Yes, one of the first things I did with Apple Maps (and Google Maps, when I still used it) was turn off the voice directions, the same with the in-car navigation. I hate having the voice constantly interrupting to tell me keep going straight for another 200KM, 190KM, 180KM, it is just annoying. In fact, I usually don’t use the navi these days. When I drove to Bitterfeld, on the other side of the country, I turned the navi on for the last 40KM of a nearly 500KM trip and didn’t bother turning it on at all on the way back.
The same when I visit our other sites, I don’t bother turning it on at all, because I know the way and I don’t want to be distracted - I miss turnings more often or take the wrong ones more, when I have the navi running than when I rely on my sense of direction and the road signs.