I have a mentally handicapped son that can get around pretty well but has some limitations. I want him to have as much freedom as possible and one way to do that on an upcoming cruise is to buy and teach him to use a 2-way radio (also he keeps horses on our farm and it would be nice to stay in touch when he is riding and feeding). Can anyone suggest a inexpensive radio that will work well on a cruise ship and maybe in port?
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Walkie Talkies
I use little Motorola radios when I take my daughter skiing. Just like the ones at this link:
http://www.ryda.com.au/Motorola-T5509R-1W-UHF-Handheld-Radio-p/t5509r.htm
Once you get them, write down the frequency, and send an email to the cruise line tell them what you have and what you plan to do with them. If they have a problem with your frequency (i.e. they use the same one) then you can take them to radio shack and have the frequency chip changed. If they are multiple frequency radios or programmable then you can ask the cruise ship for an acceptable freq. As long as you do not interfere with the official communications of the ship, then you’ll be ok.
Going to have to be a very powerful one! Ships are very dense! Lots of steel upon steel to have to get a signal through. I cruise all the time, and I notice the monster walkie talkies the crew uses, because of all the layers in such a small area they must penetrate.
Radio Shack stock some cheap but adequate hand held sets that use the 27 MHz band. They will be fine outdoors and maybe above decks on a cruise ship. Below decks it won’t work, the steel structure is a very effective barrier to radio waves. Be aware that in foreign ports they might not be legal so seek advice before use.
There really isn’t one. NONE of them work well on board ships, and do nothing but irritate the hell out of the crew and other passengers. The best way to keep in touch on board a ship is to make plans to meet at particular times at particular places, such as "1 p.m. at the ice cream machine by the pool", and have everybody wear an accurate watch. Some people leave notes to each other in the cabin.
I doubt you will need anything for in port, assuming that you will be going on shore excursions together or shopping together.
none. many are illegal outside the US and most will interfere with emergency frequencies in ports.
some cruise lines have in house systems that you can rent