How to stay in communication with large group on ship

[starryeyedlady]

We are going down with a party of 8 adults and 2 children in 4 rooms. 3 rooms next to each other and one room on another deck. Logistically how do you keep in contact with each other? I know you can call room to room but what about if you are trying to find each other and they're not in their room. I know cell phones are off cause they don't work anyway. Would it be a good idea to leave post it notes on doors or something? What do you experienced large group cruisers do?

[reallyhooked]

We are going down with a party of 8 adults and 2 children in 4 rooms. 3 rooms next to each other and one room on another deck. Logistically how do you keep in contact with each other? I know you can call room to room but what about if you are trying to find each other and they're not in their room. I know cell phones are off cause they don't work anyway. Would it be a good idea to leave post it notes on doors or something? What do you experienced large group cruisers do?

 

Walkie talkies

[AndieLou]

Just make sure everyone knows to turn them off if attending a performance in a theatre or lounge. ;)

[Clarea]

You can also leave messages on the stateroom phones.

[flucocruiser]

Which cruise line will you be with

[cb at sea]

Make tentative plans for each day...discuss over dinner, or whenever you're together. You will find that it's not as hard as you're thinking to locate the others.

 

For instance, Bob and Babs will be at the pool, while the kids are in the arcade....Bob's going to the casino in the afternoon while Babs gets a massage.....

 

If everyone tells everyone else approximate plans, you'll know where to look. The ship's public areas aren't that many...most of that huge ship is taken up with cabins, so you won't be looking on any but "public" decks!

 

And, you'll find that folks gravitate to the same areas over and over....you will find each other, no problem.

Edited December 29, 2013 by cb at sea

[starryeyedlady]

Which cruise line will you be with

 

Freedom, Eastern Caribbean March 23.

[curlygirl18]

I agree with cb at sea. You'll have a pretty good idea of where everyone is because most people will go to the same activities/areas over and over again and they are pretty concentrated in the same place. Whenever I've cruised I could look at the daily activity schedule and know where I could find certain members of my party just based on what was going on i.e if a movie was playing my cousin would be there, my mom would be wherever bingo was happening, BIL was watching the football game in the lounge etc.

[flucocruiser]

Carnival or ncl

[homeschoolmama]

Most rccl ships have message boards by guest services where anyone can post messages. It is a common and accessible area thatbis easy to check.

 

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[starryeyedlady]

Carnival or ncl

 

Royal Caribbean

[ncsteeler]

Leave notes on each other's doors, some use dry erase boards. Use your cell phones it cost 500 to send 5 to get so you have 55 cents tied up in finding out where someone is. I used to not mind wackiest, but on our recent oasis cruise two guys sat in the solarium with three walkies talking and calling multiple folks, it was completely annoying. Sounded like being in the casino with all the ringing and beeping going on. If you do opt for the walkies look at the features and see if you can make them quiet.

 

 

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[flucocruiser]

RCL had an intra-ship communication system that guest can use and be used anywhere on the ship I have no clue if it cost anything

[Clarea]

RCL had an intra-ship communication system that guest can use and be used anywhere on the ship I have no clue if it cost anything

Those were the DECT phones, and there is a rental cost to them. They can be used all over the ship. Last I heard they cost something like $25 per cruise, and there were a limited number. Guest Services had them.

[Daghis]

Leave notes on each other's doors, some use dry erase boards.

That's what we did for our group last year. Several of us bought magnetic-mount whiteboards and hung them on our cabin doors. We'd leave notes for others saying where we were going to be and some even put their general plans for the afternoon/evening. We found them to be quite effective in relaying information.

[Jimnbigd]

We've done cruises like this several times -- 8 adults and 4 children, and 4 cabins. Usually during the day we all did our own thing. It was surprising how often we ran into each other. We had fixed dining at night. I personally would not do my-time dining with a large group, but I think others have.

 

If the kids are young, they will probably be checked into Adventure Ocean during the day.

 

You likely will want to coordinate the Ice Show as a group. I'm not sure -- Does the Freedom allow advanced online reservations for this? In fact, doesn't the Freedom allow and encourage online reservations for all of the theater shows too?

[LA_CA_GAL]

I have cruised with groups of 20 or more.

 

Personally, I preferred not to stay in touch with them.

 

But, they still managed to find me all the time.

[macruisefan]

I hate walkie talkies on cruise ships. Just a noisy intrusion that's totally unnecessary. I find they are either used by people incapable of using common sense to find their travel companions, or by families who are letting children way to young wander the ship alone.

[packedandready]

I wish there was a way to check your cabin phone messages from the public area phones around the ship.

[ditkafan]

One thing we really enjoyed about cruising on Disney was the Wave Phones. There were two phones per cabin. It made it very easy to stay in touch with other people in your party while on board :)

[Jiffymom]

We always have a meeting spot up on the top deck and we meet there at sail away

[hellsop]

I mostly sail with a group of about 50, so coordination is ... interesting. Consequently, we've settled into some pretty established patterns that make things work smoothly. We daily meet informally in Viking Crown for sailaway or shortly after, 5 pm for sea days. (As in, that's where people know to look for other people before dinner.) Announcements relevant to the group as a whole tend to happen at dinner, and missing tablemates are kept up to date by agreement among those at the table, usually by calling their cabin and leaving a message, if they've chosen another dining option that night.

[akcruz]

I wish there was a way to check your cabin phone messages from the public area phones around the ship.

 

On many ships you can check your messages from the public phones around the ship. Have done it many times, works great.

 

To the OP, set up some loose plans and daily meeting times and you will find it is much easier to stay in touch than you think.

[satxdiver]

Walkie talkies

 

:eek::eek::eek:

[travelbug11]

On many ships you can check your messages from the public phones around the ship. Have done it many times, works great.

 

.

 

I would love to know how you do that?