Communication on board

[MamaTortuga]

Me and my boyfriend are sailing on the Freedom in May and I'm almost certain there will be times when we branch off and do our own thing (I'll probably be by the pool while he's at the casino) so I was wondering how we could remain in contact with each other since our phones aren't really going to work in the middle of the ocean (and I'd rather not pay the roaming charges.) I was looking into some cheap walkie talkies we could use, but I wanted to see if you guys had any other suggestions.

[serene56]

we ask for 2 copies of the fun times- mark it up where I will be and mark it up where he wants to go

 

ship is not all that big when you consider most of the decks are passenger decks.

 

the only deck he could be on is deck 5 9, 10,11

 

 

Walkie talkies-- theywill need to stay on and you will be listening to all the other conversations going on with those.

 

Very annoying to say the least.

 

Save your money.

[reerun25]

For me, I thought about the same thing when my family of four cruised. I then read about how they really don't work on the ship that well, so we went without walkie talkies. For us, it was not an issue. Everyone went and did whatever they wanted, and we just had certain times we would agree to meet back at the cabin, like to get ready for supper or to go to a show or a presentation. It worked just fine. To be honest, it was real easy to go find one of my family members if I needed them. The ship seems really huge, but with just 5 or 10 mins of walking, I would find them, and I needed the exercise so I would not feel too bad about having the WCMC at supper!!

 

I have read that they are doing a test program on a couple of ships, that will allow you to use your phone onboard to text to others onboard, but not sure which ship(s) and when it may go fleetwide.

[falkcor]

your cruise is still a while out, maybe they will have the carnival fun hub app available by the time you cruise:

 

http://www.carnival.com/cms/shipboard/funhub/funhub-landing.html

 

in that case, you could basically text each other through the app without incurring charges via your carrier.

[Velvetwater]

We had a meet up point too but then spent most of the time chilling together anyway and wanting to do the same thing.

 

Our friends had walkie talkies and the battery died within 4 days.

Edited January 21, 2015 by Velvetwater

[MamaTortuga]

your cruise is still a while out, maybe they will have the carnival fun hub app available by the time you cruise:

 

http://www.carnival.com/cms/shipboard/funhub/funhub-landing.html

 

in that case, you could basically text each other through the app without incurring charges via your carrier.

 

That'd be great if they had it by the time we sail. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

 

From what everyone else is saying I think I'll save my money on the walkie talkies. I guess we know each other well enough to know where to go first if we lose each other.

[falkcor]

That'd be great if they had it by the time we sail. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

 

From what everyone else is saying I think I'll save my money on the walkie talkies. I guess we know each other well enough to know where to go first if we lose each other.

 

good luck, i hope it's on freedom by your cruise. i figure they'll roll it out as it seems popular, they seem to be updating the onboard connectivity type plans (this and internet), and frankly they're kinda behind the curve here vs. the competition.

 

if nothing else, pack a pad of post its and a pen - that's always been our old school solution, and it works lol :)

[Havingfun2010]

This is a little old school and outdated, but before you two branch out on the ship, maybe try talking to each other. Set up a meeting time. Probably the oldest method ever, and it does not take batteries to achieve.

[djcass4199]

Personally not a fan of the walkie talkies. Kind of annoying to be in an elevator next to someone having a conversation on one.

[MamaTortuga]

I may take on the post it method and just leave a note if I'm going to be somewhere else. It's possible we'll be together most of the time anyway. I can't imagine trying to relax next to someone with the walkie talkie making up noise. I think I'll go ahead and not be THAT person haha.

[Purvis1231]

We have some rechargeable walkie talkie with a 25 mile range. They work fine on the ship but as others said, they are a little annoying to some people. If you are in the pool or water slide, it might be hard to get to, or if you are like me they might get a little wet when you forget it in your pocket.

Edited January 22, 2015 by Purvis1231

[rmh661983]

A dry erase message board is another way to leave notes for each other. The dollar tree has them for a $.

