Came across this and thought it was worth sharing:

http://allthingscruise.com/cruise-e-cards/

They're free online postcards that let you tell friends and family how to reach you on your cruise. You just pick the cruise line, add some info. about the ship, sail date, and cabin number and it sends a link so people know how to reach you in an emergency.

The only negative is you can't enter several e-mail addresses at once on one screen. However, there is a way to "send again" and not have to retype the text of the post card if you want to send info. to multiple people.

I am sorry, but why can't you send an e-mail?

And by the way, according to this website, they can only use a credit card calling you, not just dial from home!

You could, but you'd need to look up the contact info. yourself (which isn't always easy to find on cruise line web sites).

Why bother? Have them send you email. You check your email daily on the ship and that's the end of it. If you are away at sea, so what if you get the emergency call? You can't do anything about it any way as you can't leave the ship until the next port of call. So why worry about it? Make a call at port if you must.

Wow. This is the last post I thought would generate any negativity. I just wanted to share info. about a free, minor cruise tool that I found useful which I thought others would as well.

Anyway, Eschew, if you check your e-mail onboard every day, I'm sure that works fine for you. But there are people who go on cruises avoid tasks like checking e-mail. Personally, I've never checked e-mail onboard--that's not why I go on vacation. I suspect I'm not the only one who feels that way.

But there are unlikely--but possible--emergency situations where I would want to be contacted if they happened. I know my colleagues appreciate knowing that can get in touch with me if they should need me to make a decision on something (and yes, I can do that from the ship). My family certainly appreciates knowing they can reach me as well.

Triathlete, no need to be offended. You posted a piece of information, thank you, now we are entitled to comments. This is not an advertising board - this is a E-place for people to exchange opinions. Or should I say E-pinions?

Everything has alternatives. We are discussing them, so others who read this later, make their own decisions.

You're right, Dayenu. Thanks.

I just give my family my TA's phone number or the phone numbers provided by the cruiseline in my pre-cruise documents. Then again, I've also told them not to call me in an emergency as there is probably nothing I could do except worry; I'll find out what happened when I get home.

Thanks for posting, I never knew something like this existed!

Like others I also do not want anyone contacting me with bad news.

My sister contacted me in Cancun one year to tell me that my brother just died tragically..... I had 4 days left of my holidays...guess how I felt .?

But I am glad you posted because I just learned that such a site exists ..so once again Thanks

Thanks for the link, tri

If it's not too late, jmvp, my condolences about your brother.

If you look at the other treads, I am a big advocate of turnng off cell phones emails etc while you are away.

Why is there a need to stay conencted? Why do they have to contact you? What can you do if there is an emergency at home? You can't just jump off the boat and go home. So sit back, relax, lost conatct with the outside world for the duration and deal with whatever happens after the trip is over. It s not the ned of the world.

Did you know that if they conatct you by phone to the ship, it is via a satellite phone and the cost is almost $9 a minute that they will charge you?

They call the ship, the ship put them on hold, page the passenger, by the time you get on the phone, it's 20 minutes and $180 later ... before a word is uttered.

If not, they leave you a message. The ship get in touch with you, tell you about the emergency. You are in the middle of nowhere. You can't do anything about it. You just get the bad news and worried sick for the rest of teh trip. Hmm ....

When I go away, I tell people that they will not be able to contact me as I am going to the "wilderness" in the middle of nowhere. I told them to send me a text message to my cell phone and I will turn on my phone on this time and this date to check for messages. If it is important, I'll call them back.

There is no need to stay in touch and my last post does not mean to be negative. If you want to send to multiple people, you can just go the e-card site, copy the link for the instructions and paste into your own email.

E: I was probably just projecting--sometimes hard to read tone. Don't take it to heart.