How to cruise WITHOUT walkie talkies?

[Calypso08]

My friend and I are going on the Carnival Triumph this May 24th. This is my first cruise and I am trying to be as prepared as possible!

 

So to you veteran cruisers...please offer your sage advice.

 

How can my friend and I get around the ship (sans walkie talkies)without losing each other? We are both females in our 20s...I'd rather neither of us have to spend our cruise worried that something happened to the other after being apart for a few hours at a time(passenger molested by a cruise staffer on Disney cruise a few months ago, anyone?).

 

Besides both having watches and agreeing to meet each other at an exact time after separating- I can't think of a way to do this without walkie talkies. And we DON"T want to be the annoying walkie talkie people! :rolleyes:

 

Any help offered would be much appreciated. :D

Edited May 9, 2014 by Calypso08

[n6uqqq]

You could text but with most carriers it would cost 50 cents to send and 5 cents to receive ( Verizon). I tried the walkie talkie thing and it didn't go well unless you are on the same deck and/or outside . Being in your 20's you will most likely be hanging out together most of the time. You can also call your room from any ship phone and leave a message. And then there is the time honored post it notes you can leave in your room! The last thing on earth a hip 20 something would want to be seen with is a walkie talkie. Mostly parents and their younger kids playing with these ;).

Edited May 9, 2014 by n6uqqq

[Waterloomarc]

It's easier to stay in touch/find each other on the ship than you'd think it will be. IMO just agreeing on times and wearing a watch will be sufficient. The only thing I would suggest (depending on the location of your cabin) would be to agree to always travel the same way to get somewhere that way you lessen the odds of crossing paths. For instance always traveling down the right side of the lido, or always going down to the promenade deck and then heading aft rather than heading aft down the hallway on your deck then going down the elevator etc. My wife and I will leave notes in the cabin if we're not together of where we'll be so we'll either wait for the other to return or go find each other (refer to previous discussion of taking the same route)

 

But like I said it just seems to work out that you can find who you're looking for. And if not you can always resort to having them paged to guest services!

 

God bless you for not being the walker talkie people!

 

 

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Edited May 9, 2014 by Waterloomarc

[riffatsea]

We are very old fashioned!

We just leave notes on the coffee table in the room.

Don't leave them outside on the door because annoying people(kids?) tear them off or move them.

[Smart Arsenal Fan]

It's easier to stay in touch/find each other on the ship than you'd think it will be. IMO just agreeing on times and wearing a watch will be sufficient. The only thing I would suggest (depending on the location of your cabin) would be to agree to always travel the same way to get somewhere that way you lessen the odds of crossing paths. For instance always traveling down the right side of the lido, or always going down to the promenade deck and then heading aft rather than heading aft down the hallway on your deck then going down the elevator etc. My wife and I will leave notes in the cabin if we're not together of where we'll be so we'll either wait for the other to return or go find each other (refer to previous discussion of taking the same route)

 

But like I said it just seems to work out that you can find who you're looking for. And if not you can always resort to having them paged to guest services!

 

God bless you for not being the walker talkie people!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I know you meant increase the odds... but still, awesome idea! I am totally stealing that idea! :)

[Calypso08]

I don't mind looking "un-hip" with a walkie talkie...but I don't want to carry one around either. Post its sounds brilliant- and now I feel dumb for not having thought of it!

 

We will be spending most of our time together but I have a habit of wandering off and doing my own thing. :P

 

I went to Cancun last year with several friends and had a bit of a fiasco with not being able to find each other/everybody freaking out(c'mon that's part of being female) and I really don't want a repeat of that!

 

Thanks for the tips. :)

Edited May 9, 2014 by Calypso08

[Waterloomarc]

I know you meant increase the odds... but still, awesome idea! I am totally stealing that idea! :)

 

 

Lol. Yes increase the odds of finding one another...lessens the odds of your paths NOT crossing ;) been a long week.

 

 

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[Taters]

You'll be fine with the post-its. We've never taken walkie talkies and have never wished we'd had them.

[coltsmama]

we just leave notes for eachother. we also usually have our favorite 'spots' on the ships, so if all else fails, we go to those areas. Its actually not too bad to keep up with everyone.

[bunchesofun]

We tried walkie talkies on the Pride and they didn't work at all. Others on board had no problems at all with theirs. And we didn't buy cheap ones either. So a good thing you are not bringing them as it has a 50/50 chance of being a waste of money.

[mousey]

After trying several different ways of keeping in contact with DS over all the years we traveled with him...the best way to keep in touch was to set up a place and time to meet. Once the DS outgrew the walkie talkie (at about 12) that's what we did. He was never late and it worked perfectly for us. When we would meet up...we'd setup yet another place and time to meet. Never had a problem. :D

 

I'd forget the post-its...who wants to keep going back to their cabin to look for notes?:eek: I'd only use them if your friend or you don't show up on time when you're supposed to meet...then it should be understood that you would both go to the room and leave a message as to where you are.

 

Hope you and your friend have an awesome cruise!:D

[092306]

When DH and I go off to do our own separate things, we usually give a round about time to meet up and also a few possible places we'll be if either of us needs the other earlier. Sometimes we leave notes in the room too. Haven't lost him yet! Enjoy your cruise!

