Using GPS on Vista class???

[Suitegurl]

We have used a Garmin 276C on the Maasdam and Zaandam sucessfully, but are concerned that on the Vista class the overhang from the Lido might make picking up the satellites a little more difficult. Especially so if we are in a Suite on one of the upper decks.

Thanks for any input you might have on using GPS onboard in your room!!!!

[jhannah]

The receiver needs to "see" three satellites. The farther south you are, the more problematic an overhang will be. You may need to go topside to get a good signal.

[Kane]

I'm glad to see the the GPS geeks are coming out of the closet ... I use one on every voyage or land-based trip we take. It's a really invaluable tool.

As to the Vista ships ... might be dicey. We were on the 9th deck of the "X" Infinity and an overhang made reception zero from the balcony. Had to go topside to get reception.

I always use Google Earth, Google Maps, and Multimap to get waypoints fixed before departure. It has helped me find my way to hotels, towns, tourist sights, etc. many times. Even saved my butt a couple times. E.g., finding my way back out of the medina in Tunis ... would have been grim to be stuck there and miss the ship.

Interesting GPS note: We were on a trans-Pacific voyage E to W and I took daily fixes. I wanted to fix a waypoint at 180W and stood-by as we approached. Anyway, my GPS (Magellan) went nuts as we crossed and had no idea where it was. I took a fix a 0 E/W when we were in Greenwich on a prior trip, and it had no problem with that.

Next spring we will be on Statendam going W to E. I will see how Magellan deals with 180E to 180W.

Next month will be our first crossing of the equator on a ship (all others by air). We shall see how Magellan deals with 90N to 90S.

Enough geek-speak.:cool:

[kakalina]

This spring we went past Cuba and my GPS showed all major roads, but only worked from topside.
We mostly use it to find our way back to the ship after walking about the ports.

Virgil

[Suitegurl]

Thanks for the info. That's pretty much what we thought, but I was hoping someone else could confirm based on their experience. Since ours is not a hand-held, it would be problematic to go topside.

[Two if by Sea]

INext month will be our first crossing of the equator on a ship (all others by air). We shall see how Magellan deals with 90N to 90S.


That would be zero N to zero S. 90N and 90S are the poles.

[cp556]

Just back from Zuiderdam 17-night Panama Canal cruise.

We had an aft Cat SC suite on Deck 6 ... the decks stack like layers on a wedding cake so we had some balcony with an overhang but lots of balcony with nothing overhead.

DH's handheld Garmin was on 24-7. He tracked our route constantly (rain and sun ... he has a Marine model GPS which is weatherproof) and it worked perfectly.

It also worked fine inside the cabin as long as he kept it by the window.

[jrzebird]

I'm glad to see the the GPS geeks are coming out of the closet ... I use one on every voyage or land-based trip we take. It's a really invaluable tool.

As to the Vista ships ... might be dicey. We were on the 9th deck of the "X" Infinity and an overhang made reception zero from the balcony. Had to go topside to get reception.

I always use Google Earth, Google Maps, and Multimap to get waypoints fixed before departure. It has helped me find my way to hotels, towns, tourist sights, etc. many times. Even saved my butt a couple times. E.g., finding my way back out of the medina in Tunis ... would have been grim to be stuck there and miss the ship.

Interesting GPS note: We were on a trans-Pacific voyage E to W and I took daily fixes. I wanted to fix a waypoint at 180W and stood-by as we approached. Anyway, my GPS (Magellan) went nuts as we crossed and had no idea where it was. I took a fix a 0 E/W when we were in Greenwich on a prior trip, and it had no problem with that.

Next spring we will be on Statendam going W to E. I will see how Magellan deals with 180E to 180W.

Next month will be our first crossing of the equator on a ship (all others by air). We shall see how Magellan deals with 90N to 90S.

Enough geek-speak.:cool:

I think that you just made my ears bleed! :confused: :eek:

Maureen <~~not very techno savvy.

