Walkie-Talkie's

[toughmudder]

All, headed on our first DCL cruise on the Dream in just a few days....

We have 4 kids and 3 qualify for Oceaneer's Club, and one will be with the tween's. We purchased Walkie Talkie's if we need to communicate with our kids, and they aren't in one of the Kid's Clubs, since cell coverage may be spotty, etc.

Has anyone done this, and recommended it? How do Wave Phones work? Are they only for communication with your kids when they are in the clubs?

Just wondering if having a set of Walkie Talkie's would be useful or not.

Thanks
toughmudder

 

[outahere]

We took walkie-talkies on one cruise, and they didn't work all that well - too much steel and solid walls. They did work, but it was "hit or miss", and we haven't taken them again.

The wave phones are similar to cell phones, and work everywhere on the ship. However, you will only have two of them. You can call any other wave phone, or any cabin with them.

I would not recommend using cell phones - the per minute charges can be pretty high.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

All, headed on our first DCL cruise on the Dream in just a few days....

We have 4 kids and 3 qualify for Oceaneer's Club, and one will be with the tween's. We purchased Walkie Talkie's if we need to communicate with our kids, and they aren't in one of the Kid's Clubs, since cell coverage may be spotty, etc.

Has anyone done this, and recommended it? How do Wave Phones work? Are they only for communication with your kids when they are in the clubs?

Just wondering if having a set of Walkie Talkie's would be useful or not.

Thanks
toughmudder

As PP noted, they won't work that well onboard. Plus they are more than annoying to others around you. You won't have a dedicated channel only to your transmissions, so others would be cutting into your conversations. There'll be a lot of "what?" "WHAT?" ""WHAT!!!!! and a lot of squawking in the walkie-talkie themself.

There are 2 wavephones in your room for you to use onboard and at Castaway Cay. They are basically a cellphone on a dedicated line. You can pick up additional ones at Guest Services, but they are limited. I would suggest trying to get one additional (I think the fee is fairly low, but don't know the exact amount). That gives you one for the parents, one for the kids in the kids club, and one for the tween. I will point out that in the kids club, they won't really need them. If you need to be contacted, the CMs there will do so. And I don't know how much you're going to allow your kids to roam free, so it could be possibile that the younger ones won't need one.

 

[erionm]

You can find some good info on the Wave phones here: Wave Phone Details

 

[bunnyman]

All, headed on our first DCL cruise on the Dream in just a few days....

We have 4 kids and 3 qualify for Oceaneer's Club, and one will be with the tween's. We purchased Walkie Talkie's if we need to communicate with our kids, and they aren't in one of the Kid's Clubs, since cell coverage may be spotty, etc.

Has anyone done this, and recommended it? How do Wave Phones work? Are they only for communication with your kids when they are in the clubs?

Just wondering if having a set of Walkie Talkie's would be useful or not.

Thanks
toughmudder

We've used walkie talkies before, and they work ok, but beware you'll be sharing the frequency with other folks. We were on the Disney Magic and the Wave Phones weren't that good, mainly because they were pretty beaten up (i.e. the buttons didn't always work, etc.).

 

[toughmudder]

Thanks for all the great info, everybody.

So basically, to make sure I understand:

1) the wave phones will replace the pagers for communication with the Kids Clubs... but if the kids want to be picked up, etc. the counselor would call us (or we'd call them), so my 3-9'ers don't necessarily need a wave phone on their end.

2) I could have my tween keep a wave phone with her, and use that to communicate...

3) walkie talkies could be a third option, but perhaps not the most effective way to communicate on the ship

Let me know if my thinking is correct. Thanks!

 

[OKW Lover]

Sounds like you've got it.

I'm a Amateur Radio Operator (Ham) and I can tell you that all that steel on the ship really affects the ability of walkie talkies to penetrate on board. They will be fine in the ports though.

 

[jarudinski]

Thanks for all the great info, everybody.

So basically, to make sure I understand:

1) the wave phones will replace the pagers for communication with the Kids Clubs... but if the kids want to be picked up, etc. the counselor would call us (or we'd call them), so my 3-9'ers don't necessarily need a wave phone on their end.

2) I could have my tween keep a wave phone with her, and use that to communicate...

3) walkie talkies could be a third option, but perhaps not the most effective way to communicate on the ship

Let me know if my thinking is correct. Thanks!

That pretty much sums it up. When we went last it was mysel, my husband, my father and 2 kids. (13 & 7) at the time. The 7 year old never needed one as she was either in the kids club or with one of the adults. That left the three adults and the tween to share the 2 phones. Since my husband and I were usually together we kept 1 phone and my daughter and father shared the other. When my dad was in the room or with us I let my tween use it. When my tween did not have the phone, she had to tell us where she would be and then if she were to leave or change locales I would have her check in, since every floor has a phone she could easily call us. That seemed to work out fine as we never had a problem. She knew never to roam the ship alone, she could only hang out at the teen areas or "roam" with friends.

Julie

 

[Ancaster]

Depends on the 2WRadio.
The porters in my hospital use CP185s and they'll penetrate 10 floors and a few hundred feet with crystal clarity.

Some have channel scans, interference blockers, and noise filtering.
On mine, channels 8-14 are FRS (do not require a license), although I'm not sure how they could police someone who switches to GMRS and back.
There's a set on sale now in Costco this week.

Wave phones only work on the ship and you wouldn't want to lose one anyway, it's a $250 charge.

2WRs are great for short distance communication between family members where cell coverage is not possible or cost prohibitive.
Whether yours works well on board is YMMV.
Check it's manual for possible tweaks.

 

[algae]

On mine, channels 8-14 are FRS (do not require a license), although I'm not sure how they could police someone who switches to GMRS and back.

Keep in mind that your comment only applies to the US. Taking the FRS/GMRS radios to other countries can run afoul of their laws since there isn't a global allocation of radio bands--each country uses frequencies differently.

Wave phones only work on the ship and you wouldn't want to lose one anyway, it's a $250 charge.

I would suggest just using the Wave Phones on ship/CC since they work really well and you can call them from any house phone also. Forget the walkie-talkies and save the money for something else.

In ports, most (US) cellphones work just fine albeit with some serious romaing fees unless you plan ahead.