Mariner - communicating with fellow passengers

[CherryWaves]

I'm trying to determine the best way to communicate with fellow passengers (my family members) while on board the Mariner in April 2020.

 

Buying the wifi option for everyone in my group is out of the question. They are cheap. I am cheap.

 

I've read about mesh networks (unlikely to work unless many people on-board are using the same app), using the stateroom phones, bringing a white board/post-it notes, etc. But, none of these options are likely to help keep 10 people in decent communication.

 

I've also read that Royal is slowly rolling out a chat feature that can be accessed via their Royal Caribbean Intl App, using connectivity from the ship's limited, free wifi. I'm talking about the free wifi that lets you use the Royal Caribbean Intl app and not much else. NOT the internet access that requires a daily fee and is booked as an add-on to the cruise. As I mentioned, we're all too cheap to purchase wifi. Anyone know if Mariner has this chat feature rolled out yet (or will roll it out by 4/20/20)?

 

And then there's the 2-way radio (walkie talkie) option. Anyone successfully use these with a large group of people on Mariner or a similarly sized ship? If so, can you provide the brand, model, or any other info that would help me in my shopping?

 

Many thanks ahead of time!!

[eldrima]

Interested in this as well as my family is traveling on the Mariner in 3.5 weeks. New to Royal...used the paid app on NCL in the past to be able to stay in communication while on board.

[stevea36]

31 minutes ago, CherryWaves said:

I'm trying to determine the best way to communicate with fellow passengers (my family members) while on board the Mariner in April 2020.

 

Buying the wifi option for everyone in my group is out of the question. They are cheap. I am cheap.

 

I've read about mesh networks (unlikely to work unless many people on-board are using the same app), using the stateroom phones, bringing a white board/post-it notes, etc. But, none of these options are likely to help keep 10 people in decent communication.

 

I've also read that Royal is slowly rolling out a chat feature that can be accessed via their Royal Caribbean Intl App, using connectivity from the ship's limited, free wifi. I'm talking about the free wifi that lets you use the Royal Caribbean Intl app and not much else. NOT the internet access that requires a daily fee and is booked as an add-on to the cruise. As I mentioned, we're all too cheap to purchase wifi. Anyone know if Mariner has this chat feature rolled out yet (or will roll it out by 4/20/20)?

 

And then there's the 2-way radio (walkie talkie) option. Anyone successfully use these with a large group of people on Mariner or a similarly sized ship? If so, can you provide the brand, model, or any other info that would help me in my shopping?

 

Many thanks ahead of time!!

The only commitment that RCI has made for the app is that it is "scheduled" to have the texting portion rolled out fleetwide by the end of 2020.  That being said, I would not count on it for your April sailing.

 

As for Walkie Talkies, ships are mostly metal and the signal usually has issues, not to mention the "annoying factor" where the constant noise disturbs other passengers.  Additionally, the frequencies used by them may not be legally available when you are in foreign ports.

 

When we travelled with 12 people we had predetermined meeting places and times.  If you weren't there you lost out !!   We all met for lunch (on sea days) and dinner and, if interested, for other activities.

[Bookster99]

The texting service would be ideal, but short of that you might use a dry-erase board on your cabin doors with magnets. This way at least updates can be written somewhere so people can know where others went.

[Cel_cruise]

We have survived best with the ‘meet up’ plan ..predetermined meet ups or check ins work best for us.   If it’s a cabin meet up - we sometimes find notes there from people saying they are at a certain place and will meet us at the next meet up time etc.   I think it’s very unlikely chat will be rolled out before the end of the year - they make too much money from people paying for WiFi to have chat! 

 

I know that you said you were too cheap but in the future if ROyal doesn’t roll out chat as planned and you have more advanced notice ...for 12 people ...I think you should watch for sales on a 4 device package to share....   We are on Navigator in April 2020 and picked up the package on cyber Monday for $23.80/day for 4 devices.  For my family of 4 - this became a done deal!   For most groups of 8-12, there are usually a few people traveling together so it wouldn’t be too hard to share them or take turns logging in to get texts!   Less than $10 per person for length of cruise AND actual internet access isn’t too shabby! 

