Best Way to Communicate with Tweens/Teens onboard - Carnival App or Social Media plan?

[mmbrad02]

My daughter will be 12, pushing 13 next summer when we cruise.  She has a cell phone but does not have any social media apps per say, but does have Kids Messenger.  Would that work to message us through the social media plan?  Or should we plan to purchase access to the Carnival app also?  What prompted this was we got the Cyber Monday deal for 10% off internet plans, so if Kids Messenger will work and that truly is a better form of communication, I will purchase it for her also.  But otherwise she doesn't need it at all.  Just seems like I've read the Carnival app isn't dependable.

[staceyglow]

You would have to buy the social media plan for her and anyone else she would be communicating with if you want immediate responses. Otherwise she would have to occasionally kick you off the plan to log in and see if you messaged her. The messaging through the app is only $5 per person. 

[mmbrad02]

43 minutes ago, staceyglow said:

You would have to buy the social media plan for her and anyone else she would be communicating with if you want immediate responses. Otherwise she would have to occasionally kick you off the plan to log in and see if you messaged her. The messaging through the app is only $5 per person. 

Right, we would all 3 have it in our cabin.  We primarily just want to be able to find out where she is or what her plans are if she is in the Circle C activities or with any new friends she may make.

 

Sounds like its cheaper to forgo the internet plans for her and us all 3 have the app as well, maybe.  is it $5 per person for the entire length of the cruise?

[x lindsay x]

5 minutes ago, mmbrad02 said:

Right, we would all 3 have it in our cabin.  We primarily just want to be able to find out where she is or what her plans are if she is in the Circle C activities or with any new friends she may make.

 

Sounds like its cheaper to forgo the internet plans for her and us all 3 have the app as well, maybe.  is it $5 per person for the entire length of the cruise?

Yes, it is $5 per person for the length of the cruise.

 

It is not the most reliable, often time messages get delayed and arrive much later than when they were sent. Also if the app is closed you won't get notifications.

[mmbrad02]

19 minutes ago, x lindsay x said:

Yes, it is $5 per person for the length of the cruise.

 

It is not the most reliable, often time messages get delayed and arrive much later than when they were sent. Also if the app is closed you won't get notifications.

So in your opinion would you stick to a social media plan for everyone in our party for ease of communicating?

[pinto18]

The problem is with the carnival app it has to be open in order to get messages. So you'd have to rely on your daughter to always have the app open and check it every once in a while. Lets just say it didnt work with my husband and I since he never remembered to have the app on nor check to see if he had messages ( I think I would trust a pre-teen more than a 60 year old man though) 

[Sailin_Pirate]

5 hours ago, mmbrad02 said:

So in your opinion would you stick to a social media plan for everyone in our party for ease of communicating?

 

$10 per day and person for social or $5 per person for the whole cruise(has to keep the app open)

 

15 bucks just to say hey where you at is better than 30 bucks a day in my opinion 

[x lindsay x]

10 hours ago, mmbrad02 said:

So in your opinion would you stick to a social media plan for everyone in our party for ease of communicating?

Yes, it will be more timely and less finicky than the Carnival app if immediate communication is what you're looking for. 

[pe4all]

Definitely social media plan if you think you need immediate responses.  We now use the hub app for $5. Yes, we keep the apps open, and have never had a "delay" in getting responses or messages.  When our dd was younger and in the CCL clubs or out galavanting with friends she met we kept their cell phones locked in the room safe for a week (before cell phone/internet/hub app on ships) we used post-its on cabin door - lol- which worked well for us. 

[serene56]

we sailed with that age      (on the hub app on her phone we marked where we will be each hour.          the hub app marks a star next to the activity      we do this each morning at breakfast   

 

[ericrz]

13 hours ago, pinto18 said:

The problem is with the carnival app it has to be open in order to get messages. So you'd have to rely on your daughter to always have the app open and check it every once in a while. Lets just say it didnt work with my husband and I since he never remembered to have the app on nor check to see if he had messages ( I think I would trust a pre-teen more than a 60 year old man though) 

 

To clarify re. the HUB app: you don't have to keep it actively in use (i.e. as the focus screen on your phone) to get messages.  You just can't close it entirely (as in, swipe up on an iPhone and swipe the app up).  If you do so (again, at least on an iPhone) the app will warn you "Hey, you have to keep the HUB open to receive messages).

 

If configured to allow notifications, the phone will buzz when a new HUB message is received.

 

We used it with our party of 6 (including two teenagers) on the Mardi Gras last week and found it worked really well!

[mmbrad02]

1 hour ago, serene56 said:

we sailed with that age      (on the hub app on her phone we marked where we will be each hour.          the hub app marks a star next to the activity      we do this each morning at breakfast   

 

 

18 minutes ago, ericrz said:

 

To clarify re. the HUB app: you don't have to keep it actively in use (i.e. as the focus screen on your phone) to get messages.  You just can't close it entirely (as in, swipe up on an iPhone and swipe the app up).  If you do so (again, at least on an iPhone) the app will warn you "Hey, you have to keep the HUB open to receive messages).

 

If configured to allow notifications, the phone will buzz when a new HUB message is received.

 

We used it with our party of 6 (including two teenagers) on the Mardi Gras last week and found it worked really well!

This is perfect information.  For what it's worth we used Disney's app for our cruise this past July and it sounds very similar - and we managed okay 🙂  And I think $15 for the week seems better than us all buying the social media plan - plus we can disconnect more!

[ProgRockCruiser]

I'm confused.  What is this concept of being able to communicate with teenagers?

 

🙃

 

1 hour ago, ericrz said:

 

To clarify re. the HUB app: you don't have to keep it actively in use (i.e. as the focus screen on your phone) to get messages.  You just can't close it entirely (as in, swipe up on an iPhone and swipe the app up).  If you do so (again, at least on an iPhone) the app will warn you "Hey, you have to keep the HUB open to receive messages).

 

If configured to allow notifications, the phone will buzz when a new HUB message is received.

 

We used it with our party of 6 (including two teenagers) on the Mardi Gras last week and found it worked really well!

 

If the HUB app does indeed work as described here by @ericrz (and it didn't when I used it one time waaay back in 2018, but one expects they have improved it), then it should indeed fit your bill.

 

Though still subject to my question above. "No, we didn't see the message until just now!  It's not our fault!"

 

😜

[EngIceDave]