Walkie Talkies

[Brendaflamingo]

Has anyone used two way radios on a cruise? If so are there any problems you run into? Any tips? Last cruise we were on we found we needed walkie talkies since we're not in our cabins to get messages. Did you find interferences with other walkie talkies people?

Had a blast on the Freedom ots western Caribbean. 7 of us now we re thinking Alaska which maybe 9 or more. I love going with a bunch of people. Someone is doing something fun.

 

Brenda

Arizona :D:D

[Langley Cruisers]

Brenda, bless you but please reconsider. They are so intrusive to those around you, it's ridiculous. Constant "What? Speak up! Say it again!" to the noise and static... IMO it's really very rude and inconsiderate to other passengers. Definitely not what I want to hear on my vacation (yes, I know it's your vacation too ;) ).

 

There are ways to communicate - try a dry erase board or sticky notes from the dollar store, magnets will stick to the metal doors, meet at a certain time, etc. Please explore other options before (and if at all) resorting to walkie-talkies. Thanks. :)

.

[jcl410]

We use earpieces to keep the annoyance level down, it also makes it easier to hear.

 

We use the higher power GMRS radios that require an FCC license to be legal. Even with that on the Freedom of the Seas, it really depended on our relative locations on board whether or not we could hear each other.

 

Aloha,

 

John

[LeesSummitCruiser1]

If it is that important to stay in touch. Have everyone pay for wifi and use the text on your phones. Just turn off the roam and use the ship wifi, which is not great but better than walkie talkies. The ships have lots of steel and that is not transparent to radios. The crew radios have repeaters all over the ship so they can communicate. Internet is expensive but it is about the only legal way.

[mishcruise]

We are going on a family (me, hubby, and 2 daughters) cruise in a few weeks and I was going to bring our walkie talkies so that we could play "hide -n- seek" on the ship!! My girls are 11 and 9, so I thought if there was a little down time it would be something fun to do!

[Ocean Boy]

We were on one cruise where we had radios. One day I just ended up turning it off as there were people aboard who were constantly having conversations on the thing. It is one thing to try and locate someone but to constantly carry on conversations is just plain thoughtless and rude.

[Toddcan]

We brought them once on one of our cruises, but it became obvious that we were disturbing everyone around us. We turned them off on day one.

 

The idea was good, but it just doesn't go well on a cruise ship. Please find other ways to communincate.

[johneeo]

We took them once. Gotta say it was probably the dumbest thing we have done on a cruise.

 

We never used them.

[SpeedGeek]

Even on a smaller ship like the Monarch, there's just so much metal that these low power UHF radios don't do well. They're meant for open air line of sight communication. We always found that by the time we could get someone on the radio that we could've just looked up and would have seen them.

[akcruz]

We brought them once on one of our cruises, but it became obvious that we were disturbing everyone around us. We turned them off on day one.

 

The idea was good, but it just doesn't go well on a cruise ship. Please find other ways to communincate.

 

We took them once. Gotta say it was probably the dumbest thing we have done on a cruise.

 

We never used them.

 

We also brought them with us once and then ended up never using them. They were more of a pain than useful.

 

Remember you need to carry them with you and do something with them if you are taking a dip in the pool, or other such activity. If you are in the theater or dining room, they should turned off so that you don't bother others as well.

 

Besides the fact that they are truly annoying to others around you.

 

We have breakfast and dinner together and discuss each persons plan for the times we won't be together. If things change we use notes and messages (you can leave or retrieve messages from your cabin phone from a number of places on the ship) to let others know where we are. And, if all else fails you will catch up with the rest of your party before too long. While some of the ships are quite large, there really are not that many places people can go.

[leaveitallbehind]

We are going on a family (me, hubby, and 2 daughters) cruise in a few weeks and I was going to bring our walkie talkies so that we could play "hide -n- seek" on the ship!! My girls are 11 and 9, so I thought if there was a little down time it would be something fun to do!

 

No offense please, but as others have posted, please reconsider. Walkie talkies in the hands of children running around the ship playing hide and seek with the chirping caused by the on/off switch with each communication, etc., can be very distracting to other passengers. Communicating to find one another for a specific reason is one thing - if you absolutely need to - but making a game of it is something else altogether. Most lines offer very good childrens programs that will provide young children a great time while giving you plenty of down time without the possibility of disturbing other passengers. When our children were young on board with us, we found these programs to be an ideal solution. Again, no offense intended but walkie talkies have been a controverisial topic with many threads devoted to it - and IMO for good reason.

