Best walkie talkies for cruise

Any ideas for the best walkie talkies to buy for cruising? Range, charging on boats, battery charge time and difficulty with interference on ships of interest to me! Motorola gets good ratings on Amazon but there are other brands and I'd like to know what experienced cruisers who have used walkie talkies think?

Thanks for your time!

Mike

A little reading or a search on the board would reveal several things. One, you don't need "walkie talkies" to keep up with others. Good old communication, common meeting places or events, and simple things like post it notes and messages on cabin voice mails work fine. We have been on 15 cruises, and never lost anyone, nor missed anything important.

Two, they don't work well or consistantly, which can lead to lots of high volume "can you hear me" conversations. This leads to:

Three, "walkie talkies" are very annoying to others on the cruise with you.

Four, they are illegal in some countries, thus you would not be able to use them off the ship.

Five, realistically, the ships aren't as big and easy to get lost on as you think.

All the steel makes most of them cackle something awful and that makes the users yell louder and everyone around them is hoping they'll end their 'conversation' quickly. :D

"Can you hear me Now? Now?" :D

You likely will not be very satisified with the poor reception they provide.

There have been many threads on walkie talkies, and the majority of responses are that they do not work well on an all steel ship, plus they are an annoyance to other passengers.

The positive suggestions are to leave a voice mail on your phone, or agree to meet at a certain place and time. Also, post it notes help

Get one that's waterproof. Then, it might work after a neighbor tosses it overboard.

I would save my money, and not purchase them. They can be a pain to lug around, as well.

Your comments are appreciated, but somewhat surprising. I heard other folks say they loved having walkie talkies on the big boats to keep up with their family.... I know we might be able to use our cellphones but the cost of that on a ship is oppressive. Do any of you have a better alternative?

Mike

A little reading or a search on the board would reveal several things. One, you don't need "walkie talkies" to keep up with others. Good old communication, common meeting places or events, and simple things like post it notes and messages on cabin voice mails work fine. We have been on 15 cruises, and never lost anyone, nor missed anything important.

 

Two, they don't work well or consistantly, which can lead to lots of high volume "can you hear me" conversations. This leads to:

 

Three, "walkie talkies" are very annoying to others on the cruise with you.

 

Four, they are illegal in some countries, thus you would not be able to use them off the ship.

 

Five, realistically, the ships aren't as big and easy to get lost on as you think.

I agree with the above. Many ships have phones all around the ship that you can call any cabin for free, including your own, and leave a voice mail. You can also leave messages (on our last cruise, my hubby would use the notepad I kept on the desk and write a message for our daughter or me and say where he was going, and tape it on the door, and we would add our next destination). But often we would run into each other.

Some families/groups will often set up a meeting time and place.

Of course, you'll always have that family member that will find a hiding place.:D

Has anyone used a set of walkie talkie's and can tell them how it worked for you?

rather than hearing oh steal this and that.:D same goe sfor your Cellphone. Rf signal walkies do not do.

Has anyone used a set of walkie talkie's and can tell them how it worked for you?

 

 

rather than hearing oh steal this and that.:D same goe sfor your Cellphone. Rf signal walkies do not do.

I did.

They did not work, and I put them away after day 1.

Few if any walkie talkies work well in the steel of the ship. At best they are noisy and an annoyance to fellow passengers. A typical ship is just over 900', if you really feel it is necessary to keep in touch with family members try the ships voice mail and post'it notes on cabin doors.

the best ones are those left at home...I mean it's like listening to someone having a conversation with their phone on speaker mode.

My mother and I once lost each other for half an hour because she thought we were meeting at 12.0 and I thought 12.30. Other than that, I've never had a problem with no walkie-talkie (in fact, I don't remember ever seeing one in Europe. Maybe they're illegal. There are laws about use of radio waves, I know.)

If you meet at breakfast time, meet at dinner time, and discuss plans for what goes on in between, you'll do OK.

What I love is those that are talking loudly into their phone or walkie talkie and you look at them because you didn't realise they were talking on the phone. Thought they might talking to you and they give you a glare as if you shouldn't be listening in on their conversation but you can't help it because they are talking so loud.

I think walkie talkie people also drive through red lights while talking on the phone or messaging. Get a life, give us a life, hang it up.

My husband bought the walkie talkies and "insisted" we use them. It lasted one cruise because of all the reasons stated above. They are now gathering dust in our closet.

Dry erase markers are great for leaving messages on the mirror; post a notes work well on the door. I have just bought [for the enormous sum of $5!] a small dry erase board that should attach to the door magnetically. I will be trying this out on the next cruise - borrowed the idea from another passenger on our last cruise!

As others have stated , there are phones in every cabin and in other public areas (ex: elevator areas) .

They do annoy others onboad .

It's only a cruise ship , not the great outdoors .

The best Walkie Talkies are the ones left at home or in the store .

I think walkie talkie people also drive through red lights while talking on the phone or messaging. Get a life, give us a life, hang it up.

I agree!:D

Brand and model, that worked, and brand and model that failed.

other than that. you got your answer.:D

Oh what worked for me was two progresso cans and a string

My husband bought the walkie talkies and "insisted" we use them. It lasted one cruise because of all the reasons stated above. They are now gathering dust in our closet.

 

Dry erase markers are great for leaving messages on the mirror; post a notes work well on the door. I have just bought [for the enormous sum of $5!] a small dry erase board that should attach to the door magnetically. I will be trying this out on the next cruise - borrowed the idea from another passenger on our last cruise!

The "Luddites" live! :D

OP might want to consider that some of the group will not want to be contacted at someone else's whim . . .

The "Luddites" live! :D

 

OP might want to consider that some of the group will not want to be contacted at someone else's whim . . .

I'm sorry but this cracked me up!!! :)

I know it's not the answer the OP wanted or needed but amusing nonetheless.

The "Luddites" live! :D

 

OP might want to consider that some of the group will not want to be contacted at someone else's whim . . .

Ahem.

Ahem.

Did you misspell "amen" or are you seriously claiming to be 200 years old? :)

Luddites aren't all gone. I only FEEL like 200 years.

Luddites aren't all gone. I only FEEL like 200 years.

Don't you fear excommunication when you connect to the Internet?