Do walkie talkies work? Recommendation?

Last year we cruised with our Tweens and teens and had trouble connecting a few times. I've seen posts about walkies as a possible solution, but do they really work? Would I need a certain power/strength? Anyone have recommendations?

Oh Lord. Prepare for the storm! Apparently walkie talkies are frowned upon by other cruisers. They don't work well, people get mixed on the same channels, you're not being heard and that causes users to "yell" which then disturbs everyone else, apparently, rather immensely.

I wouldn't care, I'd just chuckle at the display but since you asked that's what I've seen be the general consensus about walkie talkies. They all suggested sticky notes, voicemails, and pre scheduled check in times are arranged locations. Good luck!

Yeah, I won't get into the whole use them/don't use them debate. What I will tell you is if you want a reliable radio, look at what the crew uses. These are 5 watt UHF radios that are listed on the ship's radiotelegraphy license, since they operate on frequencies other than the FRS bands that consumer radios use (the frequency affects the penetration ability of the radio waves to get through barriers like steel walls and decks). They will also have repeater antenna around the ship that boost the performance of the radios, and these are again specific to the frequency bands being used.

Consumer radios will be spotty at best. Some have reported no problems in reception "all around the ship", but generally you will find that close by they will work, but more than 1 or 2 decks apart and the further fore/aft apart, the performance drops dramatically.

We have tried walkies on a few cruises. They are hit and miss in working - even the long-range ones. Also, I don't think your teens will appreciate carrying them aroung. Try post-its on/in the cabin. They work best for us! (if they change locations they have to go and update the post-it)

We used walkie talkies on the Carnival Freedom last week - Motorolla rechargable ones - they worked well enough for basic communication but I agree with previous posts they are loud so not appropriate in certain situations (comedy club). Also they are hard to hear in the casino and not allowed on the tables.

So we used them but not sure they were worth the aggrevation of carrying them around. They also got crossed one day with a Carnival staff members because we could hear some of their announcements.

We found it was better to set a standard meeting time for check in and then just use them if one of us was running behind, rather than our primary method of communication. I felt they were better than having nothing but still sub optimal.

If you have this option you could take advantage also of the $60 per week charge for internet on the Freedom and use Apple phones to send IMESSAGES because if everyone has Iphones the IMESSAGES work via the internet. Of course this could be an expensive option depending on how many phones you have! And to my limited knowledge only works Iphone to Iphone.

You won't have consistent results.

We used them on the Magic recently and really didn't have too many problems. I seemed to always make contact on the other end. A few times, especially the first day, we heard others talking, but that didn't last. The ones we have are Uniden brand and I would bring them on a future cruise.

Oh my. I didn't realize walkies would be annoying to some. When I saw people with them on our last cruise I was envious of their brilliant idea! We do all have iPhones so the suggestion to buy the on-ship package and use iMessage will probably work better than walkies anyhow.

Thank you everyone for responding at the risk of getting flamed. :eek:

We use Midland GXT1000VP4 36-Mile 50-Channel FRS/GMRS and they work great. Only at the farthest reaches do they start to have a weak signal. If one is on the Riviera deck forward and one on the top deck rear it starts to get hard to communicate. Otherwise they work great. I make each child carry one.

I heard though that Carnival is testing a new texting app on ship. I would much prefer to use that method and hope they work that out.

Yeah, I won't get into the whole use them/don't use them debate. What I will tell you is if you want a reliable radio, look at what the crew uses. These are 5 watt UHF radios that are listed on the ship's radiotelegraphy license, since they operate on frequencies other than the FRS bands that consumer radios use (the frequency affects the penetration ability of the radio waves to get through barriers like steel walls and decks). They will also have repeater antenna around the ship that boost the performance of the radios, and these are again specific to the frequency bands being used.

 

 

 

Consumer radios will be spotty at best. Some have reported no problems in reception "all around the ship", but generally you will find that close by they will work, but more than 1 or 2 decks apart and the further fore/aft apart, the performance drops dramatically.

Lots of errors here. Consumer grade radios use FMRS and GMRS frequencies. The ships use UHF. the radios that use GMRS are good choices and fine for use on the ship. Range isn't bad, we've used them for years.

Bow to stern communications aren't likely, but they do fine. Use the vibrate mode.

This is a Carnival board, not many places exist on one of their ships.

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Oh my. I didn't realize walkies would be annoying to some. When I saw people with them on our last cruise I was envious of their brilliant idea! We do all have iPhones so the suggestion to buy the on-ship package and use iMessage will probably work better than walkies anyhow.

