Walkie-talkies on board--handy or useless?

[Eeyorefan12]

I'm going to the experts. I've seen people mention bringing walkie-talkies on the cruises but not how well they might work...or if they even come in handy. I'm thinking mostly of being able to track down my hubbie (who is notorious for wandering off in public places as if he's alone--sigh) and my 11 year-old DD. We have a pretty good set of WT's we use for hiking. What are others' experiences with this? Too many walls on the ship to make them useful?

Thanks for any advice.

CB

 

[nrk]

Yes walkie talkies are handy but keep in mind you are not the only one using them So you might have a little fun on the first day trying to figure out the best channel to use...good luck

 

[geffric]

we were very surprised that our walkie-talkies worked as well as they did on the ship.. walls and all. But we were able to hear DSs calling from the sport deck, stack, lab etc no matter where we were..

 

[HooKooDooKu]

The down side is you never know what the range is going to be.

Our last trip, we had some of the ones that had the slightly higer power (FRS/GMRS combos) and sometimes you couldn't communicate when you were only 1/4 the length of the ship away, and at other times, DW could contact me in Diversions from our Level 5 Stateroom aft.

 

[TiggerInNY]

I have the Motorola ones that have sub-channels....will they work to weed out the other people using WT without sub-channels? Just curious, cause I would LOVE to take ours, but only if they work. They will be great on CC, too.

Thanks.

TiggerInNY

 

[Favorite Auntie]

My father didn't like to leave his on...didn't want to waste the batteries. So for my mom it was kind of useless...but if you have NORMAL people using them, they are quite handy. I would bring them.

 

[ljql_5969]

We just got back on a cruise from RCCL and we had the Motorola Disney ones with sub-channels. My DH commented to me about midway through the trip how we didn't have any interruptions. I think after he said that we maybe had one interruption while we were in port.

We used them on our last WDW trip also and they were great. I wouldn't travel anywhere with my family without them. especially since my DH and I have to split up often to go with one of our 2 DS's.

 

[DVC Jen]

this is great to know. Our DDs will be off by themselves ALOT next year and we want to be able to keep in touch with them.

 

[Disneyfalcon]

The Motorolas with sub channels are the only way to go. There are hundreds of combinations so it's easy to find a channel no one is on. We were a family of 17 using them and never picked up another soul. We also used them everywhere. They were invaluable for our huge group and I would reccomend them to anyone.

 

[Eeyorefan12]

This is all really helpful, guys. Thanks! We do have the multi-channel FMS/GRMS so it sounds like we'll be able to do this.

I wish I'd discovered this board last year instead of two weeks ago.

Carol

 

[mommommouse]

We have the Disney Motorola WT. We took them on both of our cruise's and wouldn't go without them ever. It is the only way to know where every one is. They were great. By all means take yours. Have a good time. I wish I was going with you all. I have to wait another year to go again. It is the best place on earth.

 

[TiggerInNY]

Excellent!!!
​

This makes me soooo happy. I love my Motorola sub-channel WTs. I use them everywhere. Even give one to my 9 year old DS when he goes up the street. Gave them to my BIL for his birthday for skiing....very excellent he LOVED them. Especially when you don't have telephone reception.

Thanks for all your advise. I will put them down on my packing list for our 5/27/06 cruise - special western!!! Can't wait.

TTFN,
TiggerInNY​

 

[HooKooDooKu]

A WORD ABOUT THESE SUB-CHANNELS...

They are not sub-channels, they are interference codes.

The typical FRS radio has 14 channels and 38 of these codes. While that makes for over 500 combinations, everyone is still sharing only 14 channels.

Here's what the interference codes do...

Each time you press the button to talk, not only does the radio transmit your voice, but it also transmits a signal indicating your interference code. Other radios tuned to that same channel keep their speakers on "mute" until they see a matching interference code. Once it sees the matching interference code on the channel it is tuned into, it will turn the speaker on and you will hear EVERYONE that is talking on that channel regardless of the interference code.

Here's an example: Family #1 have radios tuned to Channel 1 with code 1. Family #2 have radios tuned to Channel 1 with code 2. So long as the two families never talk at the same time, it seems like they have a private channel. However, during any period in which someone in family #1 is talking at the same time as someone in family #2, ALL radios in both families will here BOTH people talking.

 

[tvguy]

The Motorolas with sub channels are the only way to go. There are hundreds of combinations so it's easy to find a channel no one is on. We were a family of 17 using them and never picked up another soul. We also used them everywhere. They were invaluable for our huge group and I would reccomend them to anyone.

The subchannels don't add any channels, they just squelch (silence) the radio unless someone using the same subchannel broadcasts. So if someone else is using the same channel, but different subchannel, you won't hear them, but you won't be able to transmit either until they finish transmitting.
After trying to use them in Disneyland, even with the subchannels, they were useless just because too many people were on each channel. Didn't bother on the ship because the radios use a line of sight frequency and with all the metal I thought they would be useless too. If they do work in places, it just shear luck on the ship.