Thread: Spotting other ships

I wonder if anyone knows a way to determine what other cruise ships might be passed/spotted while at sea in common shipping lanes. We see them in or near common ports but rarely on the high seas. I've tried matching sailing schedules and still have little luck. Does anyone have any ideas ?

Originally Posted by kemo

I wonder if anyone knows a way to determine what other cruise ships might be passed/spotted while at sea in common shipping lanes. We see them in or near common ports but rarely on the high seas. I've tried matching sailing schedules and still have little luck. Does anyone have any ideas ?

Hi Kemo,

Welcome aboard cruiselinefans.com. There are a couple of ways to do this, but I'd need to know the region in the world you're located in and/or you'd like to track ships.

There are a variety of resources out there on the web just for this purpose, each with a focus on individual ports, countries or regions.

Let us know what are you're searching for and we will direct you to the appropriate resource or method.

Thanks again for joining and posting. Please do feel free to use any part of the site you see fit, especially the newly deployed cruise review search engine.

I took the liberty of pulling down some links to the Cruise Terminal schedules in Tampa, FL, based upon the city listed in your profile.

http://www.tampaport.com/content/dow...ay10-Apr11.pdf

http://www.tampaport.com/content/dow...New_050610.pdf

These should supply you with good ship spotting days for Tampa. Let me know if this information is enough. We're more than happy to find some more resources for you and I'm confident a Florida based Officer or Navigator will be around soon to add to my thoughts.

Thanks Again!

I took the liberty of pulling down some links to the Cruise Terminal schedules in Tampa, FL, based upon the city listed in your profile.

http://www.tampaport.com/content/dow...ay10-Apr11.pdf

http://www.tampaport.com/content/dow...New_050610.pdf

These should supply you with good ship spotting days for Tampa. Let me know if this information is enough. We're more than happy to find some more resources for you and I'm confident a Florida based Officer or Navigator will be around soon to add to my thoughts.

Thanks Again!

Thank you for such a fast response. Our next cruise is November 1st Miami on NCL Sky, but the question is generic. After one sails (in south Florida usually with many other ships) where do they disappear to? Binoculars can follow them for an hour or 2 but then nothing. Even if they are going to the same port with a similar schedule. If the shipping lanes are common shouldn't they be visible ? Same question for other liners going to nearby ports (i.e. sailing south from Miami or Ft Lauderdale at like times or returning to Miami etc). I love ship spotting and am always disappointed. Thanks again

Originally Posted by kemo

Thank you for such a fast response. Our next cruise is November 1st Miami on NCL Sky, but the question is generic. After one sails (in south Florida usually with many other ships) where do they disappear to? Binoculars can follow them for an hour or 2 but then nothing. Even if they are going to the same port with a similar schedule. If the shipping lanes are common shouldn't they be visible ? Same question for other liners going to nearby ports (i.e. sailing south from Miami or Ft Lauderdale at like times or returning to Miami etc). I love ship spotting and am always disappointed. Thanks again

Your best bet, based upon my experience would be two-fold. You can use our Ship search engine and click on View Itinerary to see which ports the ship is visiting.

Find A Ship: http://www.cruiselinefans.com/hc/cruiseline/all-cruises

For example, if you wanted to track the Carnival Fantasy, search for "fantasy" or go here: Carnival Fantasy - the cruise review website | cruiselinefans.com

Click on the Cruises tab in the Upper left corner and one can then click on the "View Itinerary" link for the respective cruise/ship one is tracking.

Another method would also be to consult the Cruise line's website directly. All of the majors have similar Find a Ship utilities....but then again, I'm partial.

Welcome to
CruiseLineFans

Reggie

Tough question if I am reading it correctly. We sail Eastern caribbean out of Lauderdale or Miami. You are never alone out there We do see ships that are pretty far away, too small to see what ships they are. But in an emergency they can reach your ship soon if needed. Most of them will also show up at your port of call in different islands. Some are the same ships at every port but each arrives and departs at different times so they are not sailing that close to you. At night out in the ocean you can see the lights on the ships that are a ways away

This may help also. Put in your date and ship and check your ports of call and see if any ships are in more than one of your stops. If more than one in the same ports on the same day, a good bet you will see them near you on the water.

Cruise TT : Your Cruise Ship And Port Timetable - Select A Port

All merchant ships sail along what we call in the old world (UK) QZR's they are sea routes like roads or high ways there are a lot of satellite sites where you can watch the progress of ships.