Onboard communication

[tealeafdestiny]

Merry Christmas from Australia!!

 

At our Christmas lunch one of my family members said that they had thought of giving me and a few others (sailing on our first cruise in feb) a set of walkie talkies so we can communicate onboard.

 

We are sailing on the Diamond from Sydney to Auckland in February, and the suggestion got me thinking... There will be 4 of us and although we love each other greatly I can imagine that most of our seadays will be spent doing our own thing and meeting up for meals (we have ATD). Apart from the old fashioned method of leaving notes for each other, or pre organising meet up times, is there another way we can quickly converse onboard? What methods have you used?

[sparky-elpaso]

You've got it right - sticky notes, etc. will work fine. With the amount of steel in the ship walkies don't work that great and are sometimes annoying to other passengers.

 

One thing that people may not realize is that the public areas of the ship aren't that large - a majority of the space on a ship is cabins. It's not hard to find someone - you will tend to find your "spaces" that you enjoy being in at different times of the day.

[sydneyguy]

You will probably have mobile reception. Use SMS.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[CruisingJs]

You can always call their stateroom and leave a message on the phone.

[Coral]

We did it once (brought walkie talkies), around the year 2000 and never did it again. What a pain.

 

Sticky notes, leave voice mail on the phone system, setup times to meet people, etc...

[paul929207]

If used only for an emergency, a cell phone would do, but be aware that it is expensive.

[DragonflyCruiser]

If used only for an emergency, a cell phone would do, but be aware that it is expensive.

 

We just get international texting on our cell phones through our cell carrier. It's only for a month so not that costly. The ship does charge a very small fee, I think usually 15-20 cents each. You can send text from anywhere. You can read all received texts with no charges attached. We think it's a great way to find each other and keep in touch with those at home.

Edited December 25, 2014 by DragonflyCruiser

[Cruisin' Chick]

It's very easy to keep in touch with others on board and without having to lug around walkie talkies. We left messages for our teen on the door and in the cabin, and often we would see a respond from her as to where she was headed. She knew when we would be in the cabin getting ready for dinner if she wanted to join us.

 

Better to tell your family member ahead of the cruise that you decided not to bring the devices and not to expect each other to be tied at the hip -- they might want to do activities that you don't and vice versa and no one should feel bad about that. You can decide whether you want to have some meals together and also might want to do something on board or in port together. But this is something to mention upfront.

[zaos]

Does princess at sea through wifi work?

[paul929207]

As I understand, Princess @ Sea uses the intranet and does not go to Wifi.

[satxdiver]

As I understand, Princess @ Sea uses the intranet and does not go to Wifi.

 

WiFi is the only connection to the internet which is through a satellite connection. Use of the ship WiFi is pricey at best.

 

Princess ships have a cell tower capable of supporting most cell phones. The ship does not charge for its use. However the owner of the cell tower, MCP, does charge for its use. They do this by charging your cell phone provider who in turn charges you on your regular monthly bill. The charge is usually $.50 for sending and $.05 for receiving but the charge is totally controlled by your provider. So check with your cell phone provider before leaving home and make sure you tell them it is for maritime use with MCP.

 

If you have your cell phone turned on to send/receive text messages then you will receive not only text messages but also telephone calls (usually $2.49/minute) and a smart phone may be downloading data unbeknownst to you. End result may well be a real shock when you get home and get your next cell phone bill.

[Boytjie]

As I understand, Princess @ Sea uses the intranet and does not go to Wifi.

 

Actually, it uses the ship's intranet via WiFi and does not go to the internet, so no charges for satellite usage - which is the expensive part.

[Colo Cruiser]

We just get international texting on our cell phones through our cell carrier. It's only for a month so not that costly. The ship does charge a very small fee, I think usually 15-20 cents each. You can send text from anywhere. You can read all received texts with no charges attached. We think it's a great way to find each other and keep in touch with those at home.

 

 

.50 per text. And you don't always have a signal when at sea.

Edited December 27, 2014 by Colo Cruiser

[Pam in CA]

.50 per text. And you don't always have a signal when at sea.

That's to send. It's usually $.10 to receive. If you are texting between two iPhones using iMessage, there's no charge.

 

As Paul says, using Princess@Sea and Messenger is free using the ship's Intranet via WiFi. You're not connected to the Internet, satellite or cell.

