Walkie Talkies ( 2 Way Radios )

[clemson91]

What brand and model walkie talkies (2 way radios / Two way radios) have you had the best results with? Please don't debate whether I should bring one or not...I just want to know which one works best on a large ship like the Freedom of the Seas.

 

Thanks for any info.:)

[BAreEhD]

What brand and model walkie talkies (2 way radios / Two way radios) have you had the best results with? Please don't debate whether I should bring one or not...I just want to know which one works best on a large ship like the Freedom of the Seas.

 

Thanks for any info.:)

 

I've got Motorolas, and they're great. I forget the model, however.

[ljohnson]

I used my AudioVox radios on the Freedom several years ago and they worked great all over the ship. My wife even forgot hers in the dining room and one of our tablemates went back for his hat. The waiter gave him my walkie too and he just started calling me. I was way up in the front of the ship and I could hear him calling. I have mine set on low power and they still work great. My only suggestion would be to stay away from the kind that has a battery pac and just buy the ones that use AA or AAA batteries. Mine last the whole cruise and you don't have to bring all that recharging stuff with you. You can buy batteries on the ship if you do run out of power. Most of the time those rechargable batteries cost as much as the radios if you do need to replace them. AA or AAA batteries are cheap! When you get home, remember to take out the batteries and the radios will be ready to go the next time. I hope this helps; have a good cruise--from a Diamond cruiser down in Texas, Mike

[norcalal]

What brand and model walkie talkies (2 way radios / Two way radios) have you had the best results with? Please don't debate whether I should bring one or not...I just want to know which one works best on a large ship like the Freedom of the Seas.

 

Thanks for any info.:)

 

While looking for the same info you are I came across a review for these..TSX300....The have 10 billion channel combos...yep thats a B...but more important they have a TEXT FUNCTION in a mute mode! Just what I was looking for.:D Just do a search on TSX300

 

Also, RCCL does have DECT phones for a 25 dollar rental fee for 7 days.

[realblonde]

I have a pair of cobra 22 channel walkie-talkies i was going to bring but im wondering if the new ones were better. however online they look really big are they as big as they look? mine are tiny:confused:

[FormerDCL]

While looking for the same info you are I came across a review for these..TSX300....The have 10 billion channel combos...yep thats a B...but more important they have a TEXT FUNCTION in a mute mode! Just what I was looking for.:D Just do a search on TSX300

 

Also, RCCL does have DECT phones for a 25 dollar rental fee for 7 days.

We had a friend just get off FOS and said they no longer rent the dect phones. If you can confirm that they do have the dect then go that route. We used them last year on LOS and they were fantastic. I am also looking at the Tri Square with the texting......can only find them online.

 

Dave

[moonltnite]

We have a couple of older Motorola Talkabout walkie-talkies. Has anyone used these on any the ships with any luck?

[PinaColadaMama]

We just got off Indy of Seas last week and DECT phones were available. We went directly to the guest relations desk when we boarded and got 2. They were $25 each for the week and worked great. Especially with 2 kids...

[cruisedawgg]

We just got off Indy of Seas last week and DECT phones were available. We went directly to the guest relations desk when we boarded and got 2. They were $25 each for the week and worked great. Especially with 2 kids...

 

Why don't they just give you a $50 flat rental price. Why would u rent just one?

[norcalal]

We had a friend just get off FOS and said they no longer rent the dect phones. If you can confirm that they do have the dect then go that route. We used them last year on LOS and they were fantastic. I am also looking at the Tri Square with the texting......can only find them online.

 

Dave

 

Email dated April 9, 2009:)

 

Dear Mr. Zimmer:

 

Thank you for your email. We apologize for the delay in our response.

 

Dect phones (portable phones) are available to rent for $25.00 per phone per week on Radiance class, Voyager class, and Freedom class vessels. Guests may receive a set at the Guest Relations Desk. Please note that there are a limited number of dect phones available and that rental prices are subject to change.

