Keeping in touch with the kids....

[ddacosta01]

We are leaving in a month for our cruise on the Allure and I'm wondering what the best way to keep in touch with our teens on board. We usually bring our walkie talkies, but wasn't sure if you had any other "updated" ideas! Texting, etc.

 

Thanks! 30 days to go.....

[AF-1]

Since you mentioned teens; walkie talkie would be the way to go. The smaller kids who go to the children programs; the parents have access to the royal caribbean phones; this is to get in touch for emergencies; Royal also has a limited amount of phones they hand out at guest services; these phones allow u to call a stateroom. Back to my original statement; bring your walkie talkies; I am traveling with five grandkids; and will be taking four walkie talkies with me; all will be dialed into the same frequency.

[Sadie cruiser]

I was going to bring walkie talkies but I have learned from other threads that because of so many people using them it is difficult to find a channel that isn't used by multiple people....which I would assume is true. Someone also said the texting charges are outrageous when out of the country on a ship. You may want to check on that. Receiving them isn't the killer but sending them can be. We are in the same situation with a teen and not really wanting him to be out of sight without a means of communication. i'll keep watching the thread for ideas from the posters.

[OklaCruiserMom]

Lol! I wish I could expect to have this problem! My kids will be 18, 18, and 11 at sailing, and I could almost bet money on the fact of them never wanting to leave my side! The twins aren't exactly outgoing, independent types, and besides, this vacation is going to be our first MAJOR vacation that is just us- special family togetherness time, celebration of the girls graduating HS, etc. I picture having to pry them off me if I expect to have any time alone at all!

[ChipLondon]

Teens.............mmm.............have you ever actually considered selling them, and using the money to cruise alone, that way you do not have to worry about keeping in touch.

[Messunderstood]

We have a 9-year-old who will have a walkie talkie for when she goes to the kids club but the 16-year-old wouldn't be "caught dead" with one.....

 

Our resolution (great idea given to me on CC)....

 

There are ship phones ALL over the place so he will call into the answering machine in the room every couple of hours. We (actually the teen is my sister's kid and will be in the room next door) can also access the answering machine in the staterooms from any phone on the ship. So we will use this system as a "check-in." He will also be told to make a visual check at the dinner table.

 

Post it's for quick notes on the door work well too.

 

Odds are he will be close as well but ya never know....

[AlanAllyn]

Texting is really that outrageous (at least with Verizon) as long as they don't use voice. Test is 50¢ outgoing and 5¢ incoming. Voice is $2.49 per minute either way.

[AF-1]

Motorolla has walkie talkies that have 15 channels and then 15 subchannels;; chances are you will get a main channel and sub channel that no one is using; post it notes are also good; and like the above thread said; there are telephones on every floor by the elevators both front and aft; so u can try this.

[spunkyblissgirl]

I love the phone message idea. Does anyone know where phones might be where the kids would tend to hang out such as boardwalk teen room and johnny rockets? Thanks for the help!

[tneah]

Walkie talkies are just awful on the ships.

 

We ended up getting the IPhones that u rent for the week from RCI. It was money well spent. Loved that we could track the kids walking, their location and receive and send messages. The phones also does so much more, too.

[RBKL]

Walkie talkies are just awful on the ships.

 

We ended up getting the IPhones that u rent for the week from RCI. It was money well spent. Loved that we could track the kids walking, their location and receive and send messages. The phones also does so much more, too.

 

 

Unfortunately we've been told that the WOW / Royal Connect iPhones that were on the Oasis are not on the Allure (or the Oasis anymore). They were taken off for a system upgrade and haven't been back on the Oasis or started on the Allure yet.

 

I'd love for a very recent cruiser to correct me however, I've posted this question often and each time the response is their not on the Allure yet.

 

I believe their are dect phones that you can get.

 

The weekly rental of the iPhone was great so I really hope they bring them back.

[AF-1]

I love the phone message idea. Does anyone know where phones might be where the kids would tend to hang out such as boardwalk teen room and johnny rockets? Thanks for the help!

There is a phone just past the double doors leading to the boardwalk; the phone is on the wall just inside the lobby. There are no phones located on the boardwalk of Johnny Rockets; the phone I mentioned is less than 100 feet from Johnny Rockets.

[Messunderstood]

It was either on this thread or another one (they all blend together on me after a few days) that there are house phones by all the elevators. I'm sure there are others as well but that's a good reference point to start with.

[AF-1]

It was either on this thread or another one (they all blend together on me after a few days) that there are house phones by all the elevators. I'm sure there are others as well but that's a good reference point to start with.

 

Yes there are phones on every deck; they are located on the walls of the deck you are on; the wall of the fwd or aft deck area; they are not actually at the elevators; meaning they are not between the doors of the elevators.

[sayok]

Yes, we used the stateroom voicemail method on our cruise in February on the Allure... worked like a charm. There are phones all over, but the kids knew if they couldn't see one they just needed to go to the nearest elevator area and they'd find one. They checked in every hour or two, let us know where they were or where they were headed. We also had the agreement that if at any time someone wasn't where they were expected to be, the stateroom was always the 'home base' to go to. Good luck!