Keeping in touch with your family while both onboard

[DaveNetMan]

Ok, first off, I know we can't use texting (cell phones) while sailing. And my question isn't about contacting ship-to-shore. I'm asking about keeping in touch with your friends/family that are ON the ship with you. In our case, wife & I will be sailing with our teenage daughter and her friend. Being 18, we give her the freedom to be out on her own virtually all day, and generally see them at dinner. But it would be nice to be able to reach them if we needed to. We tried walkie-talkies one year, didn't work and they were bulky. You'd think by now, they would have some type of little device you could buy or rent, so you could text your family members who are elsewhere ON THE SAME SHIP. (If nobody has invented it yet, time for me to go on 'Shark Tank'!) Anyone know of a good solution, other then meeting at scheduled times just to check in with each other? Really looking for something that just works within the ship itself. It sounds like it would be a high-demand item, especially for families, and should be technically possible by now.

[vancouvergirl2010]

We use the voice mail on the cabin phones. You can leave a msg from any phone on the ship. Other families use dry erase boards. Or old fashion notes on paper!

[luddite]

Tell them where and when to be.

[dsrdsrdsr]

If you need to contact them, eg. medical emergency, I'm sure reception would put out a tannoy for you.

[paul929207]

If it is just for the extremely unlikely emergency, you can use your cell phones to call or text.

[cb at sea]

In all honesty, making tentative plans, so you'll know where to look for each other, should you need to, works well. You'll find that you and your kids will gravitate to the same places over and over....it's really not as hard to locate each other as you are imagining.

[vancouvergirl2010]

In all honesty, making tentative plans, so you'll know where to look for each other, should you need to, works well. You'll find that you and your kids will gravitate to the same places over and over....it's really not as hard to locate each other as you are imagining.

 

Totally agree

[Scrapnana]

You'd think by now, they would have some type of little device you could buy or rent, so you could text your family members who are elsewhere ON THE SAME SHIP. (If nobody has invented it yet, time for me to go on 'Shark Tank'!) Anyone know of a good solution, other then meeting at scheduled times just to check in with each other? Really looking for something that just works within the ship itself. It sounds like it would be a high-demand item, especially for families, and should be technically possible by now.

 

Sorry, you aren't going to make millions. Disney already has these on their ships.

 

[PennyAgain]

We use room phones for messages and Post-it-Notes for reminders. Has worked for us for a long time.We've had good luck with no one removing the Post-it-Notes we leave on room doors......your results may vary.

 

We don't put names on the notes. I use pink notes and each person has a color.

 

On ships that have a place for leaving incoming announcements for a room, we put our notes in that device.

[Tabbymom]

I know we can't use texting (cell phones) while sailing

Actually, you probably can text depending on your provider. Most of the major lines participate in Cellular at Sea; you can check for your specific ship on their web site. Then ask your provider to put you on international roaming. For AT&T, that means I could send texts for $.50 and receive them for $.20. Obviously you wouldn't want to communicate back and forth all day, but that would be a way to contact each other for necessary meetup info. And the same rates applied to carriers in ports. That being said, on our cruise, people on Verizon often had trouble getting signals while AT&T had no problems.

[SadieN]

Post-it notes

[Cruisin' Chick]

We have put messages on the cabin door as well as leaving a message on the notepad on the desk as to where we went off to. On our last cruise, I would often run into my teen, even when not looking for her. And the ship did have phones all over the place that you can use to leave voice messages on cabin phones.

 

I have the feeling that many passengers don't want to have to keep track of some electronic device while on vacation.

[varoo]

Leaving telephone messages has always worked well for us on cruise ships so we have never needed any other method.

 

When returning to the cabin, it only takes a second to glance at the phone.

 

There are not that many places one can go on a cruise ship.

As Cruisin' Chick says -- you are likely to run into each other from time to time throughout the day anyway, even when you are not looking for one another.

It's not like wandering around in a big city.

 

One of the best things about being on vacation is getting away from the annoyances of everyday life.

No way would I want to carryi around a cell phone all day, or any other such type device, having people calling or texting me.

 

The employees do that, but they are paid to do that as part of their job.

If it is really an emergency, you can always have someone paged over the PA system.

 

[Donder1]

She is 18 and with a friend. If she is a good kid, I'd have some discussion early on about what works for everyone re: communication on the ship. Post it notes, cabin to cabin calls, meeting at dinner are good suggestions.

Beyond that, let go. You will all love the freedom of choices. In a true emergency, the staff can help you locate her in no time.