Who has used walkie talkies on board?

[teacherkim]

Need some info: Have large group going on Jewel Baltics cruise in July and my dad bought walkies for us to use. The range should be fine but the salesperson was unsure of reception on the ship due to the steel infrastructure.

 

Can anyone give me their experience? Seems I have read of others using them. Will they work ok? Need a certain brand? Tell me what you know please!

[MonaCK]

Have used walkie talkies several times while on cruises with large groups. Have not had problems with reception. However, that doesn't mean it's a fail safe solution...

[pltag]

What ???? Where are you ???? What did you say ???? What ???? I can't hear you !!!! What ???? :D :D

[satxdiver]

FRS/GMRS hand held radios (aka walkie talkie) sold in the US is not legal for use in Europe. They have a similar service but on a different frequency. So they can only be used legally when at sea in international waters. The fine for using them can be high and the frequencies we use for the radios is used in many European countries for their emergency services. You could interfere with a life and death situation.

 

By FCC regulations the frequency used by the radios is divided into 22 distinct channels. FRS radios have access to 7 channels with 7 more shared with GMRS. GMRS radios have 8 channels with 7 more shared with FRS. Combination FRS/GMRS radios use all 22 channels. FRS radios are limited to 1/2 watt so most FRS/GMRS radios put out 1/2 watt signals.

 

The use of the channels is first come first used. No matter what the slick advertisement says, there are only 22 channels that can each carry one conversation at a time. Most if not all the radios are 500 milliwatts (1/2 watt) and ranges quoted are simply hilarious to those of us who know.

 

The ship is made of steel. Magnets will attach to your cabin door as well as walls! Steel and radio waves do not coexist well. If you are up on the Lido deck and want to call someone 5 decks down, it will be iffy at best. Open ships are better than ships divided into small areas by walls. Other than cost, the FRS/GMRS radios are pretty much the same. Remember FRS radios are limited to 1/2 watt by FCC regulations.

 

With over 3000 pax on a lot of ships these days, 22 channels do not go far. Expect interference from other users. Some hints to their use is always hold the radio with the antenna pointing straight up. Hold it about an inch or so from your mouth and speak in normal distinct tones. Yelling into the radio makes it worse not better on the other end. All the radios are cheaply made and have poor fidelity making them hard to hear particularly in noisy areas. Professional radios like what police etc use cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars but are much easier to hear.

 

Good luck. I am a professional electrical engineer and ham radio operator.

[MonaCK]

What ???? Where are you ???? What did you say ???? What ???? I can't hear you !!!! What ???? :D :D

 

Heh. Yes. There is a lot of that. Amusingly, one of the times we used them was on NCL. My ex and I stayed on the ship and were able to talk to others in our party who were on shore (while at the out island).

[clean1owner]

Yes I have been annoyed several times by people screaming into walki-talkies at all venues of the ship. Including the stage shows, the casino, the Windjammer, the pool, etc, etc, etc.

[Jim M]

Yes I have been annoyed several times by people screaming into walki-talkies at all venues of the ship. Including the stage shows, the casino, the Windjammer, the pool, etc, etc, etc.

 

 

I agree, I don't care if you wear shorts in the MDR but leave your walkie talkies at home!

[MM4M]

I purchased a set of cheap ($20) walkie talkies from Radio Shack for our past cruise....it was horrible! There were 13-15 channels available and they were all being used by other people. We were constantly hearing other conversations. We even heard one mother arguing with her son who was on land and didn't want to come back to the ship-that was entertaining though!!!

[teacherkim]

OK thanks for the info everyone. Kind of what I expected. Our son will be old enough to check himself out of AO on this cruise if we let him and it was a possible way for him to communicate with us. Doesn't sound like the best option.

[Eng23]

OK thanks for the info everyone. Kind of what I expected. Our son will be old enough to check himself out of AO on this cruise if we let him and it was a possible way for him to communicate with us. Doesn't sound like the best option.

A lot of people use the tried and true form of communication of sticky notes left on the cabin mirror to pass along messages. :)

[cb at sea]

Just have him check in PHYSICALLY with you before he goes anywhere else. Tell him where you'll be at any given time....it's really not as hard as you think to keep track of everyone else!

[Langley Cruisers]

Our son will be old enough to check himself out of AO on this cruise if we let him and it was a possible way for him to communicate with us.

 

Put a watch on his wrist and tell him to call you on any house phone, or meet you at a designated time and place. I think carrying a WT would be cumbersome for him, for anyone.

[33tekfan]

What ???? Where are you ???? What did you say ???? What ???? I can't hear you !!!! What ???? :D :D

 

LMAO! Just off FOS (2/19 sailing)That is ALL I heard every time I saw someone with a walkie talkie! Usually in a very loud voice that could probably be heard by the person on the other end WITHOUT the walkie talkie....LOL!LOL!

[33tekfan]

Just have him check in PHYSICALLY with you before he goes anywhere else. Tell him where you'll be at any given time....it's really not as hard as you think to keep track of everyone else!

 

This is exactly what we did with our 13 and 16 year old. Worked like a charm - if they missed check in, roaming privileges were revoked (which never happened!)

[jcl410]

My wife and I have used GMRS radios on board, and at Labadee. I bought a higher end (but still consumer grade). I use an ear piece to make it easier to hear and to be less annoying. The codes worked very well to limit hearing other radios (yes, I know any one could listen in to ours.)

 

There were some locations that were the reception would be bad (like from the pool deck to the casino.) We'd use the alert tone as a call. Then I'd try moving to get a better signal.

 

Aloha,

 

John

[lori450]

We tried too. It didn;t work very well. Too many people on too few channels. Post it notes in the cabin worked better.

[eel]

A lot of people use the tried and true form of communication of sticky notes left on the cabin mirror to pass along messages. :)

 

House phones and voicemail are also good methods. Cell phone text messaging works well but can become costly ($0.50 each) and require that you carry around your phone.

 

They do sell a type of walkie talkie that does text messaging but there is only one brand and they are pretty expensive. The sticky notes and voicemail work best IMHO.