Text communication

[richmore]

Have researched but still confused. 4 of us traveling wife and I and 7 and 14 year old. 
 

what is the best/economical way to communicate with 14 year old. We paid for 2 internet packages. The three of us have iPhones on Verizon.

 

the wife and I took a short cruise in January and tried the text on RC app but couldn’t figure out how to know if person responded without checking app (we used same username).

 

any suggestions on how we can call or text our 14 year old on ship?

[brillohead]

Set up Wifi Calling on all phones now. 

On the ship, turn on Airplane Mode and use Wifi Calling.  Have the 14yo using one of your internet devices whenever they are away from you, and you or wife use the second one, and you can call/text the 14yo just like at home. 

[goldne]

How do you text different devices on the app with the same username? We don't have the internet package.

[broadwaybaby123]

We're using walkie talkies with my 9 year old niece.

[cruiseguy1016]

1 hour ago, broadwaybaby123 said:

We're using walkie talkies with my 9 year old niece.

 

Have you done this before? There are reports with mixed results on how well walkie talkies work on the ship. With the steel hull and all the other metal, the range capabilities will be greatly reduced.

[DCPIV]

2 hours ago, broadwaybaby123 said:

We're using walkie talkies with my 9 year old niece.

 

I'll also add that a lot of others use walkie-talkies, and there are only so many channels.  You get a lot of crosstalk from others.

 

9 hours ago, richmore said:

We paid for 2 internet packages. The three of us have iPhones on Verizon.

 

You might want to look into a 3-device internet plan so that you're all set.  From what I see on my current booking the "surf" 3-device plan is only $5/day more than the 2-device one.  If you're looking at the "stream" plans, the difference is about $10/day.

[broadwaybaby123]

4 hours ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

 

Have you done this before? There are reports with mixed results on how well walkie talkies work on the ship. With the steel hull and all the other metal, the range capabilities will be greatly reduced.

No we have not. We wanted to try years ago, so we got a set. With my niece now being 9, we upgraded the set and I got the old set to use for field trips at work with my residents. 

 

[luvbrady]

We used walkie talkies in the past with our kids and found them to be very unreliable onboard....

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

Setup WiFi calling on all devices before you leave home.  You might not have the option on the phone without calling your provider.  Experiment at home by putting your phone in airplane mode and then turn on only the WiFi.  Once it works at home it will work the same on the ship.  You just have to log each device on to their account.  You can switch around the devices, but only two can be logged on at any one time.  We found devices frequently got kicked off the ships WiFi when you walked around.  If you stayed in one place it was fine.  Warn her about that and have her check for connectivity periodically.  IMessage might not work and might be SMS.      

[richmore]

4 hours ago, DCPIV said:

 

I'll also add that a lot of others use walkie-talkies, and there are only so many channels.  You get a lot of crosstalk from others.

 

 

You might want to look into a 3-device internet plan so that you're all set.  From what I see on my current booking the "surf" 3-device plan is only $5/day more than the 2-device one.  If you're looking at the "stream" plans, the difference is about $10/day.

Thanks! We bought a while ago when it was on sale and the difference is now significant. I’ll keep checking but we sail in 10 days

[rudeney]

Has anyone ever tried a mesh or LAN-based messaging app?  I know most mesh apps rely on direct phone to phone Bluetooth or wifi connections, so that would not reach too far through the ship, but I believe there are some that can operate on "local-only" wifi networks without an Internet connection.  Since RCCL lets you join onboard wifi for free to use local-only resources (i.e. the Royal app), one that is LAN-based might work.  

[willing292]

We’ve used Motorola walkie-talkies with no problem.   Some people try to talk without first depressing the key, or else they try to talk while someone else is.  

[Chyna3032]

iMessage always works for me on the ship, but not calling.  

[cruisegirl1]

We had family who did not get the internet package.  We used the $1.99 per person per day messaging app. Worked great.  App users could message each other or me.  Husband and I had full internet service ( I still had to pay the $1.99 per day).  I could get a message from the others, and if necessary text my husband ( I was often  with him anyway)  using our package. It wasn't as complicated as it sounds, and often I wasn't even part of the other's conversations. 

 

M

[erinsmom03]

I bought a 3 device package for our family of 3. Our daughter and I were able to text each other without any problem (we both have iPhones) and I found I could even text my mom back home (she also has an iPhone) most of the time, just using wifi. My husband was hard to figure out, as he has a Samsung Galaxy. We finally figured out on our last cruise that what worked best with him was to send chats on SnapChat. I also was able to send pics/videos to friends and family back home on SnapChat. 