 

Thank you everyone for responding at the risk of getting flamed. :eek:

I didn't realize either and asked in a different thread why everyone was so anti walkie talkie. Bad idea. Hahaha

Yes they do, but remember you get what you pay for.

If you looked at many of the responses here and on the many other threads on the same subject:

1. They don't work that well on the ship, if at all.

2. If you can hear other conversations, others can hear yours

3. The annoyance factor -- those beeps and also the tendency to talk loudly into them.

4. Most ships have courtesy phones all around. You can leave a voice mail in any cabin, including yours.

5. Many passengers use the sticky note, note pad, or white erase board without any problem. We left notes for each other on our cabin door on our last cruise. My hubby would leave a note after a gym workout that he was going to take his guitar up to Skywalkers to play. I would say I was on my way to hula class. Our teen would write she was going to the pool.

6. Set up a meeting time. We had assigned seating for dinner so my daughter would know when we would be in the cabin getting ready. She would meet us there.

7. Tell your kids when to meet up or check in with you. If they don't follow the rule, they lose their freedom and have to stick with you. That's a great incentive to remember to check in.

8. The ships aren't really all that big. I would often run into my teen while she was hanging with her friends. For example, I was watching a movie by the pool and felt a light tap on my head...it was the girl going by with her friends.

You'll find some who will insist on bringing these, but as someone said, the kids won't like carrying them, and others will be secretly plotting to wait until you set one down so it can be tossed overboard.

Yeah, I won't get into the whole use them/don't use them debate. What I will tell you is if you want a reliable radio, look at what the crew uses. These are 5 watt UHF radios that are listed on the ship's radiotelegraphy license, since they operate on frequencies other than the FRS bands that consumer radios use (the frequency affects the penetration ability of the radio waves to get through barriers like steel walls and decks). They will also have repeater antenna around the ship that boost the performance of the radios, and these are again specific to the frequency bands being used.

 

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They are also probably totally illegal for passengers to use, especially if as you seem to suggest that one should piggy back on the ship's repeaters. When they catch you they will certainly confiscate your equipment and they should kick you off the ship.

DON

They are also probably totally illegal for passengers to use, especially if as you seem to suggest that one should piggy back on the ship's repeaters. When they catch you they will certainly confiscate your equipment and they should kick you off the ship.

 

DON

I'm sorry if I was confusing. I've answered this so many times that I may forget some of the context preceding. I'm not saying to use them, what I am saying is that if the ships could get by with $50 or $100 FRS or GMRS radios, rather than the $500 units they use, they would. They would not be illegal anyway, if you obtain a license from the FCC, which by the way, you are supposed to do with the GMRS radios, if you read the fine print, but no one does it.

Hmm... perhaps this is where DCL's internet works so good. After getting a internet package, I could easily send an email or BBM other roommates.

I hate texting on their wave phones.... but that's another option.

Wife, and our 4 adult children (4 cabins in all) just got off the Caribbean Princess 12 day United Kingdom cruise and used walkie Talkies for communication through out the ship with no problems at all, in fact, we were the only people on the radios. We had rented 8 UHF Walkie Talkies and 2 repeaters which we used in 2 of the farthest apart cabins. It was great. We also had the optional microphones with ear pieces, so passengers could only hear us talking, quietly. We had Chanel's assigned by the room so that if our kids needed my wife or I, they would switch to our channel, and if we needed our kids, we would do likewise.

Wife, and our 4 adult children (4 cabins in all) just got off the Caribbean Princess 12 day United Kingdom cruise and used walkie Talkies for communication through out the ship with no problems at all, in fact, we were the only people on the radios. We had rented 8 UHF Walkie Talkies and 2 repeaters which we used in 2 of the farthest apart cabins. It was great. We also had the optional microphones with ear pieces, so passengers could only hear us talking, quietly. We had Chanel's assigned by the room so that if our kids needed my wife or I, they would switch to our channel, and if we needed our kids, we would do likewise.

You're answering a question posed two YEARS ago!!

Wife, and our 4 adult children (4 cabins in all) just got off the Caribbean Princess 12 day United Kingdom cruise and used walkie Talkies for communication through out the ship with no problems at all, in fact, we were the only people on the radios. We had rented 8 UHF Walkie Talkies and 2 repeaters which we used in 2 of the farthest apart cabins. It was great. We also had the optional microphones with ear pieces, so passengers could only hear us talking, quietly. We had Chanel's assigned by the room so that if our kids needed my wife or I, they would switch to our channel, and if we needed our kids, we would do likewise.

Thanks for replying to this thread/bumping it. I had this exact question, glad to see an updated post!