Communicating with my sons on Symphony

[Margin Walker]

This is my first post.  Love all of the helpful hints I've gotten from many of you in other threads.  Thank you!

 

Many of my questions about cruises have been answered just by reading all of the threads over the last few months.  Except one.  

 

I have two boys (12 and 13 years old).

 

This is our first cruise.  We are sailing on Symphony March 7-14, 2020 out of Miami.

 

I'm ok with the two of them going off and doing their own thing for parts of the day but I don't love the idea of not being able to contact them for several hours (my 12 year old has a severe peanut allergy).

 

How do parents communicate with their children on Symphony (beyond a post-it board on our cabin door)?  I've heard you can communicate on the RC app but not on Symphony.....

 

 

 

Edited February 18, 2020 by Margin Walker

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

Get some real good 5 watt walkie talkies. They DO NOT work everywhere on the ship. However, better than nothing at all. I see young ones talking on them a lot on a cruise ship.

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

FYI. Not all ports will allow you to use them off of the ship. Yo would first need to check with customer service before taking them off of the ship. Some countries use that frequency for there police departments.

[Merion_Mom]

Do they have (smart) phones?  If you plan to make them stay together, you can get a 2-device VOOM plan. 

[Biker19]

39 minutes ago, Margin Walker said:

How do parents communicate with their children on Symphony (beyond a post-it board on our cabin door)?

Welcome to CC.

 

You can also leave voicemails on the cabin phone. Maybe you'll get really lucky and they turn on the texting option within the app by the time of your sailing.

[Margin Walker]

25 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

Do they have (smart) phones?  If you plan to make them stay together, you can get a 2-device VOOM plan. 

 

They both have smart phones but I really want this to be 7 nights of no smart phones for them.   As of now, I'm planning on buying no VOOM plans for the 4 of us.   

[gerif]

Tell them where you are planning to be during the day and have them physically check in with you unless they are staying in Adventure Ocean. No internet when mine were that age. 

[Margin Walker]

1 hour ago, Merion_Mom said:

Do they have (smart) phones?  If you plan to make them stay together, you can get a 2-device VOOM plan. 

 

I ended up doing this.  VOOM for my phone and VOOM for one of theirs.  $199 for that.  With 2 staterooms, drink packages, excursions and specialty dining, $199 is a drop in the bucket.  

 

Decent walkie-talkies are $80-$200 and from what I can tell don't work all the time.   Now I just have to hope that VOOM works good and I'll just have to deal with my sons arguing about who gets the VOOM.  

 

Thanks all for your responses.  

[proggieus]

you have very limited options-

 

1 white board/notes  on door or in cabin

2 Voom And Phones(this is really the best option and what we use)

3. Walkie talkies

[cb at sea]

Just have frequent "meet ups"...tell them where you'll be...find out where they'll be...and they will come to YOU and inform you of their next adventure....if your plans change before your meet up time, you go and tell them...get their next plans.  It's really not too difficult.

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, Margin Walker said:

VOOM for my phone and VOOM for one of theirs.  $199 for that.

Did you get two one device packages or a two device package? The latter functions the same way as the former, but is cheaper.

[Margin Walker]

1 minute ago, Biker19 said:

Did you get two one device packages or a two device package? The latter functions the same way as the former, but is cheaper.

 

I got a two device package.   

 

I called RC. 

 

For what it's worth, I don't love RC customer phone service.  

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, Margin Walker said:

For what it's worth, I don't love RC customer phone service. 

Use them sparingly - they have a poor track record being accurate with their info. Keep checking for the VOOM package price in the planner - if it drops, cancel and rebook.

Edited February 18, 2020 by Biker19

[CoolNickname]

Get a wifi calling app like google voice, skype, fring, tango, whatsapp, facebook messenger, talkatone, or whatever sounds good to you. Chances are you already have one of these on your smartphones even. With ship's internet you'll have decent coverage though you should expect some dead zones.

[brillohead]

56 minutes ago, CoolNickname said:

Get a wifi calling app like google voice, skype, fring, tango, whatsapp, facebook messenger, talkatone, or whatever sounds good to you.

This isn't necessary -- simply enable Wi-Fi calling from home before you go, and you can text/call normally, no special app needed.

[Yorkiegirl3]

We have AT&T and plan to buy Voom. If we want to send texts to one another, what are the steps we need to take to make sure we don’t get charged roaming fees? Also, am I understanding there’s a way to call one another without roaming as well? We have IPhones if that makes any difference.

[SandiLynn]

17 minutes ago, brillohead said:

This isn't necessary -- simply enable Wi-Fi calling from home before you go, and you can text/call normally, no special app needed.

Do you have to buy internet package if you use Wi-Fi calling on ships free wifi?

[brillohead]

9 minutes ago, SandiLynn said:

Do you have to buy internet package if you use Wi-Fi calling on ships free wifi?

You cannot use Wi-Fi calling on ship's free wifi... you have to have an internet package.

The ship's "free wifi" is really only to use their app or to go to their website -- nothing else.  

Edited February 18, 2020 by brillohead

[brillohead]

5 minutes ago, Yorkiegirl3 said:

We have AT&T and plan to buy Voom. If we want to send texts to one another, what are the steps we need to take to make sure we don’t get charged roaming fees? Also, am I understanding there’s a way to call one another without roaming as well? We have IPhones if that makes any difference.

Google "set up wifi calling AT&T iPhone" and follow those steps to activate Wi-Fi calling on your phones.  Do this now, at home.

Check to make sure your Wi-Fi calling is working at home.  Turn on Airplane Mode (which shuts off your cellular connection) and turn on Wi-Fi and connect to your home Wi-Fi.  Make calls / send texts to make sure it's working okay.  If all is well, then turn off Airplane Mode and go on about your life.  If for some reason it's not working, call AT&T or Google or someone knowledgeable about iPhones.


When on the ship, turn on Airplane Mode to disconnect from the AT&T cellular system, then turn on Wi-Fi and connect to the ship's Voom.  You're good to go!

As long as you're on Airplane Mode, you'll be disconnected from the cellular system -- you won't get roaming charges or anything because your phone won't connect to the cellular system at all.  Any calls or texts sent or received will be transmitted to/from AT&T via the internet instead.

 

Hope this helps. 

[Biker19]

10 minutes ago, Yorkiegirl3 said:

If we want to send texts to one another, what are the steps we need to take to make sure we don’t get charged roaming fees? Also, am I understanding there’s a way to call one another without roaming as well?

Set up WiFi calling at home and try it there (put in plane mode and use WiFi only).

[CoolNickname]

5 minutes ago, Yorkiegirl3 said:

We have AT&T and plan to buy Voom. If we want to send texts to one another, what are the steps we need to take to make sure we don’t get charged roaming fees? Also, am I understanding there’s a way to call one another without roaming as well? We have IPhones if that makes any difference.

At one time AT&T had some arrangement for a flat fee to use ship's cell coverage. Now I see they have something like that on their website here including a list to check if your ship is covered. I think plans start at $25. 

[Yorkiegirl3]

1 hour ago, CoolNickname said:

At one time AT&T had some arrangement for a flat fee to use ship's cell coverage. Now I see they have something like that on their website here including a list to check if your ship is covered. I think plans start at $25. 

Looks like as long as I can set up WiFi calling, I’ll be better of going with buying Voom. No data limit with ships’s internet.