Alternative (no walkie-talkies) methods of on-board communication.

[midnightferret]

I've seen some posts that address this issue, but I had a couple of questions.

 

I don't have children or anything, but we're planning to go with a group. Also, my husband and I are fairly independent, but I would like to know where he is (within reason), in case we separate and I actually want to find him. :D The two ships we're currently looking at are the big "floating city" variety.

 

I've read that some people put signs on their doors: you don't worry that creepy people might "stalk" you?

 

Also, I get the impression that calls between cabins are free, and there are usually public "phone banks" of some kind that you can use to leave voicemail for people and also to check your own voicemail without having to go back to your cabin? Is this true?

 

Thanks for any answers. Also, if you have any other methods to add, I'd love to hear them!

[firefly333]

The public phones do work to leave a message or call cabins free, however you have to be actually IN the cabin to retrieve any messages ... or thats my experience.

 

Im not sure how someone could stalk someone else or why? If you leave a note you will be at the pool .... how would some stranger know which one was you? Since people dont know who left the notes on your door or what they look like, I would not be worried about stalkers myself on a ship.

 

We just tell each other in general where we are, works for us. Like Im going to fool around but I will go to the dance class at 11 am, so if we miss each other, they know where to find me at a particular time.

[BruceMuzz]

Many cruise lines have ship's mobile telephones that can be rented for a small amount per day. Officers and managers carry them. They are often rented to group leaders escorting a group on board.

The phones work very much like your own mobile telephone - except that they only work with each other on the ship.

There is no charge per call.

[cb at sea]

We find that sharing tentative plans for the day works just fine. You'll find that you'll gravitate to the same areas, over and over. So, I tell hubby when I'll be at the pool...when I'll likely head to the cabin, etc. He'll be in the casino, we'll meet for lunch, etc.... We've never not been able to locate each other within about 5 mins. or so! You can leave messages on the phone in your cabin, or leave a note IN THE CABIN! Don't need to put it on the door!

[midnightferret]

Awesome. Although I think the other members of my group would have trouble reading a note I left in my cabin! ;) But for my husband that would be fine.

 

And re: door stalking, I didn't remember that someone would have to know who you were in order to "stalk" you. HAH! It just kind of freaks me out: I would never leave a note on the door to my home or on the door of a hotel room for people to know my whereabouts. I suppose that's just an irrational fear I have. I probably watch too many serial killer shows.

 

I also tend to get lost in large over-stimulating places, and I wanted to minimize the time I ran around in circles looking for people. Maybe I'll just make them all look for me. :D

[trish1c]

We bring pads of stickies & leave notes on the doors. I stake out a place where I will most likely be sunning & tell everybody to check there if they need me. We pick a time & place to meet for cocktails too.

[dsrdsrdsr]

If you're worried about being stalked because someone sees a note on your door, how do you cope with the equally likely threat of an axe murderer bashing your door down in the middle of the night? :eek:

 

But seriously, if the door sticker worries you, just don't do it. It's irrational but basically irrelevant. The easiest and most sociable way to find your group is to meet at breakfast and talk about your plans. But if there's a dozen or so of you, you can't fail to find at least one or two of them - unless of course they've been dancing the "Marie Celeste" conga!:D

[midnightferret]

Dsrdsrdsr, don't give me any more ideas! :D You never know: axe murderers might fancy a cruise, too, sometimes. I hear axe murdering is kind of a stressful gig.

 

So Murder on the Nile wouldn't be the book for someone like me to bring along, would it? ;)

[davesgirl51]

Just leave a note under your phone. I wouldn't advertise on my stateroom door where I was. :rolleyes:

[Poodle Lady]

We just got back from aa 5-day with our 2 adult kids. We had adjoining rooms, but we were on completely different time tables. DH &I are always in bed before 11(sometimes before 10~) and the kids are NEVER in bed before 2am. So I would leave them a note with the time on it, telling them what we were going to do that day. We ate lunch in the Windjammer every day, so if they really wanted to see us they knew to look there. The one thing that i did demand was that we all eat together as a family in the main dining room every evening, which they were good about. Most of the time DH & I were together but there were times when one of us struck out on our own. We just told each other what we were likely to do, and if not that activity then where we would be next. We had no problems keeping up with one another.

[griffy116]

Our habits mimic many of the others who posted here. We just returned from a cruise and we had my 17-year old Grandson with us. He was told to leave a sticky note in the cabin as to where he was, since he decided not to join us (shocker). My daughter returned to find an empty cabin and no note, and was going ready to give him a lecture when she noticed his sticky note. He's 6' tall and had left it, at his eye level on the mirror, which was way above her 5'3" head (LOL). We always have a couple of places we will gravitate toward on the pool deck, and the Promenade so we're easy to find. Locating someone at lunch time in the WJ is like looking for a needle in a haystack. You could circle it several times in the crowd before connecting so we never gave that as a location to meet up. We also left messages on the cabin phone and used the in-house phones, located throughout the ship. It's easier than you think to connect onboard.