Communicating on the Allure

Got off a cruise on the Allure a couple weeks ago. I would like to recommend to people that it is worth every penny to get the internet package in order to communicate with family members.

Sign up for the low end package multiple devices as it is a bit cheaper than an individual package for each person. Turn airplane mode on, on your smartphone. This turns off all wireless transmissions and will prevent you from incurring international roaming fees. Go back in to your settings and turn WiFi back on. I had to explain to a few people in my party that you can have airplane mode on and WiFi on at the same time so I am providing the tip here.

Connect to the ship's WiFi with the code provided and now you can use any one of several messaging apps to text other members in your party. Facebook messenger works, What'sApp, and even Verizon's messenger works over WiFi. This made life so much easier communicating with 11 members in our party. Would have been misery without it. The only catch is that you cannot communicate when away from the ship but then you should be on excursions WITH the people you might need to talk to.:D

Thank you we are going on the Oasis in a few weeks and I am deciding that now! My question is how do they give you the access codes? Who do you receive them from? One rep told me it was at the port prior to departure, when you get signed in.

At check in before boarding they had a card with the access code attached to our information.

Thank you sooooo much!

Jeez...talk to the people in your party! What in the hell did we do before smart phones? We TALKED! It's easy...cheap...effective!

Tell the folks in your party your plans...listen to their plans, and you'll ALL be on the same page! Truly! I do not lie!

So how much did this cost?

Jeez...talk to the people in your party! What in the hell did we do before smart phones? We TALKED! It's easy...cheap...effective!

 

Tell the folks in your party your plans...listen to their plans, and you'll ALL be on the same page! Truly! I do not lie!

When was the last time you were on an Oasis Class ship with ten other members of your party? :rolleyes:

When was the last time you were on an Oasis Class ship with ten other members of your party? :rolleyes:

TRUER words were never spoken. Did it with 14 and it was like herding cats. No, I take that back cats would have been easier.

Going with only six on Allure in October and plan to get the internet package again.

Who needs a big group? Try keeping track of one teenager on the Allure or Oasis without it.....

CB at Sea, You must not have children, mine are 16 & 18 and of course they will be with us on this cruise! This is now the 3rd largest ship on the ocean with 17 decks. Do you want to go through all 17 to find your kids??? Or when its 2:00 am and they have not come back to the cabin yet! No thanks I'll take the ZOOM package & yes they will respond to their cell phones!

CB at Sea, You must not have children, mine are 16 & 18 and of course they will be with us on this cruise! This is now the 3rd largest ship on the ocean with 17 decks. Do you want to go through all 17 to find your kids??? Or when its 2:00 am and they have not come back to the cabin yet! No thanks I'll take the ZOOM package & yes they will respond to their cell phones!

I have sailed on Allure with a 17 year old and no texting. We set the rules and my kids follow them (almost all the time). Have sailed with my kids on many cruises and have yet to use walkie talkies, texts or any other electronic type of communication. My kids know exactly what will happen when they are not where they are supposed to be. What do you think people did even 10 years ago before cell phones were everwhere. To us it's not worth the cost, or chance of loosing/misplacing cell phones onboard the ship, especially with so many places water comes into play.

I love how someone providing a helpful tip has now turned into a parenting debate.

I love how someone providing a helpful tip has now turned into a parenting debate.

Exactly!! Can't have a CC thread without someone being told that they are parenting incorrectly. Every parent and child is unique - there is no "one size fits all" parenting technique.

To the OP - thank you for the helpful advice. We are sailing the Allure with a group of 21 extended family members. This includes my two sons ages 12 and 16. On a ship this large I am thrilled to be able to have a convenient method of communication with them. This will definitely afford me some peace of mind and help me enjoy my vacation. Plus communicating plans with our group will be much easier.

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We have done 18 cruises with our kids and never used any sort of devices.

Never had problems finding them.

I don't know why all of a sudden it has become a huge issue and we all need to pay for service.

It is not that difficult...

Not to make this tiresome, but really, if you can get by without it, good on you. Whatever works for your family, whether it's texting, white marker boards, sticky notes or hand signals, go for it. For us, it's not just a question of calling our teen back at the end of the night, it's also her ability to contact us if needed - asking if she can have dinner with friends, if it's ok to charge a virgin colada, etc., as well as our ability to ask little things like which bracelet she'd like from the sale table or to let her know we've changed dinner reservations. We rarely stay in one place on the ship for long and don't really plan our days in advance, so finding us to ask would be a pain. This is what works for our family - as long as you're not shouting into a walkie talkie right next to us, we're not judging what works for yours.

I don't know why any mention of cell phone use on a ship turns folks (speaking generally) into angry Luddites. It's just a tool that makes life easier for some cruisers.

Who needs a big group? Try keeping track of one teenager on the Allure or Oasis without it.....

And for this reason alone is why I have decided this is a wise investment for myself & 2 teens on our Allure sailing next week.

Thank you, very useful information.

Funny how my original post devolved into a parenting style forum. Out of our party of 11, 9 were adults. Keeping track of the 2 minors (one was mine) wasn't an issue.

We are on vacation. We are far from the type A vacation planner who must plan ever minute of the vacation and make sure everyone else's plans in the group also connect with theirs. We allow each adult, couple, or family their own space. Thus, text communication comes in handy.

"Hey, we have a couple of hours and are going to the casino, care to join us?"

"I decided to watch the Sexiest Man in the World Competition, do you want to come watch?"

"We decided to pass on the dining room to night and go to Chops."

All of these were actual text messages that were sent between adults at a time where they had no idea where the other party was on the ship.

Why does anybody care if I am quietly sitting on my chair texting, or surfing the internet trying to find the top speed of the Allure because my kid asked?

Thanks for the info.

We're on the Allure in August and were trying to figure out how to keep in touch with each other and more specifically my 14 year old daughter.

I wasn't sure if the texting feature on our phones worked when in airplane mode/wifi on. My daughter and I just put our phones airplane mode and used our home wifi and were able to txt each other. I'm sure I would not get a "mom of the year" award if I made my teen carry around a walkie talkie(do they even make them anymore?).

And for this reason alone is why I have decided this is a wise investment for myself & 2 teens on our Allure sailing next week.[/

 

Hi Disneygirl1972 - looks like we are on the same sailing!! Who knows - maybe we'll be sitting next to each other on the pool deck texting our teens.....

 

Oh - btw - have you joined the roll call?

 

 

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Not to make this tiresome, but really, if you can get by without it, good on you. Whatever works for your family, whether it's texting, white marker boards, sticky notes or hand signals, go for it.

SWyFENZCyEQ

Thank you for that information. I was wondering what I was going to do with my 15 year old triplets!

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Just a bit more info - we found that using Facebook messenger worked the best for us. IMessage was inconsistent, and we didn't want to install any new apps. We were even able to send photos to each other. If you have a large group, make sure you are all Facebook friends and then go to Messenger and create a group conversation ahead of time that you can then use to send messages to the entire group.

You may have to log back in from time to time, but that was no big deal. If you want to actually log off the wifi (for instance, to change devices)' be sure to open your browser and go to logoff.com .

Thanks for the info! There's only two of us and we are definitely going to use this! I only wish they had this in earlier when our whole family went on cruises! Just makes life easier!

When was the last time you were on an Oasis Class ship with ten other members of your party? :rolleyes:

If I had to guess, I would say never !;)