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2way radios


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i had friends that tried to use them once but gave up saying too much interference from ships' staff using their radios so they would change channels and some didn't. Also cause of all the steel some areas of the ship were hard to reach.

 

We now use msg in the cabin or sticky notes on doors, and voice mail.

 

Oh I should add our friends who were using the radios found that the teenagers often turned down, turned off or ignored the phones. yeah I remember when I was that age I too.

 

Have fun

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We've used 2 or 3 brands in the past with no success. As others have said, the signal is blocked by the decks, walls, etc. Plus, there are often people who talk nonstop on them and you can't get a word in edgewise!

 

I know one of the brands we had was Uniden--usually happy with their stuff but not this time.

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The 2-way radios were all the rage a few years back. But I think people have just given up on them--for all the reasons stated above; but mainly because they just do not work that well on ships, with all the steel and interference from ship equipment. I have not seen any on my last 4-5 cruises.

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I have happily used a Motorola 35 mile two way radio. It's great for "are you awake?" - my husband sleeps late, so I take the radio when I leave the room and leave it on. He turns his radio on when he wakes up. Saves me from repeatedly stopping by the room to see if he is awake. The radio is also good when we are both out on the ship, but not together. "where are you?". The radio does not work that we'll for conversations for all of the reasons mentioned. We always cruise with them.

 

 

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We're a party of 10 taking Emerald Princess to western Caribbean. What would be a good set of 2-way radios you can recommend. Looking to get 8 units that talk to each other. Thank you.

 

We use the Motorola Talkabout MR350R with excellent success (about $50, set of 2 and charger). You must get a set with at least a 25-30 mile line of sight range to burn through the decks. We never had issues with signal, but we never tried the bow to stern, level 5 level 14 range but we did accomplish through several decks over the basic length of the ship. We also did not use them for long conversations, but only, "where are you" "I am on the way", "bring me back a drink" etc. We also use vibrate mode and normal talking voices, and most people do not even know we have them. They are handy when traveling with several people and couples, so you can do your own thing without constantly having to go to your room to see if anyone has left a sticky in you inbox or a message on your phone. Regardless of the other methods other will mention, the radios are superior for most situations when you want to connect with someone you have not seen in awhile. We never experienced any crowding on the airwaves. We rarely hear anyone else. If you do, there are plenty of channels to select.

 

I agree that repeated Nextel type beeps and loud talking is annoying, so leave on vibrate and use a normal voice level, and nobody will have any reason to complain.

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Thanks to all! Since we are a group of adults with different interests, some with kids, we're going to be spread around. This particular trip has a total of 3 at sea days. The intention is to "check in" and "where are you" and not have long conversations.

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All those radio's that advertise 20-35 mile range are all the same. FRS, same small power 1/2 watt with AA batteries, and 14 channels with 36 privacy codes. Lets cut thru the advertising, the radio's will go thru a couple of layers of the ship here and there and may be spotty otherwise. If you take them off the ship in a foreign country, you may violate their communications laws. Too many chirps, beeps, tones will make you someone who everyone wants to stay away from. Use stickies on the outside of your cabin door. Yes, 20-35 mile range is on top of a mountain looking across a 25 mile divide to the next mountain with nothing in the way. Anything else is just a really long wish!

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I have happily used a Motorola 35 mile two way radio. It's great for "are you awake?" - my husband sleeps late, so I take the radio when I leave the room and leave it on. He turns his radio on when he wakes up. Saves me from repeatedly stopping by the room to see if he is awake. The radio is also good when we are both out on the ship, but not together. "where are you?". The radio does not work that we'll for conversations for all of the reasons mentioned. We always cruise with them.

 

 

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I have those as well and they have worked well where I have used them but I've never even tried on a ship. Very good radios though...

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i had friends that tried to use them once but gave up saying too much interference from ships' staff using their radios so they would change channels and some didn't. Also cause of all the steel some areas of the ship were hard to reach.

 

We now use msg in the cabin or sticky notes on doors, and voice mail.

 

Oh I should add our friends who were using the radios found that the teenagers often turned down, turned off or ignored the phones. yeah I remember when I was that age I too.

 

Have fun

 

It's true that they don't reach to many areas of the ship through the steel but they operate on a totally different frequency than the ship radios which also have repeaters located thorough the ship for solid communication. Even their radios wouldn't be able to without them.