[luddite]

Talk with each other. The ships are not really all that big.

Semaphore flags will work better than the radios and won't make as many people angry.

Edited January 22, 2015 by luddite

[DKF97]

We've never really had a problem meeting up with each other, but on the last cruise we decided to leave our phones on so we could text each other and our kids and their sitter could text us. The kids and sitter never found anything important enough to text us about, but we did text each other onboard a couple of times when one of us changed our minds about where we were headed or we forgot something in the room we wanted the other to grab, little things like that. It really saved us a headache when we decided to separate in Nassau and meet back up at the Harley Davidson, turned out there are 2 HD's and we were each waiting at a different one. In the end our cellphone bill ended up being $8 or $9 more than normal. Great deal! We will be using our phones from now on.

[Galleon1234]

Would love more info on the Fun Hub? Is it available on the Triumph? How do you set it up?

 

Thanks

[reerun25]

Would love more info on the Fun Hub? Is it available on the Triumph? How do you set it up?

 

Thanks

 

It is only available on the Breeze currently...

[lyndilouwho]

My husband and I were on the Freedom in November and we both purchased the social media Internet package which allowed us to use the app What'sapp to "text" back and forth when we weren't together on the ship. It worked great for us!

 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Forums mobile app

[Smurphy]

I have found in the past that when we wanted to find our kids, there were really only a few places to look so we would find them fairly quickly. Never used text, walkie talkies, or even post-it notes! Another good tip . . . if your boyfriend tells you he is going to casino and then later decides to go elsewhere, he can just call the cabin phone and leave you a message instead of going back to the room to write a note :). Have a great cruise!!

[serene56]

My husband and I were on the Freedom in November and we both purchased the social media Internet package which allowed us to use the app What'sapp to "text" back and forth when we weren't together on the ship. It worked great for us!

 

 

ahh, so you have to buy the internet package to use that app? what is the cost for that onboard?

 

Because WhatsApp Messenger uses the same internet data plan that you use for email and web browsing, there is no cost to message and stay in touch with your friends.

[falkcor]

ahh, so you have to buy the internet package to use that app? what is the cost for that onboard?

 

Because WhatsApp Messenger uses the same internet data plan that you use for email and web browsing, there is no cost to message and stay in touch with your friends.

 

i've never used the app myself but it seems like it would be compatible with the new 'social media plan' which is being rolled out at $5/day or $25/sailing per person.

[serene56]

so we both would need to pay for it for a day cruise or 50 bucks?

 

wow he can stay lost--lol

[Wavesprite]

What we do is we write notes in the cabin if our location changes: For instance: went to the Lido pool, then if I'm giong to move somewhere else, Ij ust pop back to the cabin "trivia in the aft lounge" etc.

 

We just check the cabin for a note before searching the decks.

[MamaTortuga]

I have found in the past that when we wanted to find our kids, there were really only a few places to look so we would find them fairly quickly. Never used text, walkie talkies, or even post-it notes! Another good tip . . . if your boyfriend tells you he is going to casino and then later decides to go elsewhere, he can just call the cabin phone and leave you a message instead of going back to the room to write a note :). Have a great cruise!!

 

I hadn't even thought of that! Actually didn't know we could leave messages on the phone, I might do that so I wont have to go to the cabin whenever I decide to go somewhere else.

 

I may also purchase the internet plan too so I can take care of some work in my online classes. I'll probably pay by minute though since I don't plan on being on the internet that long.

[campdaan]

12 Cruises and...

 

"Honey, I won't be more than 900 feet away. I promise I won't get off the ship without you."

Works every time.

 

If you both have a good idea of where you will be, you won't be hard to find eachother.

 

Have a great Cruise.

[serene56]

 

I may also purchase the internet plan too so I can take care of some work in my online classes. I'll probably pay by minute though since I don't plan on being on the internet that long.

 

internet is VERY slow.