[prescottbob]

Ahoy!

I have the following queries for those in the 'know'. I ask this on a serious note regarding the use of a on-board, portable GPS.

My background : I use a GPS unit every day at work (a little Magellan). In my job as I travel to various building sites here in AZ for site location purposes. The coordinates are used for various agencies / forms for flood control, wastewater, and water resource agencies. I'm also familair with many cars that now use GPS for road directions, etc. (although I still use a basic road maps and road signs both here in the USA and abroad when traveling).

I guess my question is thus: why would one consider packing a portable GPS on a cruise ship? I can only speculate it would be somewhat of a 'hobby' of sorts, useful for hiking abroad or 'nice to have' in navigating foreign roadways. Otherwise, what other uses would be applicable?

Again, I ask this with the greatest of respect and is not one of my typical inane replies to a post. Thanks so much.

Bon Voyage and Good Health!
Bob:)

[Grumpy1]

Ahoy!

I have the following queries for those in the 'know'. I ask this on a serious note regarding the use of a on-board, portable GPS.

My background : I use a GPS unit every day at work (a little Magellan). In my job as I travel to various building sites here in AZ for site location purposes. The coordinates are used for various agencies / forms for flood control, wastewater, and water resource agencies. I'm also familair with many cars that now use GPS for road directions, etc. (although I still use a basic road maps and road signs both here in the USA and abroad when traveling).

I guess my question is thus: why would one consider packing a portable GPS on a cruise ship? I can only speculate it would be somewhat of a 'hobby' of sorts, useful for hiking abroad or 'nice to have' in navigating foreign roadways. Otherwise, what other uses would be applicable?

Again, I ask this with the greatest of respect and is not one of my typical inane replies to a post. Thanks so much.

Bon Voyage and Good Health!
Bob:)Why? Because we CAN!!!:D
I've carried my Garmin V on all of our cruises. It's nice to be able to identify that island that you see off of the side of the ship and when wandering around town in a strange port having an idea of where the ship is in relation to where you are is good. I've also been able to verify that a major change in course was made that the captain wouldn't talk about.

I have an external antenna with a 20 ft cable for my GPS and have taped it to the balcony railing. Seldom have a problem using it in the cabin. The overhangs do cause reception problems as the only satellites you will pick up are the ones low on the horizon.

Jhannah, location on the globe doesn't affect reception. The satellites are on a polar orbit so reception is pretty much the same anywhere in the world.

The equator or 180 degree crossings never confused the Garmin V.

[grsnovi]

I took a Magellan Explorist 210 to Alaska this summer on Oosterdam. There were times when I could see satellites from my verandah on deck 8 but there were other times when I needed to be topside.

[Kane]

2if,

Right you are.

While marking my waypoints, I realized that the voyage is crossing both the equator (to FP) and the 180th meridian (between FP and NZ).

[cp556]

DH is a retired Army Infantry officer, and a map nut. His three GPS's are his electronic maps. He uses them in the car, on the ship ("look, honey, we are at 22.7mph and only 12.3 miles from Cuba...."), and even in airplanes when they don't catch him at it.

That's why he brings one on our cruises....

[Suitegurl]

Why? Because we CAN!!!:D
I've carried my Garmin V on all of our cruises. It's nice to be able to identify that island that you see off of the side of the ship and when wandering around town in a strange port having an idea of where the ship is in relation to where you are is good. I've also been able to verify that a major change in course was made that the captain wouldn't talk about.

I have an external antenna with a 20 ft cable for my GPS and have taped it to the balcony railing. Seldom have a problem using it in the cabin. The overhangs do cause reception problems as the only satellites you will pick up are the ones low on the horizon.



