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What is the best walkie talkies to take on a cruise

 

 

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Welcome to cruise critic.

 

Essentially there are no "good" ones.

 

You have other options, purchasing wifi packages, for one.

 

Besides with all the metal structures there would be way to much interference.

 

Safe travels.

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Unless you are willing to buy something approaching what the crew uses ( a 5w UHF 450-470MHz radio, starting at around $250 each), you are not going to get reliable coverage more than a deck or two away from each other, or half a ship length, due to the steel of the ship. Coverage for cheaper, less powerful (don't confuse "range" with power) will vary day to day, and hour to hour on your cruise, even talking to the exact same locations. And even then, the crew's radios utilize tuned repeater antenna around the ship to ensure coverage.

 

This is basically what the crew uses:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Kenwood-TK-3402U16P-Channel-Lithium-Battery/dp/B00B5GFY9A/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1495374762&sr=1-4&refinements=p_n_feature_keywords_browse-bin%3A4530057011

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I have seen lots of crew use radio

 

 

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Yes, and theirs are in the $250-$500 each range. Is this what you're willing to spend? Plus, any radio over 1 watt used on a ship must be covered by the ship's radiotelegraphy certificate or you must have a license from a country to use it in international waters, and most likely would not be allowed to be used in port, even on the ship. I've carried a UHF radio onboard ship for 42 years, and I know what works and what doesn't.

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I have seen lots of crew use radio

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Welcome to cruise critic.

I am sure you have seen crew using radios, but they are not the type you can buy easily, as noted by Chengp75. If you bought one it would not be authorized to access the repeaters on the ship that are vital to shipwide communication.

I would add that, what you have not seen, is seasoned cruisers using consumer type walkie talkies onboard a ship. They know that they are all but useless as the channels are crowded, there is no courtesy in using the channels, the steel in the ship severely limits the effective distance of the radio.

Advancements in onboard messaging, either free or at minimal cost, using smartphones is a much more viable option.

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Walkie Talkies are worthless on a ship. I take a tiny 2x2 pad of post it notes and stick a note of what time I will be back and where I think I am going....(this is always subject to change:D) I am never gone more than an hour or so without checking in. I get up early and like to get out of the room, DH likes to sleep so I leave him alone.

 

 

What is the best walkie talkies to take on a cruise

 

 

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A pen and pad of paper [emoji1]

 

 

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Yes. This. Then you can use your walkie talkie as a paper weight if you leave a message on your cabin's desk for your cabin mate. That's about the only thing a walkie talkie will be good for on the ship.

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A lot of the cruise lines offer an app for your smartphone to enable you text ever member of your party, as long as they, too, have the app on their phone. On NCL it is called iconceierge, and costs only $8 for the length of the cruise.

 

 

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Well I have just started on here and not caught up on everything yet

 

 

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KittyKat, don't stress over responses! They are right, walkies don't work well and can be very annoying to those around you.

 

Welcome to CC!! I would suggest that you spend a lot of time reading previous posts, go ahead and use the search function. You'll find that there is a ton of great information here.

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Agree with the others. We purchased "really good ones" from radio shack prior to our first cruise with our children. They were completely useless on the ship. Too much interference from others on channels, didn't work at places on the ship and in order to hear them you had to turn them way up which was annoying to us and other passengers. We gave up on them and either use notes or messenger.

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Well I have just started on here and not caught up on everything yet

 

 

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I think what they are trying to say is, nobody uses walkie talkies anymore. They do not work well, and they are irritating to everyone around you. Take my advice, and look into whether your cruise line offers the ability to just text everyone in your party for a nominal fee.

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What is the best walkie talkies to take on a cruise

 

 

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Do a search for "walkie talkies" on CC. You will find thousands of hits (351 on this board ) and all the them say exactly the same thing - LEAVE THEM HOME!!!!

 

DON

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I think what they are trying to say is, nobody uses walkie talkies anymore. They do not work well, and they are irritating to everyone around you. Take my advice, and look into whether your cruise line offers the ability to just text everyone in your party for a nominal fee.

 

 

Make plans in advance, leave messages

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