keeping in touch on board

[running girl]

I was wondering if anyone knows of a easy way to stay in touch with one another while on board the ship. My parents are going to be going on there first cruise without family and my father has had a stroke so at times he gets confused and I am worried if they separate he might worry about not being able to communicate with my mom. In the past we have used walkie talkies but other people always seemed to be on every channel and it made it hard. :)

[Toto2Kansas]

I was wondering if anyone knows of a easy way to stay in touch with one another while on board the ship. My parents are going to be going on there first cruise without family and my father has had a stroke so at times he gets confused and I am worried if they separate he might worry about not being able to communicate with my mom. In the past we have used walkie talkies but other people always seemed to be on every channel and it made it hard. :)

 

That's a tough one. Walkie talkies would be the only way for passengers to find one another except for leaving notes in the stateroom and voice mail on the stateroom telephone.

 

I would just hope your mom keeps him in sight if he gets confused without her there. If they get seperated, there is no way on a large ship that they might find each other. Best of luck to them though.

[paul929207]

Your parents could agree on a place to meet if they get separated.

[Adventures ahead]

Post-it notes in our cabin (on a pre-selected spot) works for us. I always pack them.

[AlaskaGolden]

You may be able to purchase high-end marine walkie-talkies (two-way radios) at a marine supply store. They will cost some bucks, though.

 

Just let the marine store know what your family plans to use them for. They're more powerful than what you can get a the local "super"-Mart or electronics store, and there may be less traffic on these if the right band/channel is used.

[rcacace]

You may be able to purchase high-end marine walkie-talkies (two-way radios) at a marine supply store. They will cost some bucks, though.

 

Just let the marine store know what your family plans to use them for. They're more powerful than what you can get a the local "super"-Mart or electronics store, and there may be less traffic on these if the right band/channel is used.

 

Normally I wouldn't think walkie talkies operating on other than the FRS/GRMS band to be a problem but a pair on the marine band just might cause some interference with the ships communications.

[sloney]

You should have a license and intruction before you start using Marine radios. if you start using the worng stations you could interfere with commercial traffic.

[rcacace]

You should have a license and intruction before you start using Marine radios. if you start using the worng stations you could interfere with commercial traffic.

 

They'll sell them to anyone with the cash lately. I've even seen them in the blister packs in Walmart.

[beng]

Arent the Princess ships wifi and wireless phone enabled now? I thought that went into effect recently.

[Denny01]

Yes, most common cell phone companies are avail on the cruise lines. Doublecheck your cell phone company for Princess access. I know it can get a bit pricy, my Verizon was 0.50/min, may have gone to 0.99/min. But that might work better then walkie-talkies and he'll be familiar with using the phone.

 

Call your Cell Phone provider and they should tell you if it's avail and at what charge. Prior to cruising, you'll have to activiate the phones for International use, usually you call a set number and hit a few buttons and it's activiated. You can do it for them well ahead of time.

 

Your call, but might be handier and really not that expensive if they use it just for tracking each other down when needed. A cruise ship is a very good vacation experience for those less mobile. A set room, dining time, general layout is easy. We took our elderly parents. We used our phones, had a common easily located spot to all meet up at set times.

 

I talked with the Purser Office on our concerns with my Mom if she got disoriented. They had it pre-set so if she asked a crewmember for assistance, they would help her, or bring her to the Purser Office. They would then call our SR or use her phone to call us. Worked great.

 

Denny

[partsman_ba]

You should have a license and intruction before you start using Marine radios. if you start using the worng stations you could interfere with commercial traffic.

 

Not sure which radios they were, but a woman I talked to on the Island said she was trying to reach her husband and started a conversation with the dock crew :D.

 

Arent the Princess ships wifi and wireless phone enabled now? I thought that went into effect recently.

 

Cell phone surcharge is $2.49 per minute (per phone), at least with Verizon. Expensive way to keep in touch!

 

My recommendation? Do things as a couple!

[shellbeachjim]

If he gets confused and is unable to communicate, I would think you'd want him to be easily identifiable by a crew member. I would think him having his cruise card on a lanyard would be helpful for this - just make sure he always wears it. While it doesn't necessarily help getting him in immediate contact with your mother, at least the crew will know who he is.

[running girl]

Thank you for all the ideas they are great. The lanyard idea is hopefully going to work out the best. If we also put a laminated tag on it with all of his info that should work out great. I am sure alot of people run into this with families traveling together.

Keep the ideas coming I am open to anything!:)

[Toto2Kansas]

The best suggestion if your father can not communicate well is to make sure your mother does not loose site of him. It could take a long time before someone noticed he was aimlessly wandering. This is not the norm onboard a ship. But I agree, putting a little more information on the cruise card would help, just in case. Remember, they do not put your stateroom number on your cruise card anymore, so his name is all they would have to go by.

[AAAAmerican]

Two Answers::

 

1.) Get a GPS and/or Tracking Device .

 

 

2.) You go with them to help.

 

:cool:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was wondering if anyone knows of a easy way to stay in touch with one another while on board the ship. My parents are going to be going on there first cruise without family and my father has had a stroke so at times he gets confused and I am worried if they separate he might worry about not being able to communicate with my mom. In the past we have used walkie talkies but other people always seemed to be on every channel and it made it hard. :)

[skf]

I turn off my cell phone to avoid incoming calls, but if you need to communicate go ahead & use yours. Text messaging (which I like because I don't hear well) is useful to set meeting spots.

Steve

[DougandEric]

Have his information attached on the lanyard with his cruise card - a separate card (laminated) that can removed when she's with him in ports and include stateroom #, stateroom phone # (crew should know but other passengers may not), and your mother's cell #. Also pre-program a phone book entry for both stateroom and mothers cell and put those entry names on the information card to make it easy for someone else to make the call for him. If he does get separated and confused more than once, I'd recommend they not split up again - not worth the anguish.

 

As a reminder to all cell phone users: Make sure to program a phone book entry called ICE (In Case of Emergency) with the number of someone you want to be notified if you're in an accident or need help. All emergency services know to look for this entry and know what it means. We have ICE and ICE2 (ICE2 is place of employment for partner). We were not aware of this until our attorney mentioned it one time and makes great sense. She also said to make sure the ICE contact is someone who can trust to deal with the situation and not someone you want to learn the hard way you've just been killed in an accident (like an elderly parent).

 

Doug

[rjrice1]

When we cruise with kids; we take walkie talkies that we can recharge with good distance range; Also they do have gps wrist bands for children (even elders with memory loss) Wrist band with history and cabin #'s might be helpful. Mom can leave note in shirt pocket/wallet or ect with information that might be helpful if he should get lost. Make cabin door noticable for him to know that is his room. (decorate it) Most important have fun and try not to worry... People are great and helpful!! If he should get disoriented anyone will be willing to help look for him:):)

[partsman_ba]

The best suggestion if your father can not communicate well is to make sure your mother does not loose site of him. It could take a long time before someone noticed he was aimlessly wandering. This is not the norm onboard a ship. But I agree, putting a little more information on the cruise card would help, just in case. Remember, they do not put your stateroom number on your cruise card anymore, so his name is all they would have to go by.

:confused: I'm pretty sure my card from the Island 5/11/09 had our stateroom number on it -will have to check at home.

[Toto2Kansas]

:confused: I'm pretty sure my card from the Island 5/11/09 had our stateroom number on it -will have to check at home.

 

 

They used to put your stateroom number on your card, but they don't anymore. I have my cards from previous cruises and just looked at them. I think they stopped the practice in 2007. The last card I have the stateroom printed on was December 2006. After that, no stateroom number.