Walkie Talkies to keep in touch on ship

[Catnip0113]

I saw some people using walkie talkies on our cruise and it seemed like such a good idea. Does anyone know what type these are? They must be better than kid's toy quality to work well. Could they be used at a mall or somthing too? What is the distance apart they work at?

 

[Farms]

We took the Motorola (talkabouts, I believe they were called). however, we really didn't use them on the cruise. We used them more in the park than anywhere else. But, boy were they nice to have in the park. If you do use them, make sure you pick a channel higher up; otherwise, you get to hear other folks conversations!!:

 

[traycie2201]

we bought some on our last visit to florida from an electronics store, around $30 for 2 , they work really well for staying in touch, the range varies depending on the walkie talkie, however we did get some cross channels and heard other peoples conversations which was funny. I'll be taking them on the cruise but am not relying on them , another option other posters have suggested is keeping a post it note pad in your stateroom for people to leave a note of where they are, if you've got kids in the kids clubs you'll be issued with a pager for them to contact you if needed.

 

[Ottawacruiser]

We brought along a set of Motorola talkabouts for our last cruise and they worked really well. Even being able to talk to my son at the beach at Castaway Cay while we were still on board the ship. The range depends on the type of radio and what kind of obstructions there are. I've heard quotations of a mile through free space, but I haven't tested this!

We didn't have too much trouble with other people talking on the same channel while we were on board. I believe more recent version of the talkabouts have encryption which gets around this.

HOwever, we also attempted to use our talkabouts at MK but they were useless there - all the channels were already jammed with multiple people already attempting to use them!

The Ottawacruiser.

 

[Cruise04]

We have the ones with the subchannels and they worked great on our cruise and at CC. Ours are the 2 mile range but they do have now for 5 mile which I think would work a bit better. But there is only so much you can do when you have a lot of metal in your way. The problem spot to use them was when I was down in the internet cafe and we had a problem with them in Animator's Palate (when dd came back from the Teen Fury Catamaran and was checking in while we were at dinner).

I'm glad we got them and we had just gotten newer ones (went from Cobra to Motorola because of the fasteners to attach to the clothes were better).

 

[Catnip0113]

All of your responses have been very helpful. I can see where they'd be good for checking in and all. I could use them at home when we go to Six Flags or the mall too. We use the cell phone at the mall if DD and her friend are off shopping without me "stalking them"...