HAL Supply Port Maps?

[THS]

It's been a couple of decades since we have been on a cruise. I'm booked on the HAL Westerdam Mediterranean cruise in October. I was wondering if more experienced cruisers could tell me if HAL supplies good street maps of each port that is visited while on the ship? It would really help with navigating our way around cities that are new to us.

 

Thanks,

 

Tom

[peaches from georgia]

Yes, Tom, HAL provides a brochure about each port with some basic historical and cultural information, lots of shopping 'suggestions' and a street map of the area surrounding the dock itself.

[sail7seas]

The street maps that are provided would not ever qualify as something Rand McNally would take pride in. They are very basic with mostly main streets shown. For the cities you will be visiting on a Med cruise, I think you would do well to get your own city maps prior to traveling or picking one up when in port. The HAL provided maps are fine for the Caribbean but not for most European cities IMO

 

The sightseeing and history and shopping info is pretty good.....

[THS]

Thanks!

[obriendan]

We got maps of every port we visited on the Maasdam Rotterdam to Boston cruise. They were not very detailed but were useful.

[Grumpy1]

The maps we received on the Grand World Voyage ranged from "not too bad" to useless, IMO. The text might mention that the main shopping area is at the intersection of two roads. look at the map and neither road could be found. You can find a lot of information about the ports , tours, maps, etc on the internet and preplan. The port lecturer should have good information, but good maps are best obtained on your own.

[trubey]

I used the HAL maps last year in the Mediterranean. If you do a HAL tour, they will be sufficient. If you are doing it yourself, I agree with Slinky. For each port, find a good map on the internet and take it with you. I'll be doing that for my fall trip this year. susana.

[jhannah]

I agree that the HAL maps are helpful so far as getting your bearings, but they don't contain all points of interest. They are fine, though, for what they are. They give you a sense of which direction you need to head out in.

[Randyk47]

The "port maps" are really shopping guides and are pretty much limited to the immediate or main shopping area. They are pretty useless for much more than that. I don't know if HAL has done this yet or not but on Celebrity the port maps are actually supplied by a sub-contractor on the ship who runs the "port shopping network" on the ship. He also gets a percentage or fee from the shops he sends people to. How do I know? One, saw him getting paid. Two, he explained the business to me. Obviously he's not interested in giving you a map that has locations on it that aren't part of his "recommended shops/merchants". I think a lot do this as shops pretty consistently ask "What ship are you from?" About the only reason(s) are they're paying for referrals and want to see if it's worth their advertising dollars.

[trubey]

They may be more like shopping guides for some cruises, but I really did not feel this way about the Mediterranean maps. Just that they were incomplete and sometimes the scale was difficult to determine. susana.

[Maryandi]

Yes, just shopping guides. I bet very few know that there is a mall in Nassau and a KMart in St. Thomas, Costco in Cabo, etc.much better prices shopping where the locals go.

 

We send away for the tourist brochures for the islands/cities/countries that we are going to visit. They have great maps and ideas of what to see.

 

Hang on to the ship guide as it has the name, etc of the port agent for your ship. You might need it on land.

[Grumpy1]

The maps for the Grand World Voyage might have been less than normal since this was a oneshot thing. I asked the shore excursion people and the port lecturer about the maps and they shrugged and said "that's what Seattle gave us". And they did not always have the "recommended" shops.

 

We were always given a wallet card for each port that had currency conversion information and also the port agent information. do they do this on all cruises, or was that a Grand voyage thing? We thought it was nice to have the card with the exchange rate and a 1,5,10,20,50,100,500,1000 USD to local conversion chart.

[m steve]

I have found great maps from ATT and Amex (same map) at airports when visiting islands and they are free. I just save them for future travel or for friends to use and hope to get a later map from them. Most local shopping guides have better maps than from the ship (shilling for Diamonds International) and these are on the pier or at shops in town. I always take one good guidebook so that I have a map of each port to plan for before disembarking and taking a tour or going shopping.:)

[THS]

Thank you to everyone for your help.

 

 

 

Tom

[cruzincurt]

If you contact the island/country's tourism consulate in the US, maybe in NY or Washington, they will send you lots of information on the island/country you are planning to visit. Google them to find their telephone number or e-mail address.

[Pete Jackson]

The HAL maps usually show where the ship docks and so are useful for relating that to the general port or city you are exploring. They can especially be useful for getting back to the ship after exploring on your own!

[Grumpy1]

The HAL maps usually show where the ship docks and so are useful for relating that to the general port or city you are exploring. They can especially be useful for getting back to the ship after exploring on your own!

 

We had several on the grand World Voyage that did NOT even show where the ship docked, or where the informatiion kiosk for the port was located. when I mentioned this to the port lecturer, his answer was "Attend my lectures. I will tell you." :(

[Host Walt]

If you contact the island/country's tourism consulate in the US, maybe in NY or Washington, they will send you lots of information on the island/country you are planning to visit. Google them to find their telephone number or e-mail address.

I agree with this suggestion. Unlike the "good old days" of cruising 2 or 3 decades ago where you could count on a Port Lecturer who provided histories and key sites at each destination (sometimes with a separate presentation only for shoppers) the cruise lines (HAL included) no longer do that.

 

We always put our own port details together, including setting up our own independent travel rather than using the shore excursions offered on board. The best start is as cruzincurt suggested together with a visit to the Cruise Critic Ports of Call Boards. For even more, visit our sister site, The Independent Traveler.

[sail7seas]

For even more, visit our sister site, The Independent Traveler.

 

How can it be possible all the years I've been here at CC I've never heard of The Independent Traveler. Sister site to CC??? So glad I learned something new today. :) Thanks, Walt.