Communicating on ship; phones, app, best option?

[ShyMiss]

Hi all! First time on RC (Oasis) with family.:) We need a reliable way to comunicate with our two teens (who will be in seperate clubs.) On Carnival's Breeze we bought a package on the ship which gave us an app to use on our phone that allowed us to text with our kids. (We did not need to use our own phone data & it worked very well.)

 

Couldn't find current info on google or RC website.:confused: What our are options for communication? Does the Oasis rent phones/ipods programed for texting, or have an app that can be purchased for this?

 

The Oasis is much larger than the previous ship we sailed as a family & I'm sure we are fairly "overprotective" by some standards.:o We want our teens (14 & 16) to be able to enjoy the clubs but want to be able to communicate with them so we know where they are at all times. The white board idea shared in other posts isn't a favorite for my family, as we don't want to have to run back to the room all day or night to check this.

 

On the Breeze, sometimes the whole teen club event would end early or "move" to another location (ex: baskeball court, pool, etc.) We could not just drop kids off & meet them after an event at their teen club. Thus, a communication method is a necessity for us, as we don't want to waste precious vacation time looking for each other!

 

Thank you soooo much in advance to anyone who can share current information on communication options!!!:)

[Clarea]

Royal has no app or phones to rent on Oasis class. If you cannot use conventional methods (stateroom phone messages, white boards, notes, etc.) then you can use text messaging on your phones for about $0.50 per text sent, depending on your carrier. If you intend to purchase internet for all the phones, then you can use an internet based text message service, such as iMessage or WhatsApp.

Edited January 1, 2016 by clarea

[cb at sea]

Make plans with your kids. Tell them where YOU'LL be, and when they finish one activity, have them come to you PHYSICALLY to confirm their next adventure...doing "check ins" via electronics doesn't really tell you anything...

[jonj]

When our children were younger our rules were that if they were going to be somewhere different than originally planned or moving to a different activity, that wasn't part of the kids /teen club, they had to call the room and leave a message. Now this was on a Disney cruise however I would think that there are phones around the Oasis that can be used to call a stateroom. We also brought a writing pad with us and they could leave a written message in the room too so we always knew where they were. They also knew the consequences of not following these rules which as that their privilege of being able to move around the ship would be taken away. Be clear with what your expectations are while on the ship. Of course also stress the "safety" rules too. One was that they were not allowed to go into anyone else's (new friends made) cabins or bring them into our cabin. They had to physically check in at lunch if they didn't plan to eat with us but dinner was a family affair.

 

We also left a message in the room either on the the room phone or a written message letting the kids know where we would be if they needed to find us, if we planned on being somewhere different than our original plan. Basically our room was the place to go if we needed to check for updates instead of walking around the ship trying to find each other. This solved the issues of them having to carry something around, possibly leave it somewhere / forget it, lose it, etc.

Edited January 1, 2016 by jonj

[caseymorgan]

I agree with CB at Sea. Why burden yourselves with phones day and night? I certainly don't want my phone at the pool. At their ages an occasional check in is easiest for everybody.

[Clarea]

... however I would think that there are phones around the Oasis that can be used to call a stateroom....

There are phones near every elevator lobby.

[attagirl]

On our last cruise, my brother brought walkies from his business so they were very high quality. They worked great! In the past we have tried to use less expensive ones and there was too much interference from other users and lousy range issues. So depending on if you want to make an investment, there is always that option. On Oasis I would think a high quality set would be necessary due to the size. We are hoping to borrow my brother's again for our upcoming cruise.

 

As a side note, we picked check in times so that we didn't have to have the walkies on all the time and annoy other cruisers. We tried to be as polite as we could while still keeping tabs on our kids. We didn't carry on conversations via walkie :)

[Lionesss]

When DD was in Fuel the teens club she had to check in with us every other hour by leaving a message on cabin phone or find us where we told her we would be.....casino......bar.......

 

She was not allowed to go swimming, rock wall or surf without us knowing.

 

Worked well.

 

Loved the ships curfew.

 

Now when we dont coordinate times we bump into her everywhere with her new found cruise friends.

 

Safe travels.

[cruisecraze96]

Same situation here :), loved the hub app on carnival to keep in touch with my then 12 year old who will be 13 when we go on the Allure. Since sadly I still have to be somewhat available for work I will be getting the 2 device internet package and then that way we can use fb messenger to keep in touch on the ship. They do have iPhones you can rent for the week to keep in touch and they will run out early, but they have a hefty price tag if lost or damaged.

 

We have all the rules set on where she can/cannot go plus times to check in and time to be back. We always do dinner together and then there are other shows/activities that we try to do as a family as well. That way we have family time and some free time too.

[wildfity6]

Sounds like things have changed a bit but 4 years ago we were able to rent Royal connect phones in Oasis. They were not cheap.. ($60 a piece for the week I believe) But we used our free onboard credit to minimize the pain. We could text or call our daughters at anytime using the phones. The service was spotty at times as it used the onboard wifi system.. The phones also had a locator that would show you exactly were the other phones were on the ship at anytime. We thought that the service was well worth the money spent.. The draw back is that they are iPhone and replacement cost was $500 a piece if they were damaged or lost during the cruise. That would be a royal pain if your child went swimming with one... They were not publicized at all but we asked the first person that we came to after boarding and they directed us to the library to check them out. They were sold out after a couple of hours on board... so you have to be quick at finding them.

[jtdlmc]

Are there phones near the elevators on all ships? Can you retrieve your stateroom messages from those phones or do you have to use the phone in your stateroom to listen to any messages?

[Clarea]

Are there phones near the elevators on all ships? Can you retrieve your stateroom messages from those phones or do you have to use the phone in your stateroom to listen to any messages?

We've seen phones near the elevator lobbies on all the ships we've been on. I don't know if you can retrieve messages remotely.

[goneclear]

I never sailed Carnival but sounds like their texting app is a great idea. Royal seems to be a little behind the game on this issue.

Wish they would do something similar.

[curcurt]

I never sailed Carnival but sounds like their texting app is a great idea. Royal seems to be a little behind the game on this issue.

Wish they would do something similar.

 

They need their web site people to develop this service for the ships.:eek:

[Clarea]

I never sailed Carnival but sounds like their texting app is a great idea. Royal seems to be a little behind the game on this issue.

Wish they would do something similar.

Knowing the prowess of Royal's IT folks, I would be deathly afraid of loading their app on my phone. :eek: