YouTube- great resource

[somogirl]

When doing research and trying to decide what you want to see on your trip try using YouTube, just type in the name of the place you want to see and if someone has made a video of it you can see it. I found this to be a great tool for research as it gives you a visual. There are some venues I can't wait to see and others that I will pass on.

[texaridian]

Thanks for passing on this idea. It hadn't occurred to me.

[Dachsie5]

Great for booking excursions also!

[vmom]

Great idea. Are there videos of ships to better decide on which ship to choose?

[Twickenham]

Great idea. Are there videos of ships to better decide on which ship to choose?

 

Tons. I've even put up a couple of the Noordam (and promise, I will put up the rest at some point :rolleyes:;)). Just do a search for whatever ship you're looking at, and chances are there's a video of it on Youtube.

[xxprimrose]

Wonderful. I would never have thought of You Tube as a resource. Thank you for sharing.

Liz

[jnc411]

Thanks for the tip , I had not thought of that.

Cori

[mitsugirly]

I do this all the time to get a "feel" of the ports we may be going to. It gives a visual to the place.

 

Other great sources (other than posting here on cc in the port section) is to look at Trip Advisor. Tons of reviews and some post pictures on there as well. :)

[Wayfairers]

Great tip... thanks for sharing!

[Pushka]

I have found hundreds of you tubes on the cruise ship, travel videos of ports, and even a produced vidoe of the route taken and all the various ports it visits. You can then use a free programme to download the YouTube to your pc and put it into your smartphone to show others. An excellent time waster!

[t60]

snip... You can then use a free programme to download the YouTube to your pc ....snip

 

 

Which program would you suggest?

 

Sandy in Spain

[Pushka]

Which program would you suggest?

 

Sandy in Spain

 

 

I used "You Tube Downloader". Sometimes the files are in FLV format, which you might then need "Free FLV Converter" Just make sure you de-select all the ad-ons (eg "make yahoo my home page") when you install them.

 

They are here on Cnet:

http://download.cnet.com/YouTube-Downloader/3000-2071_4-10647340.html

 

and

http://download.cnet.com/Koyote-Free-FLV-Converter/3000-2194_4-10832044.html

 

I have an excellent HD youtube of Liberty of the Seas pulling out of Port now.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

We use it a lot

[DanJ]

In addition to youtube, I also use Google Earth (the downloadable program, although the online google maps version has improved a lot). I find it very handy for checking out a homeport city that I will be driving in, as the streetview feature is incorporated into it now. Now, instead of reading some directions telling me I need to turn at xyz street, I can go on there and see what that intersection looks like, or what other local landmarks look like as well. Most hotels and restaurants are labelled on there as well, which really helps in planning your pre-cruise stay. And the measurement tool is handy for getting a rough idea how far away things are from each other. Another neat feature is the "turn back the clock" feature, as I call it. You can go back and look at older images to see how an area has changed, which I have found very handy in determining how old certain hotels are.

[mitsugirly]

In addition to youtube, I also use Google Earth (the downloadable program, although the online google maps version has improved a lot). I find it very handy for checking out a homeport city that I will be driving in, as the streetview feature is incorporated into it now. Now, instead of reading some directions telling me I need to turn at xyz street, I can go on there and see what that intersection looks like, or what other local landmarks look like as well. Most hotels and restaurants are labelled on there as well, which really helps in planning your pre-cruise stay. And the measurement tool is handy for getting a rough idea how far away things are from each other. Another neat feature is the "turn back the clock" feature, as I call it. You can go back and look at older images to see how an area has changed, which I have found very handy in determining how old certain hotels are.

 

Oh yes! I use that too. AND also use google maps where you can take the little person icon and put them on the street and look around. I did that with our Cozumel trip coming up to see what the area looks like and how far away 2 different places are we were thinking about going to. They are some pretty neat tools.

 

Where is the "turn back the clock" feature? Is that on google earth? I must have missed this before. :confused:

[DanJ]

Oh yes! I use that too. AND also use google maps where you can take the little person icon and put them on the street and look around. I did that with our Cozumel trip coming up to see what the area looks like and how far away 2 different places are we were thinking about going to. They are some pretty neat tools.

 

Where is the "turn back the clock" feature? Is that on google earth? I must have missed this before. :confused:

 

There's a little blue clock with a green back arrow on it, right around the middle of the row of buttons at the top. You click on that, and a little slider pops up, with the prior dates they have imagery for that area. You just move it back to one of those dates, and it shows the imagery from that date. For example, Port Everglades goes back to Jan 25, 1995 and there's probably 12 or 13 different dates up to March of 2011 you can look at. The streetview feature, where you drag the yellow person down to a street is also on there as well, although those pictures are from a different time than what the satellite pictures are.

[mitsugirly]

There's a little blue clock with a green back arrow on it, right around the middle of the row of buttons at the top. You click on that, and a little slider pops up, with the prior dates they have imagery for that area. You just move it back to one of those dates, and it shows the imagery from that date. For example, Port Everglades goes back to Jan 25, 1995 and there's probably 12 or 13 different dates up to March of 2011 you can look at. The streetview feature, where you drag the yellow person down to a street is also on there as well, although those pictures are from a different time than what the satellite pictures are.

 

 

Neat thank you! I'm off to play

[mitsugirly]

Ok, I'm a little disappointed that all the street view pictures are only the most current pictures. :( I was hoping to see the street view from back in the day.

[DanJ]

Ok, I'm a little disappointed that all the street view pictures are only the most current pictures. :( I was hoping to see the street view from back in the day.

 

Wll, the streetview thing is something they only started doing in the last few years, so they just don't have the database for it. Maybe as time goes on, as they update certain areas, they will keep the old pics available, but that is much more labour intensive, so I don't imagine they will update them as often as the aerial shots. Heck, even the aerials can be quite old in some places, 5+ years for my area for instance. I know my sister in law hopes the Google car drives by again soon, as the day it went by their house, her husband had just broke their garage door, and it's open halfway and all cockeyed LOL.