best walkie talkies for ship?

MICK1234 · #1 (**permalink**) July 29th, 2005, 08:35 AM

i know a lot of people bring walkie talkies for the cruise but i've heard some people complaining that theirs didn't work well. other people have raved about their set. any ideas on which ones work well on cruise ships? also, anyone know of a site to purchase them at a reasonable price? thanks

Darcy · #2 (**permalink**) July 29th, 2005, 09:07 AM

We used the COBRA 5 mile range ones and they worked fine. We bought them as a set of two with the charger at Walmart a couple of years ago and I think we paid about $70 for them.

LisaK · #3 (**permalink**) July 29th, 2005, 09:56 AM

the trick is to get the ones with a 5 mile range and sub-channels. There are so many people using them now that the main channels just get clogged with chatter and you will never be able to talk to eachother. The walkie-talkies work great out on deck and from ship to shore, they don't work all that well interior of the ship, too much metal to get thru. We have Motororla ones, you can get them at WalMart. Target, Best Buy - watch for sales, expect to pay around $65+ for good ones.

BLUsry · #4 (**permalink**) October 13th, 2005, 12:34 PM

The other posts are correct, and the lesser cost ones with just 10-22 channels are worthless.

The FMRS versions that have sub-codes work best, and all of these have a greater initial investment.

We have a couple of the Motorola sets, with drop in chargers. These are great, are discrete if kept on vibrate and can easily be dropped in the pocket of mens shorts. We wouldn't have let our teenager and her friends have freedoms aboard without them in the past.

We also use them to talk cabin to cabin and make sure the younger ones are in for the night.

Remember to carry a small power strip for charging, as the digital camera, iPod and all the other gadgets will take up the plugs quickly.

We've had a blast setting ours on scan and heard the kids yell at their parents and the inverse. It sounds like a Wal-Mart at Christmas...

Russell in MD · #5 (**permalink**) October 17th, 2005, 03:13 PM

We've taken them on the last two cruises and they spent most of the time in the cabin. I think they'll be taken off the packing list on the next one.

Ours are motorolla's from Sams club. They seem to eat/kill batteries pretty fast. They are the 5 mile jobs I think.