Walkie Talkies Allowed?

[spartanburgsc]

I’ve read that different lines no longer allow these. I’ve looked at carnival’s prohibited items and don’t see them specifically prohibited. Anyone have the deets?

[ProgRockCruiser]

I do not recall them being banned by the cruise line itself.  However, they are pretty useless unless you are all on open decks - the steel of the bulkheads, floors, etc make RF propagation quite difficult.

 

It is possible they are also banned in certain ports, much like camouflage clothing, so check ahead of time.

 

US Walkie Talkies are not permitted in Europe, for example - those RF freqs are allocated to something else.  Not sure whether there are European-qualified units out there.

[teknoge3k]

Please, please, please keep the walkie talkies at home and use The Hub app to communicate.

 

Sincerely,

Every passenger on the ship with you 

[spartanburgsc]

We planned on using ones with headsets. Also, the hub app doesn’t work in ports off the ship. Looking for low cost ways to communicate and also the hub app doesn’t work inside staterooms, rendering it useless if someone attempts to reach you while in one. Anyone else have a useless answer?

[mfs2k]

2 minutes ago, spartanburgsc said:

We planned on using ones with headsets. Also, the hub app doesn’t work in ports off the ship. Looking for low cost ways to communicate and also the hub app doesn’t work inside staterooms, rendering it useless if someone attempts to reach you while in one. Anyone else have a useless answer?

They're cheap enough.  Bring them and if they work, great.  If they don't, you didn't spend much. 

Edited July 29 by mfs2k

[1025cruise]

Just note that it might not be legal to use off ship. 

[teknoge3k]

50 minutes ago, spartanburgsc said:

 the hub app doesn’t work inside staterooms, rendering it useless if someone attempts to reach you while in one.

 

The Hub app absolutely works in the cabins. That's how we communicate with our children and other friends on the ship. 

[Pyrate13]

Agree, the hub app works just fine in the cabins. No need for the op's snide remark either.

[Purvis1231]

3 hours ago, teknoge3k said:

Please, please, please keep the walkie talkies at home and use The Hub app to communicate.

 

Sincerely,

Every passenger on the ship with you 

How are walkie-talkies different than people talking on their cell phones?

[elcuchio24]

2 hours ago, spartanburgsc said:

We planned on using ones with headsets. Also, the hub app doesn’t work in ports off the ship. Looking for low cost ways to communicate and also the hub app doesn’t work inside staterooms, rendering it useless if someone attempts to reach you while in one. Anyone else have a useless answer?

 

Hub works great, is cheap and easy to use. At ports, we utilize our cellular (or cell if you will) phones. Most countries charge $10/day, or nothing, to use in port. 

[Purvis1231]

They can work in most places on the ship if you have the right kind of walkie-talkies.

[n6uqqq]

2 hours ago, spartanburgsc said:

We planned on using ones with headsets. Also, the hub app doesn’t work in ports off the ship. Looking for low cost ways to communicate and also the hub app doesn’t work inside staterooms, rendering it useless if someone attempts to reach you while in one. Anyone else have a useless answer?

Unfortunately headsets don't stop people from blocking walkways while yelling twice as loud as normal trying to communicate while saying they can't hear the other party.

[chengkp75]

4 minutes ago, Purvis1231 said:

They can work in most places on the ship if you have the right kind of walkie-talkies.

Those would be 5 watt UHF radios tuned to the ship's repeater antenna.  Run you about $500 a unit, and good luck getting the right frequency for the repeaters.

[Purvis1231]

14 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Those would be 5 watt UHF radios tuned to the ship's repeater antenna.  Run you about $500 a unit, and good luck getting the right frequency for the repeaters.

My $30 Toys R US pair works in most areas of the ship. 

[nc762shooter]

21 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Those would be 5 watt UHF radios tuned to the ship's repeater antenna.  Run you about $500 a unit, and good luck getting the right frequency for the repeaters.

What a bargain, they'll have paid for themselves after 40 or so cruises! 🤣

[chengkp75]

12 minutes ago, Purvis1231 said:

My $30 Toys R US pair works in most areas of the ship. 

Yeah, they work in most areas, as long as you can see each other.

[teknoge3k]

1 hour ago, Purvis1231 said:

How are walkie-talkies different than people talking on their cell phones?

 

Because you don't "talk" on The Hub app, you chat on it using the chat feature.

[Elaine5715]

2 hours ago, Purvis1231 said:

How are walkie-talkies different than people talking on their cell phones?

It is just like people talking on cell phones on speakers with ear phones on, yelling , "can you hear me now!"

[spartanburgsc]

4 hours ago, teknoge3k said:

 

The Hub app absolutely works in the cabins. That's how we communicate with our children and other friends on the ship. 

We’ve had issues in the past with the app not working if it is not kept open or no signal in the cabins. We have our answers now. Thanks to everyone who responded with something useful!

[BallFour4]

4 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Yeah, they work in most areas, as long as you can see each other.

 

Every one of your posts makes me smile, and you are right on this one as usual.
 

I bought Motorola GMRS/FRS radios a decade or more ago and on Fantasy Class ships they worked! They worked on 5 watt channels on GMRS, on vibrate mode on the ship and while shopping on Cozumel. Then I got my ham ticket, and took the time to read the not-so-fine print on GMRS, paid the license fee and left them at home.

I do carry a AnyTone 878 and OpenSpot 4 with me on cruises in my backpack and use the WiFi aboard for chat (digital only, never on analog) on sea days, but that's the extent of it. The apps for Carnival and Royal Caribbean have worked great for us on cruises since they were rolled out.

 For those that don't want to give a kid a $1000 iPhone go to Amazon, order a $30 pay as you go smart phone and spend about 20 minutes deleting all the trash programs. Turn it on WiFi only and you have a remarkable cruise ship communication device.
 

See you at sea.

 

.

[kdr69]

bought a pair 10 years ago for our 1st cruise never used them again

[mz-s]

If they aren't on the prohibited list, then they're allowed. That's the whole point of a list of prohibited items, wouldn't you reckon?

[mjkacmom]

15 hours ago, Purvis1231 said:

How are walkie-talkies different than people talking on their cell phones?

Because they work so poorly. “Can you hear me now? Can you hear me now?” Sqwalk sqwalk

[Nachosdelux]

get what's app on your phone.

[ProgRockCruiser]

1 hour ago, mz-s said:

If they aren't on the prohibited list, then they're allowed. That's the whole point of a list of prohibited items, wouldn't you reckon?

Because sometimes the "Captain Obvious" selection of prohibited items means things just don't get listed.  That's not the case here, I don't think.

 

Or because Carnival might have prohibited them explicitly for a while, but the usage has dropped so much it got omitted in an update, or the usage has dropped so much they just don't care because it doesn't interfere with any of the ship-based comm/signaling systems, so they now allow them.

 

In this case, I think most people are saying they may not be prohibited, but they aren't as practical as you might think compared to some of the other tech now available - the HUB app chat feature, or even just usage of the wifi for other communication apps if everyone has the package anyway.

 

The HUB chat feature was not reliable when it first came out (I used the chat feature for one cruise back in early 2018, IIRC, and it was hit or miss), but from what I gather, the wifi coverage aboard and in enclosed decks (in cabins) has improved, as well as the notification functionality.

 

Here's a thread from the RCI forum about this very topic, and summarizes it the same way:

 

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/42441-walkie-talkie/

 

And NCL has banned them, as mentioned in the above post, so not an unrealistic thing to ask:

 

https://www.ncl.com/prohibited-items