 

All those radio's that advertise 20-35 mile range are all the same. FRS, same small power 1/2 watt with AA batteries, and 14 channels with 36 privacy codes. Lets cut thru the advertising, the radio's will go thru a couple of layers of the ship here and there and may be spotty otherwise. If you take them off the ship in a foreign country, you may violate their communications laws. Too many chirps, beeps, tones will make you someone who everyone wants to stay away from. Use stickies on the outside of your cabin door. Yes, 20-35 mile range is on top of a mountain looking across a 25 mile divide to the next mountain with nothing in the way. Anything else is just a really long wish!

 

I'd like to see you do that...just once, reliably. ;)

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The crew use 5 watt UHF radios, usually $200-500 a copy, and as stated, there are repeater antenna around the ship to allow even these radios to work more than half a ship length and a couple of decks. The FRS radios available to consumers are limited to 1/2 watt power, and are in the 400Mhz range. The ship's radios use commercial frequencies in the 900Mhz range. Just like power, the higher the frequency, the better penetration of steel. IMHO, they just aren't worth the cost and trouble.

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I have happily used a Motorola 35 mile two way radio. It's great for "are you awake?" - my husband sleeps late, so I take the radio when I leave the room and leave it on. He turns his radio on when he wakes up. Saves me from repeatedly stopping by the room to see if he is awake. The radio is also good when we are both out on the ship, but not together. "where are you?". The radio does not work that we'll for conversations for all of the reasons mentioned. We always cruise with them.

 

 

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Just a thought but calling the room from any of the many house phones around the ship would work for this as well. Save having to bring the radios.

 

Agree with the rest of the responses about leaving them at home. Just from a function point, they do not work well enough on board to result in any real benefit.

Edited by leaveitallbehind
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There was a poster a few months ago who claimed to have done extensive research on walkie talkies, much of it at the electronics engineering level, and claimed that he had found a specific and very expensive brand and model ($400+) that he guaranteed would work on a cruise ship with zero issues. Although he had never been on a cruise in his life, he positioned himself as the CruiseCritic expert on the topic of walkie talkies. Many people shared their experiences - which were almost universally poor - and suggested he save his money. After starting three threads on the subject and receiving many replies challenging his findings, he insisted he was right and promised he would come back and report his success after his upcoming cruise, if for no other reason than to tell everyone that he was right and they were wrong.

 

We never heard from him again.

Edited by fortinweb
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Just a thought but calling the room from any of the many house phones around the ship would work for this as well. Save having to bring the radios.

 

A house phone does not work just as well. You can always go to a house phone to initiate a call to the room, but what about getting in touch with someone who is at the pool, lunch or dozens of other places? The radios have their place and we only use them a few time a week when traveling as a couple, and more when traveling in a small group.

 

Agree with the rest of the responses about leaving them at home. Just from a function point, they do not work well enough on board to result in any real benefit.

 

In fact they do work well on board for what we use them for and they do provide a nice benefit. You may have had settings incorrect or had the lower range models of radios. Another possibility is your expectations or requirements were higher.

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]A house phone does not work just as well. You can always go to a house phone to initiate a call to the room' date='[/b'] but what about getting in touch with someone who is at the pool, lunch or dozens of other places? The radios have their place and we only use them a few time a week when traveling as a couple, and more when traveling in a small group.

 

In fact they do work well on board for what we use them for and they do provide a nice benefit. You may have had settings incorrect or had the lower range models of radios. Another possibility is your expectations or requirements were higher.

 

I was only referring to the comment about calling the room - not anywhere else. At which point the house phones most certainly will work as well - and maybe better.

 

We only attempted to used them once years ago - and decided we never would again. They may not have been high end quality but they absolutely did not work well at all with very limited benefit to us. If the only use was on a ship on cruise occasions that IMO buying high end units would be a total waste of money.

 

The biggest drawback we saw - which prompted us to stop using them on that cruise and to never bring them on board again - was that they are quite disturbing to other passengers around you who don't need to hear your conversations and the annoying "chirp" of the call switch.

 

IMO, the ships are not that large so as to be difficult to set up meeting times and plans with others, and there are far better methods of communicating on board to accomplish that.

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A house phone does not work just as well. You can always go to a house phone to initiate a call to the room, but what about getting in touch with someone who is at the pool, lunch or dozens of other places? The radios have their place and we only use them a few time a week when traveling as a couple, and more when traveling in a small group.

 

In fact they do work well on board for what we use them for and they do provide a nice benefit. You may have had settings incorrect or had the lower range models of radios. Another possibility is your expectations or requirements were higher.

 

I was only referring to the comment about calling the room - not anywhere else. At which point the house phones most certainly will work as well - and maybe better.