 

If you catch the 4 device package even for $30-$35 between now and then it might not be THAT bad split 12 ways! 

[Clarea]

58 minutes ago, CherryWaves said:

 ...

 

 ...  Anyone know if Mariner has this chat feature rolled out yet (or will roll it out by 4/20/20)? ...

 

No way to know this in advance.

[CherryWaves]

In addition to being cheap, I really want to disconnect from the internet on this trip. And I want my wife to disconnect as well. I only want simple communication with fellow passengers. For example:

My brother: (beep) "Where y'at?"

Me: "Pool"

--end of communication--

That is why I mentioned the walkie talkie option. A short exchange like that a few times per day is far less annoying than a lot of behavior I witness on cruises. 

So, if there is anyone who has had success with walkie talkies on a Mariner-sized ship, please let me know. Thanks!

[Clarea]

1 minute ago, CherryWaves said:

 ...

So, if there is anyone who has had success with walkie talkies on a Mariner-sized ship, please let me know. Thanks!

 

I think you will find that walkie talkies are poor performers when separated by a few decks.

[John&LaLa]

10 minutes ago, CherryWaves said:

In addition to being cheap, I really want to disconnect from the internet on this trip. And I want my wife to disconnect as well. I only want simple communication with fellow passengers. For example:

My brother: (beep) "Where y'at?"

Me: "Pool"

--end of communication--

That is why I mentioned the walkie talkie option. A short exchange like that a few times per day is far less annoying than a lot of behavior I witness on cruises. 

So, if there is anyone who has had success with walkie talkies on a Mariner-sized ship, please let me know. Thanks!

 

Just off Mariner, noticed several families with walkie talkies, they didn't appear to work very good. 

 

May have been the quality of the devices. 

They were however, quite loud😉

[cb at sea]

When you DO meet, for meals or whatever, tell everyone YOUR plans...listen to THEIR plans, and you shouldn't have any issues!

[ducati996spr]

My Wife's family had her brothers wedding on Enchantment of the Seas last june. There were 30 couples. 10 of the couples (Us included) bought 12 channel long range Walkie Talkies from Amazon. They worked great as long as you were 4 decks apart or less. When everyone was at the pool, it would reach down to the Schooner Bar and rooms on that floor. Beyond that, it was static. We were on a 4th floor Ocean view room, and if everyone was up top by the pool, we wouldn't get much communication.

 

The fun part was the nicknames we came up with. Everyone was a duck:

 

Father of the Groom: Papa Duck

Groom: Donald Duck

Myself: Aflac (I work in Insurance)

Police Officer: Recon Duck

Brother of the Groom who is Cheep: Scrooge McDuck

Therapist: Quackers

Bride: Daisy Duck

Friend that would be hung over and bounce right back: Rubber Duck

Funny Friend: Daffy Duck

 

Can't remember the others, but you can have fun with it! Cheers and good luck!

[MisKaren1]

On 1/24/2020 at 12:08 PM, CherryWaves said:

In addition to being cheap, I really want to disconnect from the internet on this trip. And I want my wife to disconnect as well. I only want simple communication with fellow passengers. For example:

My brother: (beep) "Where y'at?"

Me: "Pool"

--end of communication--

That is why I mentioned the walkie talkie option. A short exchange like that a few times per day is far less annoying than a lot of behavior I witness on cruises. 

So, if there is anyone who has had success with walkie talkies on a Mariner-sized ship, please let me know. Thanks!

We just used walkies on the Mariner! No issues, and we stretched the range a few times. We only used them if we split kids and in public (read: loud) areas like the Windjammer and Flowrider. We also used them successfully on Cococay. 
 

I saw 2 other families using walkies.
 

We use them a lot for camping so we use a random frequency plus my husband is ham radio certified...or licensed? I honestly don’t pay attention 🤣.
 

hope this helps!

Edited January 25, 2020 by MisKaren1

[fla gang]

On 1/23/2020 at 5:53 PM, Bookster99 said:

The texting service would be ideal, but short of that you might use a dry-erase board on your cabin doors with magnets. This way at least updates can be written somewhere so people can know where others went.

