Walkie Talkies on Cruise

[Danielleroxy]

We are taking a cruise out of Charleston in July. We were thinking that we would bring a set of walkie talkies that we can use on board to keep in touch if our group decides to split up. Has anyone ever used walkie-talkies on board to communicate with others in their party? Do you know if they work on board?

Thanks for any help.

[averrette]

We took a set on board the Conquest several years ago. They worked but you pick up anybody and everybody. I guess since so many people have them, lots of people on are one frequency. But, like I said they worked (when our teenager actually heard us calling her)

[linalcaplan]

I agree----we've taken them a few times, but don't anymore. There are so many conversations on all frequencies that it's difficult to break in.

[Trip]

My feeling is, unles you want to keep in touch with kids, and know their wherabouts, it's not a good idea..If I was part of a group, I certainly would not want to check in with anyone. Part of the fun is serendipty, going off to explore, or to be alone, when you want to be alone.

There is an old saying..familiarity breeds contempt Also, there is the static factor, as well as being curteous to the people around you, while you are using them..people do have a tendancy to shout into them..

[Kimbopolo]

Don't think I'd enjoy overhearing others' walkie-talkie conversations. That would be as annoying as listening to people yammer away on their cell phones all the time.

One of the things I'm enjoying about cruising is NO cell phones.

[Fern]

Originally Posted by Trip

My feeling is, unles you want to keep in touch with kids, and know their wherabouts, it's not a good idea..If I was part of a group, I certainly would not want to check in with anyone. Part of the fun is serendipty, going off to explore, or to be alone, when you want to be alone.

There is an old saying..familiarity breeds contempt Also, there is the static factor, as well as being curteous to the people around you, while you are using them..people do have a tendancy to shout into them..

Umm, I agree with Trip! If you don't need to know every movement of every person you're sailing with, relax and enjoy, instead of being "on call" everytime someone moves!

In this day and age I realize that what I just posted is VERY strange . But I suggest you try it... .

[Ron]

I'm old fashioned and / or maybe just lucky too. My wife and have been on 35 or more cruises and I've never lost her yet, nor has she lost me, at least not for any length of time. Just make some prearranged meeting places and times--you don't need to know every time someone gets out of your sight where they are--in the bath room, trying to get a few minutes by themselves, trying to get a nap, etc.
There is such a thing as spending too much time with traveling companions and on a ship it can very quickly get to that point.
If you have kids, what do you do with them at home? On a cruise, do the same as you would with adults--have pre arranged meeting places and times and expect them to be there. You may be on a cruise with your kids but they're still your kids and you are ultimately responsible for them. If you have a walkie-talkie and try to keep up with them that way, they can tell you anything they might think you want to hear and be nowhere near where they say they are. Ships, regardless of how big people seem to think they are, aren't really so big you lose people indefinitely with just a smidgen of common sense. I've traveled with groups before and sneaked off many times to get some down time and away form the crowd. You couldn't law one of those walkie-talkie thingees off on me on a ship.
Gotta have my space and time.

[Gail4cruising]

The Dream has the Fun Hub. You can use that to keep up with others in your group. You can send messages and and see what is going on anywhere on ship. The computer terminals are scattered about. Not sure if any of the other Carnival ships have this service yet?

[Danielleroxy]

It's actually to keep in touch with children who are 12 and 10. I haven't even decided that they are allowed to wonder without me, but they are asking, and I was concerned about keeping in touch with them and being able to find out where they are. I saw someone before mention walkie talkies and thought it might be a good idea. I will have to think about it some more.

So my next question is, how safe is it to let children go and do things by themselves?

[Trip]

I would have concerns with kids that age myself....while they are in the care of professionals, that's care free time, but if you decide to let them wander around if the 12 year old is responsible enough, I still would feel better with walkie talkies..

[Luanne Russo]

We used them on our first cruise. You never heard so many kids say mom. We finally turned them off, and never used them again.

On some ships they will not work well, because of the steal walls I am told.

[dhudd]

We always use them. We can keep in touch with each other when we are seperated exploring the ship. When my wife is finished taking a nap she can just call me & we meet somewhere. We also take them along while we are on shore excursions, (my wife loves to shop & I like to visit the establishments that serve adult beverages). We've only once had anyone else on our same frequency
and or channel. We have radios that have 32 different channels. We were in Manzanillo Mexico, We herd someone speaking spanish a few times...I believe that they were Mexican Truckdrivers. So I just changed the channel to a clear freq.

[2Littletime]

Originally Posted by Danielleroxy

It's actually to keep in touch with children who are 12 and 10. I haven't even decided that they are allowed to wonder without me, but they are asking, and I was concerned about keeping in touch with them and being able to find out where they are. I saw someone before mention walkie talkies and thought it might be a good idea. I will have to think about it some more.

So my next question is, how safe is it to let children go and do things by themselves?