[orville99]

but as others have said, it was a wasted effort. Even with 22 channels to choose from, we never found a channel that didn't have other conversations going on. While we had no problems with reception anywhere on FOS, the lack of any empty channels made them useless. Just set up meeting times/places/schedules instead and you'll be fine

[BecciBoo]

Ditto, we took them one cruise. I was always aggrevated by those with their own who "came back" with nasty comments! HA HA! Very funny! And the anonymity with them makes it easy to say those things. So I gave up trying the other channels. The convenience was great to find out where everyone was, but the aggrevation wasn't worth the trouble.

 

This time with family, I'm doing magnetized post its.

[MCC retired]

Can you hear me now ?

For your fellow cruisers onboard enjoyment of the cruise they paid good $$$ for .

Please reconsider walkie-talkies.

It's only a cruise ship !

There are phones & voice mail in all cabins when you must communicate.

[mishcruise]

No offense please, but as others have posted, please reconsider. Walkie talkies in the hands of children running around the ship playing hide and seek with the chirping caused by the on/off switch with each communication, etc., can be very distracting to other passengers. Communicating to find one another for a specific reason is one thing - if you absolutely need to - but making a game of it is something else altogether. Most lines offer very good childrens programs that will provide young children a great time while giving you plenty of down time without the possibility of disturbing other passengers. When our children were young on board with us, we found these programs to be an ideal solution. Again, no offense intended but walkie talkies have been a controverisial topic with many threads devoted to it - and IMO for good reason.

 

It's a "family" cruise, therefor we would play hide and seek as a "family" (i.e. me with one daughter and hubby with the other). I don't allow my children "run around my neighborhood" where I know most people, so I sure am not going to allow them to "run around a ship" unsupervised where I know no one. And I do take offense to something thinking that I would allow my children to do that.

[leaveitallbehind]

It's a "family" cruise, therefor we would play hide and seek as a "family" (i.e. me with one daughter and hubby with the other). I don't allow my children "run around my neighborhood" where I know most people, so I sure am not going to allow them to "run around a ship" unsupervised where I know no one. And I do take offense to something thinking that I would allow my children to do that.

 

That wasn't clear to me and again I asked for no offense (twice), so sorry if it was taken that way. But nonetheless, I think (as many others have posted) that walkie talkie use on board can bother some people, and consideration should be shown. And you are right, it is a family cruise, and each family will be different and have their own idea of how they enjoy their cruise. Whether it is in the hands of an adult or a child, the walkie talkie chatter can be distracting to some, which is the only point I was trying to make. But enjoy your cruise.

[Langley Cruisers]

It's a "family" cruise, therefor we would play hide and seek as a "family" (i.e. me with one daughter and hubby with the other)...

 

That does sound like fun of course, but NOT with walkie-talkies. I sincerely hope that you will take the comments to heart and seriously consider not using them for hide and seek, or for any other reason for that matter. You will be disturbing those around you, I can guarantee you. Please reconsider. Thanks.

[spg112357]

I used Walkie Talkies on a cruise a few years ago and found then very ineffective due to the constant chatter and interference.

And yes they are annoying to others.

 

So what are the alternates:

 

1) Make a plan and stick to it. My family is very bad at doing this as there are many activities on a ship and you might just decide to go watch the love and marriage game instead of going in the hot tub. So the key is not to make activities meeting places. Instead Meet at the cabin at 2pm. And on the cabin door have a note if you are going somewhere else. Make it a game if you are not at the cabin at 2pm and have not left a note then you pay a consequence. Parents not there then buy the children candy or toy. Spouse not there then do something special for your spouse. Children not there miss out on candies or toy or do some chore like go get coffee from buffet at breakfast for mom and dad.

 

2) Leave a voicemail. I have not tried this but it probably works with the new phone systems on the ship. Phone your own cabin and leave a voicemail saying where you are. The other phone to listen to voicemails (do not delete them)

 

3) Leave an e-mail. I think on the Oasis and Allure the interactive TV lets you send an e-mail to a stateroom. So send an e-mail to your own stateroom saying where you are. Perhaps guest service can help you with that.

 

4) Leave a note on the communal noticeboard at guest services.

 

5) Get a long piece of string and tie it to both people. Then all you have to do is follow the string to find the other person. Just kidding on this one.

 

If you are going to use Walkie Talkies then be considerate of others. Do not sit in a show or at the dinner table or in a bar and surf through the channels trying to find your loved ones. Go outside or to an alcove away from others. Arrange a set of channels and make sure you all use the same ones. Arrange a call sign something that no one else will have, yelling "Are you there?" hoping someone will recognize your voice does not work too well and you will probably get back some flippant answers.

