What is the best 2 way radios to use on a cruise ship?

Since I'm taking my whole family, I realized that I am in need of 4 radios that will work pretty well all over a cruise ship. I've gone to forums that specialize in 2 way radios and, man, all they do is argue about who has the best radio. I did learn that I need one with a lot of channels with lots, like over 100, side channels per channel. Makes sense to me if I'm going to be on a ship with a lot of people using the same frequencies. I don't need a lady calling me to come wipe her ass when I want another drink or am trying to find my 13 year old.

I don't completely understand all the different letters that designate the bands, but it seems that most can't even agree on that either. One guy told me that Midland GXT1000XP4 radios would work great and are even water resistant. Then several got into heated debates about whether they would work all over a ship. Some say, "no problem, will work GREAT". Others say, you won't get any signal if they are more than a few floors from you. I honestly do NOT know and really don't want to spend the next 5 days in a mad dash trying to get 4 of the right radios. I've many other things to do.

One of which is trying to figure out what to do about the shoulder surgery I just had a week ago and still have a 23cm tear in my shoulder that the surgeon opted not to fix because the muscles around the shoulder seem strong and stable. I'm not exactly comfortable with that explanation. Any physicians here? I have pictures (not gross looking ones) clearly showing the "severe" tear that has been left. I'm also not too keen on being told that I absolutely must wear this big immobilizing sling for at least another month. The surgeon looked like I just took a dump in his office when I told him that "I wore it home" when he asked how much I've been in my sling/harness.

Anyway, any help on deciding on some 2 way radios to use on a cruise ship would be much appreciated!

Dargo here's the scoop on the little frs radios you may have some coverage issues as these radios are real low power, 500mw seems to stick in my head. they how ever are uhf like 440mhz the super short 70 mm wave length will get out through windows real nice and with line of site we have used them successfuly on forward operating bases in iraq. the draw back is on a cruse ship there is no line of site and the low power is likely to have issues with walls i would not spend big bucks on them but i would say lots of channels is a good thing as this is likely the norm for others on a boat like this the other option get all members a ham lisense and use some high power uhf puxing radios.

dds said:

... the other option get all members a ham lisense and use some high power uhf puxing radios.

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I've been told twice that outside of US waters no license is required and Mexico (closest land mass we will pass) ignores all the chatter from cruise ships.

Before spending a dime, check with the cruise line to determine what is permitted onboard their ships. Some may permit use on certain frequencies at certain power levels, others may have different rules. I took a cruise where ham radios were prohibited, and heard of other lines that welcomed amateur radio enthusiasts, and even gave tours of the radio room for them.

Hate to see you spend money on something you may not be able to use.

A lot of the FRS now have GMRS. I'd think that if you couldn't get the range needed in FRS mode that you probably would if you switched to GMRS.

I've seen some (Uniden?) radios with a few output power settings so you could change it from probably .5W to 2.5W.

Whichever you pick, I'd consider getting these 2 options. Waterproof and selectable call tones. With the latter, you can select whom you're trying to reach and ping their radio instead of all radios on that code.

Something like one of these (except these don't have the variable output power setting)
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Uniden-GMR-5099-2CKHS-Submersible-Carabiners/dp/B007B5ZGTM/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1355837549&sr=1-4&keywords=uniden+frs+radio"]Amazon.com: Uniden GMR 5099-2CKHS Submersible GMRS/FRS Two-Way Radio with Charging Kit, 2 Vox Headsets and 2 Carabiners: Electronics[/ame]

bczoom said:

A lot of the FRS now have GMRS. I'd think that if you couldn't get the range needed in FRS mode that you probably would if you switched to GMRS.

I've seen some (Uniden?) radios with a few output power settings so you could change it from probably .5W to 2.5W.

Whichever you pick, I'd consider getting these 2 options. Waterproof and selectable call tones. With the latter, you can select whom you're trying to reach and ping their radio instead of all radios on that code.

Something like one of these (except these don't have the variable output power setting)
Amazon.com: Uniden GMR 5099-2CKHS Submersible GMRS/FRS Two-Way Radio with Charging Kit, 2 Vox Headsets and 2 Carabiners: Electronics

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Thanks. I bought a set last night that looks to have similar capabilities to those, but go up to 5 watts and had a total combination of 7100 channels. Here is a link to them Midland GXT1000PVR I also am borrowing a pair of 4 watt UHF radios from a friend who works at a large hotel and works in maintenance. He got permission because they are slowly upgrading to the newer series that have 5 watts. That way I didn't have to buy them UHF radio

Those should do it.

For some reason, I don't see a lot of people using these on cruise ships so channels should be open. They were used a LOT in places like Disney World years ago but many now just use cell phones.

