Communication with Teen On Board Ship

Hi all--- we are sailing on Liberty of the Seas for the first time in July to the Caribbean. My son who is 15 will be sailing with us. I was wondering the best way to keep in touch with him on the ship as he will want to be with the other teens. We tried the leaving notes/leaving message on cabin phone thing and it was cumbersome and didn't work all that well.

I was wondering if I should invest in some Walkie Talkies to communicate with him while on board or is there some better high tech option... like a way to text back and forth without it costing me a lot of money.

I spent a lot of time looking for him on our last cruise and would like to avoid that if possible.

Thanks for any comments or information!

On our recent oasis cruise we signed up for unlimited WiFi, 7 day cruise. It was $140 - c&a discount $14 = $126 for 2 devices. We messaged each other through Facebook and it worked really well for us.

I would suspect the Radios would be frustrating with the steel structure of the ship.

I would suspect the Radios would be frustrating with the steel structure of the ship.

That was our experience with walkie-talkies too.

Since the teen cannot deal with conventional methods, I'd go with the unlimited WiFi and texting via a WiFi app, like iMessage.

We travel with my 13 year old son. We did not get an internet package or use walkie talkies or notes. We simply arranged with him to meet us in specific places at specific times of day, he also had to be in the room by a certain time every night. It worked well for us.

thats what we do.

Meet for lunch 12;30

meet by the pool or designated area 4 pm

come back to cabin by 5;30

go to dinner as a famiiy

afterwards out with friends be back to cabin by 11.

unless he would like to go to some the evening shows.

pretty simple

funny but our teens always stayed with us.

along with the many suggestions you're going to receive...

Why not teach your FIFTEEN year old child to do as he is told?

along with the many suggestions you're going to receive...

 

Why not teach your FIFTEEN year old child to do as he is told?

I did not appreciate your rude and totally unhelpful comment. My teen did do as he was told on our last cruise. He was never late at curfew or in meeting us for lunch/meals. I wanted a way to communicate with him if plans changed (I was not going to be where we were scheduled to meet) or if I wanted him to join us for something we hadn't previously scheduled to do. Or to just check in. I am not the type of parent that sets her teen free and does not want to be bothered with them (like many parents do) for the length of the cruise.

To those who offered constructive and informative responses, I thank you. I will look into the WiFi option and the use of an App for messages.

We just got off the Quantum last week, we bought the wifi package. No kids, just busy adults messsage each other thru Facebook.

On our recent oasis cruise we signed up for unlimited WiFi, 7 day cruise. It was $140 - c&a discount $14 = $126 for 2 devices. We messaged each other through Facebook and it worked really well for us.

Is there a way to use the wifi to communicate if don't have facebook? is the c&a discount the same all levels? is it "fast" to use the wifi to browse internet?

Is there a way to use the wifi to communicate if don't have facebook? is the c&a discount the same all levels? is it "fast" to use the wifi to browse internet?

You would need a WiFi messaging app, such as iMessage.

Is there a way to use the wifi to communicate if don't have facebook? is the c&a discount the same all levels? is it "fast" to use the wifi to browse internet?

We are gold. I believe the higher the level, the larger the discount. We didn't try any other message app. We thought the internet was very fast.

This would be a great opportunity for RCL to develop a paid-for app for Android and iPhones that would operate on their ship's internal wifi network so people could communicate with each other and are either unwilling or unable to pay for the internet data plan for two devices during their cruise.

The DW and I both have Android smartphones, and communicate through them extensively when we're not face-to-face. But I really don't want to buy the full-blown internet data package when we're on vacation. The entire point of our vacation is to get away from the rest of the world for a couple of days!

along with the many suggestions you're going to receive...Why not teach your FIFTEEN year old child to do as he is told?

I did not appreciate your rude and totally unhelpful comment. .

Reading the comments, I felt that it was a fair question, from Deatsch.

If your fifteen year old "Child" is going to show up on time at designated areas, why ask the question in the first place ?

You must have doubts, otherwise the need to message the fifteen year old "Child" is obsolete.

Fifteen year old "Child", indeed.

He is more than likely engaged in a vacation romance at that age.

Bless him.

The last thing he needs is mom and pops on a walkie talkie....

Ha ha, can you imagine, during a first kiss, all is going well, and then clingy Mom is heard in a crackly voice on the walkie talkie.

"Son.....You are Late for Lunch"

You couldn't make it up.

Let it go.

.

Be very careful remember he is older than the last time - Our DD was 16 on our last cruise and she tried to request much later times than she was ever going to get lol

Also she didn't want her dad picking her up from the teen club - Not an option as far as we were concerned- Until 10.30 her older sis (19) could go and get her after that, Dad, as I also would not my 19yr old (or myself) wondering about on her own - the teen club was out across the pool deck and back in to an anex - it could be very quite out there.

