Going on a Cruise

FRS / GMRS Radios
1

The family is going on a cruise and I’d like to buy a 2-way that:

  • can act as a “baby monitor” at night (the kids will have their own room and we want to make sure they don’t cause trouble)
  • can transmit from one end of the ship to the other
  • is compact
  • has reasonable voice quality

Any suggestions which models might fit the bill?

Thanks!

2

The Motorola T9500R would be a good choice for a cruise. It’s relatively compact and has decent voice clarity. You could also go with the Motorola T8500. With the 8500 you would lose a little range, but you gain size as the antenna is around 1" shorter.

Although both of these models have VOX hands-free mode and would technically serve your purpose, I don’t recommend the use of these radios as a “baby monitor”. This type of use could cause lots of transmitting, which could cause interference for others that are using radios as well. You will also see battery life drop, as frequent transmits drain the battery much more quickly than standby time.

3

Bear in mind. Many communications regulations forbid one way communications, as a baby monitor is. This is certainly forbidden by FCC regulations on both the FRS and GMRS services.

On a cruise, in international waters… well that may be a different story, but in the USA… don’t do it.

4

I have been on several cruises. Having a radio is definetly a plus. We used ours quite a bit. They worked great on the ship. We were using 4 Cobra PR 900 dx’s.

I have used them as an emergency baby monitor. I used a rubber band to hold down the PTT button. This was not a great solution but worked for the short time I needed it.

There are some wonderful baby monitors out now. I have one by Angle Care that works great. I haven’t tried one on board a ship though.

By the way, the ship is tall enough that you can usually reach people who may be on the dock or in town.