WalkieTalkie on Cruise Ship

[Flatbush Flyer]

22 hours ago, K32682 said:

Higher quality (2W power) FRS radios should work on most of the ship. The OP is not asking the question for "ineffective jabber" but to stay in contact with the care attendant for an elderly parent which is understandable. 

 

The VHF/UHF hand radio I took on a cruise didn't draw any attention and I didn't ask if they were banned. There were no legal issues with countries visited. The differences between FRS radios and VHF/UHF handhelds are not great, 5W power vs 2W, wider frequency ranges and better quality antennas. I brought mine mostly for scanning. Lots of interesting radio traffic in ports.

 

 

   

Nice try. If you’re going to use marine and related radios requiring licensure or otherwise regulated, it is your responsibility to know the rules and not plead ignorance because “no on told you.”

Try a pad of Post-Its next time.

[navybankerteacher]

54 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Nice try. If you’re going to use marine and related radios requiring licensure or otherwise regulated, it is your responsibility to know the rules and not plead ignorance because “no on told you.”

Try a pad of Post-Its next time.

Well, if I don't want to ask, isn't it someone else's responsibility to advise me?

[K32682]

52 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Nice try. If you’re going to use marine and related radios requiring licensure or otherwise regulated, it is your responsibility to know the rules and not plead ignorance because “no on told you.”

Try a pad of Post-Its next time.

 

I was subjected to the usual search coming on board. The radio wasn't hidden. Nothing was said. Transmissions were limited to the ship and scanning was done on open and public frequencies available to anyone. The crew didn't care. The ship didn't go off course. I had a pleasant diversion on sea days. No harm, no foul. 

[Charles4515]

13 minutes ago, K32682 said:

 

I was subjected to the usual search coming on board. The radio wasn't hidden. Nothing was said. Transmissions were limited to the ship and scanning was done on open and public frequencies available to anyone. The crew didn't care. The ship didn't go off course. I had a pleasant diversion on sea days. No harm, no foul. 

Possibly those were crew members who didn’t understand what you were doing or what type of radio. You probably didn’t ask because you knew the answer would be no. I have seen prohibitions on radios like you describe  on many cruise line prohibited lists. 

Edited August 30, 2022 by Charles4515

[Flatbush Flyer]

15 minutes ago, K32682 said:

 

I was subjected to the usual search coming on board. The radio wasn't hidden. Nothing was said. Transmissions were limited to the ship and scanning was done on open and public frequencies available to anyone. The crew didn't care. The ship didn't go off course. I had a pleasant diversion on sea days. No harm, no foul. 

You sound just like the guy who runs a red light because he didn’t see any other cars.

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, K32682 said:

 

I was subjected to the usual search coming on board. The radio wasn't hidden. Nothing was said. Transmissions were limited to the ship and scanning was done on open and public frequencies available to anyone. The crew didn't care. The ship didn't go off course. I had a pleasant diversion on sea days. No harm, no foul. 

Based on your posts, you probably have some amateur radio certification and stated you don't know if your radio was legal onboard. Yet you expect the ship's crew to know!!!

 

Clearly the security searching bags and the hotel staff don't know the regulations and even junior deck officers do not have a thorough knowledge of some regulations. 

[navybankerteacher]

1 hour ago, Charles4515 said:

Possibly those were crew members who didn’t understand what you were doing or what type of radio. You probably didn’t ask because you knew the answer would be no. I have seen prohibitions on radios like you describe  on many cruise line prohibited lists. 

From what he has said in earlier posts, he probably did have a fair understanding of the difference between his gear and the typical Walmart kiddy walkie talkies.

[Charles4515]

16 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

Based on your posts, you probably have some amateur radio certification and stated you don't know if your radio was legal onboard. Yet you expect the ship's crew to know!!!

 

Clearly the security searching bags and the hotel staff don't know the regulations and even junior deck officers do not have a thorough knowledge of some regulations. 

