Cruise Ship Tracker

Find a cruise report without confusing it with a schedule

A cruise ship position and a passenger itinerary answer different questions. PocketWorld helps you inspect received vessel observations: which identity was reported, where the report placed it, and how old that observation is. A cruise operator or port provides the planned call, boarding instructions and terminal arrangements. Start with the question you actually need to answer. Looking at an approaching vessel can be interesting, but its marker cannot tell you whether boarding has begun, which entrance to use, or whether an excursion will return on time.

What the cruise-candidate filter includes

The US Coast Guard AIS message reference distinguishes passenger ship types 60–69. There is no separate cruise-only code in that group. PocketWorld first requires a numeric passenger code, then estimates cruise candidates from a reported length over 200 metres or a matching name keyword. This is a browsing shortcut, not a verified fleet list. A large ferry can match the length rule; a smaller expedition ship with an unfamiliar name can be missed. The detail card retains the reported passenger type rather than presenting this estimate as an authoritative vessel classification.

Open the filtered map and compare the vessel name and MMSI before choosing a report. Similar names, abbreviations and missing identity fields can complicate a match. If a known ship is absent, clear the category and use the general vessel search within the loaded collection. Clearing a filter may reveal a record excluded by the estimate, but it does not obtain reports that the provider has not supplied. Neither a missing candidate nor an empty map proves that a cruise was cancelled or a vessel has stopped transmitting.

United States: compare Seattle calls with the right terminal

The Port of Seattle cruise schedule is a useful starting point for an official call and terminal comparison. Seattle has separate cruise facilities, including Bell Street Pier 66 and Smith Cove Pier 91. Check the terminal shown by the current port resource and your cruise operator, rather than selecting whichever waterfront marker appears closest. Seasonal schedules can change. This guide links to the maintained schedule instead of copying dates into a table that would become obsolete.

For a Seattle map comparison, first identify the ship in the schedule, then compare that identity with the available AIS record. Read the observation time before drawing conclusions from its distance to shore. A received position before a scheduled arrival is not evidence of a delay; a destination field naming Seattle is not confirmation of a particular berth. Keep local schedule dates and the report's stated time zone separate. For boarding, transfers or a changed departure, use the operator's current passenger instructions, even when the map suggests that the ship has already arrived.

Canada: understand Halifax arrival and departure times

The Port of Halifax cruise schedule explains distinctions that matter when comparing a ship with a clock. Its arrival entry concerns reaching the berth for mooring; passengers disembark after the vessel is secured and required formalities are completed. The listed departure is not the passenger all-aboard deadline. Halifax also identifies tender calls. Follow the ship's instructions for returning aboard rather than using an AIS marker or the listed port departure as a personal deadline.

When checking a Canada and New England cruise, confirm the relevant local calendar date and exact ship first. Compare the scheduled call with a received position, keeping the two timestamps visibly separate in any notes you share. A tender arrangement, changed pier or revised call belongs to the port and operator information, not to a conclusion inferred from a moving dot. This approach also avoids confusing a vessel already alongside with an announcement that passengers may leave it.

When the position and itinerary do not agree

Record the vessel identity, observation time and source, then refresh only to see whether a newer report has actually arrived. Public coastal and offshore coverage varies, and a page reload does not update an upstream timestamp. A long gap should remain a gap; the map does not establish the ship's unobserved route. Use the ferry route reference for a scheduled crossing question, and official cruise channels for a changed itinerary. This tracker is an educational view of available reports, not a navigation, emergency or passenger operations service.