[Colo Cruiser]

That's to send. It's usually $.10 to receive. If you are texting between two iPhones using iMessage, there's no charge.

 

As Paul says, using Princess@Sea and Messenger is free using the ship's Intranet via WiFi. You're not connected to the Internet, satellite or cell.

 

Hi Pam, we recieve text onboard all the time. We have AT&T and have never been charged to recieve one. ;)

Edited December 27, 2014 by Colo Cruiser

[Pam in CA]

Hi Pam, we recieve text onboard all the time. We have AT&T and have never been charged to recieve one. ;)

It's been either $.10/text to receive or free. I think it depends on where you are and with whom you're texting.

[zaos]

Actually, it uses the ship's intranet via WiFi and does not go to the internet, so no charges for satellite usage - which is the expensive part.

 

Yes, that was my question. Princess @ Sea is my backup plan; hopefully CB doesn't have AP Isolation enabled, so we can communicate using the ship's intranet.

 

Airplane mode will be on but with wifi enabled.

 

Thanks all for reading.

[Seashellmama]

Is there a list of ships and whether they have Princess@Sea/messenger yet?

[thinfool]

Is there a list of ships and whether they have Princess@Sea/messenger yet?

 

I saw it on the Ruby last week. Here it is:

 

Regal Princess

 

end

 

(Royal is next)

[Kinkacruiser]

Merry Christmas from Australia!!

 

At our Christmas lunch one of my family members said that they had thought of giving me and a few others (sailing on our first cruise in feb) a set of walkie talkies so we can communicate onboard.

 

We are sailing on the Diamond from Sydney to Auckland in February, and the suggestion got me thinking... There will be 4 of us and although we love each other greatly I can imagine that most of our seadays will be spent doing our own thing and meeting up for meals (we have ATD). Apart from the old fashioned method of leaving notes for each other, or pre organising meet up times, is there another way we can quickly converse onboard? What methods have you used?

 

We also researched this option but planned to use them only ashore (in case we were separated). It's not a good mode of keeping in touch...just another contraption to cart around and they annoy others with squeeky, high pitched sounds. Stick to texting, sticky notes, phone messages. I hope you all enjoy your February cruise.

Edited December 27, 2014 by Kinkacruiser

[Zedjp3]

Find inexpensive dry erase boards that have magnets on the back. They often come with a marker that has a magnet on the cap. Attach one to each cabin door. You don't have to carry sticky notes and pencils around.

 

 

Lisa and Ernie

Dawn Princess 2000--Alaska

Island Princess 2008--Alaska

Pacific Princess 2 2011--Mediterranean

Emerald Princess 2012--Baltic

Caribbean Princess 2013--Caribbean (Veterans)

Edited December 28, 2014 by Zedjp3

[Boytjie]

Find inexpensive dry erase boards that have magnets on the back. They often come with a marker that has a magnet on the cap. Attach one to each cabin door. You don't have to carry sticky notes and pencils around.

 

 

There are 8.5x11" stick and peel dry-erase sheets available (5 per pack) and they work really well, come off clean and take up very little space.

[jrzebird]

I saw it on the Ruby last week. Here it is:

 

Regal Princess

 

end

 

(Royal is next)

 

Princess@Sea was on the Royal in October. However, the ability to text with other passengers had not been enabled. I understand it has been or will be shortly, and a few other ships have been brought in. I'm sure it will be fleet-wide within the next few months. A really nice feature, even without the messaging.

 

Maureen

[DragonflyCruiser]

.50 per text. And you don't always have a signal when at sea.

 

We have never had the ship charge that much for a text. We pre buy the Int'l text plan so no further charge there. The ship fee is minimal. And, we do have texting everywhere! Even way out at sea. Somehow it connects to the ship service and it's always available. We have used this system on 3-4 cruises. The ship charges their small fee for providing the access for sending each text and no fee for reading a text. It seems fair to us.

 

I have older parents and need to keep in touch. Texting is much easier, faster and cheaper than any other method when at sea or in most ports.

Edited December 30, 2014 by DragonflyCruiser

[zaos]

I am a little surprised that thus feature is still yet to be rolled out. Seems a little basic to me. I'd think something like an app to locate yourself on board and get walking directions to your destination like a cruise ship GPS with nav would be under development.