If I had a radio in my carry on bag the security scanning the bag is not going to know what type of radio. They are looking for firearms or alcohol. In over 60 cruises they have never gone inside my bag as I don’t give them reason too. I could have had my ham radio in the bag but I never packed it because I always read the prohibited items. Ham radios I know are prohibited on most cruise lines. I have seen scanner radios prohibited.  

[ldubs]

On 8/28/2022 at 3:38 PM, GlenEllen1987 said:

Hello….

Traveling with elderly Dad and his aide on the Carnival Magic next month.  
Thinking of purchasing walkie talkies so aide has immediate communication with us if needed. 
Wondering which brand is best for cruise ship travel.?

Thanks so much. 

 

Circling back around to encourage you to look at the cruise line app or wifi packages to see if they would meet your communication needs.  As I said before, my experience is the consumer Radio Shack types will not work for what you want.  And, there are folks with quite a bit of experience indicating the more powerful models are likely to also be problematic.

 

BTW, I'm not responding because I find walkie-talkies irritating.  I've been on over 30 cruises.  Other than the one where we took walkie-talkies, I can easily count on one hand the number of times I heard someone talking on a walkie-talkie.  In no instance was it something to cause annoyance or anger.     

[navybankerteacher]

4 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

Circling back around to encourage you to look at the cruise line app or wifi packages to see if they would meet your communication needs.  As I said before, my experience is the consumer Radio Shack types will not work for what you want.  And, there are folks with quite a bit of experience indicating the more powerful models are likely to also be problematic.

 

BTW, I'm not responding because I find walkie-talkies irritating.  I've been on over 30 cruises.  Other than the one where we took walkie-talkies, I can easily count on one hand the number of times I heard someone talking on a walkie-talkie.  In no instance was it something to cause annoyance or anger.     

Same here -- I have probably only had to listen to a half dozen or so shipboard attempts to communicate with walkie talkies - those attempts were seemingly unsuccessful because they did involve hearing someone repeating the same sort of "can you hear me" message -- which, while not causing anger, would certainly have gotten seriously annoying had the user not given up or gone away.

[K32682]

11 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

Based on your posts, you probably have some amateur radio certification and stated you don't know if your radio was legal onboard. Yet you expect the ship's crew to know!!!

 

Clearly the security searching bags and the hotel staff don't know the regulations and even junior deck officers do not have a thorough knowledge of some regulations. 

 

Shipboard use of amateur radios and other narrow legalities were not as I recall discussed in the Canadian certification courses and if the security staff and junior deck officer don't know the applicable regulations it's hardly a surprise that a passenger might not.

[Charles4515]

2 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

Same here -- I have probably only had to listen to a half dozen or so shipboard attempts to communicate with walkie talkies - those attempts were seemingly unsuccessful because they did involve hearing someone repeating the same sort of "can you hear me" message -- which, while not causing anger, would certainly have gotten seriously annoying had the user not given up or gone away.

They never bothered me. I got a chuckle out of hearing all the failed or misunderstood communications. 

[Charles4515]

1 hour ago, K32682 said:

 

Shipboard use of amateur radios and other narrow legalities were not as I recall discussed in the Canadian certification courses and if the security staff and junior deck officer don't know the applicable regulations it's hardly a surprise that a passenger might not.

 

Really? That is surprising. In the US we were instructed that our amateur radio license was only valid in the US and its territorial waters and only on certain frequencies. The only way we could use our radio outside the US and territorial waters was with permision. I know that if I want to use it on a ships I need the Captains permission. I find it hard to believe your Canadian licensing did not cover that. 

Edited August 31, 2022 by Charles4515

[Heidi13]

4 hours ago, K32682 said:

 

Shipboard use of amateur radios and other narrow legalities were not as I recall discussed in the Canadian certification courses and if the security staff and junior deck officer don't know the applicable regulations it's hardly a surprise that a passenger might not.

 

The point being is if you require certification to operate an amateur radio, in all probability, said certification is not valid on a flag of convenience foreign-flagged ship. The amateur radio operator should know that use of the radio, when the certification is not valid, is illegal.