 

We only attempted to used them once years ago - and decided we never would again. They may not have been high end quality but they absolutely did not work well at all with very limited benefit to us. If the only use was on a ship on cruise occasions then IMO buying high end units would be a total waste of money.

 

The biggest drawback we saw - which prompted us to stop using them on that cruise and to never bring them on board again - was that they are quite disturbing to other passengers around you who don't need to hear your conversations and the annoying "chirp" of the call switch.

 

IMO, the ships are not that large so as to be difficult to set up meeting times and plans with others, and there are far better methods of communicating on board to accomplish that.

Edited by leaveitallbehind
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I have happily used a Motorola 35 mile two way radio. It's great for "are you awake?" - my husband sleeps late, so I take the radio when I leave the room and leave it on. He turns his radio on when he wakes up. Saves me from repeatedly stopping by the room to see if he is awake. The radio is also good when we are both out on the ship, but not together. "where are you?". The radio does not work that we'll for conversations for all of the reasons mentioned. We always cruise with them.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Some ships have a wake-up call service. If yours doesn't, just call from a house phone.

 

Seriously, you're not talking about one of the "Behemoths of the Sea." Just bring some post-it notes and message pads/pens for each cabin in your group to have. On our last cruise, the three of us left notes for each other. Our teen knew when we were going to get ready for dinner so if she was going to join us, she'll be there or go to our table (an advantage to having traditional dining) directly. I would even run into her even when not trying to find her. Hubby would know where to find me most sea days around noon (hula lessons) or 4:30 (trivia) and I knew where his favorite place to play guitar was.

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I was only referring to the comment about calling the room - not anywhere else. At which point the house phones most certainly will work as well - and maybe better.

Of course when you are calling somebody that "may" be in the room house phones may work. All other possible scenarios the OP will face with 10 travelers cannot be covered. It can be difficult with the situations that can arise with multiple people to use the house phone or running back and forth checking on post-it notes.

 

We only attempted to used them once years ago - and decided we never would again. They may not have been high end quality but they absolutely did not work well at all with very limited benefit to us. If the only use was on a ship on cruise occasions that IMO buying high end units would be a total waste of money.

High end may not be the best phrase for me to use. The 35 mile range set costs about $50. These are technically considered low end. I was only trying to differentiate 2 mile radios (what most people try and use) vs the 35 mile range. I keep them with my other cruise items but have used them elsewhere on rare occasion.

 

The biggest drawback we saw - which prompted us to stop using them on that cruise and to never bring them on board again - was that they are quite disturbing to other passengers around you who don't need to hear your conversations and the annoying "chirp" of the call switch.

The chirp noise seems to be the source of your aversion. You must have missed my first post. I agree and would not use them either under that circumstance. Vibrate mode and normal talking voice keep those around you from even knowing you are using them. We do not require long conversations. A couple of words or sentences are all we need.

 

IMO, the ships are not that large so as to be difficult to set up meeting times and plans with others,

It can be very difficult with multiple people and a variety of interests and unknown times of activities. Again I believe this is the reason of the OP to ask.

 

...and there are far better methods of communicating on board to accomplish that.

Far better methods? Not sure what those would be, house phone...nope, post-it notes...nope

 

I know there is a new app trying to utilize the IPhone WITHOUT requiring internet/wi-fi/cellular. As this technology improves, it may classify as a "far better method", but you still end up with the same net result you have now, walki-talkies.

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Of course when you are calling somebody that "may" be in the room house phones may work. All other possible scenarios the OP will face with 10 travelers cannot be covered. It can be difficult with the situations that can arise with multiple people to use the house phone or running back and forth checking on post-it notes.

 

 

High end may not be the best phrase for me to use. The 35 mile range set costs about $50. These are technically considered low end. I was only trying to differentiate 2 mile radios (what most people try and use) vs the 35 mile range. I keep them with my other cruise items but have used them elsewhere on rare occasion.

 

 

The chirp noise seems to be the source of your aversion. You must have missed my first post. I agree and would not use them either under that circumstance. Vibrate mode and normal talking voice keep those around you from even knowing you are using them. We do not require long conversations. A couple of words or sentences are all we need.

 

 

It can be very difficult with multiple people and a variety of interests and unknown times of activities. Again I believe this is the reason of the OP to ask.

 

 

Far better methods? Not sure what those would be, house phone...nope, post-it notes...nope

 

I know there is a new app trying to utilize the IPhone WITHOUT requiring internet/wi-fi/cellular. As this technology improves, it may classify as a "far better method", but you still end up with the same net result you have now, walki-talkies.

