Caribbean Cruise Maps?

What I want to know is how does a ship leave St. Thomas at 5:00 PM and
arrive at San Juan,PR at 6:00 AM? It's less than thirty miles. Do they
sail in circles, sail out in a straight line and come back, cut the
engines and drift?



I'm trying to collect and/or creaate maps that show the actual routes
followed by the major caribbean cruise lines. For example, when
going from Miami to St. Thomas exactly what path(s) are followed? If
anyone has access to such maps I'd really appreciate knowing about
them. Or, if you know the actual route(s) please let me know and I'll
create/share the maps.

I've looked at cruising guidebooks for this infor but have not found
it.

Thanks

Cut the engines and drift. They don't want to get to port before the
scheduled time otherwise the incur more port charges.

"Odysseus" wrote in message
news:Mgw8b.428606$o%2.195117@sccrnsc02...
What I want to know is how does a ship leave St. Thomas at 5:00 PM and
arrive at San Juan,PR at 6:00 AM? It's less than thirty miles. Do they
sail in circles, sail out in a straight line and come back, cut the
engines and drift?

They may do things like sail away and then back.

When we went from Nassau to Great Stirrup Cay (picture Nassau at 6:00 on
a clock face, and Great Stirrup Cay at 11:00 on a clock face) we sailed
norward (to 12:00 on the clock face) and then instead of turning left,
we made a right (heading out past 1:00 on the clock face). So half the
night we spent sailing away from Great Stirrup Cay, and then doubled
back the latter half of the night, to arrive at Great Stirrup Cay (at
the 11:00 position on the clock face) early the next morning. They made
the trip longer than it really was.

When we sailed from San Juan to St. Croix last time, we sailed pretty
far out to sea when leaving San Juan - even though St. Croix is south
east of Puerto Rico. In effect, exagerating the distance between the 2
ports.

They don't always go the same speed either. Sometimes at night they may
only do 5-8 knots. I saw the Norwegian Dawn going as fast as 25 knots
when she needed to. Other times she just slowly went along.

If you have a GPS, you can see all these "little things".

--Tom

Odysseus wrote:

What I want to know is how does a ship leave St. Thomas at 5:00 PM and
arrive at San Juan,PR at 6:00 AM? It's less than thirty miles. Do they
sail in circles, sail out in a straight line and come back, cut the
engines and drift?



I'm trying to collect and/or creaate maps that show the actual routes
followed by the major caribbean cruise lines. For example, when
going from Miami to St. Thomas exactly what path(s) are followed? If
anyone has access to such maps I'd really appreciate knowing about
them. Or, if you know the actual route(s) please let me know and I'll
create/share the maps.

I've looked at cruising guidebooks for this infor but have not found
it.

Thanks

I don't think they'd ever drift. Especially not when they're around
ports. They follow specific routes that take them in safe (read: deep
enough, with no obstructions, etc.) waters. If you're drifting, you
never know what you might hit. Following a programmed course, even if
at one fifth speed (5 knots instead of 25 knots), in clearly marked
ocean routes, means they know the ship is in safe water. Plus then you
know what all the ships around you are doing. Just like on a highway,
there are routes where ships going in one direction vs. another must
follow. That's what Navigation charts are for.

If you look at a close up a navigation chart of the waters in and out of
NY Harbor, you can see clearly marked lanes for inbound and outbound
ships.

--Tom

Rich Cacace wrote:

Cut the engines and drift. They don't want to get to port before the
scheduled time otherwise the incur more port charges.

"Odysseus" wrote in message
news:Mgw8b.428606$o%2.195117@sccrnsc02...
What I want to know is how does a ship leave St. Thomas at 5:00 PM and
arrive at San Juan,PR at 6:00 AM? It's less than thirty miles. Do they
sail in circles, sail out in a straight line and come back, cut the
engines and drift?

St. Thomas to St Croix was a interesting little 10 hour trip also : )