[ldubs]

17 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

Same here -- I have probably only had to listen to a half dozen or so shipboard attempts to communicate with walkie talkies - those attempts were seemingly unsuccessful because they did involve hearing someone repeating the same sort of "can you hear me" message -- which, while not causing anger, would certainly have gotten seriously annoying had the user not given up or gone away.

 

My point is my advice to the OP was not tied to a complaint about listening to folks talk on a handheld.   

[Noble724]

Fellow cruisers, I believe the OP asked for recommendations on the best walkie talkie to stay in touch with their Dad's caregiver.  Now that I am also in the position of wanting/needing to be able to contact my travel partner should we get separated on the ship, I too would like the information.  Sometimes, something as simple as a bathroom visit can lead to a person getting disoriented and subsequently lost on the ship.  It is uncomfortable and frightening for the lost person and their companion.  If you haven't experienced it, then you can not possibly understand.

 

I have no intentions of disturbing my fellow cruisers with the constant "can you hear me now," conversation, but I would like to know if there is a set of walkie talkies that will offer a possible solution.  Yes, I have tried the ship's app and I can tell you from experience that it is ship and cruise line specific whether it works or not -- regardless of whether you buy the ship's wi-fi.  It is not a guarantee that the app will work nor that it will work well.  My experience with the Princess app was favorable, my experience with the Royal Caribbean app was horrible (and I love Royal - I'm Diamond Plus, knocking on Pinnacle's door).

 

If you have a walkie talkie recommendation, please share it.  If not, please just keep scrolling -- no commentary needed.  Thanks and happy sailing to all of you!

[chengkp75]

24 minutes ago, Noble724 said:

If you have a walkie talkie recommendation, please share it.  If not, please just keep scrolling -- no commentary needed.  Thanks and happy sailing to all of you!

There are two professional mariners who have responded to this thread, myself and Heidi13, and we can both say with certainty that if you think the wifi app is ship specific, walkie talkies will be location on the ship specific, time of day specific, and weather specific.  Even the 5 watt radios the crew use, are basically worthless without the array of repeater antenna located throughout the ship, and these repeaters are "tuned" to the specific frequencies used by the ship, so they won't do you any good.  If you are separated by one deck, or the length of the ship, you probably won't get signal.  This is not commentary, this is fact based on decades of seagoing.

[Charles4515]

23 minutes ago, Noble724 said:

If you have a walkie talkie recommendation, please share it.  If not, please just keep scrolling -- no commentary needed.  Thanks and happy sailing to all of you!

I think it was noted in many posts that Walkie Talkies are not the solution. They won't work well on the ship unless both users happen to be on the top outside deck. There are many obstructions. The reason that the "you can't hear me now" is often bothering people is because they can't be heard and keep trying to be heard.  The ships paid WiFi as bad as may be is the best solution because there are access points all over the ship. 

[ldubs]

1 hour ago, Noble724 said:

Fellow cruisers, I believe the OP asked for recommendations on the best walkie talkie to stay in touch with their Dad's caregiver.  Now that I am also in the position of wanting/needing to be able to contact my travel partner should we get separated on the ship, I too would like the information.  Sometimes, something as simple as a bathroom visit can lead to a person getting disoriented and subsequently lost on the ship.  It is uncomfortable and frightening for the lost person and their companion.  If you haven't experienced it, then you can not possibly understand.

 

I have no intentions of disturbing my fellow cruisers with the constant "can you hear me now," conversation, but I would like to know if there is a set of walkie talkies that will offer a possible solution.  Yes, I have tried the ship's app and I can tell you from experience that it is ship and cruise line specific whether it works or not -- regardless of whether you buy the ship's wi-fi.  It is not a guarantee that the app will work nor that it will work well.  My experience with the Princess app was favorable, my experience with the Royal Caribbean app was horrible (and I love Royal - I'm Diamond Plus, knocking on Pinnacle's door).

 

If you have a walkie talkie recommendation, please share it.  If not, please just keep scrolling -- no commentary needed.  Thanks and happy sailing to all of you!

 

I understand the need and wish the solution was a simple as walkie talkies.  Hopefully to be taken as a potential solution and not commentary -- with wifi, could cell phones be used to communicate?  

