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Maps & information about ports of call - Does Seabourn provide?


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Yes, but I found last year that Seabourn's Destination experts for the South China Sea were not very good in terms of knowledge and hints. They do have maps, but again, not the best. You can get by with what they have, but.......

 

I always do my own research ahead of time.

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On most cruises they provide in your suite a pocket travel guide (Berlitz ?) to the general area that you're cruising. Unfortunately it doesn't always cover all of the ports that you're visiting.

The Herald has details of the next day's port, usually a couple of paragraphs. I suspect the information is taken from Wikipedia or similar.

Probably not a helpful answer, so I'll agree with DUHCAR. Best to do your own research beforehand.

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You can pre-load and save local maps on your smartphone in Google Maps. The maps will work with phone's GPS (no cellular connectivity required), though if you want directions, more info on places etc. you'll need a data source (wifi or local/roaming cell/data access).

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At quite a few ports they will also have a local person come aboard for a few hours in the morning. They would quite often have some small maps. Admittedly some local people were more helpful then others. But even so I found it useful to do some research prior so I could ask about how to get to places that interested me. This also helped them guide me to similar places of interest.

 

As suggested before downloading some maps is a good idea. Especially doing so prior, as then you can check if they will work offline.

 

Julie

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You can pre-load and save local maps on your smartphone in Google Maps. The maps will work with phone's GPS (no cellular connectivity required), though if you want directions, more info on places etc. you'll need a data source (wifi or local/roaming cell/data access).

 

While this may be generally accurate, universally it's wrong. Google maps especially were horrid in Japan. You couldn't even download for the areas we were in. So download before you go - you may find you need a different app.

 

I will say - trust the local port representatives over the SB square people.

 

As an aside - why do phones with a discrete GPS system need data to help you navigate a map you've already downloaded?

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While this may be generally accurate, universally it's wrong. Google maps especially were horrid in Japan. You couldn't even download for the areas we were in. So download before you go - you may find you need a different app.

 

I will say - trust the local port representatives over the SB square people.

 

As an aside - why do phones with a discrete GPS system need data to help you navigate a map you've already downloaded?

Yes absolutely assume that you download the maps before you go to make sure they're on your device.

 

What's downloaded in advance are just the map images which can sync with the GPS. Navigation requires knowing the start and end point to create directions. Obviously there are infinite number of start - end possibilities. That's just not something that could be downloaded in advance and would take an enormous amount of storage if you could do so.

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Yet standalone GPS units have been doing that for decades.

Sure, on a device with a full OS, processor and storage designed exclusively for that purpose. Even then they are limited to the geographic maps loaded on them and AFAIA there aren't any GPS units that have worldwide mapping. OTOH, Google Maps is just a single app among many running on top of an OS designed for other/multiple purposes, placed on devices of with shared (sometimes limited) storage and processing capacities.

 

I'm no techie but I suppose GM could be coded to handle offline navigation (assuming adequate storage availability), but my guess is it would become a fairly large, resource intensive app. And even though it's all under Google (Android side anyway), there would probably be complex issues fully integrating it with an OS and devices designed for significant other primary uses.

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Most map apps which allow you to download the maps prior and use the app “offline”, do not require a data connection to use the navigation facility. Where they do need a data connection is to get additional info on a place as most apps go and get this info from sources such as Wikipedia in real time.

 

One of the apps I use “offline” is Pocket Earth.

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I recently returned from a cruise on the Ovation and found the people in Seabourn Square generally unhelpful with port information. Even on the morning when arrviing, they often did not know which cruise terminal we were docked in or where the shuttle bus would drop us off. In fact, on the first morning, they actually gave us wrong information as to where the shuttle bus would drop us off, which was an issue for us because we needed to get to a rental car office. Luckily, we were still able to walk, although it was a longer walk. Also, the small maps available at Seabourn Square were generally not very detailed. However, at least once, one of the women at Seabourn Square went onto Google Maps for us and printed the page. While the people at Seabourn Square are usually helpful, I would do my own advance research, to the extent possible, and rely on the local guides with the more detailed maps.

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