Caribbean Maps and POIs
 |
    17 years
|
My wife, two sons, and I may be taking a Caribbean cruise next year. I was thinking that it might be handy to bring along either a GPS or a GPS phone for that trip. Needless to say, my StreetPilot 2730 is a little bit big and cumbersome for something like that. On the other hand, my wife's Garmin Nuvi 500, my Pharos GPS Phone 600, or Garmin Nuvifone G60 may be better suited for this due to their size. However, if I recall correctly, additional maps cannot be loaded onto the Nuvifone G60, so that suddenly narrows it to the Pharos GPS Phone 600 or Garmin Nuvi 500. Anyway, I am curious of anybody here has brought GPS along on a Caribbean and, if so, was it helpful? Are maps of the Caribbean readily available? Also, for those that have cruised that area, would you suggest the Pharos GPS Phone 600 or Garmin Nuvi 500 for that trip. and why? Right now I am leaning towards the Pharos GPS Phone 600, that is assuming that I can get a Garmin Mobile XT card of the Caribbean. The small size would be nice. On the other hand, the Garmin Nuvi 500 is water resistant. I am still researching to see what areas in the Caribbean GSM cell phone will work in. As a practical matter, we would likely go without traditional cell phones will on the cruise ship and visiting islands and possibly bring along a couple of Nextels that have off-network Direct Talk.
.
Wow. That post is difficult to read.
Here's a site with excellent Garmin compatible maps of the Caribbean.
http://rwsmaps.griffel.se/
Here's another site with worldwide routable maps.
http://garmin.na1400.info/routable.php
Caribbean Maps and POIs
Thank you for the URLs, they look great!
Caribbean Maps
You really don't need the hassle of a GPS. Since you are going on a cruise, I would suggest that you take a planned excursion at ports or use a recommended tour operator unless you are Very familiar with the islands. Many of the islands are small, roads are narrow and can lead you to a lot of dead end places. Not the way to spend a day on shore. Stay in the tourist areas just as you would do in the states.
JG - Nuvi 2460
Caribbean Maps and POIs
We never did make to the Caribbean, but we are once again re-considering the idea. Of course, as time goes on, or toys change. I have a Garminfone that I will be brining along anyway for phone calls and photographs. Is there much new in the way of Caribbean maps? For anybody that has traveled there is it even worth bothering with additional local maps or is it unnecessary? It looks like City Navigator North America includes some of the Caribbean. Does aybody happen to know if that is a fairly recent addition?
i didnt think it was necessary
We never did make to the Caribbean, but we are once again re-considering the idea. Of course, as time goes on, or toys change. I have a Garminfone that I will be brining along anyway for phone calls and photographs. Is there much new in the way of Caribbean maps? For anybody that has traveled there is it even worth bothering with additional local maps or is it unnecessary? It looks like City Navigator North America includes some of the Caribbean. Does aybody happen to know if that is a fairly recent addition?
When I was in st Thomas and Barbados, I saw no benefit to having my gps. The islands are small, and easy to get around. If you need to ask for directions people were great at giving them. The street names in st thomas didnt match up well, but the roads were correct.
Streetpilot C340 Nuvi 2595 LMT
Caribbean Maps And POIs
We finally made it to the Caribbean last week. The Garminfone worked well in the ports of call, but it had some erratic behavior while at sea. I suspect the problem was we had moved from the previous days location and were moving at about 20 + miles per hour. The unit would sometimes show we were not moving at all. but then later it would indicate we were going several hundred miles per hour! There was at least one day at sea where I never could lock on GPS satellite signals. Despite being on the top deck. Perhaps other marine electronics were creating interference, but I never determined for certain what the problem was.