 

Guests are permitted to use devices such as two-way radios, more commonly known as walkie-talkies, for onboard personal communications.

 

Basic specifications are as follows:

Up to 10-mile coverage range

Up to 5 watts power

Internal Voice Operated Transmission

No external mounting antenna

 

Some of the gift shops on our vessels sell walkie-talkies. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that the performance or availability of these devices on every cruise ship.

 

 

 

 

 

Mr. Zimmer, thank you for choosing Royal Caribbean International.

 

Sincerely,

 

Medea Baker

Customer Service Representative

[crazy4themouse]

We have a couple of older Motorola Talkabout walkie-talkies. Has anyone used these on any the ships with any luck?

 

 

My son and I used Talkabouts on the Magic for several cruises, and they worked great. They finally gave up the ghost, and were replaced by a set of Cobras. These are even better. We use them all the time at Walt Disney World, also. And they've been dropped plenty of times by DS. Very solid radios. :p

[Clarea]

Why don't they just give you a $50 flat rental price. Why would u rent just one?

The DECT phones are integrated into the ship's phone system. You can place a call to the DECT phone from any room phone, and vice-versa.

[Texaspepper]

What brand and model walkie talkies (2 way radios / Two way radios) have you had the best results with? Please don't debate whether I should bring one or not...I just want to know which one works best on a large ship like the Freedom of the Seas.

 

Thanks for any info.:)

 

We use Motorola EM1000 Talkabout. Used them on Voyager 15 day T/A Barcelona to Galveston 11/28/08 and on Carnival Conquest several times. 98% reception any where on the ships. Also was great on the streets in Barcelona and other ports of call. Could speak with my wife who stayed on board a couple of times while I went rambling about in couple of ports. We got ours at Costco. Has 3 receivers, charger and car changer. $79 with a $10 instant rebate. Holds a charge for long time. Here is a link to see the units.

 

http://www.store.motorola.com/mot/en/US/adirect/motorola;jsessionid=5BEE47E168E6196E33E3EF738EED2839.mot3?cmd=catProductDetail&entryPoint=adirect&productID=EM1000&messageType=catProductDetail&showAddButton=true

[rcacace]

The DECT phones are integrated into the ship's phone system. You can place a call to the DECT phone from any room phone, and vice-versa.

 

Are the DECT phones small- Similar to the FRS Walkie Talkies or like a household cordless phone?

[Texaspepper]

Are the DECT phones small- Similar to the FRS Walkie Talkies or like a household cordless phone?

 

Something new that some cruise ships have available are called DECT Phones to communicate with each other. They work just like a cordless phone in your home. Each cordless DECT phone is assigned a phone number so all you have to do is give out that number to the others in your party like your spouse or children and as long as you're on the ship, you'll never be more than a phone call away. Cost is $25 each per week.

 

FYI -My Motorola EM1000 worked 98% of the time on RCL Voyager and Carvival Conquest. PLUS worked great in all ports. Several mile coverage. Ship to shore. .No problem.

[janabm81]

We just bought the tsx300's for our upcoming cruise and they work GREAT!!!:D We've tried them out in our neighborhood (me inside in the basement and DH up at the park)then we tried them around work (large cement/metal building) One again I stayed inside and he walked all the way across street and to Chipotle and got us lunch. We haven't tried any super long distances yet (over 1/2 mile) but so far we're impressed. They even have a text messaging option from unit to unit and a silent/vibrate mode.:)

We used to have a set of basic motorolas but 1/2 the time some one else was using the band you were on or the reception wasn't going through. Since these use a completely different type of band width hopefully we won't have that problem anymore.:rolleyes:

[Texaspepper]

We just bought the tsx300's for our upcoming cruise and they work GREAT!!!:D We've tried them out in our neighborhood (me inside in the basement and DH up at the park)then we tried them around work (large cement/metal building) One again I stayed inside and he walked all the way across street and to Chipotle and got us lunch. We haven't tried any super long distances yet (over 1/2 mile) but so far we're impressed. They even have a text messaging option from unit to unit and a silent/vibrate mode.:)

We used to have a set of basic motorolas but 1/2 the time some one else was using the band you were on or the reception wasn't going through. Since these use a completely different type of band width hopefully we won't have that problem anymore.:rolleyes:

 

Here is the review on your walkie talkie.