That is exactly what we did when we had a group! Better than nothing.

[LeeW]

On 1/24/2020 at 10:08 AM, CherryWaves said:

 

My brother: (beep) "Where y'at?"

Me: "Pool"

 

 

That constant BEEP is really annoying when the guy is on the upper level of the Solarium and his wife is down below 30' away.  On and on for 20 minutes, and he could see her from where he was sitting.  Two tin cans and string would have done the job.  You would think that people with these could use a headphone instead of cranking the volume up.

Edited January 26, 2020 by LeeW
more

[Meltdown]

Yeah, radios should be banned. Constant beeping and screaming.. Annoying as hell. Seems like everyone has them on max volume just so they won't miss something.

 

Set a schedule or leave messages on the stateroom phone. Or just regular notes.

 

It's a vacation....

[Evilgrin72]

Recommended test for walkie-talkies : Playing Sepultura's "Arise" album into them at top volume.  Max will cut right through multiple decks and give you a crystal-clear connection.

 

P.S. I bought the Surf & Stream package.

[CherryWaves]

23 hours ago, Meltdown said:

Yeah, radios should be banned. Constant beeping and screaming.. Annoying as hell. Seems like everyone has them on max volume just so they won't miss something.

 

Set a schedule or leave messages on the stateroom phone. Or just regular notes.

 

It's a vacation....

Your reply to my post is more annoying than anything I could do with a walkie talkie.

[CherryWaves]

(" ; >(} )

Huh huh huh huh.

[Meltdown]

24 minutes ago, CherryWaves said:

Your reply to my post is more annoying than anything I could do with a walkie talkie.

 

Ask a question, get an answer. 

It's really not my concern that you don't like my answer. I'm pretty sure I can think of things to do with your radios that would annoy you to.....

 

My personal opinion is that the radios disturb my vacation. Period. 

 

[Evilgrin72]

16 minutes ago, Meltdown said:

 

Ask a question, get an answer. 

It's really not my concern that you don't like my answer. I'm pretty sure I can think of things to do with your radios that would annoy you to.....

 

My personal opinion is that the radios disturb my vacation. Period. 

 

 

Even if Sepultura's 1991 classic "Arise" is playing through them?

 

And in fairness to the OP, the questions asked were : "Will Mariner have the chat feature rolled out by April 2020?" and "Do the radios work on a ship that size?", not "Do walkie-talkies annoy selected cruise passengers and should they be banned?"  So, your "answer," as it was, wasn't really an answer at all - just an unsolicited personal opinion, as you correctly characterized it in your last response.  Unfortunately, that seems to be the norm these days on this board.  Can I interest you in a "Where can I smoke on ___________ of The Seas" thread?

[CherryWaves]

28 minutes ago, Evilgrin72 said:

 

Even if Sepultura's 1991 classic "Arise" is playing through them?

 

And in fairness to the OP, the questions asked were : "Will Mariner have the chat feature rolled out by April 2020?" and "Do the radios work on a ship that size?", not "Do walkie-talkies annoy selected cruise passengers and should they be banned?"  So, your "answer," as it was, wasn't really an answer at all - just an unsolicited personal opinion, as you correctly characterized it in your last response.  Unfortunately, that seems to be the norm these days on this board.  Can I interest you in a "Where can I smoke on ___________ of The Seas" thread?

Exactly. 

[CherryWaves]

1 hour ago, Meltdown said:

 

Ask a question, get an answer. 

It's really not my concern that you don't like my answer. I'm pretty sure I can think of things to do with your radios that would annoy you to.....

 

My personal opinion is that the radios disturb my vacation. Period. 

 

You wouldn't dare touch my radios, Melty.

[lmintzer]

It's a shame there isn't a system for texting using ship WiFi. NCL has this--it's not perfect, but it worked a lot of the time. Each person had to plug in a special NCL 5 digit phone number. Then, you could message each other at those numbers without buying a data plan.

[Biker19]

10 hours ago, lmintzer said:

It's a shame there isn't a system for texting using ship WiFi.

There's one - it's just not enabled yet on Mariner.