Detailed Cruise Map

[ski1013]

I'm looking forward to my Alaska Cruise on the Diamond Princess. I would like to be able to see a detailed route for the Vancouver to Ketchikan portion of the trip. Does anybody know of a website with a nautical map that shows the exact course of a Vancouver to Whittier cruise?

[CruisinChris]

The exact course will vary cruise to cruise. However, there are a couple of things I recommend that I think you will enjoy. First start following the Diamond on any live AIS site: googling ship tracker will bring up a number of different ones. THis will allow you view where the ship is in real time and also view her historical track.

 

I also highly recommend the Alaska Cruise Companion that Princess sells in the "gifts" section of their website. I see it has recently been updated but you can probably buy a previous edition or maybe even the current one on Ebay. The book details what you see along the route of the ship mile by mile and include a large pull out map. I hung the map in my stateroom during my last cruise for easy reference. THere is a north bound and southbound edition - make sure you get the right one. I have recommended this to friends and loaned to family and everyone had really enjoyed and felt that the book and map enhanced their experience.

 

Alaska is one of the things Princess does best and the Diamond is a great ship. You will love it and it's wonderful that you have a real interest in where you're going and what you will see.

[beg3yrs]

We took the Diamond last year from Ketchikan to Vancouver.

 

Yes, I must be a geek. I kept a GPS log of the trip. Here are some screen shots of the course. They are in order starting in Ketchikan and ending in Vancouver and should overlap a little bit. They aren't nautical charts but that's the best I can do for you with a post. Ignore the "loop" around Ketchikan - we took a short seaplane flight and captured that on the GPS too.

 

If you are as geeked out as I am, if you want, I can send you the GPX file. You can open a GPX file in Google Earth and see the exact route.

[beg3yrs]

Here's a shot of the whole route on Google Earth. With the GPX file you can see the route very very accurately.

[Host Jazzbeau]

The Alaska Cruise Companion that Princess sells on board was excellent. It comes with two maps: one that is detailed for the topography, and one that highlights where wildlife is usually found.

 

The articles are also very informative. I just wish I had been able to buy it before the cruise so I could read it beforehand [too much to do on the ship!]

[Casey12]

We took the Diamond last year from Ketchikan to Vancouver.

 

Yes, I must be a geek. I kept a GPS log of the trip. Here are some screen shots of the course..

 

Yes, you are a geek! :) Impressive.

[ski1013]

Thanks for your suggestions. I'm looking in to getting the Princess cruise book ahead of time so I can review before I go!

[donaldsc]

The Alaska Cruise Companion that Princess sells on board was excellent. It comes with two maps: one that is detailed for the topography, and one that highlights where wildlife is usually found.

 

The articles are also very informative. I just wish I had been able to buy it before the cruise so I could read it beforehand [too much to do on the ship!]

 

It was available on Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Alaska-Cruise-Companion-Complete-Illustrated/dp/B0083LMCTK.

 

DON

[Host Jazzbeau]

It was available on Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Alaska-Cruise-Companion-Complete-Illustrated/dp/B0083LMCTK.

 

DON

 

That's not the same book. The above book is by Joe Upton and focuses on his life story and the history of Alaska.

 

The Princess book is by Rachel Cartwright and focuses on geography and natural history. It is listed on amazon here (but I wouldn't pay $50 for a used version of an $18.99 book):

http://www.amazon.com/The-Alaska-Cruise-Companion-Naturalists/dp/1889467367/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373954371&sr=8-1&keywords=1889467367

 

The Upton book is good, but I found the Princess/Cartwright book more useful.

[Cruiserkenn]

Both the old edition of the book and the newer one have great paper maps.

 

They are so detailed! And since it is a pull out paper map (huge, two sided)

You can use it anywhere, not just in front of a computer.

 

Using this map, I have often found wildlife before the onboard naturalist!

 

Highly recommended, after 11 Alaska cruises.

 

(If you go with EBay or a used book site, be sure that the pull out paper map is included!)

[JimmyVWine]

If you are interested in a very detailed map that you can pick up before your cruise, this one is very good. It folds out to a huge, long, thin map with lots of detail. http://www.amazon.com/Alaska-Canadas-Inside-Passage-Cruise/dp/0961143800/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_y

[WVBill]

If you have an iPAD with GPS, download iNAVX from the iTunes app store and then pre-load it the maritime charts for Alaska (in-app purchase) and you can follow along as you navigate Alaskan waters. (No data connection needed since the charts are pre-loaded).

Your iPad must be either one with mobile data connectivity (not Wi-fi only) - which means you have built-in GPS or you need to buy an external bluetooth GPS device (XGPS-150 for example).

 

Lots of good info on Maritime charts - including names of Glaciers that you can see from the ship.

[beg3yrs]

If you have an iPAD with GPS, download iNAVX from the iTunes app store and then pre-load it the maritime charts for Alaska (in-app purchase) and you can follow along as you navigate Alaskan waters. (No data connection needed since the charts are pre-loaded).

