Does HAL have an APP for texting other passengers?

[Karennella]

I have to say that we thought it was great on the Koningsdam last year, in Europe, to see people in the dining room and all round the place actually talking to each other rather than sitting glued to their phones all the time.

We contacted our friends aboard by leaving phone messages. None of us bothered to pay for wifi and we didn't have global roaming on our phones last year.

Friends just completed the Sydney to Perth train trip. No wifi and often out of phone range. We are a big very empty country so I guess we are more used to connectivity black spots.

[Hlitner]

HAL management is still in the 19th Century and not sure they even no what "app" means. But this line does have its good points...which is why we still cruise HAL (among other lines) on a regular basis.

 

Hank

[igraf]

It is more a matter of using the best tool for the job, and the best tool isn't always a cell phone app coupled with an expensive ship data plan.

 

 

igraf

 

 

 

 

And so, how far should we go back, in your opinion? Should we be happy with a fan in the cabin rather than using that newfangled air-conditioning? Maybe instead of a bathroom in every cabin, we should go back to the days of shared bathrooms on each deck of cabins.

[cruisemom42]

It is more a matter of using the best tool for the job, and the best tool isn't always a cell phone app coupled with an expensive ship data plan.

 

 

igraf

 

 

The OP was asking about something that's already available on several lines -- including Princess in the CCL family. It's free -- no expensive data plan needed.

 

It doesn't cost anything, doesn't take away from anything else, and doesn't bother anyone. Not sure why new technology like this deserves the Luddite responses...

[bUU]

For the same reason we see the responses that we see with regard to the O magazine partnership and loads of other things: Because people, not mistakenly, believe that the cruise line will devote a certain amount of resources to passenger amenities, and therefore resources devoted to amenities that they personally don't care about are resources that won't be devoted to amenities they do care about.

 

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[ellieanne]

For the same reason we see the responses that we see with regard to the O magazine partnership and loads of other things: Because people, not mistakenly, believe that the cruise line will devote a certain amount of resources to passenger amenities, and therefore resources devoted to amenities that they personally don't care about are resources that won't be devoted to amenities they do care about.

 

This message may have been entered using voice recognition. Please excuse any typos.

 

 

I don't care if HAL develops or has an app for use on board. I will not use it. Not because I am a luddite, but because I actually prefer face-to-face communication and the people with whom I would need to communicate on the ship would not be using the app, so it would be useless for me.

 

I thought the original question was answered quickly and succinctly. My comments have been in response to another post asking how to get in touch with others onboard in absence of an app -- as if the only way to get in touch with other is through an app. It was the idea that without technology, there is no communication that I found ridiculous in the extreme.

[bUU]

For the same reason we see the responses that we see with regard to the O magazine partnership and loads of other things: Because people, not mistakenly, believe that the cruise line will devote a certain amount of resources to passenger amenities, and therefore resources devoted to amenities that they personally don't care about are resources that won't be devoted to amenities they do care about.

I don't care if HAL develops or has an app for use on board. I will not use it. Not because I am a luddite, but because I actually prefer face-to-face communication and the people with whom I would need to communicate on the ship would not be using the app, so it would be useless for me.

That seems like a strangely defensive and confrontational reply to what I wrote. Some people have posted comments on this thread that go beyond "not caring" and constitute real opposition. In a way, your message almost seems like an attempt to nullify their feelings.

 

Regardless, having the ability to find and get messages to people using technology has nothing to do with whether and how much you prefer face-to-face communication. If those people are not present with you, your chances of initiating that face-to-face communication you prefer is zero. If, instead, you could send an SMS that says, "Heading to Crows Nest for a drink," then your chances of soon having that face-to-face communication increase dramatically.

 

This is something a lot of people don't understand about technology: It serves the purpose of making the rest of your life better, more efficient, more effective. It is a tool that you can choose to use as an advantage.

 

This message may have been entered using voice recognition. Please excuse any typos.

[alwaysfrantic]

It is more a matter of using the best tool for the job, and the best tool isn't always a cell phone app coupled with an expensive ship data plan.

 

 

igraf

 

 

A way to text the person would certainly be the best way, if the availability existed, as it does on some lines.

 

How could finding your friend instantly with a text to meet at X spot be less effective than walking to their cabin and leaving a note or calling their cabin (where they are not)

[RuthC]

I thought the original question was answered quickly and succinctly. My comments have been in response to another post asking how to get in touch with others onboard in absence of an app -- as if the only way to get in touch with other is through an app. It was the idea that without technology, there is no communication that I found ridiculous in the extreme.

You couldn't be more right. It seems some people have forgotten that there are often very easy ways to do things that don't involve electronics. Frequently the ways are easier than using electronics!

