How to communicate with family on the ship. Walkietalkie ?

[maggiekoolcruiser]

Hello,

Was shopping at costco today and I saw a walkietalkie for sale and I immediately wondered how I can communicate with my family members on this big ship we are going to be on next month. Is a walkietalkie allowed on the ship ? If not how do family members communicate with each other while on a ship ? I know texting won't work and calling won't work or if it does, it is expensive to use. Thanks everyone for any insight :)

[ellieanne]

We generally just plan to meet in set locations around certain times.

We have an area of the Lido where we can be found for breakfast and all meet there to discuss the day.

Then we all have "favorite" spots on the ship and we know to look there first if we need to talk to someone.

As a last resort we call their rooms and leave a message.

[jtl513]

Cheap ones don't work well, and they are often an annoyance worse than cell phones for other passengers. HERE IS a thread with 45 posts, which also links to another older thread.

...

Edited January 10, 2014 by jtl513

[donaldsc]

If you put your walkie talkies down, do not be surprised is someone "accidentally" kicks it overboard or into the pool. Everyone on board hates the things.

 

DON

[Krazy Kruizers]

Don't take walkie-talkies.

You generally have to yell into them for the other person to hear you. That does annoy people around you.

Leave messages on the telephone.

Make plans to meet at certain times at a certain place if you don't want to meet in the cabin. There are white telephones around the ship that you can use to call cabins and leave messages.

[durangoscots]

If you are sharing the cabin .... just whip down and leave a "sticky"..... walkie-talkies sound like a good idea at first, but they are noisey and annoying.

 

Susan

[sail7seas]

All the steel on the ships make walkie talkies usually very hard to hear.

CAN YOU HEAR ME KNOW is a common scream we've heard from those who refuse to admit they aren't working.

 

There is voice mail on cabin telephones, attach a pad of post it notes to your cabin door so you can leave notes for each other, arrange in advance where to meet when and by day two, you likely will start to see many have formed a pattern of what they do when. You probably will have a fair idea where you can find the people you are seeking.

 

Edited January 10, 2014 by sail7seas

[Typhoon1]

Leave the talkies at home. There have been a few threads on this subject.

 

The general consensus is they are nothing more than a nuisance.

[65 Gator]

I can only echo what others above have said. The closest I have come to a confrontation on a HAL ship was a blithering idiot in the Lido trying to talk to his boyfriend while we had breakfast. I made a nasty comment to him for ruining the mood of our meal. PLEASE don't use a walkie talkie...

[kitkat343]

Verizon has a global messaging system that includes many ships; you can see the rates and if your ship is covered here:

 

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/tripplanner/tripplannercontroller

 

You only have to sign up for a month, and they have affordable coverage for countries that are covered under their data plan (you should turn off data in countries not covered). You need a fairly advanced phone to utilize this service.

[PunkiC]

How many family members on going n the cruise? How old are they?

[mariner]

What do you do at home? Are you in contact 24/7?

[GeriatricNurse]

If you put your walkie talkies down, do not be surprised is someone "accidentally" kicks it overboard or into the pool. Everyone on board hates the things.

 

DON

 

And you know this how? :confused: Did you complete an onboard survey perhaps? :rolleyes:

[GeriatricNurse]

Don't take walkie-talkies.

 

You generally have to yell into them for the other person to hear you. That does annoy people around you.

 

Leave messages on the telephone.

 

Make plans to meet at certain times at a certain place if you don't want to meet in the cabin. There are white telephones around the ship that you can use to call cabins and leave messages.

 

Yonnie, that is incorrect! You do NOT have to "yell into them for the other person to hear you"! ;) You talk with the same level of volume as you would talking into a 'cell 'phone! I know because DW & I have 'walkie-talkies', (technically called 'two-way radios'), & we take them with us & use them frequently onboard during our cruises! :)

[GeriatricNurse]

Cheap ones don't work well, and they are often an annoyance worse than cell phones for other passengers. HERE IS a thread with 45 posts, which also links to another older thread.

...

 

My Cobra microTALK two-way radio was cheap & it works great! ;)

[GeriatricNurse]

If you put your walkie talkies down, do not be surprised is someone "accidentally" kicks it overboard or into the pool. Everyone on board hates the things.

 

DON

 

Not a problem, I always keep my two-way radio clipped to my belt! ;)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Yonnie, that is incorrect! You do NOT have to "yell into them for the other person to hear you"! ;) You talk with the same level of volume as you would talking into a 'cell 'phone! I know because DW & I have 'walkie-talkies', (technically called 'two-way radios'), & we take them with us & use them frequently onboard during our cruises! :)

 

 

Ward

We have been on a couple of ships where people used walkie-talkies -- and they were yelling into them -- everyone was staring at them.

[whogo]

If you have a family member that is incapable of meeting at an assigned time and place, make sure his caregiver can get him there.

[jtl513]

My Cobra microTALK two-way radio was cheap & it works great! ;)

I'm not talking about $50 > $60 radios, I'm talking about the toys too many people buy.

...

Edited January 11, 2014 by jtl513

[Copper10-8]

How 'bout two empty Chef Boyardee cans with a string attached to them? :cool:

[HamOp]

How 'bout two empty Chef Boyardee cans with a string attached to them? :cool:

 

Retrieved from the Canaletto galley perhaps?;)

[Swelldame]

How 'bout two empty Chef Boyardee cans with a string attached to them? :cool:

 

Good idea, Copper! According to this thread, the cans should be readily available onboard: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1881411&highlight=alphagetti :D

[sail7seas]

Ward

 

We have been on a couple of ships where people used walkie-talkies -- and they were yelling into them -- everyone was staring at them.

 

 

Ditto.

 

We've been so unfortunate to be subjected to the screaming and static noises and lack of courtesy from people trying to talk with their walkie-talkies. Everyone in the area was annoyed by them and no survery was necessary to determine that. It was blatantly evident.

 

Someone, less than politely, finally told the loudest offender to get off their derriere and go look for the person with whom they wished to speak and let the rest of us be spared their disturbance.

 

[popcan]

How 'bout two empty Chef Boyardee cans with a string attached to them? :cool:

 

 

I am reliably informed that the Chef-Boyardee cans do not have the optimum wall thickness or surface area required to effectively transmit normal voice frequency/vibration.

Better to use the larger coffee cans after removing the paper cover, if any. The thinner metal offers a much clearer range of tone.

 

No worries about losing these: when not in use, just put them on your head like a hat.

[Copper10-8]

I am reliably informed that the Chef-Boyardee cans do not have the optimum wall thickness or surface area required to effectively transmit normal voice frequency/vibration.

Better to use the larger coffee cans after removing the paper cover, if any. The thinner metal offers a much clearer range of tone.

 

No worries about losing these: when not in use, just put them on your head like a hat.

 

 

 

Good option! If coffee cans fail, go to oil drums