Car GPS tracking on Independence of the Seas!

[Universe93B]

this has come up before for all the electronic/gadget people like me. this is from our balcony on Independence of the Seas, Mar 14-20! Fun to track on your own! GPS has only the 48 state maps loaded, no other extras. amazing ship, only wish i was allowed to go to the engine room and bridge these days :-(

 

[jeffreytg]

I seem to recall ship's position, speed, direction of travel, and wind speed being available on the cabin TV.

[truffles2]

I seem to recall ship's position, speed, direction of travel, and wind speed being available on the cabin TV.

 

Yep!

[Universe93B]

yup, of course it is. RC's navigation channel is great! i was talking about electronic geeks only! haha

[meowmix52]

yup, of course it is. RC's navigation channel is great! i was talking about electronic geeks only! haha

 

I always use my Garmin when I'm on a flight. Roads zip by at 500 miles an hour!

[dracophasma]

I'm going to try this with my garmin on my next trip in May.

[cruzincurt]

You might want to check this site before you turn your GPS on in flight. Not all airlines allow it.

 

http://gpsinformation.net/airgps/airgps.htm

[iamkidc]

GPS has only the 48 state maps loaded, no other extras.

I have an older Magellan Roadmate 2000 with only the 48 US States loaded. Does this mean that the GPS will still work outside of the US, just without the road maps? Very cool. I will have to try it...

 

BTW, I have tried my GPS on a flight at 30,000 ft, and was unable to get a satellite signal.

[Universe93B]

I have an older Magellan Roadmate 2000 with only the 48 US States loaded. Does this mean that the GPS will still work outside of the US, just without the road maps? Very cool. I will have to try it...

 

BTW, I have tried my GPS on a flight at 30,000 ft, and was unable to get a satellite signal.

 

 

yup, i have a magellan roadmate 1200. yours will work fine on the cruises, you just won't see any roads. my magellan also doesn't work on planes and has difficulty finding even 2 satellites, whereas the garmin ones don't have problems with those.

[prc]

I always have a laptop with me, so sometimes I will let Microsoft Streets and Trips run the entire voyage. it gives me a nice "trail" of the sailing.

 

PRC

[LBumb]

cool ideas

[adonisr]

My NUVI has roads for the Virgin Islands.

[lady_cruiser]

yup, of course it is. RC's navigation channel is great! i was talking about electronic geeks only! haha

 

Thanks from one geek to another. I can now make plans on bringing our Tom Tom on the ship instead of leaving it in the trunk of our car all week.

[TPKeller]

I don't want to state the obvious, but just in case some don't realize it, the GPS satellite radio frequencies are "line of sight", meaning that for use on an airplane, you have to pretty much hold the unit up against the window. They don't penetrate solid objects, and especially not the metal shell of an airplane.

 

Theron

[JokerABC]

this is great! i am so mad they don't let you visit the engine room and other behind the scenes "mechanical" stuff. the technology behind these ships are amazing.

[JandBR_PHX]

yup, of course it is. RC's navigation channel is great! i was talking about electronic geeks only! haha

 

I just purchased a Netbook from Dell to take on our next cruise. It has integral GPS receiver. Hopefully, I don't have to pay $$$ to activate the European database!

[Col1874]

I'll have my Nokia phone which has bult in GPS with me and will download the maps of where im going before I leave :)

[snownyet]

this is great! i am so mad they don't let you visit the engine room and other behind the scenes "mechanical" stuff. the technology behind these ships are amazing.

 

 

You can if you befriend the right person! My family was given an awesome below deck tour by the chief engineer of a ship last year. He took us EVERYWHERE, answered any questions, let us take photos of anything we wanted and then went back to his office with him and the captain and had a nice conversation about the ship. We ended up spending nearly every evening having cocktails with the engineering crew, all italian and a great bunch of guys. Ive attached a photo that shows the chief leading us past one of six engines on the ship. They're huge! .

[roysmith99]

this is great! i am so mad they don't let you visit the engine room and other behind the scenes "mechanical" stuff. the technology behind these ships are amazing.

 

We did sail Independence last year when they auctioned off some Bridge and Engine Room visits for charity. We bid for and won the Champagne reception on the Bridge at sail away from Cobh, well worth every penny (sorry, cent).

 

 

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[bajathree]

I tried using mu Nuvi on Indy and couldn't get it to pick up the sats .... Not even on the balcony.

[humperdink]

we are boarding the inde tommorrow and my grandson has just popped in, hes 5 by the way, to ask if he can track our journey. i seem to think that when we were on her last in 2008 they could watch us from home on the computer. is this still possible via web cam or such. can someone please help quickly as i am nearly out of the door. ha ha

[humperdink]

You can if you befriend the right person! My family was given an awesome below deck tour by the chief engineer of a ship last year. He took us EVERYWHERE, answered any questions, let us take photos of anything we wanted and then went back to his office with him and the captain and had a nice conversation about the ship. We ended up spending nearly every evening having cocktails with the engineering crew, all italian and a great bunch of guys. Ive attached a photo that shows the chief leading us past one of six engines on the ship. They're huge! .

i have just read that you can purchase a back ground tour for $150.00 and will be treating myself this week i hope.its in the purchases catalogue.

[setsail]

My son always carries his handheld garmin while cruising. He loads maps before travel so he has all the info tracking the ships movement. Also he does this for going ashore, they use taxis or independents for excursions and he always tracks all of that so he can see at all times where they are, going, and coming back.

 

On the ship he straps the unit to the chair on the balcony. When he gets back home he loads the weeks tracking on his pc and puts it on a disc for future trips.

[M Pierce]

You might want to check this site before you turn your GPS on in flight. Not all airlines allow it.

 

http://gpsinformation.net/airgps/airgps.htm

 

Every airline I've been on has a GPS listed as an "approved electronic device". I had one turned on sitting next to a window on a flight from IAH to MIA. I was told to turn it off per FAA reg. I quickly opended the airline's magazine and showed the flamboyant flight attendant that it was indeed an approved device.

 

He quickly produced an Official FAA Manual (with the page dog-eared) and gayly quipped that he "goes by a different set of rules".

 

He obviously had that discussion before. I turned my GPS off and waited for the return flight to play. Never had another person question it since.

 

One note about a GPS on a ship. I fried one a few years ago when I took it forward near the ray dome. Too much juice coming out of that dome for my little GPS to cope with.

 

[ryano]

i have just read that you can purchase a back ground tour for $150.00 and will be treating myself this week i hope.its in the purchases catalogue.

 

I dont believe that tour goes to the engine room :(