[lynn2002]

I would personally love to have the technology to communicate with my 13 year old daughter whilst on a ship. Although not on this line (but I do have a cruise with HAL in the summer), in April I am on a cruise with my 13 year old daughter and a friend who is disabled and uses a wheelchair. My daughter will, naturally, want to hang out with children her own age whilst I look after my friend who is not only physically disabled but it has also affected his brain. I cannot leave him on his own whilst I look for her, and she doesn't want to leave her new friends every half an hour to report to me so that I can see she's okay. If we move to another area of the ship I have no way of contacting her to let her know where we are going and she, in turn, has no way to let us know if her new found friends move on.

 

I also have a bad back and suffer with sciatica (and been told I need an operation on my back) so I can't go rushing around the ship looking for my daughter whilst pushing a wheelchair.

 

If there was a way to text, my life would be a lot easier and my mind would be at rest knowing where my daughter is.

[hrhdhd]

I would personally love to have the technology to communicate with my 13 year old daughter whilst on a ship. Although not on this line (but I do have a cruise with HAL in the summer), in April I am on a cruise with my 13 year old daughter and a friend who is disabled and uses a wheelchair. My daughter will, naturally, want to hang out with children her own age whilst I look after my friend who is not only physically disabled but it has also affected his brain. I cannot leave him on his own whilst I look for her, and she doesn't want to leave her new friends every half an hour to report to me so that I can see she's okay. If we move to another area of the ship I have no way of contacting her to let her know where we are going and she, in turn, has no way to let us know if her new found friends move on.

 

I also have a bad back and suffer with sciatica (and been told I need an operation on my back) so I can't go rushing around the ship looking for my daughter whilst pushing a wheelchair.

 

If there was a way to text, my life would be a lot easier and my mind would be at rest knowing where my daughter is.

 

 

If you are giving a 13-year-old permission to be with others around the ship, away from you (and I'm not questioning that decision), she should have the responsibility of notifying you where she is. If that means she has to pick up a house phone and leave a voice mail on your cabin phone or return to the cabin to leave you a note with an update, so be it.

 

That's what people used to do before texting. That some lines offer an app doesn't mean that the other ways of communicating have become non-existent.

[Cruise_More_Often]

A way to text the person would certainly be the best way, if the availability existed, as it does on some lines.

 

How could finding your friend instantly with a text to meet at X spot be less effective than walking to their cabin and leaving a note or calling their cabin (where they are not)

Let's say my friend is at the spa, and her cabin is at the stern of the ship. By the time she walks all the way to her cabin and retrieves my message, will she want to turn around and walk all the way back to the Crow's Nest?

[POA1]

Texting is all cute and oh so 15 years ago. I want to be able to click on a bar (in a map on my phone) and drag a drink icon to my chair.

 

I'll assume that the app knows my preferences and tip amounts, but it could certainly ask via an interstitial dialog.

 

Actually, if you could build the empty drink sensor into my glass, that would be even better.

 

Text messages... Pshaw.

[bnickle]

 

It doesn't cost anything' date=' doesn't take away from anything else, and doesn't bother anyone. Not sure why new technology like this deserves the Luddite responses...[/quote']

 

 

...or the snarkiness. The OP asked a question politely and some of the responses have been pretty belittling.

[hrhdhd]

Let's say my friend is at the spa, and her cabin is at the stern of the ship. By the time she walks all the way to her cabin and retrieves my message, will she want to turn around and walk all the way back to the Crow's Nest?

 

I don't know. Depends how good of a friend she is, I guess. 😉

[lynn2002]

If you are giving a 13-year-old permission to be with others around the ship, away from you (and I'm not questioning that decision), she should have the responsibility of notifying you where she is. If that means she has to pick up a house phone and leave a voice mail on your cabin phone or return to the cabin to leave you a note with an update, so be it.

 

That's what people used to do before texting. That some lines offer an app doesn't mean that the other ways of communicating have become non-existent.

 

 

Are you saying that she could pick up a phone around the ship, leave a message on the cabin phone, and I can call the cabin phone and retrieve that message from another area in the ship? If so that would be a way around it, but I hadn't realised I could pick up the messages on my cabin phone from another part of the ship. If not, her leaving a message on the cabin phone when, say, we're in another part of the ship (and this is a large ship) would mean me having to push the wheelchair across the ship to check on the phone in the cabin and then return to whatever we were doing before.

 

I was not being critical of HAL, like I said I'm sailing with HAL again in July, but sometimes technology is not such a bad thing and in fact is very helpful to some people.

[hrhdhd]

Are you saying that she could pick up a phone around the ship, leave a message on the cabin phone, and I can call the cabin phone and retrieve that message from another area in the ship? If so that would be a way around it, but I hadn't realised I could pick up the messages on my cabin phone from another part of the ship. If not, her leaving a message on the cabin phone when, say, we're in another part of the ship (and this is a large ship) would mean me having to push the wheelchair across the ship to check on the phone in the cabin and then return to whatever we were doing before.

