Wave Phone Details

[dahuffy]

I dont have kids, so I cant speak for the need or lack of need for these. I know they are replacing the pagers, but to be honest, I REALLY hope ppl who don't absolutely NEED these opt not to use them. I have never lost someone in my party to the point where I was scared, and I don't wanna hear ppl yacking away at the pool when I'm trying to relax. If people are txting eachother and everyone is on vibrate, then I'll survive I guess.

Thank you!

 

[dahuffy]

By "people" you must mean "some people." My employer doesn't even have my cell phone number, I don't use my cell phone at work, and in fact I so rarely have mine on that my voice mail message says, "Don't leave important messages here; I'm not likely to get it the day you leave it." Oh, and I just disabled the texting capability because I don't text yet I was receiving texts about Wal-Mart gift cards.

I am a proud member of the non-cell phone addict club, and I am dismayed to see these phones introduced on cruise ships. Used to be one of the few places one could get away from people living virtually.

 

[lbgraves]

I don't plan on taking them off the ship other than Castaway. They must have a booster on the island to make them work there.

When the ship is backing up to CC you will see a palm tree that is extremely tall. That is a cell phone tower that was not there before.

It is not possible for others to leave a voice mail for you on yours.

Actually we were able to leave and receive voice messages from both DS and DD's friends in a different room.

I honestly don't see why some are so against these. They are a lot quieter than the pagers beeping [which is still in the farewell show] and tons better than the walkies we have experienced all over the ship, including in Palo. We mainly used the texting and if you aren't holding the phone or have it in your pocket you aren't going to know it is buzzing. I take the battery out of my cell phone once we board the ship but these give me the chance to stay in touch with my kids onboard. They are the only reason DH & I were able to go to the nightclub and see the shows for the first time.

 

[thomprod]

So, can you call other stateroom phones to get in contact with people you are traveling with or is it just between your own stateroom phones and the kids clubs?

Yes, to call a stateroom phone from a Wavephone, enter 41 + the stateroom number, then press the green call button.

 

[TLSnell1981]

Wonderful addition!!

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

I think this is a great idea and personally am very happy they have added them!

 

[gydell]

This may have been answered before but here goes - do the kids not wear armbands anymore? I can see my 9yo losing the phone the 1st day!

 

[gmark2000]

I can see my 9yo losing the phone the 1st day!

Then leave that phone in your room. No one is making people use these phones outside of your staterooms. Parents should carry them if their kids are in the clubs (as the official replacement for the pagers). But there is no obligation to carry them around.

 

[allie7]

I bought a cell phone case from DayDeals a couple of months ago, and when I saw this thread, I thought these cases would be perfect for the wave phones.
It's a little "jacket", where you can put your phone in, and the arms have elastic, with little clips at the "hands", you just put your phone in and zip it up. You can either attatch it to your belt loop, or it comes with a little lanyard which you can wear around your neck. After the cruise is over, you can bring it back home and use it with your regular cell phone. It will be a little small, cause the wave phones are a little bit tall, but sticking out at the top shouldn't be a problem. I use this with my LG VU Plus a lot, and I completely love it. I have the Jack Skellington case, since I'm a teen and I love Jack. I would definatly recomend this to anyone, especially since they have Disney related cases. It's currently $16, with free shipping.


Website:
http://www.daydeal.com/product.php?productid=41682

Youtube review:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAiq1s7n-Z0

 

[rescuetink]

This may have been answered before but here goes - do the kids not wear armbands anymore? I can see my 9yo losing the phone the 1st day!

Good question, but I think I read that they now have sometrhing they have to keep on through the whole cruise!!

And my question is, for all you helpful DISers, is my DS and DD will be 7 and 4 on our next cruise. I assume that thew kids club will just contact me if the kids need me, and that they don't have to carry a phone!?!?!?

 

[onecoolpilot]

From what I understand by reading on here, the youngin's wear an arm band with some sort of chip in it, which the CMs used to check them in and out, like a digital head count.

If they need to contact you for some reason, they will be able to see what stateroom the child is registered to, and will call that phone. I have never been on DCL before, but I read they used to give you a pager before the phones came around.

 

[ssanders79]

From what I understand by reading on here, the youngin's wear an arm band with some sort of chip in it, which the CMs used to check them in and out, like a digital head count.

If they need to contact you for some reason, they will be able to see what stateroom the child is registered to, and will call that phone. I have never been on DCL before, but I read they used to give you a pager before the phones came around.

Correct. The wave phones have taken the place of the pagers, but the kiddos still get the armband. Now I wish that they would evolve the armbands to be less obstructive. Maybe a hospital band with a small built in rfid instead of the big block attached to my child with a hospital band.

