Walkie Talkies?

[Alaskabound77]

Has anyone used a walkie talkie system on a cruise ship? Did it work well? What type did you get? Thanks (and please also comment if you do not think they are necessary - will be travelling with a 4 year old, 8 month old, my husband, my parents and my sister).

[Palmfam]

We had some as well. My husband got them at Dicks. My Sister & BIL got a set so we had 4.

They were camouflage. My husband & BIL loved them. They thought they worked well.

They were the Midland brand. They were on sale about $75-80 and had a rebate.

[Palmfam]

We had some as well. My husband got them at Dicks. My Sister & BIL got a set so we had 4.

They were camouflage. My husband & BIL loved them. They thought they worked well.

They were the Midland brand. They were on sale about $75-80 and had a rebate.

[Palmfam]

I'm more of a reader than a poster.:)

[LoneStarMama]

I had the same question. Is there a certain brand that is better than others?

[calikak]

We had some Motorola ones that didn't work on our last cruise. I think they just weren't powerful enough.

[Onessa]

Some lines (RCCI for example) will rent Dect phones on a first-come-first-served basis. They are similar to a walkie-talkie but tie into the ship's comm system making them very good on board (but useless on land).

 

We have a 12YO and generally just use check-in times and post-it notes. I've considered the going to communications devices but we travel extenstively and the devices you can use in North America are different than those you may use in Europe.

[tigger615]

We've been on 3 different lines & they all worked. Sometimes better than others. It also depended where in the ship we were. When we first got on the ship it was fun trying to find a channel that was free & even once we did that sometimes you would pick up other people. We are leaving in July for a 5 night, my 14 year old daughter & her friend are coming too & I can't decide if I want to bring the walkies or not.

[BonnieVA]

We had some Motorola ones that didn't work on our last cruise. I think they just weren't powerful enough.

 

Hmm, do you recall which model they were? I just bought a 3-pk of Motorolas so I want to return them if they won't work. Mine are Motorola Talkabout SX600TPR.

 

Thanks.

[mousey]

We have used them 3 times on various cruises. Our are Motorolas. I don't know much else about them. They work for us and we don't travel without them! We have a 13 yr. DS and it is great to set up times to meet, etc. :)

[Two if by Sea]

We have used them 3 times on various cruises. Our are Motorolas. I don't know much else about them. They work for us and we don't travel without them! We have a 13 yr. DS and it is great to set up times to meet, etc. :)

 

How does he carry it? I could see DD putting it down somewhere in the first 5 minutes and never finding it again.

[NEWYORKER001]

The walkie-talkies have a clip which they can attach to their pants. No need to place them anywhere.

[turs]

We had Motorola walkie talkies. My son programmed them for a "private channel." That really cut down on the interference of all the others on the ship. We ended up not using them much. It was easier to leave post it notes in the cabin.

[mcfam5]

They worked great on the Lido Deck and pretty good throughout the ship. Keep them charged, ours functioned the best when they had a high charge.

[CanadianTwosome]

Ours are FRS extended range Cobras. My husband tells me that they are a 25km range system, and they're rechargable on their base. We take three units with us and one base to save space and we've found them very useful. On our last cruise we were able to leave our daughter in our cabin in the evening and enjoy ourselves knowing that we were reachable at all times. It was fantastic for all of us. Mommy and Daddy got to enjoy 'adult' time, and she got to feel mature and responsible staying in the cabin by herself. :)

[Two if by Sea]

I already have a pair of Motorolas, and the FCC license to go with them. The vaunted 25-mile range is really much less than one mile unless you're in the open countryside with nothing between you.

 

But "much less than one mile" may be enough on a cruise ship. I guess we'll bring them, and if we use them, then I will report back. And if we don't use them, then I'll know not to bring them next time.

[ezjack1825]

We had some of the older Motorola Talkabout 250's and they worked in most areas of the ships, but not everywhere. We now have Motorola and Uniden radios in the 8-10 mile range and they work great as long as you're on one of the higher power FRS channels.

 

Make sure you put them on a subchannel so you don't have to listen to everyone else!

[Georgee]

When we were on our last cruise I talked to alot of parents that had children around my childs age and I asked them and Cobras seemed to work the best. The people with cobras could reach the other person whereever they were on the ship.

[mjmalino]

We just bought a pair of midlands for our upcoming cruise. We chose them for 2 reasons 1) they have a monitor function so that we can use it as a baby monitor if we leave the cabin for a short time with the kids asleep (maybe leave it with my inlaws if DH and I want to go to the casino after the kids camp closes, etc.) and 2)they are smaller than most of the ones we looked at.

[szubieta]

I already have a pair of Motorolas, and the FCC license to go with them. The vaunted 25-mile range is really much less than one mile unless you're in the open countryside with nothing between you.

 

But "much less than one mile" may be enough on a cruise ship. I guess we'll bring them, and if we use them, then I will report back. And if we don't use them, then I'll know not to bring them next time.

 

When is your cruise scheduled. Just the month/year is fine. Just want to watch for a post about the radios...we aren't going until Oct/08 and would really appreciate all the feedback regard radios. :D

[KC_fn]

Apparently I'm in the minority here, but we found them almost useless.

 

OP: I don't think you need them anyway. The littles obviously won't be wandering off on their own, and if the adults want to split up, you can just make arrangements to meet somewhere later. That worked really well for us.

[Two if by Sea]

When is your cruise scheduled. Just the month/year is fine. Just want to watch for a post about the radios...we aren't going until Oct/08 and would really appreciate all the feedback regard radios. :D

 

We're sailing in two weeks!

 

I'll let you know if we find them at all useful.

[szubieta]

We're sailing in two weeks!

 

I'll let you know if we find them at all useful.

 

Thanks, hope you have a great time!! :D

[mary_228]

Apparently I'm in the minority here, but we found them almost useless.

 

OP: I don't think you need them anyway. The littles obviously won't be wandering off on their own, and if the adults want to split up, you can just make arrangements to meet somewhere later. That worked really well for us.

I totally agree with this poster. We've cruised a lot with our kids and only on the first cruise did we try the walkie talkies and we honestly were so embarrased by the commotion (think how annoying cell phones are and multiply it by 10) that we preferred not to use them. It was amazing how we'd run into each other (two families traveling together). You can also leave a copy of the daily paper with the activities you are planning to attend and then the rest of your group will know where you are.

[Suzanne74]

I think for your age kids, you don't need them. I just went with my sister's family and my family and all of our kids are 7 and under. You won't need to locate the younger ones as they will be with you or the kids club and I think 8 days on a cruise ship, it was nice to be away from the other families you come with. ;) It was great to cruise with my sister's family but walkie talkies would have been annoying as heck, IMO. Just plan on meeting at certain times for things and I would say 90% of the time we could use text or cell phone but really never needed to. I think buying the walkie talkies are a waste of money and completely overused on the ship ("which dessert do you want" "heading over to the bathroom" etc... are things I hear on them in elevators and by the pool :rolleyes: ) I don't think I would even consider them unless I had a teen I was leary of. This is just my opinion of course. :D