Hi there, Alicia! How exciting to be going on your first Disney Cruise so soon!
You are going to make the BEST memories with your son, and I'd love to help you plan for a successful voyage. Wave phones are no longer a thing, but I've got two cell phone-free kids of my own and I'm happy to share the strategies that we use to keep in touch while onboard. Let's dive in!
To begin, you asked if walkie-talkies are allowed onboard. Two-way radios may be brought onboard and can be utilized on the ship. However, the amount of steel in the infrastructure may cause some "dead zones" that could make this communication method unreliable. I haven't tried walkie-talkies on the ship, but you can definitely experiment with them if you'd like!
The
Disney Cruise Line Navigator app has an in-app chat feature that works on smartphones and some smart devices. Although you mentioned that your son doesn't have a phone, we've had success borrowing an old iPhone from a relative to use on the ship. You could also use an iPod as long as the operating system is iOS 13.0 or higher. My friend and fellow panelist, Amy, shares that she
successfully communicates onboard using iMessage with her son who has an Apple Watch.
If those tech options aren't feasible for you, I have some more recommendations. Most of the time when I am separated from my children, they are either in
Disney's Oceaneer Club or
Edge. We typically have breakfast together, talk about the activities happening throughout the day, and decide on a meeting time and place for our next check-in. Then we repeat this process throughout the day. If something comes up, or I want to suggest an activity to my kids, I will use the stateroom phone or any phone I walk by on the ship (they are all over the place!) and call the youth space where my kids are to check on them and see if they are interested in joining me. Sometimes I'll just walk to the club and ask them myself, but a phone call can save a lot of steps and time depending on where you are onboard.
If your child is older and you are comfortable with giving them some more freedom, you may be satisfied to have a notepad and paper in your stateroom where you can leave notes to one another about your whereabouts. If my kids no longer want to be in the youth spaces onboard and it's not time to meet up yet, they have two options. They either hang out in the stateroom (usually to watch Disney movies and order a Mickey Premium Ice Cream Bar!) OR they stop by the stateroom and leave a note for me about where they are going next.
While the ships are spacious, I've found that my kids like to frequent the same spaces and they are easy to spot. My son will be in Edge, playing basketball on the sports deck, or eating pizza and ice cream by the pool. Basically living his best life. You can see why a Disney Cruise is such a big hit for my family!
I'm wishing you a wonderful sailing, Alicia! Please cruise back to us at planDisney if you have more questions. My pals and I would love to help.
Adrianna