Messaging on the App

[Johnstewarth]

Hello!

We're on Oasis November 21 and are trying to decide how to communicate among the members of our large party. There are eleven of us and all except my daughter have phones. We will get a walkie-talkie to use with our daughter for sure, but I'm wondering how well the messaging works on the app. If it works well, it would make sense for us all to pay the $1.99/person/day so we don't have to carry a walkie. We went on a DCL cruise a couple years ago and found their messaging to be slow/have delays so that we wouldn't receive a message sometimes until like an hour after someone had sent it. What is your experience with the messaging function--did it work well for you, or would anyone recommend us getting walkie talkies for your group instead?

Thanks for input!

[Matt]

I would recommend the app over walkie talkies. First, walkie talkies are annoying to other guests.  But equally importantly, they don't work well with the metal ship structure and other interference.

The app chat works well, it just costs money.

[Vacation Crazy]

Is there a push notification on the new chat app?  When we used the old messaging app having no push notification was such a downfall. 

[twangster]

1 hour ago, Vacation Crazy said:

Is there a push notification on the new chat app?  When we used the old messaging app having no push notification was such a downfall. 

Yes, but as with any 3rd party app that isn't a native part of operating system the app is at the mercy of the wifi connection to the ship and how the operating system manages that connection.  Some device operating systems reduce wifi use for 3rd party apps when locked to conserve battery while native apps like Apple iMessage continue to remain connected when locked.  That can limit or change app notifications.

[AndrewB]

I am wondering if the messaging app actually works on the Oasis? If so, has that been recent experience? Any idea on cost?

Thanks

[Bkjcruiser]

Has anyone found a fix for the lack of push notifications on the royal app messaging? 3 of the 4 in our group on harmony currently have it working fine on iPhone Xs or older (my parents insist on keeping some real ancient ones). My wife has an iPhone 12 and gets no notifications with messages.  I don’t know if it’s a battery saving setting that’s specific to the phone or what. All notification settings seem correct to allow for it. It makes it fairly useless for her to have to remember to frequently check for messages
 

Thanks in advance.

[Seafarer]

On our last cruise, I picked up the phone one late afternoon in our stateroom and called my son in his stateroom. When he answered, we laughed at the "20th century technology" we were using.  Not sure if you can leave a voicemail , but if you can, you have an economical option at your disposal.

For the six of us, we would meet for breakfast at WJ around 9 am or so. Most of the time, we'd go our separate ways and agree to meet back for dinner at WJ at a specified time. Often we'd run into each other on the ship or on Coco Cay. For my wife and I, we wanted our adult kids to enjoy themselves with all of the activities afforded to them.

Good luck with the 11 of you.

[Heymarco]

It’s not great but sure beats wondering around a large ship looking for people or using Walkie-Talkies. As others have suggested, please ask party to check app frequently for best results.

[MattG]

27 minutes ago, Heymarco said:

It’s not great but sure beats wondering around a large ship looking for people or using Walkie-Talkies. As others have suggested, please ask party to check app frequently for best results.

This was the most consistent thing for us - sometimes push notifications worked, sometimes not. But checking the app for messages once an hour was the most consistent way to pass thoughts.