[DaKahuna]

17 hours ago, goldne said:

How do you text different devices on the app with the same username? We don't have the internet package.

You cannot.  You can set up a separate account for each person on their device and install the app for each person with their on account. 

[brillohead]

1 hour ago, erinsmom03 said:

I bought a 3 device package for our family of 3. Our daughter and I were able to text each other without any problem (we both have iPhones) and I found I could even text my mom back home (she also has an iPhone) most of the time, just using wifi. My husband was hard to figure out, as he has a Samsung Galaxy. We finally figured out on our last cruise that what worked best with him was to send chats on SnapChat. I also was able to send pics/videos to friends and family back home on SnapChat. 

Set up Wi-Fi Calling now, at home.  (You have to be connected to your cellular network to do this.)

Then when you're on board next time, go into Airplane Mode and turn Wi-Fi on and connect as normal.  Then you can text/call each other just like if you're on your regular cellular network.  

You can also just test this at home -- turn on Airplane and turn on Wi-Fi and you can make/receive calls and texts normally.

I'm an Android user who lives in a basement, and I get almost no reception from my cellular provider in the basement; in my previous home, I had horrible reception even on the main floor of the house -- our neighborhood was in a tiny pocket of no reception. 

I've been using Wi-Fi Calling at home for several years as a result, and it works great, both at home and on a ship.  I never turn off the Wi-Fi Calling function -- any time my cell signal is worse than my Wi-Fi connection, the phone just automatically routes any calls through the Wi-Fi, and vice versa.  

 

[erinsmom03]

18 hours ago, brillohead said:

Set up Wi-Fi Calling now, at home.  (You have to be connected to your cellular network to do this.)

Then when you're on board next time, go into Airplane Mode and turn Wi-Fi on and connect as normal.  Then you can text/call each other just like if you're on your regular cellular network.  

You can also just test this at home -- turn on Airplane and turn on Wi-Fi and you can make/receive calls and texts normally.

I'm an Android user who lives in a basement, and I get almost no reception from my cellular provider in the basement; in my previous home, I had horrible reception even on the main floor of the house -- our neighborhood was in a tiny pocket of no reception. 

I've been using Wi-Fi Calling at home for several years as a result, and it works great, both at home and on a ship.  I never turn off the Wi-Fi Calling function -- any time my cell signal is worse than my Wi-Fi connection, the phone just automatically routes any calls through the Wi-Fi, and vice versa.  

 

 

Great info, thank you!

 

[iuki]

On 6/16/2022 at 2:33 AM, cruiseguy1016 said:

 

Have you done this before? There are reports with mixed results on how well walkie talkies work on the ship. With the steel hull and all the other metal, the range capabilities will be greatly reduced.

There were 15 of us on the Ovation.  Some of them had walkie-talkies and didn’t have any problems. 

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

On 6/16/2022 at 12:15 PM, rudeney said:

Has anyone ever tried a mesh or LAN-based messaging app? 

My techie son attempted it a few years ago on the Allure and it didn't work.

[rudeney]

1 minute ago, ATSEAMYLIFE said:

My techie son attempted it a few years ago on the Allure and it didn't work.

 

I suspect it used Bluetooth, which has a very short range.  I'm still researching to find one that works on a wifi network without Internet where all you have is a local IP address.

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

1 minute ago, rudeney said:

 

I suspect it used Bluetooth, which has a very short range.  I'm still researching to find one that works on a wifi network without Internet where all you have is a local IP address.

I know he tried a couple of different methods and none had any range and he gave up.  

[OddHack]

If you don't have access to wifi calling, but you do have the internet package for all devices, then look into an alternate messaging app -- we've used WhatsApp in the past and been happy with it (both to communicate within our group and with family at home).

[brillohead]

39 minutes ago, OddHack said:

If you don't have access to wifi calling, but you do have the internet package for all devices, then look into an alternate messaging app -- we've used WhatsApp in the past and been happy with it (both to communicate within our group and with family at home).

The problem with WhatsApp is that it only works with people who have the app, not with people using just a phone.  

Fortunately, pretty much all the major carriers include Wi-Fi calling capability for free. 

[twangster]

1 hour ago, rudeney said:

 

I suspect it used Bluetooth, which has a very short range.  I'm still researching to find one that works on a wifi network without Internet where all you have is a local IP address.

 

Ship wifi isolates individual devices.  It's not like home wifi where devices have complete and full access across the WLAN.  Connecting to the ship wifi will not allow direct communication with other devices attached to the ship WLAN.

 

I've tried a number of apps that rely on direct communication between LAN connected devices.  However feel feel to try it, maybe you'll come across an app that works in some other manner.