Communicating on board in Alaska; cell phones or walkie talkie

[peanut cruiser]

My husband and I will be cruising to Alaska (Millie) for the first time in August. What is the best way to communicate with each other on board if we go our seperate ways?

[mountainhouse]

Walkie talkie would sure be cheaper. Cell calls aboard ship (when not docked) are pretty pricey. For example, Verizon is $2.49 per minute. However, be sure to use privacy features on the walk talkies so it's not constantly making noise.

[Montana]

More reliable and cheaper.

[tetleytea]

Walkie talkie is about the only way I know of, but even that is not very good. The ship's crew use all the channels.

[Alaska0799]

Walkie talkie is about the only way I know of, but even that is not very good. The ship's crew use all the channels.

Hmmm, our walkie talkies have 22 channels...think we'll be okay? 80-year-old mother in a wheelchair will expect to be able to reach us when she's ready to GO!

[tetleytea]

I think ours have 16. They'll work--it's just the ship crew use every single one. You'll be sitting in a show and your WT starts sounding off with crew conversations. Forces you to turn it off. But then, that means your family can't reach you. It didn't work out too well.

[cruzin4us]

Just my honest opinion (not meaning to slam anyone).....

I say leave the gadgets behind. Let technology go for a week and cruise and relax. If you feel the need to be in contact with each other, plan to meet at a certain time at a central location.

I appreciate the quiteness, and don't want to go on vacation and listen to a bunch of people shouting into a walkie talkie (just my opinion).

[captjaneway]

I have to agree with Laurie. We took walkie talkies with us on our first group cruise (4 couples) so that we could keep up with each other. They worked sporatically at best, we didn't want to carry them around all the time either, so we ended up just making plans to meet and leaving notes in the staterooms or messages on the phone. 3 cruises later, the gadgets stay home and we are happier without them.

[Birder6]

If you have to have a form of communication, try the walkie talkie. But be prepared to be frustrated when the channels are filled with stray conversations from crew and other cruisers. The expense associated with cell phones pretty much rules them out.

[sherryf]

You'll be sitting in a show and your WT starts sounding off with crew conversations. Forces you to turn it off.

 

If you are in a show, you should have it off anyway! Kind of like how they tell you to silence your cell phones at the movies.

 

We tried using walkie talkies on our first cruise with my (former) in-laws and it didn't work well at all. They would forget them, or have them on the wrong channel, or not pay attention to them. We abandoned them by the 2nd or 3rd day. I preferred that anyway, since it meant I had an excuse to not communicate with them or meet up with them. ;-)

[MercedMike]

Just my honest opinion (not meaning to slam anyone).....

 

I say leave the gadgets behind. Let technology go for a week and cruise and relax. If you feel the need to be in contact with each other, plan to meet at a certain time at a central location.

 

I appreciate the quiteness, and don't want to go on vacation and listen to a bunch of people shouting into a walkie talkie (just my opinion).

 

Just what I was about to say!

 

Why in the world do you need to know where each other are every second?

 

Set a meeting time and allow the other cruisers some peace.

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[tetleytea]

What they should do is hold a Star Trek specialty cruise where everybody gets a personal walkie talkie they wear on their lapel. And then the ship's comedian on board listens in and responds whenever some idiot decides to go, "Captain to Bridge" or "Beam me up". Yeah, I think that's a great idea.

[Nutbunch]

The only time I think the walkie talkie would be usefull is if someone in the group had a mobility issue.

 

We brought ours, used it once and had to repeat everything 5 times. Reception is not goof, especially if the person you are trying to communicate with is in the Lido!!

 

We all split up and their were six of us. If the person we were looking for wasn't in their cabin. We'd or I'd just walk through the public areas. The grandparents were usually found at the slot machine. My Dh in the Lido buffet, the kids in the movie theater or club hal. It never took more than 10 minutes to find who I or we were looking for. The ship is big, but not THAT big.

 

We had fixed dinning, so we'd all be at our table on time. Before we all left the cabin we'd mention what entertainment options we'd be interested in from the daily program. So keeping in touch was pretty easy.

[austinpain]

Just wondering if anyone has had any luck texting on the ship. Whenever I'm somewhere that reception isn't good or I don't want to talk on the phone, I've found texting to be a good option. It seems to work when nothing else will. Any success with texting?

 

Thanks,

 

BTW - I'm 2 weeks out and I can't wait to get out of the endless 100 + degree weather in central texas!!!

[PennyAgain]

It will be the most expensive texting you ever do. You will be charged for every incoming and every outgoing text message. People have gotten staggering bills and it sometimes takes a long time for all the bills to come to you.

 

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