walkie talkies

[mykidsmom]

are walkie talkies available or able to be used on the Voyager of the Seas?

[rogerp5]

Just came off Adventure and they were all over the place

[superjerryw]

You can rent them on board but it won't cost much less to rent than to buy your own pair before the trip. If you are buying, get the 5 mile range units. The 2 mile range units don't work that well on a Voyager class ship.

 

 

Donuts, is there anything they can't do....

[rjg41]

To minimize the flaming that may be posted here, be advised you will minimize complaints from fellow passengers by:

 

1) using vibrate mode only

2) turning off the chirp

3) not letting kids use them on board as toys

4) keeping you voice down and being respectful of others peace and quiet

5) turning them all the way down or off at dinner and in shows

 

We had a group of 18 and found them invaluable.

 

Carnival Ecstasy, March 1993

Celebrity Millennium, Caribbean, Jan 2002

Coral Princess, Panama Canal Feb. 2, 2003 (Review)

Celebrity Summit, Alaska Land (Land Tour Review) & Sea (Cruise Review), Aug. 15,2003

Navigator of the Seas, Family Reunion, March 13, 2004

(Review)

Celebrity Infinity, Valparaiso(Santiago), Chile to Fort Lauderdale, via Panama Canal, Feb. 27, 2005

[erin_cruisers]

Very good advice rjg41.

I never would have thought about vibrating models. (my cell has that feature)

I own a pair of FS radios, but without the vibrate feature, and I think I will search for a new pair that vibrate. I'll bet with the number of people on deck with their radios 'chirping' and 'squacking it DOES get annoying.

Can you recommend a particularly good model with the vibrate feature (and long range)?

 

Grandeur of the Seas

05-31-04

 

[Folgy]

rjg41

quote

----------------------------------------------

To minimize the flaming that may be posted here, be advised you will minimize complaints from fellow passengers by:

 

1) using vibrate mode only

2) turning off the chirp

3) not letting kids use them on board as toys

4) keeping you voice down and being respectful of others peace and quiet

5) turning them all the way down or off at dinner and in shows

---------------------------------------------

6) toss them over board

 

Alaska (my BIG 50)

 

[birdyhunter]

rjg41 - Ditto!

 

Folgy - Couldn't agree more! I got lots of laughs on that comment.

 

I'm not flaming the op for asking the question, but I can't stand the radios. Everyone always says they're going to be considerate of other people around and in most cases it just doesn't happen. they give them to their kids thinking it's an electronic babysitter and the kids use them like toy cell phones. My opinion is leave them at home.

 

 

<MARQUEE>RCL Adventure of the Seas July 4, 2004 </MARQUEE>

 

Till we leave :

 

Carnival Destiny 7/01

Carnival Pride 7/02

 

Stanley Cup 2004!

Win Wings 4 Predators 2 On to round 2

Wings 1 Flames 1

 

 

[the_psycho]

The Motorola 5820's have all of the previously mentioned features, and also feature rechargable batteries (essential when you figure on 4 batteries/radio being good for only a day or two, depending on use.

 

And don't be fooled by other brands advertising a 7 mile range. The power limit on all these radios is 2 watts/channel for the GMRS channels, and you'd have to be in perfect conditions to get 7 miles worth of range out of them. We have 3 pair, and take them everywhere. They are invaluable. Just remember, these radios require a FCC license. Its not much work, isn't that expensive, and then you aren't subject to fines if you get caught.

 

One thing that I noticed is that the radios were pretty much useless on the ship itself. The steel construction cuts range exponentially. For example, on the Serenade, if you were forward on deck 8, they didn't work as far away as aft on deck 10. They were much more valuable in port, especially trying to coordinate 2 or 3 groups of people doing different things to meet in one place at one time.

 

<color=#8b0000>until Serenade of the Seas Spring Break 2004!!

 

[ERsecurity]

I found the internal antenna system in the hallways of the new ships allow use just about anywhere.

 

I wouldn't leave home without them.....

 

John

 

Royal Caribbean - Platinum

Princess - Platinum

Celebrity - Classic

HAL - 50 Days

Others - Yes

Delta - Million Miler

[erin_cruisers]

John: How does that work - "internal antenna system in the hallways of the new ships allow use just about anywhere."...

That would seem to contradict the previous posters statement.

Is this just certain ships then?

How about Grandeur?

 

Grandeur of the Seas

05-31-04

 

[the_psycho]

I was intrigued by ERsecurity's post, so I thought I'd do a little checking. As it turns out, I was sort of wrong. The 8520's use .5 watts of power in the FRS band, and 5 watts in the GMRS band.

 

There are internal antennas on every ship (thats how the handheld UHF radios that security etc. use can communicate throughout the whole ship, as they are only 5 watt Motorola commercial sets), but they are not tuned to the frequency band that is used by the FRS/GMRS handhelds. These radios use frequencies from 462.5500 MHz to 462.7250 MHz.

 

The UHF radios used by the crew, on the other hand, operate on four channels:

 

457.5250 - Security, Medical, Bridge, Gangway, Ocean Safety etc. (467.7500 input)

457.5500 - Engine Room, Pump Operation etc.

467.8250 - Paging (Digital)

461.3125 - Casino Operations

 

So, it wouldn't make sense for repeater antennas tuned to these frequencies to help with radios in the FRS/GMRS band. The repeaters would be in the wrong frequency.

 

 

If ERsecurity could let us know what he means, that would be great.

 

-BK

 

<color=#8b0000>until Serenade of the Seas Spring Break 2004!!

 

[iluvcruzin]

I disagree with the_psycho's comment on them being worthless on a ship. We had absolutely no problems from one side of the ship to the other, from the deck 10 to deck 2. etc..