[Heidi13]

4 hours ago, Noble724 said:

If you have a walkie talkie recommendation, please share it.  If not, please just keep scrolling -- no commentary needed.  Thanks and happy sailing to all of you!

 

Due to poor propagation of radio waves through steel bulkheads, the only portable radios that work are the officer and crew radios that have access to the internal repeater system.

 

Even the main 25W Bridge radios could not penetrate through the decks.

 

Therefore, as another professional mariner, I can attest that No consumer portable radio will provide effective communications throughout the ship. As the Chief mentioned, this is not a commentary, this is facts derived from using radios at sea for 40 yrs.

[navybankerteacher]

8 hours ago, Noble724 said:

…

 

If you have a walkie talkie recommendation, please share it.  If not, please just keep scrolling -- no commentary needed.  Thanks and happy sailing to all of you!

Sorry you do not want two hear qualified responses (which usually do include commentary).  There have been very clear, concise and definitive walkie talkie recommendations posted here.   Essentially those recommendations have been to leave them at home - they do not work on board ships. Because of that fact, no one can reasonably recommend a walkie-talkie for you to bring on a cruise ship.

[Essiesmom]

23 hours ago, Noble724 said:

Fellow cruisers, I believe the OP asked for recommendations on the best walkie talkie to stay in touch with their Dad's caregiver.  Now that I am also in the position of wanting/needing to be able to contact my travel partner should we get separated on the ship, I too would like the information.  Sometimes, something as simple as a bathroom visit can lead to a person getting disoriented and subsequently lost on the ship.  It is uncomfortable and frightening for the lost person and their companion.  If you haven't experienced it, then you can not possibly understand.

 

I have no intentions of disturbing my fellow cruisers with the constant "can you hear me now," conversation, but I would like to know if there is a set of walkie talkies that will offer a possible solution.  Yes, I have tried the ship's app and I can tell you from experience that it is ship and cruise line specific whether it works or not -- regardless of whether you buy the ship's wi-fi.  It is not a guarantee that the app will work nor that it will work well.  My experience with the Princess app was favorable, my experience with the Royal Caribbean app was horrible (and I love Royal - I'm Diamond Plus, knocking on Pinnacle's door).

 

If you have a walkie talkie recommendation, please share it.  If not, please just keep scrolling -- no commentary needed.  Thanks and happy sailing to all of you!

I have not cruised Princess since the medallion has been on all ships.  But I have read here that you can locate companions with it.  Many do not like that thought.  There are also lines with wristbands that can locate others.  MSC comes to mind.  I have heard there are lines that can track children with wristbands.  I have always thought that would be practical for those traveling with companions that might lose themselves.  I wonder if you could track a person with an AirTag?  Just some thoughts.  
EM

[donaldsc]

On 8/30/2022 at 4:41 PM, navybankerteacher said:

Well, if I don't want to ask, isn't it someone else's responsibility to advise me?

 

I assume that you were not being serious on your response,  If you were being serious can I ask when the last time you were specifically told that it was not legal to murder someone.  By your logic it would be OK to murder someone because you were not informed that murder was not legal. .

 

DON

[MBP&O2/O]

As an aside, do the modern ship handhelds have to specifically comply with any construction regs? I was thinking that the ones we  used on oil tankers had to be approved as 'gas tight' ?  Bearing in mind in those days the Decca Radar had valves! 

[Essiesmom]

1 hour ago, Essiesmom said:

I have not cruised Princess since the medallion has been on all ships.  But I have read here that you can locate companions with it.  Many do not like that thought.  There are also lines with wristbands that can locate others.  MSC comes to mind.  I have heard there are lines that can track children with wristbands.  I have always thought that would be practical for those traveling with companions that might lose themselves.  I wonder if you could track a person with an AirTag?  Just some thoughts.  
EM

Quoting myself…there is a current thread on the Princess board from a person who sailed Majestic Princess to Alaska.  It is titled Cheapo Dad sails majestic…by harryfat1.  In post 269 he discusses the tracing ability of the medallion.  EM