Grumpy1 - I hope we get to cruise on the same ship one day! We too take our GPS on all cruises and tape the antenna to our balcony railing. As you mentioned, many would be surprized to see the actual course. We too have done loops during the night that are never revealed.:rolleyes: That is except the one night we had to fish someone off a disabled boat off the coast of Cuba... Also, it is just plain fun to see how fast we are going and as you said exactly what island we are passing.

[prescottbob]

Ahoy!

Gee, sounds kind of neat. Seems like a useful little gadget to keep one away from the afternoon bingo sessions. Any advise as to an 'inexpensive' model & software for use aboard? I don't think my little orange Magellan (fairly basic model) would 'cut the mustard' on the high seas, as it were.

Thanks for the info. May everyone's next cruise be a GREAT ONE!

Bon Voyage and Good Health!
Bob:)

[grsnovi]

Bob - my handheld eXplorist 210 only cost $100. How old is your hand held?

[BILLP1]

Mine is packed and ready to go on Celebrity Canada cruise this week. Should be interesting as we sail near islands and the New England coastline and the river up to Qubec.

[prescottbob]

Ahoy!

Thanks for the timely reply. Ya know I'll have to look tommorrow. I keep the unit in my 'government truck' (I'm semi-retired now, no longer have a business and only need to work 40 hours or so a week). I think it's
about three years old with a fairly small screen (I need to put my 'cheaters' on to read it). Fairly basic unit with lat/long, directional arrows, compass, etc.

Needlessto say, I'll need to get a personnal one for our next cruise since my agency would 'frown' on borrowing it for an extended vacation such as a cruise.

Thanks again for the quick reply.

Bon Voyage and Good Health!
Bob:)

[DisneyJen]

Bob - my handheld eXplorist 210 only cost $100. How old is your hand held?

We call DH "Inspector Gadget" so this sounds like something he would love!

I took a look at the eXplorist and have a question ... are there certain maps I'd have to buy in addition to what is installed on the device for our Eastern Caribbean cruise?

Thanks so much!

[cp556]

"Inspector Gadget" is a great name ... I will start calling DH that, with his backpack full of electronics.

His GPS is a Garmin 76CS Plus, West Marine model. It can sit out in the rain and it floats if it falls in the water (not much use on the high seas, but useful on our lake....lol). It performed very well during our 17 day cruise....

I bought it on eBay to replace his other Garmin 76 that was stolen from our car:mad: . If I recall, it was a couple of hundred dollars.....

[RevNeal]

I didn't realize that the Vistas were so large that one needed GPS navigation to help one get around deck! :D :D :D ;) :p

[cp556]

I didn't realize that the Vistas were so large that one needed GPS navigation to help one get around deck! :D :D :D ;) :p

The totally sad thing was that after 17 days onboard, we realized we had never sat in at least two of the lounges, and never circumnavigated the complete Promenade Deck.

Maybe we'll need to go back to accomplish those goals ... lol ...

Seriously, for 17 Days the ship was a great size. For 7 days she might be a bit large for my taste. We had an aft suite so we did have a trek to most places (except the Lido Restaurant which was conveniently three decks above us....lol....)

[WARANEEB]

This is a timely post as I am in the process of shopping for a GPS, more for my upcoming cruise than getting around in the car. (I too am always interested in what islands we are passing or where we are in the night!) I was concerned that the models I have been looking at do not have detailed Caribbean maps (towns or water). Pardon my lack of technical knowledge in this regard, but does one download those types of maps or do I have to look for a model that comes pre-loaded?

[RevNeal]

The totally sad thing was that after 17 days onboard, we realized we had never sat in at least two of the lounges, and never circumnavigated the complete Promenade Deck.

Maybe we'll need to go back to accomplish those goals ... lol ...

Yeah, that sounds like a good reason to take another cruise!!!! :)

I make about 4 - 5 orbits of the promenade deck every day while aboard ship. Usually I make them in the morning, and then will do it again -- at least 2 or 3 orbits -- in the afternoon. And, I'll walk it again at night ... just for drill. :) It's one of the best ways to get exercise, and sure beats the gym!