 

We have Motorola's Talkabout T5620. I paid less than $30 a pair.

 

Erin - I used them on the Granduer the begining of the month and they were fine.

 

Maureen

 

Princess Sun 2/27/2005

Mariner of the Seas 10/15/2005

 

8 cruises to date.

[cruzinpsycharnp]

So far I have purchased 3 sets and each set had one that did not work. Whatam I doing wrong? I agree with Folgy, overboard, but I'd like to use them at home.

 

till Mariner

Queen Elizabeth 1963

Florida 1966

Mardi Gras 1980

Holiday 1982

Tropicale 1999

Pride 2002

Grand Princess 2003

Mariner 2004

[Driftwoodgal]

We used our walkie talkies on our last cruise and they were wonderful. Because of the post that are here on the board we did try to pay attention to how we used them. We will take them on our next cruise. We didn't have a problem with reception. To posters that are upset about people bringing them on ship: Do you use a cell phone at home? Are you respectful to others with your usage of them? Do you drive with a cell phone on? I hope your courtesy thoughts extend to cell usage. I hate to be behind someone driving on a phone or talking to someone in a public place. They are great things to have as long as you are aware of the people around you. Just like being aware of others while using your walkie talkie

 

God bless you and yours.

[Folgy]

Driftwoodgal,

Exactly! very good points. In all the sarcasm about walkie talkies the real point here is about common courtesy. However I have experienced very little of it when it comes to walkie talkies on the ship.

>> thus the sarcasm

 

Alaska (my BIG 50)

 

[Tu917]

I would like to get some walkie talkies for our cruise. We have some that are quite a few years old and don't work well in our neighborhood. What kind do you suggest?

Thanks

[mammallama]

Tu917--Scroll up. There are many suggestions in previous posts. Karen

 

 to get me on the ADVENTURE OF THE SEA

 

Roll call AOS 6/06/04 click here

[SAYHEYRENEE]

Walkie talkies were wonderful. On at sea days if my son (13) wanted to nap he was able to locate me on the ship without searching everywhere. Also I found them helpful when we split up. Sometimes I would run into and event that I would want him to not miss. Just a click and he was there.

 

NEXT: Majesty of the Seas 8/23/04,Carnival Legend CTN 10/22/04

PAST: Inspiration 8/24/03

 

 

 

 

[mykidsmom]

Thank you for all your comments and suggestions. I don't want to spend the whole time on the ship looking for everyone if we get separated.

[Dowser307]

By all means please take them, and remember one thing, the louder you talk the better the reception. Dont worry if your in the Diningroom or poolside if they cant hear you just scream louder. If ya have kids make sure they have at least two of them so they can run the batteries down talking to each other from 12 ft away. After all its your vacation, if it doesnt bother you they way they act in public why would it bother anyone else.

[birdyhunter]

originally posted by Driftwoodgal:

 

To posters that are upset about people bringing them on ship: Do you use a cell phone at home? Are you respectful to others with your usage of them? Do you drive with a cell phone on? I hope your courtesy thoughts extend to cell usage.

-----------------------------------------------

 

It most certainly does extend to cell phones. I can't stand being in a restaurant a listen to someone using my personal favorite a Nextel phone. Its rude and inconsiderate no matter where you do it.

 

Do you give your kids a walkie talkie when they leave your house? If you don't, then why do you need them on a ship? Pick a time to check in ahead of time. Face to face communication works really well instead of using an electronic babysitter. Leave them at home.

 

 

<MARQUEE>RCL Adventure of the Seas July 4, 2004 </MARQUEE>

 

Till we leave :

 

Carnival Destiny 7/01

Carnival Pride 7/02

 

Stanley Cup 2004!

Win Wings 4 Predators 2 On to round 2

Wings 1 Flames 2

 

 

[garnetjanet]

We, too, are considering these for our upcoming cruise. Not for our kids, but for the adults going. We have so many activities and we would like to keep better track of each other and when we can meet up, etc.

To the posters that have said theirs worked great on the ship: what kind/model did you use? Did anyone have any problems? Are there good ones that don't require the FCC License?

Thanks.

 

Janet

Monarch 11/01

Rhapsody 8/03

Golden Princess 12/03

Our "Win-A-Cruise Bingo" Cruise on the Mariner 8/04

 

 

[Chuck & Phyllis]

Here's the solution. We all bring them and piss each other off and then we'll all be happy! We cruise twice a year and have never been disturbed by the walkie talkies. Cell phones here are 20 times worse. STOP USING YOUR CELL PHONE IN PUBLIC!!! Doesn't this post fit in just well with this thread?

 

Chuck & Phyllis

 

Doing Voyager on 5/21/04

 

Doing Empress om 9/18/04

 

 

[Dowser307]

The FCC Licenses are located right next to the walkie talkies at any Wal-Mart. And since your cruise will probally take you out of the counrty, the FCC will have inspectors on the pier to make sure you have a license on your person. But since there is only one license and 2 walkie talkies make sure your the one holding it

[rjg41]

Insepctors? Yea, right!

 

Carnival Ecstasy, March 1993

Celebrity Millennium, Caribbean, Jan 2002

Coral Princess, Panama Canal Feb. 2, 2003 (Review)

Celebrity Summit, Alaska Land (Land Tour Review) & Sea (Cruise Review), Aug. 15,2003

Navigator of the Seas, Family Reunion, March 13, 2004

(Review)

Celebrity Infinity, Valparaiso(Santiago), Chile to Fort Lauderdale, via Panama Canal, Feb. 27, 2005