 

Wow! Really? It's just my opinion. And clearly by your lengthy dissection of my post we disagree.

 

But no matter how many pages you write I will still think they are annoying and unnecessary. But to each his own.

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But no matter how many pages you write I will still think they are annoying and unnecessary. But to each his own.

 

If they were such a great idea and worked so well, you would see many more people with them. That the vast majority do not is proof that their value on a cruise ship is minimal at best. Only the people obsessed with "got to stay in contact" think they are worthwhile. For my family, being on vacation always meant being able to have fun without being tethered to each other. If you need to stay in contact 24/7, something is wrong with the dynamics of the family. The only exception I can think of is to stay in contact with someone with a medical, physical or mental issue that needs to be watched. And in those cases it is better to stay together than rely on a radio.

Edited by swsfrail
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Of course when you are calling somebody that "may" be in the room house phones may work. All other possible scenarios the OP will face with 10 travelers cannot be covered. It can be difficult with the situations that can arise with multiple people to use the house phone or running back and forth checking on post-it notes.

 

Why do you need to be in constant contact with each other? What are those "situations that can arise" that you are so concerned about. Do you envision a constant series of emergencies or incidents that needs to be immediately responded to? Is everyone in your group a "special needs" person?

 

Can't you simply set a time for everyone to come together to plan the next day's activities? Dinner is a good time to do this, assuming you will all be together. If you aren't, then you aren't really traveling together anyway, so why not just let everyone do what they want without having to be checking in with each other? If you are concerned that some people in your group can't be trusted to meet at a set time, then you have more serious problems than a two way radio can fix.

 

Personally, after dozens of cruises, most with a group of four or more people, we never found a need to stay in contact at all times. If I was in your group, I would resent having to be available to everyone else at every moment. That would seem less of a vacation and more like house arrest.

Edited by fortinweb
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Wow! Really? It's just my opinion. And clearly by your lengthy dissection of my post we disagree.

 

But no matter how many pages you write I will still think they are annoying and unnecessary. But to each his own.

 

Sorry to offend you. My goal was to give a proper response to the original poster about the models that do work. You supplied information that they don't work, then admit you tried them once, didn't know the range of the models and that the real reason for your input was that you find the chirping annoying.

 

If they were such a great idea and worked so well, you would see many more people with them. That the vast majority do not is proof that their value on a cruise ship is minimal at best.

Proof? With that logic, going on a cruise is not fun, since the majority of the population do not go on them.

 

 

If you need to stay in contact 24/7,..

Where did 24/7 contact requirement get mentioned?

I use them once or twice every couple of days.

 

Why do you need to be in constant contact with each other?

Again constant? 24/7? Why does every none user assume this? Do you use the house phone constantly? Do you leave post-it notes 24/7. Do plan your next days activities with everyone constantly? Only when the situation arrises that the parties take them. A typical situation is the women go to the spa and shopping, the guys may go to the pool or casino or wherever. Depending on the time they take, they will call to join us, arrange to meet for lunch or notify us of other plans. No need to go back to the room leaving post-it notes and impossible to arrange at the dinner before. Simple easy stuff, no emergencies, no "special needs" person. (my wife will argue differently about that).

 

 

 

Personally, after dozens of cruises, most with a group of four or more people, we never found a need to stay in contact at all times.

Again with the" ..stay in contact at all times"? Why do you assume this. So if you wouldn't use them you conclude that they must not work for everyone? I am sure there is something in your "cruise kit" that I would consider useless as well.

 

 

Back to the original poster, there are models that work and work well on ship. As you see, there are those that offer input based on their opinion of why use them at all, when that was not the question.

It would be like a poster asking where to get the best steak on board, then getting vegetarians responding that all steaks are all bad, why do you eat them 24/7 and why would you find the need to eat steak when there are plenty of other foods to eat. "We have been on several cruises and never had to eat steak"

Really not the issue.

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Sorry to offend you. My goal was to give a proper response to the original poster about the models that do work. You supplied information that they don't work, then admit you tried them once, didn't know the range of the models and that the real reason for your input was that you find the chirping annoying.

 

OMG give it up already! I will not change my position regardless.

 

And you are incorrect in your assumptions regarding my position. They did not work well the one time we tried them, I don't find them necessary for me, there are better more effective ways that I find to communicate on a ship, since I won't use them I wouldn't pay more to get better units, and I do find the use of them around me as a passenger annoying and wouldn't want to bother others by using them.

 

But go ahead and believe what you want.

Edited by leaveitallbehind
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