luvthedaysatsea Posted July 20, 2006 #1 Share Posted July 20, 2006 I'm looking for information on using walkie talkies on board a cruise ship to stay connected to family members. Do they work? What brand is best, how many "miles" are strong enough to reach someone many decks away? I'd love to hear from anyone who has had experience with this issue. Thanks!:rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greatam Posted July 20, 2006 #2 Share Posted July 20, 2006 I'm looking for information on using walkie talkies on board a cruise ship to stay connected to family members. Do they work? What brand is best, how many "miles" are strong enough to reach someone many decks away? I'd love to hear from anyone who has had experience with this issue. Thanks!:rolleyes: Heads up!!! Lots of people find walkie talkie use on ships by pax VERY irritating. Try to live without the walkie talkies on the ship, if possible. Arrange meeting points at certain times. There are clocks all over, so no one should be late. If it is a true emergency, there is a ship paging system. The ship isn't THAT big. No one is going to get LOST. If someone is "missing", a little exercise will certainly find that person in a short time. Save yourself money and sanity. Forget the walkie talkies. They are truly a PITA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bububr Posted July 20, 2006 #3 Share Posted July 20, 2006 THey are annoying and distracting. And while some may try to be polite and talk quietly, its the beeping and squelching that get me. ITs like being back in the 70's talking on a CB radio. Definietly doesn't ruin my vacation, but sure makes it less enjoyable. Dave:eek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluedevil Posted July 20, 2006 #4 Share Posted July 20, 2006 WE loved ours on our cruise. We kept them on vibrate or low and when talking we kept our voices at a normal if not lower tone. Ours worked all over the ship. We have the bright yellow Motorola ones. I think if you are respectful of those around you there should be no problems. One time DH beeped(vibrate mode) me and I was in the Dining room. I left and went out into the "hallway" to speak even tho I kept my voice down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitty9 Posted July 20, 2006 #5 Share Posted July 20, 2006 I agree with greatam and bububr, W/T's are a pain in the behind. It's not like you're on land and can get lost. You're on a very confined cruise ship with lots of clocks and phones. How did everyone get along before these things came into being? How many kids, husbands, wives and other family members got lost or missed a dinner or show because you didn't have W/T's? While people say they try and be polite about using them, I cannnot tell you how many times dinners or shows were interrupted by those infernal things. For every 1 passenger who's thoughtful, there are so many more who misuse them all over the ship. I remember one guy who stood outside my cabin at 2am yelling into that darned thing trying to find his wife because he lost his cabin key. Keep them at home and use the clocks and phones that the cruise line thoughtfully provides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane110 Posted July 20, 2006 #6 Share Posted July 20, 2006 WE loved ours on our cruise. We kept them on vibrate or low andwhen talking we kept our voices at a normal if not lower tone. Ours worked all over the ship. We have the bright yellow Motorola ones. I think if you are respectful of those around you there should be no problems. One time DH beeped(vibrate mode) me and I was in the Dining room. I left and went out into the "hallway" to speak even tho I kept my voice down. I agree. We use the Motorola ones with a 5 mile range. On a big ship I'd be lost without them. DH and I have different interests and he's the type that loses track of time. We ONLY use them to find each other. When there's a beep (we do keep the volume down very low) we walk away to a private area to answer so as to not bother anyone else and we keep the conversation to about 30 seconds and never use a loud voice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serene56 Posted July 20, 2006 #7 Share Posted July 20, 2006 I know Carnival has voice mail on the telephones on the ships. You have to set it up. use any house phones on the ship to call the cabin. (do other lines have this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHIPMUNKSMOM Posted July 20, 2006 #8 Share Posted July 20, 2006 I found them helpful with my 13 YO. I felt better be in touch at preset times and I was always courteous of my fellow cruisers. I got a $ 20 set ( after rebate) from B J's. Chipmunksmom:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluedevil Posted July 20, 2006 #9 Share Posted July 20, 2006 Our whole reason for the walkies were just like Jane110 and CHIPMUNKSMOM, Well we didn't have our daughter with us but sometimes I can get carried away ( shopping, napping, casino, eating etc) DH and I spent a lot of time doing different things. We found them very helpful. I can see however how they could and can be abused. Being courteous goes a long way. