WalkieTalkie on Cruise Ship

[Heidi13]

40 minutes ago, MBP&O2/O said:

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! 

 

When I did my trip with PanOcean-Anco, on one of the chemical carriers, I recall all the radios being "Intrinsically Safe". On the cruise ships and latterly on Ro/Pax, we just had standard commercial Motorola portables.

 

All our portables were toned to provide access to the ship's repeater system, with each ship having a different tone. Therefore, radios assigned to a ship were useless on other ships, unless not using the repeater. All radios had a selector switch, where we could bypass the repeater system, for line-of-sight transmissions.

 

The Master and Deck Officers all had VHF/UHF portable, while all the others were UHF only.

 

I don't recall seeing EU Wheel mark, LR/ABS approved, etc. Only approvals were radio requirements. While they were sealed, I don't believe they met the "Intrinsically Safe" criteria for use on tankers. 

[SteveH2508]

40 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

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

We found that the feature was a major PITA. This was due to the delay (lag) in updating the person's location. Both myself and my wife spent quite a bit of time chasing each other around the ship. The lag was usually 10 to 15 minutes, so it was basically unusable. (Regal Princess - English Channel and Belgium/Holland cruise)

[chengkp75]

2 hours ago, MBP&O2/O said:

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! 

Tankers still require intrinsically safe radios,  but not other types of ships. 

[Greg4502]

There is one way to assure a problem-free experience with walkie talkies on a cruise ship. It involves “orienting” them correctly once onboard.

1. Make sure the walkie talkies are fully powered.

2. Locate opposite outdoor locations with a clear view of both the horizon and each other’s walkie   talkie. The most ideal spots are along opposite railings on higher decks.

3. Turn the walkie talkies on. Then hold them at arm’s length over the water beyond the rail so that there are no metal or other obstructions immediately adjacent to the walkie talkies (including over and under them).

4. Press the transmit button three times quickly while still holding the walkie talkies  over the water. It is important that both walkie talkies’ button push happens at the same time.

5. Immediately following the third button push, drop the walkie talkies into the water.

6. You (and everyone around you) will now have a problem-free walkie talkie cruise ship experience.

[Noble724]

On 9/9/2022 at 1:01 PM, chengkp75 said:

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.

Thank you!  Your feedback helps me to make a decision. 

[Noble724]

On 9/9/2022 at 1:40 PM, ldubs said:

 

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?  

I'm not sure if cell phones using the ship's wi-fi will work, but I'm willing to try it when we sail next week.  I am also going to ask how they handle children's whereabouts.   Thanks much!

[Elaine5715]

On 9/10/2022 at 1:20 PM, donaldsc said:

 

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

My mom told me killing my brother was not ok so I assumed that applied to others.  

[silentbob16]

We used some last time. They did not work very well but they worked better than nothing. Best used for very short communication like "meet at cabin" "meet at buffet". If you are easily confused and frustrated by garbled words, they are not for you.