David in Dallas Loc: Dallas, Texas, USA

The problem with on-camera GPS units is that to be useful it is essentially necessary to leave the camera turned ON--one cannot just turn on the camera and take a shot within a few seconds and turn it back off (my normal practice to conserve battery life). Most GPS units require up to a minute after turn-on to acquire satellites, making on-off operation impractical.

george19

I’ll add that many carriers have a plan where you get full plan coverage (voice, data, text) while roaming, pretty much anywhere in the world, for about $10 per day PER DEVICE. It should cost nothing to carry and maintain, so you only get billed when you use it. US phone in Canada, that’s between 10 and 12 minutes of talk.

lsimpkins Loc: SE Pennsylvania

The inner passage does not have a lot of landmarks. I think that if you limit your identification to Inner Passage between X and Y ports of call - that should be sufficient.

ChristianHJensen

It does but uses a lot of power - even more than the phone in connected mode as it cannot use cell tower pinging as a starting point so has to do a cold start up every time it is turned on.

Another option is to just turn off cellular data and WIFI as opposed to Airplane mode - that way the phone is still connected to cell towers without incurring data charges.

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

How about using "Notes" (iPhone) or equivalent and list the venues by date. The file properties of your images have dates and time. That's how I've done it - easy!
Mark

PhotoDakota

Since you have your smartphone with you, use it to make a recording of what you are taking photos or just took photos of. You could do this on the bus or whatever as you are leaving the location. Location, time, settings, and other comments would only take a minute. You can use the overall photo on your smartphone to tie in with your comments etc.

bpulv Loc: Buena Park, CA

My wife and I have been on several cruises including Alaska's Inside passage. In fact, we are flying to London this Friday to embark on a cruise around the British Isles.

Through experience, I have developed a system that does about what you are asking that is very uncomplicated. I should note that, although I use a GPS for mapping my pictures, I found that, assuming your route is through the Inside Passage, the GPS reception is not always the best in that general area so you will need a high quality GPS such as the one made by Canon if GPS information is important to you. The first time we cruised the Passage, I had a cheap GPS on my Nikon and there were several places where it could not lock onto the satellites.

At the end of each day, I transfer my pictures to a small, cheep laptop that is organized with folders identified by date for each day of the cruise. That both backs up my pictures and segregates the photos. When I get home, I use my copy of the ship's itinerary and the folder date with conformation via the meta data and GPS mapping to determine where the pictures were taken.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

Each photo will have file properties to sort by date and time when you copy them to a computer, put them in time-order folders for starters with a short text descriptor for reference. Someone suggested a photo of a locality sign would be good to have. You could also write a note and photograph that as you go.

RSpinney Loc: Maine

If you're concerned about taking views from aboard ship, not having your phone hooked up to gps, not being able to take photos of signs, etc. how about buying a nautical chart or two of the area(s) in which you'll be sailing? Take a close-up photo of that part of the chart where you're taking photos each time you take out your camera.

drklrd Loc: Cincinnati Ohio

Notebook already on the phone is cheaper than a new app. Or if you get your e-mail on the phone just e-mail yourself. No special apps needed. Think this world is to full of apps that it don't need.

charlienow Loc: Hershey, PA

my micnova GPS for my nikon d5500 stays on all the time when plugged into the camera. it uses the camera battery as its power source. you don't have to leave the camera on for it to stay on. i haven't found it to be a drain on the camera battery, but it is best if you turn the GPS off if you won't be using the camera for a long period of time.

James R. Kyle Loc: Saint Louis, Missouri (A Suburb of Ferguson)

=========================

I carry a NOTEBOOK....

For years about (over fifty), I got in the habit of writing down everything that I have done in photography.

""A Notebook.... Every Photographer Should Carry One"" == Ansel Adams.

Does Anyone = Remember THESE THINGS?????

Jules Karney Loc: Las Vegas, Nevada

I try to take one shot of the name of where you are. For instance Juno, etc. Kind of labels where I was.

Picture Taker Loc: Michigan Thumb

I file my pictures the same waybwe use to nfileb in a filing cabinet. Alaska (file name)m under that the city names (Juno etc.) Ice bergs, Whales etc. as sub files. Used it forever. and vita works. vIn will also double file as Whales in Juno and in Whales.

But thats me.

SAVH Loc: La Jolla, CA

ejones - Two thoughts. My wife and I experienced similar issues on our earlier cruises. Since then, every day we take a picture of the ship's morning newsletter or whatever they put out each day with the itinerary on it. Therefore, every picture between then and the next day is at least identified to approximate local. That has helped greatly when I was home and trying to process the pictures and caption them. As I am an "old" guy, I also always carry 3X5 cards in my pocket along with a pen and I write down relevant information and date it. I find that much easier than entering stuff in my iPhone. Have a great trip. We loved our first cruise which was to Alaska. I strongly recommend you take the rail trip if your cruise goes to Skagway.
Scotty