Use something others won't use, example "Big Momma" may be used by lots of people. "Blue Mountain 123" probably will not. Set times when those you are trying to communicate with will listen. Tell them "Channel 2, 6 or 9 AT 2:30pm then 2:45pm" If they don't get you transmission then go back to cabin at 3pm. Make it so one person is the sender and one is the listener.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Now to go design the ship based wifi/bluetooth base station for text messaging :-)

[RCcruisinfamily]

Mostly to communicate with 14 year old. If we need to reach him, we use them. If he has a problem and needs to reach us, he uses them. I find it comforting that we can reach him most of the time. They do not always work due to the ships metal and size. I do ask him not to play with them and make unnecessary chatter. Just like I ask him not to push all the buttons in the elevator. I know kids annoy many aboard. Use them how you see necessary. They sell them in the gift shop!

 

Kelly

[Ocean Boy]

It's a "family" cruise, therefor we would play hide and seek as a "family" (i.e. me with one daughter and hubby with the other). I don't allow my children "run around my neighborhood" where I know most people, so I sure am not going to allow them to "run around a ship" unsupervised where I know no one. And I do take offense to something thinking that I would allow my children to do that.

 

I am not sure what you are offended by. No one here knows you, your kids, or how you raised them. We only know what some of our experiences have been. And no one was talking about your kids running around the ship unsupervised. The subject here is the use of 2-way radios. The bottom line is that they are sometimes misused and that can be very annoying to many people.

[BecciBoo]

It's a "family" cruise, therefor we would play hide and seek as a "family" (i.e. me with one daughter and hubby with the other). I don't allow my children "run around my neighborhood" where I know most people, so I sure am not going to allow them to "run around a ship" unsupervised where I know no one. And I do take offense to something thinking that I would allow my children to do that.

 

I'd be just as concerned about your children hearing obscenities over the radio, which I did several times, when other walkie talkie users want to be "cute". Such are the times we live in:(

[johneeo]

And I do take offense to something thinking that I would allow my children to do that.

 

A good rule of thumb on CC is not to allow anything posted here offend you.

[leaveitallbehind]

I am not sure what you are offended by. No one here knows you, your kids, or how you raised them. We only know what some of our experiences have been. And no one was talking about your kids running around the ship unsupervised. The subject here is the use of 2-way radios. The bottom line is that they are sometimes misused and that can be very annoying to many people.

 

Thank you - at least as would apply in my response to them. And I typically believe in "to each his own". But I have to admit, whether in the hands of an adult or a child, if I were trying to read a book, or take a nap on deck, etc., and "hide and seek" was occuring near me, I would likely be disturbed by the walkie talkie chatter.

[jfrancisny]

Has anyone used two way radios on a cruise? If so are there any problems you run into? Any tips? Last cruise we were on we found we needed walkie talkies since we're not in our cabins to get messages. Did you find interferences with other walkie talkies people?

Had a blast on the Freedom ots western Caribbean. 7 of us now we re thinking Alaska which maybe 9 or more. I love going with a bunch of people. Someone is doing something fun.

 

Brenda

Arizona :D:D

 

Best bet is higher powered GMRS UHF units (Cobra CXR825, Midland GXT1000VP4 etc.). And for all those pretentious requests for you to reconsider, give me a break. This a CRUISE SHIP after all - 3000 people packed together like cattle and eating like it too (and I love cruising, been on 15 and going again in December). Anyone who thinks they paid for the peace, quiet and exclusivity of a week at an expensive secluded resort is tripping. What's next, no bikini's or drunk people or loud music at the pool, cause it may offend some? People need to lighten up and go with the flow. Buy your walkie talkies and enjoy your cruise.

 

PS - My suite on my Bermuda cruise this May came with its own cell phone......which would OH MY GOD wait for it.....ring in public!!!! Armageddon, I know. So just think, the cruise line thinks communicating electronically with others in your group to be a privilege worth charging extra for, not a nuisance to others

[Ocean Boy]

Best bet is higher powered GMRS UHF units (Cobra CXR825, Midland GXT1000VP4 etc.). And for all those pretentious requests for you to reconsider, give me a break. This a CRUISE SHIP after all - 3000 people packed together like cattle and eating like it too (and I love cruising, been on 15 and going again in December). Anyone who thinks they paid for the peace, quiet and exclusivity of a week at an expensive secluded resort is tripping. What's next, no bikini's or drunk people or loud music at the pool, cause it may offend some? People need to lighten up and go with the flow. Buy your walkie talkies and enjoy your cruise.

 

PS - My suite on my Bermuda cruise this May came with its own cell phone......which would OH MY GOD wait for it.....ring in public!!!! Armageddon, I know. So just think, the cruise line thinks communicating electronically with others in your group to be a privilege worth charging extra for, not a nuisance to others

 

Maybe instead of using earbuds, everyone could just bring portable speakers to blast their I-pod music for everyone's listening pleasure too. You are right about one thing, someone around here is tripping.