[Kane]

Yeah, that sounds like a good reason to take another cruise!!!! :)

I make about 4 - 5 orbits of the promenade deck every day while aboard ship. Usually I make them in the morning, and then will do it again -- at least 2 or 3 orbits -- in the afternoon. And, I'll walk it again at night ... just for drill. :) It's one of the best ways to get exercise, and sure beats the gym!

If you want to have a sense of accomplishment, do your "orbits" with a GPS. They tell you how far you have walked/run ... of course, with the forward progress of the ship (added on), you can make some (apparent) good distance:)

[satchiesmom]

DH just ordered me a Garmin Streetmap C580 for the car, 'cause I am majorly sense of direction challenged. It's supposed to be portable, will I be able to use this on board ship? After reading some of these posts, I hope I am able to use it at all :confused:.

Susan

[prescottbob]

Ahoy!

So, bottom line time now (enough idle chit-chat). What do CC'ers with prior experience with hand-held GPS's recommend in so far as capabilities, cost, and software? Just a simple question. Thanks in advance.

Bon Voyage and Good Health!
Bob:)

[RevNeal]

If you want to have a sense of accomplishment, do your "orbits" with a GPS. They tell you how far you have walked/run ... of course, with the forward progress of the ship (added on), you can make some (apparent) good distance:)

:) That's a good idea. Maybe I'll try that. :D Of course, what one gains with the forward motion of the ship as one is walking in the direction of motion, one loses when one is walking in reverse of motion. :D

[Comptech]

Revneal,
Unless.... You are at port and the ship is stationary. I suppose you would always be gaining ground while on deck with a moving ship. As the GPS will track how far you have traveled based on the last location of the ship. So if you are walking the ship I don't think it would give you an accurate distance measurement as it would actually be tracking the distance the ship has traveled not you!!!

:) That's a good idea. Maybe I'll try that. :D Of course, what one gains with the forward motion of the ship as one is walking in the direction of motion, one loses when one is walking in reverse of motion. :D

[RevNeal]

Revneal,
Unless.... You are at port and the ship is stationary. I suppose you would always be gaining ground while on deck with a moving ship. As the GPS will track how far you have traveled based on the last location of the ship. So if you are walking the ship I don't think it would give you an accurate distance measurement as it would actually be tracking the distance the ship has traveled not you!!!

LOL ... I'm sure, if I'm doing laps of the lower promenade on a moving ship, it will track me making a funny looping motion. As I walk in the direction of the ship's motion I'll be going a little faster than the ship, and when I cross over to walk against the direction of the ship's motion I'll be going a little slower than the ship! :D

[grsnovi]

... are there certain maps I'd have to buy in addition to what is installed on the device for our Eastern Caribbean cruise?

I'm sorry that I can't answer your question with 100% certainty. My eXplorist was stock and pre-loaded with North America. All of Alaska was there. I haven't had it in the Caribbean. I would suspect there is a Magellan message board with eXplorist geeks that could definitively answer your question.

I do know that I can upload more maps (detailed topos for example) to the 210 however I haven't done that either.

- Gary

[grsnovi]

...Ya know I'll have to look tommorrow.

Bob - the reason I asked is that the newer ones have 14 parallel channels, supported by WAAS and EGNOS Satellite-Based Augmentation Systems for fast signal acquisition, minimal signal loss and reliable accuracy to within 3 meters. Magellan calls this "TrueFix" but any hand-held that has access to the WAAS or EGNOS satellites will be better than older units which don't.

[grsnovi]

...but does one download those types of maps or do I have to look for a model that comes pre-loaded?

As I replied above, I purchased my eXplorist on-line for about $100. It came stock and loaded with North America. I've had it in Alaska and the islands and waterways were there. I haven't been back east with it (and neglected to take it to Hawaii with me earlier this month).

