On his first day in office, U.S. President Donald Trump signed a controversial executive order titled “Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness.”
Along with reinstating the name Mount McKinley for North America’s highest peak, the order called for a name change for “a favorite destination for American tourism and recreation activities” where cruise ships sail every day.
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As of Feb. 10, Google has officially complied with the executive order, updating Google Maps to reflect the cruise destination’s name change, but only for users located in the U.S.
Now, U.S.-based Google Maps users will see the name “Gulf of America” for the body of water known for centuries as the Gulf of Mexico.
The change is bound to cause some confusion for passengers sailing on a cruise through the body of water, especially if they depart from a U.S. port to sail to popular Western Caribbean cruise destinations in Mexico.
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The Gulf of Mexico’s name will vary based on a user’s location
Since the official name for the Gulf now varies between countries, Google says the name of the body of water won’t be the same for all Google Maps users. The name shown in the Maps app and web browsers will depend on the location of the user. In Mexico, users will continue to see the name “Gulf of Mexico,” or “Golfo de México.”
“People using Maps in the U.S. will see ‘Gulf of America,’ and people in Mexico will see ‘Gulf of Mexico.’ Everyone else will see both names,” Google stated in a Feb. 10 post on its The Keyword blog.
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“The names you see in the Maps app are based on your country location, which is determined by information from your phone’s operating system (e.g., iOS and Android), including your SIM, network, and locale,” the blog post explained.
For cruise passengers, this means that the name of the Gulf will vary based on your cruise ship’s location too. Both the U.S. and Mexico control a certain amount of the Gulf’s waters that extend beyond their shores, but so does Cuba.
In U.S. ports and waters, passengers will see the name “Gulf of America.” When visiting Mexico, a ship’s passengers will see the name switch back to “Gulf of Mexico.” And whenever a ship is sailing in international waters or visiting other destinations, both names will appear in Google Maps.
Will U.S. cruise lines adopt the Gulf of America name?
Whether U.S. cruise lines like Royal Caribbean and Carnival Cruise Line, which refers to itself as “America’s Cruise Line,” adopt the Gulf of America name is yet to be seen.
It’s likely that most cruise lines will continue to call the body of water the Gulf of Mexico (or use both names) in order to avoid causing confusion among passengers.
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A retired captain also told Cruise Radio, “Renaming the Gulf could create confusion in international agreements and navigation, potentially disrupting operations.”
Plus, most cruise lines and passengers would agree that it’s best to leave the politics back on land. Cruise lines will likely instruct crew to avoid the name change topic on board their ships to help passengers relax and enjoy cruise vacations rather than stir up politically-charged debates.
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