 

http://www.consumersearch.com/two-way-radios/trisquare-tsx300

[realblonde]

i have one set of cobras and one set of midlands 22/28 channels respectively if i set them both to the same channel can i send and receive on both sets or only the same brand? if i cant which brand is better?thanks:confused:

[ljohnson]

i have one set of cobras and one set of midlands 22/28 channels respectively if i set them both to the same channel can i send and receive on both sets or only the same brand? if i cant which brand is better?thanks:confused:

 

They may or may not work. Try them out and if they don't you can use the scan mode on one set and transmit with the other. Hold down the send button until the other set locks on in the scan mode. See what channel and security code is displayed and then reprogram to that same channel. I had to do this with our friends radios when they cruised with us last year. Remember to bring the instructions with you and someone on your cruise will help you reprogram them to work together. I hope this helps, Mike

[realblonde]

Thanks mike will try what you said have alot of time to play around with them have a good cruise!:rolleyes:

[rcacace]

i have one set of cobras and one set of midlands 22/28 channels respectively if i set them both to the same channel can i send and receive on both sets or only the same brand? if i cant which brand is better?thanks:confused:

 

Since they're both FRS radios they'll work even though there different brands. If one is a GMRS radio it has a few extra channels & a little extra power but most are still in the range of the FRS radios & you can select one of the frequencies that correspond.

The newer type, DECT Phones, sound interesting. Although they don't offer much of an increase in range over the FRS or GMRS they seem to have a feature buit in which codes the channel so you'll never hear any other transmission other than one using the correct code. (of which there are many)

[realblonde]

Could you help me again bought the radios but the manual says i can only use certain channels without FCC license. these are FMS low power and have no range at all in NYC. Question can u use any channel on the open sea, if I can use the other channels i can get more power and greater range. as always thanks for the help:confused::)

[rcacace]

Could you help me again bought the radios but the manual says i can only use certain channels without FCC license. these are FMS low power and have no range at all in NYC. Question can u use any channel on the open sea, if I can use the other channels i can get more power and greater range. as always thanks for the help:confused::)

 

I see you've found out that the range they advertise is totally ambiguous and they should never be allowed to do so in order to sell radio's. The main reason is the buildings block the signal, especially at the FRS frequencies. You'll get much better range when out in the open space. The ships steel also degrade the signal tremendously but the radio's are usually strong enough to get through in most places on the ship. The additional power of the licensed channels can provide some extra benefit but in order to get max range the open space is the best answer. On the ship I would just choose any open frequency that the other people don't use.

[rayburn3846]

On the website they say that you can only have walkie talkies that have a range up to 10 miles, among other restrictions. Anyone ever have a problem with these restrictions?

 

I have seen in other posts people were using higher powered ones. Do they check your walkie talkies? Will they know if I am using a higher range?

 

Should I only get 10 miles ones and hope they are good up to that distance. I have noticed that people are saying that the advertised range is not accurate and being on the boat with so many obstacles I want them to be able to work.

 

I am thinking of getting these 10 mile range ones ( http://www.daydeal.com/product.php?productid=25815&cat=3745 ) or these 20 mile range ones ( http://www.daydeal.com/product.php?productid=25809&cat=3745 )has anyone ever used these?

 

Thanks in advance :D!

[dna1990]

10 miles, maybe if on the desert with perfect line of sight. Ships and the many intertwined steel decks and bulkheads are the pinacle of what radio sellers refer to as 'other restrictions'.

 

I have purchased eXRS radios for an upcoming trip. Not that much more that the FRS flavors. We'll see.