being judgmental.

 

As for what we "used to do back in the day", my niece was run off the road two weeks ago in upstate Vermont in the middle of a blinding snowstorm, the one that piled 34 inches on the state. Had she not had a cellphone to call for help from her totaled car, she would not be here today. I'll take the "comfort-zone" trade-off any day of the week.

[dixiejen]

We still let diabetics go off on their own.

 

But we are talking about a CHILD here!! And again, since you want to compare the 'good old days' to now -- because of all the new technology available, we know WAY more about the dangers of diabetes (and asthma, allergies, etc...) and how to best handle the complications involved.

 

I teach high school, and have taught numerous diabetic students over the years. I have yet to meet a parent who was not worried to death that their child would have an attack at school or anytime the parents weren't around. And I don't blame them....I would be the same way!

 

I thank God for technology that can both alert parents if their child is having an episode AND can give them peace of mind when they are fine.

Why would anyone begrudge this to parents?? I suspect you'd feel differently if it were YOUR child....