What’s That Ship Near the Harbor?

I knew something was up yesterday when I passed safari taxi after safari taxi filled with very nicely dressed people while driving along the North Shore. A few hours later, I drove into town and saw a smaller cruise ship anchored off of Cruz Bay. You may have seen it on the Spice Cam or perhaps on either Grande Bay or Hillcrest Guesthouse’s webcams. The ship is called Seadream 2 and its appearance, in my opinion, officially marks the start of high season.

Seadream 2 has since left Cruz Bay is is currently approaching Virgin Gorda as of early Wednesday morning. You may be curious how or why I have all of this random knowledge on a cruise ship. Well today, I’m going to let you in on a fun little secret … there’s an app for that.

Ever wonder what the boat is that you’re seeing on one of St. John’s many webcams? Well simply go over to MarineTraffic.com or download the Marine Traffic app, and you’ll have info on most of the ships in the world at your fingertips. This app is especially fun to use in the winter when all of the megayachts are cruising through the waters.

The way it works is simple. Simply open the app or visit the website. Then zoom into the part of the world you’re interested in. Once you find your spot, simply click the symbol on the screen and the vessel’s name will pop up. You can learn everything from the ship’s size, country of origin, last port call and more. It’s pretty neat.

This is what my app looked like last night. Seadream 2 is the blue diamond off of Cruz Bay.

I clicked the blue diamond and the vessel’s name popped up:

If you click the small “i” icon, information on the ship will pop up. There is more information if you scroll through the app.

These types of cruise ships always anchor off of Cruz Bay, so it’s best to check them out on the Spice Cam, Grande Bay webcam or Hillcrest Guesthouse webcam. Two other great webcams for ship spotting are Island Stones and La Jolla Caribe, which both have great views of Cinnamon Bay and Maho Bay. You can see all of these webcams and more on our webcam page at www.NewsofStJohn.com/webcams or by clicking here.