RC App chat - Heads up

[pushbutton]

Just a heads up that our party of 8 had a tough time consistently using the chat feature in the RC app while on Wonder of the Seas recently. It was hit or miss as to whether or not folks showed up as "online" even when they were on the onboard wifi. This was across iOS and Android devices. We actually wished we had brought walkies with us. Don't count on the chat for reliable real-time communications.

[Funky Fusion FoodsJ]

2 hours ago, pushbutton said:

Just a heads up that our party of 8 had a tough time consistently using the chat feature in the RC app while on Wonder of the Seas recently. It was hit or miss as to whether or not folks showed up as "online" even when they were on the onboard wifi. This was across iOS and Android devices. We actually wished we had brought walkies with us. Don't count on the chat for reliable real-time communications.

The end of May we were on the Wonder and had no problem with Iphones.

[arsenic74]

2 hours ago, pushbutton said:

Just a heads up that our party of 8 had a tough time consistently using the chat feature in the RC app while on Wonder of the Seas recently. It was hit or miss as to whether or not folks showed up as "online" even when they were on the onboard wifi. This was across iOS and Android devices. We actually wished we had brought walkies with us. Don't count on the chat for reliable real-time communications.

 

Thanks for this. Been debating on whether to use the RCI chat for our upcoming cruise. Seems hit or miss, and I really don't want to pay the exorbitant prices for the zoom packages. I think I might attempt to go completely phoneless and trust our kids to adhere to old-fashioned verbal instructions 🙂

[Submariner]

2 hours ago, pushbutton said:

Just a heads up that our party of 8 had a tough time consistently using the chat feature in the RC app while on Wonder of the Seas recently. It was hit or miss as to whether or not folks showed up as "online" even when they were on the onboard wifi. This was across iOS and Android devices. We actually wished we had brought walkies with us. Don't count on the chat for reliable real-time communications.

Our family of 8 has walkies set to a unique channel with privacy mode so we dont hear other parties. Always worked for us.

[S.A.M.J.R.]

2 hours ago, pushbutton said:

Just a heads up that our party of 8 had a tough time consistently using the chat feature in the RC app while on Wonder of the Seas recently. It was hit or miss as to whether or not folks showed up as "online" even when they were on the onboard wifi. This was across iOS and Android devices. We actually wished we had brought walkies with us. Don't count on the chat for reliable real-time communications.

Don't count on walkie talkies for reliable real-time communication when you're on a metal ship.

[crazyank]

On 6/23/2022 at 10:38 PM, Submariner said:

Our family of 8 has walkies set to a unique channel with privacy mode so we dont hear other parties. Always worked for us.

 

On 6/23/2022 at 10:38 PM, S.A.M.J.R. said:

Don't count on walkie talkies for reliable real-time communication when you're on a metal ship.

You may not hear other parties but what about disturbing the people around you?  

[AF-1]

I think the best app to work with all platforms, Apple, Android, etc; is What's App.  You can txt, wifi call anywhere in the world.  Yes you have to have wifi available to do wifi calling; but it will work well between an iphone user and a android user

Edited June 25, 2022 by AF-1

[Cruise Gopher]

Is the Royal app messaging function free while on the ship Wi-Fi network? Or do you have to pay a small daily fee for the messaging capability?

[Biker19]

Just now, Cruise Gopher said:

Or do you have to pay a small daily fee for the messaging capability?

$1.99 pppd -you have to buy for the whole sialing.

[Cruise Gopher]

Just now, Biker19 said:

$1.99 pppd -you have to buy for the whole sialing.

Meh, no thanks. 

[Tlbecker1]

15 hours ago, Heymarco said:

I find walkies more offensive than smoking. Maybe we could get Royal to limit those to two designated areas as well. 

Sorry, that aren’t any more annoying than folks face timing….

[pushbutton]

There's a daily fee as noted above for the chat function but you don't have to purchase the Voom internet package to use it. RC's free-tier onboard wifi supports the chat function, albeit sporadically. We had two families for a total of 8 users on 8 different versions of Android and iOS phones and it wasn't consistent or remotely "real time" for any of us. Better than nothing, I guess.

 

Curious as to why folks have such strong feelings about walkies. There isn't a quiet corner on the ship (except maybe the solarium) to disturb. Music, people, stuff going on everywhere...

[crazyank]

10 hours ago, pushbutton said:

Curious as to why folks have such strong feelings about walkies. There isn't a quiet corner on the ship (except maybe the solarium) to disturb. Music, people, stuff going on everywhere...

Our experience with people using walkies was constantly hearing people yelling "can you hear me?" and "are you there?"  even in places like the solarium,  the upper outside decks (which tend to be quieter) and other inappropriate places. 

[jagsfan]

On 6/26/2022 at 4:24 PM, Tlbecker1 said:

Sorry, that aren’t any more annoying than folks face timing….

Or the guy in my dentist’s waiting room listening to a podcast (I guess), without AirPods. He had it so loud two people git up and walked out. 
I thought about singing so he would get up and walk out. 

[rudeney]

I don't know why, but when someone has a phone or "radio" conversation, it's always much more annoying than just hearing people around me talking.  It's not always that the phone conversation is louder, either.  I think it has to do with the poor sound of the other's voice and it makes my brain have to concentrate to better understand them, even though I really don't car to eavesdrop.  It's the same if sitting in a waiting room with a TV playing with audio vs. someone watching a phone or tablet.  It's just annoying.  But what takes the cake is people at a very nice restaurant who plop a tablet in front of a kid and play Baby Shark at full volume.  That is the most annoying use of electronics!

[topnole]

On 6/26/2022 at 12:43 AM, Heymarco said:

I find walkies more offensive than smoking. Maybe we could get Royal to limit those to two designated areas as well. 

Where does people walking right into you with their nose in their phones fall in your pecking order?   The amount of people constantly looking down at their phones is more than annoying too. 

[topnole]

On 6/25/2022 at 8:49 AM, AF-1 said:

I think the best app to work with all platforms, Apple, Android, etc; is What's App.  You can txt, wifi call anywhere in the world.  Yes you have to have wifi available to do wifi calling; but it will work well between an iphone user and a android user

I think the point of this is onboard communication within your group.  If you have wifi you don’t need an app.  You can’t just text each other.  

[AF-1]

15 hours ago, topnole said:

I think the point of this is onboard communication within your group.  If you have wifi you don’t need an app.  You can’t just text each other.  

I get it

Edited June 29, 2022 by AF-1

[topnole]

15 hours ago, Heymarco said:

Walkie-talkies are like a very loud muffler and bumping into people is like a car accident. One is designed to be annoying, both can easily be prevented.

That analogy makes zero sense. 
 

And people talking on phones are just as loud or worse than walkie-talkies.  The need to yell while conversing on a phone is seemingly very strong in most people.  
 

I didn’t see one walkie-talkie user on my last cruise in May.  I saw thousands on their phones all the time.  This included talking, FaceTime (very loud), presumably texting a lot, using the app, and in general meandering or standing in the way with their nose in their phones oblivious to anything else around them.