Remember the ship is just a big vessel full of strangers. We were amazed that the number of adults who happily allowed there teens to go in and out of each others cabins young girls with 2 or 3 boys in tow. On the last night we had to get security to the cabin nest to us as 2 teen girls (about 16) in there were having a party and about 5 boys were clowning about on their balcony - we were getting so worried that my husband went out on ours to check none went over (when security came they told us that one was 14yrs and it was about midnight).

We tried the walkie talkies but they didn't work that well. We opted for set times - although we usually stay together until after dinner. and on sea days she got a few hrs with friends in the afternoon. She was not allowed to change were she was with telling us - If something happens to the ship I want to know where they are!

Our teens are 17 & 15. This year we are on Allure so much bigger than other cruises on Independence & Freedom. We have interconnecting cabins and the only 'rule' we have is that we dine together each evening. The rest of the day is there's to spend with friends they make onboard.

I am concerned at the size of Allure as in the past we have always sunbathed in the same area so they could find us if needs be. Our youngest is 9 but in earlier years we had a mobile from kids club which was fantastic as the elder two could ring the mobile from any phone on board for free.

I'm hoping it will all work out this year but may look into the wifi package option.

On the last night we had to get security to the cabin nest to us as 2 teen girls (about 16) in there were having a party and about 5 boys were clowning about on their balcony !

The rest of the day is there's to spend with friends they make onboard. .

Are you ready to become a grandma ?

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We cruise with our kids in separate cabins and the best way to communicate is a dry- erase board secured to the exterior of your cabin door-- easy to keep in touch and to remove at end of trip.

Enjoy

Are you ready to become a grandma ?

 

 

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although in defense of allowing 17 and 18 yrs freedom - mine are treated as adults after 17/18yrs once they are living away from home at uni - however, even now with one at 22yrs and the other 18yrs( but not moving away to uni after cruise) I still want to know where they are and they MUST stay together at all times when out at night on the ship - if that rule is broken - freedom ends even for the 22yr old- as we are paying- it is our rules they will sail with. On her own holiday she pays so she can set her own rules. This way I know that my 18 yr old will have supervised freedom ;)

Wow some people are so rude and unhelpful here!

First off, because your teens are given freedom to enjoy the ship does not mean they are going to make you grandparents. That was uncalled for. I agree with having set meeting times, but as stated sometimes schedules change and it would be nice to have another way to contact each other. One night my then 15 year old misunderstood and didn't come to dinner...made for a less than enjoyable meal for me and it was completely innocent as he was in the Windjammer with friends.

Secondly, I believe there is an "app" for iphones and soon androids that would make it possible to text between phones while onboard. Not sure of the name or status but I know it is in the works on some ships.

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I did not appreciate your rude and totally unhelpful comment. My teen did do as he was told on our last cruise. He was never late at curfew or in meeting us for lunch/meals. I wanted a way to communicate with him if plans changed (I was not going to be where we were scheduled to meet) or if I wanted him to join us for something we hadn't previously scheduled to do. Or to just check in. I am not the type of parent that sets her teen free and does not want to be bothered with them (like many parents do) for the length of the cruise.

 

To those who offered constructive and informative responses, I thank you. I will look into the WiFi option and the use of an App for messages.

Don't you love the "parenting" advice that you get from people who just want to be holier than thou and not actually answer the question?

If you have Verizon and an iPhone, you can set up texting before you leave for the cruise...50 cents per outgoing text and 5 cents per incoming. No pictures or data. I have read many posts about this, and this is what I have learned-Turn off data roaming and cellular data. Turn airplane mode on and media off from settings. Change to SMS texting instead of Imessage. I have not called Verizon to verify these details since I don't cruise until July, but that's what I've gathered from other threads about texting on the ship.

Hope that helps!!

using walkie talkies on a ship, are like having families dressed in the same colored t-shirts and wearing flip flops.

Looks very naff

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I think some of you are missing the point of the post. The OP was not worried about the 15 year olds behavior. I believe she said he followed the rules in the past. Her questioned related to if their set plans changed. I know when we were on the Oasis, MY plans changed so it was nice to be able to easily contact my teens and let them know.

I think some of you are missing the point of the post. The OP was not worried about the 15 year olds behavior. I believe she said he followed the rules in the past. Her questioned related to if their set plans changed. I know when we were on the Oasis, MY plans changed so it was nice to be able to easily contact my teens and let them know.

Thanks MaryJaden.

Ignore the silly talk---most of us with kids around that age know what you meant!!

We used some sticky notes but we mostly left vm messages on the cabin phones. Unless you've done the big ships with younger teens, you don't know how much of a pain it can be. And I wanted him to have flexibility--if he said he was going somewhere on his own, we would often go to Solarium. But if he changed his mind, I didn't want him to have to be by himself--would rather we meet up together earlier. So the vm was perfect--you can use the hall phones to leave messages--I just cant remember if you needed to be back in the room to access the messages.

The wi-fi is also a good idea, but generally you'd have 3 devices to access so it just depends on what you want.

Good luck!