 

[Pixelfrog]

I know they are replacing the pagers, but to be honest, I REALLY hope ppl who don't absolutely NEED these opt not to use them. I have never lost someone in my party to the point where I was scared, and I don't wanna hear ppl yacking away at the pool when I'm trying to relax. If people are txting eachother and everyone is on vibrate, then I'll survive I guess.

I just got off of the Magic in February. Most people were carrying these - I saw them on tables, stuffed into the tops of beach bags, etc. I was traveling with a group of 12, so we all carried ours everywhere. I can't recall actually seeing anyone on these phones for any sort of lengthy discussion, so I can only assume they used them the same way we did:

"Where are you?"
"Adult pool"
"Going to be there for a while?"
"Yeah"
"Ok, we'll be up in about 10 minutes."

Lather, rinse, repeat for various people/situations. I can't imagine this being offensive or disruptive to anyone.

Also, our daughter used it to let us know when she was leaving the Edge club to go for a snack and when she returned to the club so that we'd know she was ok.

I honestly did not see even ONE person "yakking away" on one of these phones on my entire 7 day trip.

 

[peachygreen]

Yes, to call a stateroom phone from a Wavephone, enter 41 + the stateroom number, then press the green call button.

Wish I'd have read this before our cruise. I could not for the life of me figure out how to call the stateroom from the wave phone.

I just got off of the Magic in February. Most people were carrying these - I saw them on tables, stuffed into the tops of beach bags, etc. I was traveling with a group of 12, so we all carried ours everywhere. I can't recall actually seeing anyone on these phones for any sort of lengthy discussion, so I can only assume they used them the same way we did:

"Where are you?"
"Adult pool"
"Going to be there for a while?"
"Yeah"
"Ok, we'll be up in about 10 minutes."

Lather, rinse, repeat for various people/situations. I can't imagine this being offensive or disruptive to anyone.

Also, our daughter used it to let us know when she was leaving the Edge club to go for a snack and when she returned to the club so that we'd know she was ok.

I honestly did not see even ONE person "yakking away" on one of these phones on my entire 7 day trip.

This were our typical converstaions on the phones. I only saw one person "yakking away" on it and it was right before one of the shows. I think she finally got up and left before the show started and then came back about 5 minutes in. I think she was trying to figure out where all the family was but it went on for about 10 minutes.


Any even if you have the phone in your pocket you still might not feel it vibrate.

I did find them to be very useful. We got split up often either my parents from us or my DH and I with one of the children and it was very nice to be able to find each other easily.

 

[Maddle]

so - just to be clear - you can or can not leave a message with this phone?

Scenario: your phone is in your purse/jacket pocket/beach bag. Your DH/DD/DS/etc calls, but you don't hear/feel/see it vibrating. Can he/she leave you a message? Does it say "missed call?"

I think this is a great idea over all.

OP - great informative thread - thanks! I am glad I ran across this info on the fact that there is no clip - this gives me time to come up with a solution, or to get accustomed to the fact ahead of time.

Maddle

 

[Lissame]

OP - great informative thread - thanks! I am glad I ran across this info on the fact that there is no clip - this gives me time to come up with a solution, or to get accustomed to the fact ahead of time.

Maddle

Actually, I have read on a few posts that some of the phones (maybe just on the Wonder at this point) do have clips on them now.

 

[thomprod]

Wish I'd have read this before our cruise. I could not for the life of me figure out how to call the stateroom from the wave phone.

There is supposed to be an instruction sheet in your stateroom, but on our last cruise in January 2011, it was missing. Luckily, I had read about it here on the DISboards before we left home, so I knew how to call our stateroom.

 

[thomprod]

so - just to be clear - you can or can not leave a message with this phone?

Scenario: your phone is in your purse/jacket pocket/beach bag. Your DH/DD/DS/etc calls, but you don't hear/feel/see it vibrating. Can he/she leave you a message? Does it say "missed call?"

---- snip ----

Maddle

On our cruise in January 2011, we could not leave a message, but the phones did indicate if a call was missed and who had called.

 

[ssanders79]

The first thing I did with the phone was clear all old calls, voice mails and texts. It would be really nice if DCL had a way to do a global reset on the them between cruises.

 

[peachygreen]

There is supposed to be an instruction sheet in your stateroom, but on our last cruise in January 2011, it was missing. Luckily, I had read about it here on the DISboards before we left home, so I knew how to call our stateroom.

It was missing from our stateroom too. At first I figured it was in the papers I didn't have a chance to look at the 1st day but I never did find it. I suppose I could have asked either guest services or my stateroom host for it, but we were able to make it work so I never got around to it.