Walkie Talkie Review

[M@A]

In doing research for our first family cruise, I was somewhat frustrated about the lack of detail in some of the old walkie talkie threads, so I decided to write up a short recap of our recent experience. From the past threads I knew that two-way radios weren’t always welcomed by other guests due to the noise pollution issue, so when I went shopping the most important feature I was looking for was the ability to page silently using a vibrate feature (more on this later). Price was also a factor, as well as size.

 

The three choices it came down to were the Midland LXT460VP3, the Motorola Talkabout T8500R, and the Cobra Micro Talk LI6050-2 WX EVP. I went with Cobra because it was the smallest of the three, it came with earbud microphones, and it was the cheapest. ($35.00 a pair on deep sale at Sports Authority.) The minuses of the Cobra were that it has to be recharged from an electric outlet and does not take batteries, and the earbud/microphone was difficult to use.

 

Prior to the cruise, I attempted to field test it by taking it to my office; a 1920’s 6-story cement building that occupies a city block. I found that it was capable of transmitting through all six floors for the length of the building. (While it claimed a 17 mile range, while trying it once in our home town it could not handle hilly conditions at all.) Next I came up with protocols for my children’s (age 10 & 12) use. So as not to disturb other guests on our Med cruise, the children were instructed to use the vibrating page feature to alert me that they wanted to talk. I would return the page signal to let them know it had been received, but they wouldn’t start speaking until I got on the air, having stepped out or away from other guests. I also sometimes used the headset to further minimize noise.

 

So, did it work on the ship? For the most part, yes. We successfully communicated between the 11th deck down to the 4th deck of the Celebrity Galaxy on several occasions, and some of the times that it did not work there might have been user error, as in the kids not holding the transmit key down long enough. We did not carry them all the time, but they did come in handy. We also used them on shore in some of the smaller ports when we split up. (Technically this is a no-no, as the frequencies assigned to U.S. walkie talkies are not the authorized frequencies in other countries. We never used them in big cities, only used channels that had no other radio traffic, and kept our transmissions to an absolute minimum. Your mileage may vary.)

 

There weren’t many other families on our cruise, but I did notice at least two other walkie talkie users, and we did have to switch our frequencies a few times to avoid cross traffic. In all we were glad to have brought them with us on the cruise, and would give them a grade of “B.”

 

Best regards,

 

Jake

[Flipflopsnfrozendrinks]

Thanks for the review. Last year we borrowed a pair from my in-laws and service was spotty most of the time. I like the procedure you had so as not to disturb the others guests. I wish I had thought of that. I used the get up and run from a crowded area method...LOL I will look for Cobras in time for our next cruise.

 

Kim

[Tank814]

I bought the Midlands for our cruise next month. I've tested them out and they are so-so.

 

BUT.... I found out that my Sprint-Nextel Phone has a DIRECT TALK feature (walkie-talkie, no signal needed). You can change frequencies too.

Every one in our travel party has a Sprint phone, so we'll be using that.

 

It works far better than the Midlands I bought (and I'm returning)

[thewolffs]

Thanks for the review. I was thinking of getting some for our cruise next month. We are going with my parents and our twin girls. I'd feel better knowing we can get in touch with eachother quickly. I just ordered the Cobras mentioned above and Amazon is giving $30 off your first statement if you open a credit card with them. They ended up costing $9. Even if they don't work, at least I didn't spend a fortune on them.

[M@A]

I bought the Midlands for our cruise next month. I've tested them out and they are so-so.

 

BUT.... I found out that my Sprint-Nextel Phone has a DIRECT TALK feature (walkie-talkie, no signal needed). You can change frequencies too.

Every one in our travel party has a Sprint phone, so we'll be using that.

 

It works far better than the Midlands I bought (and I'm returning)

 

 

I've never had one of those type phones, but I was under the impression that for the Nextel feature to work, you'd have to be in the range of normal cell phone operation, no? That is to say that they don't transmit directly from handheld to handheld, but rather the radio signal is bounced off of a nationwide network. If that's the case, you'd have to consider whether you are going to be in signal range.

 

Best regards,

 

Jake

[Tank814]

The Sprint-Nextel Phone will work phone to phone, no network, cell signal, etc. needed.

At first I didn't think so either but, when I told my father I bought walkie talkies for the cruise, he looked at me like I was crazy and showed me how to switch the settings and use our phones.

[M@A]

Very cool. You learn something new every day.:)

 

Best regards,

 

Jake