The devices support uploading and the model I purchased does provide that ability. I don't know if there are detailed uploads available for this particular unit that cover the Caribbean. I suspect that poking around on the websites of the various suppliers (Magellan and Garmin) would yield a message board similar to this loaded with techno-geeks who most certainly could answer your question.

[lavigne101]

We alwasy take our GPS to go GEOCaching on the islands. Anyone ever done this? Short and sweet...treasuring hunting using your GPS. When you find the treasure you take somthing out of the container and then leave somthing for another person to find. Sometimes you just sign a paper hidden in a film container. Check out www.geocaching.com (http://www.geocaching.com) and see for yourselves. There are over 475000 teasures hiden all over the world. We have found them in Bahamas, St Thomas, St. Maartin and the Grand Cayman. Lots of fun finding the exact spot..we love it more than the kids do. Have fun. Erin.

[prescottbob]

Ahoy!

I actually needed to use the Magellan GPS this A.M. at a couple of building sites and it's a explorist 100 (basic model, no maps, etc). I didn't know, but will 'nose around' on the internet for availabilty of nautical maps, europe/asia, etc. that would be available to download and transfer. Will look at the Garmin & Magellan sites, message boards and product reviews prior to purchase. I'm in no big rush. Sadly our next cruise is 3/08.

Appreciate the replies.

Bon Voyage and Good Health!
Bob :)

[grsnovi]

Hi Bob,

The 210 is essentially the same form-factor but it has more memory and a (special water-proof) usb connection on the back. It also supports B&W imaging and a menu system on screen. The map of North America doesn't actually have my street on it, but it has the main streets and when I'm at home, I can zoom in and see "white space" between my location and the nearest streets. I know that I can load topographic maps (and portions of topos as memory allows). I don't do that much wilderness hiking (or geocaching) so I may or may not ever need to - but I got the 210 because it supported import.

[WARANEEB]

Suitegurl and everyone else on this post who has used GPS on board - did you have to download or purchase special maps in order for your Garmin or other GPS device to enable it to work in the Caribbean or were you able to use the device as purchased?

[grsnovi]

A GPS will "work" by reporting your lat/long if it has no built-in mapping ability and even if it has built-in maps it should still report lat/long. For example, I would expect mine to work in Europe or Africa and give me basic lat/long even if I had not loaded regional maps.

[WARANEEB]

But in that case it would not identify islands and other points of reference other points of reference, correct?

[grsnovi]

That is correct.

The original GPS concept was to provide highly accurate position data to individuals who already had highly detailed (paper) maps/charts.

As technology advanced it became logical to add the entire digital map database to the device which had gotten quite small and had a low-powered screen with high enough resolution to support a map.

The earliest consumer application was street/route finding for cars in major metro areas.

Smaller/cheaper memory allowed higher resolution maps (or larger geographic areas or both).

Information devices using GPS technology can now tell you where to take your dry cleaning, get a martini or find a comedy club. They can also track your position on a topo map or nautical chart to a high degree of accuracy (although the water positioning is usually easier due to the fact that "seeing" the satellites when you're in a deep canyon in the woods someplace is often impossible).

Assuming you had a reasonable map using a GPS that only provided lat/long would still tell you where you are (assuming you could interpolate the supplied data correctly).

[Grumpy1]

My Garmin V, WAAS enabled, came with a map of the world. Detail is very limited but it will identify most land masses and some cities and roads in foreign countries. There are map databases available for a fee (expensive) that can be loaded in to give street level detail. I have South Florida loaded in mine and can get turn by turn directions. The Garmin V is obsolete now, but it does everything I need a GPS to do.

