Thanks to the wonderful world of technology it is incredibly easy for us to keep connected with family and friends back home, whilst we cruise. Our mobile telephones can pick up the MCP signal whilst we are at sea, there is the option of on board Wi-Fi and if they happened to fail you can call directly from the ship.

These options can run pretty expensive, even the on board Wi-Fi is still quite costly but it’s nice to know all three are there for us should we need or wish to use them. I must have access to the internet when I cruise, how do I blog without it? But I can quite happily go without a cell phone. I say that yet I always seem to run up a phone bill that’s sky high! I never learn to just wait until we get ashore.

If we go back however to the title of today’s blog “On Board Communication” I think we should focus on just that. We have plenty of options for ringing home but what about getting in touch with someone else who is also on the ship?

Firstly you have the trusty ships telephone. This is great if one of you is in a specific area on board and the other person knows you will be there. Simply dial a few numbers and get connected. It’s good for ringing your cabin too and saves rushing around if you need to just let someone know you are running late.

Obviously the above is only good if you know exactly where the other person is, but when it comes to general communication on board I have come across a lot of passengers who use walkie-talkies, and what a great idea they are! You need to have a decent enough set in order for them to keep a good signal but they are such an easy way of tracking each other down if you become separated. Some even take them ashore! It can be easy to lose one another especially on a larger vessel but the good old walkie-talkie can literally re-unite you in a matter of minutes. Unless of course losing the other half was your plan all along! 😉

This really is probably the easiest and cheapest way (it’s free!) to stay connected to each other whilst on board. I keep saying that I must get a set because every time my friend and I lose one another we always seem to ring or text. Usually our phones are on the MCP signal at the time which is not ideal, but if you can’t find each other you don’t really have a lot of choice. We could spend an hour searching the obvious haunts all the while passing each other as we go and still being no further forward or we could send a quick, but expensive text. The walkie-talkie option would get rid of the cost and the hassle.

People I have found with them tell me they are the best things they have ever purchased for a cruise and that they would be lost without them, literally!  They only use them when needed so they don’t run the batteries down too fast and so they don’t get on other people’s nerves if the area they are in is quite. I have even met families who use them as it can be a great way to keep in touch with the kids whilst they are having the time of their lives in the kids clubs.

Do you have any other tips for staying connected on board?

Author: Danielle