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jolimont Posted July 21, 2006 #10 Share Posted July 21, 2006 Our 5 mile walkie talkies worked on the Triumph and the Diamond, but only in some areas of the ship, so it's not a sure thing. I think vibrate is best for everybody ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meripour Posted July 21, 2006 #11 Share Posted July 21, 2006 Uniden, from Target around $50 with two chargers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betcat Posted July 22, 2006 #12 Share Posted July 22, 2006 Our nextel have a off system W/T that is good for a 6 mile range. Because it is off system there is no charge and good anywhere. Just have to set them to the same channel and code. and then our cell phones are a W/T system. They work great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BallFour4 Posted July 23, 2006 #13 Share Posted July 23, 2006 Mass-market cruises have a large amount of users of these radios, and the ones that are 2-5 mile range are worthless. We took them on our first cruise with my daughter and gave them away the minute we got home. I have three pairs of them; all Motorola’s and the best ones are the 6000 series with the drop in charger. You can remove the battery pack and use three AAA batteries in a pinch. The battery packs are ni-cad, so the will develop a memory if you don't cycle them. We've never sailed on a mega-liner, but aboard the Splendour, Rhapsody and other ships in this size range they worked great from cabin to pool area, casual dining area to cabin and theater to cabin. We use them for cabin-to-cabin instant communications at night, finding each other on deck after a morning run and even ship to shore in Costa Maya. Our daughter uses them to check-in with us from the teen area and we check on her wherever she tells us she is. The ones we have experience with have a vibrate feature, and all you need to do is key the mic and the other radio vibrates. This allows me to step from the theatre and then communicate with my child. While the potential for abuse exists, I find them less bothersome than the announcements, loud conversation, smoking, etc. And for those that sail mass-market cruises they should expect families with radios. Also, the new FCC permit is $80.00 and can be ordered online in about ten minutes total. You can use the radios once you enter credit card information and then get your confirmation e-mail. Whatever you do, check them out, charge them and get familiar with the abilities to change frequencies and sub-codes quickly. The first day is the one where people are moving around to find a quiet or little used channel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melika091900 Posted July 23, 2006 #14 Share Posted July 23, 2006 our walkies worked fine, but we did get interceptions in mexico and from people on the ship with walkies on the same channel. ours were bought at radio shack, good luck melissa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greatam Posted July 23, 2006 #15 Share Posted July 23, 2006 The ones we have experience with have a vibrate feature, and all you need to do is key the mic and the other radio vibrates. This allows me to step from the theatre and then communicate with my child. You may think you are not disturbing anyone. However, this is a classic example of disturbing others with walkie talkie use. If there was truly an emergency, ship personnel would find parties involved. Otherwise, trust your child for the hour or so you are in the theater, take your child with you, or find another activity. It is truly irritating to have pax moving around in the theater after the show has started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Host Mick Posted July 24, 2006 #16 Share Posted July 24, 2006 I'm looking for information on using walkie talkies on board a cruise ship to stay connected to family members. Do they work? What brand is best, how many "miles" are strong enough to reach someone many decks away? I'd love to hear from anyone who has had experience with this issue. Thanks!:rolleyes: The walkie talkies that you are asking about is called a FRS for "Family Radio Service." They are all limited to 1/2 watt and thus they all have pretty much the same range and they all receive the same channels and sub-channels interchangeably. Thus the differences that you will find in the radios is the quality of construction (read as durability) and the features. Generally, the higher the price, the more durable and the more features that you will get. Best Buy has a little FAQ on FRS and GMRS (The more powerful cousin) radios here that might help: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=cat12077&categoryRep=cat06000&guideID=1072288099473&type=page#A09 I have some Motorola radios that are pretty tough and I've been using them for about four years flawlessly. They run on 3 AA batteries and the batteries last for about 2 days of occasonal use at Disneyland. They originally cost $70 ea. but a similar unit is a lot less now. they work well enough on ships. They go stem to stern on the same deck and about 2 decks up and down on a Panamax ship. Larger or smaller ships will vary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.