As the parent of a teenager and a 10 year old, we tend not to change our household rules very much when we are on a cruise. The reality is that a cruise is a small community and I wouldn't let my 10 year old roam alone in a small community and I don't on the cruise either. We insist that they stay in groups and that they meet up with us at agreed upon times and in agreed upon places and they are absolutely, without question not permitted to roam the cabin decks alone. It would only take a second for someone to grab them and pull them into a cabin and they would be dead or assaulted before we'd even know that they were missing. All that being said, our kids love cruising and they have a blast everytime and thus far they've been safe and sound.

We use sticky notes on the cabin mirrors and we have check in times but the last two cruises we stopped using our radios, simply because they were irritating to fellow guests. Hope this helps

[Floridanamaw]

My two cents.........they are very annoying to other people. Beep, Beep... where are you.....Beep, Beep...what are you doing. Beep, Beep!!!!! ARG.....But my opinion never accounts for to much, just thought I would state it. Enjoy your cruise.

[BobMiller]

We took a pair once when traveling with another family. They were used so little that we have just left them home since.

I hear people using them all the time but only annoyed once when a guy kept up a family conversation from the showroom for the full hour a show was on. Kept asking what they are doing and telling them about the show and trying to get them to come see it, then where are we going to meet afterwards. I noticed him during several other events through the week doing the same thing but was too far away for me to be bothered by it. One day his wife attended one of the game shows with him. She was more attuned to the reactions of the people around them and made him stop.

[Ron]

That's the thing that turns people off on all these gadgets. Surely the nut had to know he was disturbing others while he was yakking during the show.They should have stopped the show, put the spot light on him, told him to hurry and make all his calls and then they would go back to the show,. Bet he would have quit right then.
But on the other hand I've always said--what's worse--someone doing something stupid and not caring or someone so stupid they do something like this and not realize they are disturbing other people?

[EMG]

I tool Walkies on my last cruise. If you have a cheap pair that doesn't have privacy of course you're gonna hear everyone else who has cheap ones without privacy. We got two set for less than $70 and set them all to the same channel 19 with a privacy code of 77.. We didn't hear anyone on our channel besides us.

They worked well when we were out and about the ship and wanted to check in. They also worked on the islands, on the beach, on some tours and they came in pretty dag on handy.

[floridascorpio]

It's just the dw and I, but we took a pair on the Glory last September...and they worked just fine. Never in the 7 days heard another conversation. We bought the Motorola 21 Mile set and had no probs. I like to get up early...dw likes to sleep in....this way she can catch up no problem. We plan on taking them this September on the Dream. One word of caution tho....I have read that it is not a good idea to use them on foreign soil. Countries have different regulations regarding radio frequncies and could lead to problems with the locals. Perfect to use on the ship.

Have a real fun cruise!!

[by_the_board]

In the hands of inconsiderate people they become very annoying to your fellow passengers. My idea of a cruise vacation is a calm, relaxing, stress free experience. Listening to the beeping noise's and people talking loudly on their cell phones/walkie talkies is just plain rude to your fellow passengers. I didn't encounter any walkie talkies last week on the Liberty but I saw many people talking loudly on their cell phones. Why do people insist on yelling into their phones? It appears many people can't have fun without a cell phone stuck to the side of their head. My phone was locked in the safe, turned off.

[Zack Adams]

Look into the MURS radio service. Cost around $75 a radio, but since not many folks have these radios, they are pretty useful unlike GMRS/FRS radios.

[grammy sammy]

There will be 10 of us on Fantasy 7/17/10 out of Charleston. We have used the w/t/ on other cruises with 2 oldest gerandkids 16 & 13 no problem They are ok on their own within limits, which we enforce . We are also bringing 9 yo & 5 yo twins who will be in their parents care, so again we will bring the w/t. Necassary evil.
But I know where to hide and I don't carry a W/T! HINT: Look for the red head on the motorized scooter either in the casino or the bar.......

[jlauntz]

Originally Posted by Floridanamaw

My two cents.........they are very annoying to other people. Beep, Beep... where are you.....Beep, Beep...what are you doing. Beep, Beep!!!!! ARG.....But my opinion never accounts for to much, just thought I would state it. Enjoy your cruise.

I agree, but in todays society everyone thinks they are royality and the h--- with anyone else. To bad we've become such a me, me, me society

[Paul Motter]

It seems to me fewer people are using them these days than in the 90s. As long as you have a privacy channel (so the thing isnt squawking all the time) and you remember courtesy for the people around you, I see no harm in it.

[CruiseSC]

We take the walkie talkies but usually don't even turn them on. It's so easy to just pick a meeting place and time.

We take them because they do come in handy in port and they are much cheaper than the international rates on the cell. Never heard another soul on the radios. We have the ones with the privacy settings.

[cadillacmuse]

It can be pretty comical to hear some of the conversations on them. All things considered though...the conversations on deck are just as good.

[Zack Adams]

While not real time communication, Carnival has Funville @ Sea and you can create a private family message board to post to. All you need is a wifi device and check in once every couple of hours to see what everyone is doing. Worked great for us iPhone/Ipod Touch folks

[am588]

I remember having a few walkie talkies on board a few years ago...and all we could hear was local talk (people from the port)..so in that instance, it really was useless

[SMOM]

We could never get a word in and ended up turning them off. Found them totally usless.