2-way radios

[Jennay]

Has anyone used these on the ships? I've been reading lots of "packing" threads and it mentions these quite a bit. Is there a lot of interference? Do a lot of people use these? What kind of range did you get? Thanks.

 

[atakaratemom]

We used two-way radios to keep in contact with my 11 year old son since he could check himself in and out of his club whenever he wanted to. We got very good reception all over the ship. We did get some interference from others on the ship using the same frequency, but when that happened we just changed to a new channel. They worked very well for us and my son loved the freedom it allowed him to have.

Mary

 

[pewing]

What type of radios? Specs?

 

[atakaratemom]

We purchased Motorola hand held radios with a 10 mile range and 24 channels.

Mary

 

[Jennay]

Hmmm.. just looked up the specs. We have the Motorola Talkabout T5320. 14 channels and only a 2 mile range. Do you think we will have any problems?

 

[atakaratemom]

I am sure a 2 mile range and 14 channels will be fine if you are just using it on the ship. We got the extra range in case we decided to split up and do separate shore excursions (DH with DS and me with my DD), but we never ended up using them anywhere other than on the ship.

Mary

 

[bielen]

Check out the Motorola T5500R. The radios have a 5-mile range and include a recharger so there's no need to buy batteries. Work really well. The radios are available from Amazon for about $45.

 

[tvguy]

Go ahead and take them, but don't count on them, no matter what the power.
Too much metal on the ship.

 

[pewing]

Go ahead and take them, but don't count on them, no matter what the power.
Too much metal on the ship.

I wondered about that

 

[yazee1]

We found the Motorolas with the long range very useful on the boat as well as on CC. What stands out in my mind is being on CC and dh wanting to go snorkelling on the adults only side while I stayed at the family beach with the kids. We had meeting times for lunch but his plans to snorkel didn't work out so it was a good thing that he had his walkie talkie with him since I had left our beach site to take dd to get lunch and then to Scuttler's Cove (?). The radios were also useful when my little dd and I went to get our hair braided. Dh was chilling out in the room but said he'd come up to get her when it was my turn. DD went first. When her head was almost finished, I beeped him. The boys used the walkie talkies too.

 

[mikeandlissasmom]

I plan on bringing ours. I want to give my 12yr old some freedom on the ship, but still be able to get ahold of him. We also plan to use them at CC so if he meets some friends, he can go off with them.

 

[geffric]

Go ahead and take them, but don't count on them, no matter what the power.
Too much metal on the ship.

we worried about that too before our last cruise but encountered no problems at all; Even when called the kids at the Stack and we were in Parrott Cay.

 

[pewing]

Okay...I'm holing on tight (so I don't get laughed off the boards ), but...can you use your cell phones at all?

 

[Landy]

How much do the radios go for and where is a good place to get them?

 

[tvguy]

Walmart usually carries them. Get the ones with rechargable batteries.

No, cell phones don't work except when you are close enough to land that you can hit a cell tower of a provider that your phone works with.
Basically they only work in port.

 

[SuzPasq]

We bring our cell phones specifically for when we're in port. We usually check in with family. When my husband sailed last year on business (3nt), I was able to talk to him the whole entire cruise on his cell.