[dljones]

My friend and I are going on the Carnival Triumph this May 24th. This is my first cruise and I am trying to be as prepared as possible!

 

So to you veteran cruisers...please offer your sage advice.

 

How can my friend and I get around the ship (sans walkie talkies)without losing each other? We are both females in our 20s...I'd rather neither of us have to spend our cruise worried that something happened to the other after being apart for a few hours at a time(passenger molested by a cruise staffer on Disney cruise a few months ago, anyone?).

 

Besides both having watches and agreeing to meet each other at an exact time after separating- I can't think of a way to do this without walkie talkies. And we DON"T want to be the annoying walkie talkie people! :rolleyes:

 

Any help offered would be much appreciated. :D

 

We never use them ourselves. We are together most of the time anyway. But, I would say just set a time to meet to do whatever and let it go. And if they don't show up, don't sweat it, go about your business and don't worry.

 

You are both adults. You can take care of yourselves. And don't dwell on the horror stories. Think of the thousands of passengers and hundreds of cruise ships sailing at any given time.

 

Having said all that, my partner has stayed out late on past cruises and I start to get a little nervous around 2 or 3 AM. But I have done the same myself from time to time. Only once did I think about going to find him but he walked in about that time. We are to old now to do that sort of thing though.

 

Best advice... set a time to meet for whatever, whenever and let it go at that. Then enjoy the cruise. :D

[tanyaewa]

We had a special area to meetup. Whenever we needed to get together we would go to our area of the Lido and the others would find us.

[Ronie_Ver]

My sister and I lost first day of our first cruise (January) looking for each other. We went to breakfast at different times, ended up looking for each other for an hour. Later, she didn't feel well and went to take a nap while I went tanning. Again, ended up looking for each other and so on. The rest of the time on the ship was similar, mostly wasting time looking for each other.

 

Please, please, please, don't waste the precious time looking for each other. There are plenty of fun things to do on your own in case you get separated.

 

We still LOVED the cruise, so we went again two months later and are planning to go again in summer.

 

Have fun!!!!!;):):D

[wander]

For me, one of the things that would quickly ruin my cruise is to be constantly worrying if my traveling companion was safe or where they were for that matter. If you are not doing the same things together, set meeting times and have fun in the meantime. I can not even fathom having to worry about another that much on a ship checking with each other frequently. (Now with children, a different situation as would be traveling with a confused adult.)

 

 

I am assuming that when home you live your own lives. If so, allow yourselves to do the same on the ship. Yes things happen on ships, but so do they at home!!! and probably more frequently at home.

[sailinglisa]

You can always call your cabin and leave a voice mail for the other person....and they can call from any phone on the ship to get that message. But honestly, the ships are not that big and are usually VERY safe. I travel solo a lot and have no one to check in with and have NEVER felt unsafe. If I did, I would just hang close to a group of people and start talking to them or seek out a staff person or head to guest services if needed.

[Stone Rosey]

I suggest smoke signals or morse code(but, you'll need a lot wire for that)

[loxley]

How about this idea. You and your friend do not put yourself in compromising positions to be taken advantage of.

 

That means things like, don't flirt with the crew, don't get drunk, don't go to non public areas.

 

Being taken advantage of is not about someone not knowing where to find you, and more about using some good ole common sense. Do you think women are being dragged from the lido deck into the bowels of the ship? (my mother does, but that is a whole other story)

 

Actually, the ship is big, but there is not really so much public area that I have ever had a problem locating anybody.

[sandij]

First of all read Loxely, great advice. The ship really isn't that big and you know you partners tendencies,like I can always find my DH in the casino and I'm usually in the sun. We always meet up for meals and tours of course but never really have lost each other.

[Grannycb]

Great advice from Loxely!

 

We get two daily schedules and mark what each of us plans to do. At the pool, we pick a side so we will know where to look for each other. Usually, DH picks the shady side so he can sit and read. We pick a time to meet for lunch, and meet back at the cabin before dinner. Each of us knows where the other one is if there is a problem. Evenings are spent together at shows.

[Retired_to_Cruise]

We were on the Breeze this past January, and one of my fellow poker players was onboard with his 16 year old son. He told us about some program that Carnival had where he rented two smart phones that worked on the ship. There were no outrageous cost that people allude to with their own plans. His son was required to check in with him whenever he decided to move somewhere else on the ship. It seemed to work perfect for them and allowed the son to enjoy a sense of freedom from constant parental presence or oversight. Check it out!

Edited May 11, 2014 by Retired_to_Cruise

[Kittybork]

agree to always travel the same way to get somewhere that way you lessen the odds of crossing paths. For instance always traveling down the right side of the lido, or always going down to the promenade deck and then heading aft rather than heading aft down the hallway on your deck then going down the elevator etc.

 

 

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Brilliant!

[LuckyZ]

I think people make too much of having to be constantly in contact. Believe me, after 13 cruises and NEVER using wallow talkies, you WILL find each other. And if you don't, you will be safe. Just use common sense in where and when you go on the ship.

 

When we started cruising, our youngest was 8 and he liked to explore on his own. We wouldn't see him for hours, but he knew to check in periodically.

 

And we've never had any issues.

 

Do us all a favor and leave the wallow talkies at home, and enjoy your cruise.