Walkie Talkies

[smac]

We trying to figure out a way to keep tabs on my parents (both in their 80's) and are considering purchasing walkie talkies for our cruise. Any comments or suggestions will be appreciated. Thank you!

[RDSLS]

I used the search function and was able to get the following:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/search.php?searchid=3804990

[rusmilinyet]

We plan on bringing walkie talkies on our 12/10 to help keep in touch with DD and DH who likes to wander the ship while I like to relax in the sun. :p

 

Both my brother and sister's family had them on our last cruise and they really liked them. Some people over use them and the sound can get obnoxious but if you only use them to touch base, they work great - similar to cell phones.

[Terpnut]

This has been discussed numerous times before. Here are a couple recent threads on radios:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=344783

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=405806

[flamomo]

Unfortunately, walkie talkies can be as annoying as the millions of ever present cell phones. I can understand some might feel the need for these devices because they are accustomed to using cell phones constantly.

 

Most passengers are able to keep in contact with other members of their traveling party by non-intrusive means, such as by planning a meeting at a specific spot on the ship at a specified time.

 

If you feel you must to use these devices, hopefully your fellow passengers will not be subjected to listening to your transmissions and receptions at high volume.

 

Sorry,I don't mean to sound unkind, but being on a cruise should free us from hearing the cell phone and walkie talkie conversations of others. We are subjected to too much of this in everyday life.

[Terpnut]

Like most mobile phones, modern radios have quiet/vibrate modes. Assuming the user(s) are considerate of others, noise and disruption can be kept to a minimum.

[wraithe]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=409882 is a link to a thread from last week that was on page 2 of this list.

[cruzincurt]

I'm not sure 80 year olds would embrace the technology. I know my 84 yr old dad would not. The TV remote is challenging enough.

[Terpnut]

I'm not sure 80 year olds would embrace the technology. I know my 84 yr old dad would not. The TV remote is challenging enough.

My dad's not 80 yet, but he has used one because a radio is much simpler to use than most TV/Home Theatre remote controls--just push the big button to talk! My dad's main problem is that his hearing is not very good. :rolleyes:

[MrsPete]

Unfortunately, walkie talkies can be as annoying as the millions of ever present cell phones . . . Most passengers are able to keep in contact with other members of their traveling party by non-intrusive means, such as by planning a meeting at a specific spot on the ship at a specified time.

Here's an illustration of why my family'll have walkie-talkies on our upcoming cruise: Last time we cruised, we planned to take part in the "swim with the dolphins" excursion. This is very expensive, and it's something that the whole family had looked forward to for a long time.

 

Of course, as luck would have it, we had a major problem just before the excursion . . . literally the only time during the whole cruise when we HAD TO be at a certain place at a certain time . . . this isn't like missing dinner . . . we'd had breakfast together at the buffet, and I'd gone back to the cabin with our youngest child to pick up our daypacks. My husband, who'd remained on deck, allowed our 9-year old daughter to go to the restroom alone -- he assumed she'd go into the one 10 foot from where the two of them were sitting. As children sometimes do, she messed up -- the only restroom she knew about was waaaaay on the other end of the deck. When he began to grow nervous, he asked some ladies to look for her in the restroom; obviously, they didn't find her, and he was very afraid. I came back up on deck -- he ran back to our room, thinking she might've gone there to use the restroom -- then he ran to the bar where we were supposed to meet our excursion group -- in the meantime, she came out of the bathroom and couldn't find us, though we were still in the general area, so she went here and there looking for us -- we pretty much ran everywhere on that ship for 30 minutes before we all found one another again.

 

All ended well: we were literally the last people to reach the meeting place, and they were yelling out a "last call" for us as we ran through the door. We were almost left out of our very expensive excursion. Now it's just a funny story, but this could've easily been a bad, bad ending in which we lost several hundred dollars because of a simple mix-up.

 

Of course, everyone using walkie-talkies should practice common courtesy, but we're not going to go through that particular situation again!

[Momof 2 boys]

We have 2 boys and we use the walkieTalkies to keep intouch with them. I would not go on a cruise without them (the walkie Taalkies that is) lol.

They have proven to be an asset every time. It's easier than planning to be somewhere at a certain time and looking for someone on the ship can be very tiering....I say go for it and tell your parents its so they can find you, not so you can find them after all they are your "parents", no matter how old they get.:) Have a great time!!!!!