A suggestion - For your channel and code, use a series of numbers everyone in the family knows instead of some random setting. That way, if someone accidentally changes the code on their radio, they can easily remember what to set it back to. We like to use the birth month and day of our youngest. Older siblings know the birth date of the youngest but when you have a young kid, they may not know the birthday of the oldest. E.g. birthday is October 15. Set radio to channel 10, code 15.

JEV said:

Before spending a dime, check with the cruise line to determine what is permitted onboard their ships. Some may permit use on certain frequencies at certain power levels, others may have different rules. I took a cruise where ham radios were prohibited, and heard of other lines that welcomed amateur radio enthusiasts, and even gave tours of the radio room for them.

Hate to see you spend money on something you may not be able to use.

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I did actually call and speak to a real person to make sure. Don't laugh , but since I'm paying for 2 suites, we are going on a Carnival cruise. I have taken one previous Carnival cruise and it was earlier this year. I took my wife on one. However, I rented the "Captian's Suite" for the special occasion of our 25th Anniversary. Obviously, the room was extremely nice and, perhaps best of all, we bypassed the 2000-3000 people waiting to check in and were personally checked in by the captain and escorted by security to our room. (Some in that regular line didn't get on the boat for over 2 hours! I'll miss that part).

Anyway, as long as I'm not bringing a big ham radio base station requiring an external antenna mounted on our balcony, they don't care what radio I'm using. Although I do have radios purchased, but not enough for everyone to have one, a local communications store owner is 'renting' me enough for all to have one of his newest, most powerful digital 2-way radios. They are 5 watt, apparently cover more bands than I've ever heard of, and we are sort of doing him a field test. They are 'military grade', so he assures me they are extremely durable (but please don't drop on overboard) and I should be able to communicate to anyone on the ship or even from the ship to any place my wife may want to get off at a port where I don't want to be bumped around wearing this sling. I'll just say he's making me an offer I can't refuse and he's having his people program all of the ones we will be using to a really odd channel and then one of the several hundred or so sub-channels to that channel.

If they work as advertised, I'll gladly spread the word here, but I have a feeling they will be so expensive that I doubt anyone here (including me for certain) wouldn't have a practical use for them.

OLYMPIA P324 Two Way Radio from Amazon

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/OLYMPIA-P324-Two-Way-Radio/dp/B001IE3CIO/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top"]Amazon.com : OLYMPIA P324 Two Way Radio : Frs Two Way Radios : GPS & Navigation[/ame]


I ordered these radios specifically for use on a cruise ship. Over the last 3 years, I had previously used 2 other radios that I returned because they didn't work well on the ship. The first pair were 25 mile walkie-talkies (Motorola). Basically useless on the ship except on the outer decks. The second pair was a set that was 36 mile but included some VHF frequencies(Midland GMRS ~$90). They were better and worked well on the outer decks but didn't work from outer deck 9 to a balcony cabin on Deck 5 if we were more than 1/2 the ship away. Third time was the charm. This set of radios worked very well. I set them on 1 watt and had one issue which was corrected by setting to 4 watts. These UHF radios were perfect for the cruise ship. I got the stubby antennas as well and used them so I assume that using the larger antennas that come with the radio would have just made them better. The stubby antennas let the radio fit in a pocket or on the belt comfortably. I will keep these for future use on cruises.

The radios are easy to use after you read the manual. There at a couple of buttons that are dual function based on how long they are pressed. Once you figure that out and how you want them set they are easy to use. I didn't have a need to change any of the base frequencies yet as the 10 that were programmed in worked fine. I'll enter an update if I do try to change them but can't image I'll do that anytime soon.

There was a question about being able to hear these when they are charging. My experience was if I had them powered on and put them in the charger I was able to hear a call come in while charging. I think one time I put them in the charger then turned them on but I don't remember getting any calls so that may or may not work. They did receive a transmission if turned on before setting them in the charger. You need to be careful when putting them in the charger. There is a little tab of plastic that sticks out and must align to the groove on the side of the radio.

All in all very satisfied for the single purpose of keeping track of the family on a cruise ship. We didn't hear anyone else on the radio and no one from the ship came and asked us not to use them.

jon welcome to the forums.

I've been looking for a FRS that would be similar to the high quality Midland unit that was discontinued about 2 years ago. The radio you linked my be my new choice!!!

BUT, back to Dargo's question and using it on a cruise ship, I have to wonder if any of the easy to purchase radios will work on all ships. Some ships are absolute giants and I question if they will work well. Some are a bit older designs and they probably will work on those ships. Obviously you had good results. So maybe my fear is unfounded.

Thats a pretty reasonable price too, from what I found.