 

I was not being critical of HAL, like I said I'm sailing with HAL again in July, but sometimes technology is not such a bad thing and in fact is very helpful to some people.

 

I am not sure whether the house phones can be used to check voice mail. Still, she can leave you the info about where she is. When you return to the cabin (which you don't have to go out of your way to do, right, just to know she's in the pool or in the theater at any given time), you'll know where she is. Or she'll probably also see you around--there are only so many places people can be.

 

I have never lost anyone for more than a couple of hours. ;)

[alwaysfrantic]

Let's say my friend is at the spa, and her cabin is at the stern of the ship. By the time she walks all the way to her cabin and retrieves my message, will she want to turn around and walk all the way back to the Crow's Nest?

 

 

I agree. I think you read my response wrong.

[alwaysfrantic]

Texting is all cute and oh so 15 years ago. I want to be able to click on a bar (in a map on my phone) and drag a drink icon to my chair.

 

I'll assume that the app knows my preferences and tip amounts, but it could certainly ask via an interstitial dialog.

 

Actually, if you could build the empty drink sensor into my glass, that would be even better.

 

Text messages... Pshaw.

 

 

I know I'd spend more in a bar trying out the new tech, and my kids definitely would love things like that. Not so far fetched, really. And the dragging and dropping the drink is awesome. You should be a developer.

[igraf]

I guess I just slow down on a cruise ship and have no desire to anything instantly.... :-)

 

 

My main objection is not the technology (I am a software engineer) but how much the cruise lines charge for data. I find it incredible when data charges exceed car payments. There are good workarounds like the excellent and completely offline maps.me app (you download the maps before you leave on vacation) instead of Google Maps that doesn't do much of anything without a live data stream.

 

 

igraf

 

 

 

 

A way to text the person would certainly be the best way, if the availability existed, as it does on some lines.

 

How could finding your friend instantly with a text to meet at X spot be less effective than walking to their cabin and leaving a note or calling their cabin (where they are not)

[Tatka]

That seems like a strangely defensive and confrontational reply to what I wrote. Some people have posted comments on this thread that go beyond "not caring" and constitute real opposition. In a way, your message almost seems like an attempt to nullify their feelings.

 

Regardless, having the ability to find and get messages to people using technology has nothing to do with whether and how much you prefer face-to-face communication. If those people are not present with you, your chances of initiating that face-to-face communication you prefer is zero. If, instead, you could send an SMS that says, "Heading to Crows Nest for a drink," then your chances of soon having that face-to-face communication increase dramatically.

 

This is something a lot of people don't understand about technology: It serves the purpose of making the rest of your life better, more efficient, more effective. It is a tool that you can choose to use as an advantage.

 

This message may have been entered using voice recognition. Please excuse any typos.

 

 

 

Absolutely.

I don't really understand advices to use a phone... What if neither I, nor people I want to meet in Crow Nest spend any time in their cabins other than while sleeping at night? How I can reach them?

 

As for technology... well as of late I can take 4-6 cruises a year rather than 2-3 because I can work remotely. This is a huge deal for whole family! I wish HAL would upgrade wifi to have same speed and cost as RCI, or at least like Celebrity.

[bUU]

...or the snarkiness. The OP asked a question politely and some of the responses have been pretty belittling.

As if doing things the old, less efficient way is somehow more pure, more holy. It truly seems sometimes that some folks want to make extolling their preferences, preferences that fewer and fewer people share, into some kind of religious crusade.

 

And let's be clear: When new technology is bad, when it is disruptive, such as with the walkie-talkies, it is proper to label them as such. That's not the case in what is being discussed. There is no excuse for belittling, as bnickle termed it, the desire to have a reasonably priced text messaging solution available.

 

This message may have been entered using voice recognition. Please excuse any typos.

Edited March 7, 2017 by bUU

[richwmn]

A couple of quick thoughts. It has always been possible to "piggy back" on the ship's wifi and use programs and apps, HAL just never made any information available until recently.

 

If you search "LAN Messenger" in google play you will find 4 third party apps that should work on the ship. I don't have any Apple equipment so I can't comment on iPhone apps. These apps would take care of the texting needs while on the ship.

[Tatka]

Just don't forget to put on airplane mode and then use wifi!

[pumpkinpatch4]

Yes there is an app that you can use on the boat for FREE messages. Load the app "Cruise Ship Messenger" before you get on the boat (requires wi-fi to load) so you won't have to pay. If you wait till you're on the boat you'll have the pay the Wi-fi fees but only to load it. Once you have the APP put in your friend/family's IP addresses and you're all set. You can call or text for free thru that app when you're on the (free) ship network. This only works for people on the boat with you. It was fabulous during my trip in January.

 

I can't believe they don't talk about this more on the HAL boards!