[Grumpy1]

LOL ... I'm sure, if I'm doing laps of the lower promenade on a moving ship, it will track me making a funny looping motion. As I walk in the direction of the ship's motion I'll be going a little faster than the ship, and when I cross over to walk against the direction of the ship's motion I'll be going a little slower than the ship! :D

Sorry, Rev, it will not show any looping motion unless your walking speed is faster than the ships speed, which would seldom happen.. The GPS only knows where it is in relation to the earth surface. If, for instance, the ship were on a due east heading at 15 knots and you were walking toward the bow on the starboard side at 3 knots, the "breadcrumb trail" on the GPS would show a steady progression to the East and the display would show a speed of 18 knots. When you cross over at the bow, the track will show a little diagonal offset to the north which is the resultant of the ships forward motion and your sideways motion. As you walk to the stern of the ship the track will continue due east. The display will show a speed of 12 knots. The track will look something like this _ _ _ /----\_ _ _ no loops.

[Bill S]

I always take by GPS with me on cruises! My current travel model is a Garmin eTrex Vista C (the "C" means color). It has detailed street mapping capability for North America and like Grumpy1's Garmin, limited detail elsewhere, but major cities world wide are on it as well as major highways. It also provides lat/long data and elevation and barometric pressure. It runs on two AA batteries and has an alarm clock function (which came in handy when I forgot to pack our alarm clock for our last cruise).

I am a gadget freak and my friends ask me if I am wearing my Batman utility belt! :D

I use the GPS to check speed and position and to also create waypoints of our track and also wherever our ship is docked or anchored while in port. That way, if we go off on our own at a port, I know we will always be able to find our way back to the ship.

I know of people who, when visiting a new city, will take a Grayline tour or a HO/HO bus and mark sights/places that they want to see on their own later on.

My experience is that reception has always been quicker/best up top, out in the open. Some verandahs have been better than others, but up top is best.

Back a few cruises ago, I was outside by the aft pool getting a "fix" and a fellow with a GPS receive walked up and we started chatting and comparing. He had a Magellan. It turned out that he was an engineer at Magellan-interesting man!

As they say on geocaching.com, with one GPS receiver, you know exactly where you are, but with two receivers, you're never quite sure.

I also have a Garmin C550 for the car and love it-extremely user friendly.

[grsnovi]

You know, the battery question is one of the things that helped me decide on the eXplorist 210. The ability to carry plain ol' AA's as spares rather than having a proprietary/rechargable (where do you plug in after five days in woods?).

[Kane]

...clip...
Interesting GPS note: We were on a trans-Pacific voyage E to W and I took daily fixes. I wanted to fix a waypoint at 180W and stood-by as we approached. Anyway, my GPS (Magellan) went nuts as we crossed and had no idea where it was. I took a fix a 0 E/W when we were in Greenwich on a prior trip, and it had no problem with that.

Next spring we will be on Statendam going W to E. I will see how Magellan deals with 180E to 180W.

Next month will be our first crossing of the equator on a ship (all others by air). We shall see how Magellan deals with 0N to 0S.

Enough geek-speak.:cool:

Just a follow-up on what the GPS happenings were on another recent voyage:

The crossing of the equator was handled by Magellan just fine. The skipper announced the crossing over the PA, and it was within a minute of the handheld (the pollywog/shellback ceremony was held in the morning, a few hours earlier).

The crossing of the 180th meridian from East to West was a repeat performance ... my Magellan was not able to handle it. It completely lost it again and started re-booting itself continuously. I'm curious whether a Garmin can handle it.

There were a bunch of folks on the after deck for the occasion ... one guy had a marine chart and was manually plotting the course, with an audience of about 20 folks. Before the crossing, I quietly peeked in and saw he also had a Magellan. At the crossing, while my GPS went nuts, the discussion around the chart got a bit animated ... I can only wonder what happened:)

We're to be on the Statendam in April, crossing the 180th meridian again, but from West to East. I shall see what happens ... no miracles expected.

Concluding geek-note: I did the water-down-the-drain experiment and the rotation did, in fact, reverse south of the equator (within an hour of crossing). Tip - for those who may try this, observation will not be possible using the "vacuum-toilets" ... water just goes straight down.:)