Your iPad must be either one with mobile data connectivity (not Wi-fi only) - which means you have built-in GPS or you need to buy an external bluetooth GPS device (XGPS-150 for example).

 

Lots of good info on Maritime charts - including names of Glaciers that you can see from the ship.

 

Now you've done it Bill! Those geek hairs on the back of my neck are standing up again.

[JimmyVWine]

Anyone know if my off-the-rack, no special upgrades Garmin GPS will keep up with our Inland Passage route if we suction cup it to our balcony plastic panel?

[Buck-White Boys]

We took the Diamond last year from Ketchikan to Vancouver.

 

Yes, I must be a geek. I kept a GPS log of the trip. Here are some screen shots of the course. They are in order starting in Ketchikan and ending in Vancouver and should overlap a little bit. They aren't nautical charts but that's the best I can do for you with a post. Ignore the "loop" around Ketchikan - we took a short seaplane flight and captured that on the GPS too.

 

If you are as geeked out as I am, if you want, I can send you the GPX file. You can open a GPX file in Google Earth and see the exact route.

 

I've been on the borderline of this level of geekdom for some time and I think this thread may have tipped me over the edge . . .

 

If I missed it, I apologize, but I've got to know how you did that, "Keep a GPS log . . . " Would be thrilled to have maps like that for our trip (Sapphire, Northbound,. Sept 7th).

 

Really appreciate the info, if possible.

[beg3yrs]

Anyone know if my off-the-rack, no special upgrades Garmin GPS will keep up with our Inland Passage route if we suction cup it to our balcony plastic panel?

 

I have and old Garmin 265WT. I keep it suction cupped to the interior of the balcony window. That keeps it away from spray and also allows you to keep it powered up via a USB power supply. GPS reception is marginal as the orientation of the ship itself often keeps the unit from seeing enough satellites for a good lock. However, it is "good enough" for my geekiness. I mostly use the log to geotag all my photos when we get home. I carry the GPS in a backpack with an external battery on shore.

 

I've been on the borderline of this level of geekdom for some time and I think this thread may have tipped me over the edge . . .

 

If I missed it, I apologize, but I've got to know how you did that, "Keep a GPS log . . . " Would be thrilled to have maps like that for our trip (Sapphire, Northbound,. Sept 7th).

 

Really appreciate the info, if possible.

 

You have to get into the internal files of the GPS, not too hard if you're the least bit computer savvy. Plug it in to your computer, open it as a disk drive and drill down to "Garmin/GPX/..."

 

There's a Current.gpx file and a folder called Archive with lots of past history. I use a free program from Garmin called BaseCamp to view the tracks and geotag my photos. You can also see the tracks by importing them directly into Google Earth.

 

Here's a link where you can get all sorts of GPS information: http://home.comcast.net/~ghayman3/garmin.gps/page6.htm#tracklogs

[JimmyVWine]

I have and old Garmin 265WT. I keep it suction cupped to the interior of the balcony window. That keeps it away from spray and also allows you to keep it powered up via a USB power supply. GPS reception is marginal as the orientation of the ship itself often keeps the unit from seeing enough satellites for a good lock. However, it is "good enough" for my geekiness. I mostly use the log to geotag all my photos when we get home. I carry the GPS in a backpack with an external battery on shore.

Thanks. I'll toss mine into my suitcase and give it a try.

[beg3yrs]

Thanks. I'll toss mine into my suitcase and give it a try.

 

If you're just data logging, conserve battery power by setting the screen brightness all the way down. Don't worry, even at zero you can still see it as long as you're in a dim room or deep shade.

[Buck-White Boys]

You have to get into the internal files of the GPS, not too hard if you're the least bit computer savvy. Plug it in to your computer, open it as a disk drive and drill down to "Garmin/GPX/..."

 

There's a Current.gpx file and a folder called Archive with lots of past history. I use a free program from Garmin called BaseCamp to view the tracks and geotag my photos. You can also see the tracks by importing them directly into Google Earth.

 

Here's a link where you can get all sorts of GPS information: http://home.comcast.net/~ghayman3/garmin.gps/page6.htm#tracklogs

 

I think "map geek" just trumped "not a computer geek" and we'll be testing that out before we go. Thanks for the tip! This is a great board/great discussion.

 

Side note - if you're a reader, in James Michener's book "The Drifters" there's a character who puts the latitude/longitude on the door of everywhere he stays. I think I may have over-identified with that character.

[beg3yrs]

Side note - if you're a reader, in James Michener's book "The Drifters" there's a character who puts the latitude/longitude on the door of everywhere he stays. I think I may have over-identified with that character.

 

LOL, that won't work on a cruise ship. At least it wouldn't be correct for long ...

[Jay Smedley]

You can get open Street maps for your Garmin GPS free, download them and put them (filename.img) on an SD card in a Garmin directory. Insert card in gps and you're good to go.

 

http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/