Stupid question RE: time changes onboard

[missingmaui]

Having never cruised before, I'm having trouble wrapping my head around how we will keep track of the various time changes we will encounter. On the Ports of Call boards, I keep reading things like, "Costa Maya is one hour behind the ship's time", etc. How will we know this? I can just picture us walking back to the pier and watching the ship vanish in the distance because we didn't know what time it "really" was- ship time or local time. Can anyone shed any light on how this actually works? Thanks in advance. It's WAY too early to be worrying about stuff like this! :o

[Dr. Jack Daniels]

1st Rule - Always stay on "ship time".

 

2nd Rule - Only change the time on your watch/clock when directed by the cruise line. You will be notified via Daily.

 

If you follow these rules you should be fine.

[cruisinreunion]

We cruised a couple of weeks ago and not only were the notifications of time changes listed in the dailies, but we also got a note on the bed at turn down time reminding us to change our watches, forward or backward.

[nmprsns]

1st Rule - Always stay on "ship time".

 

2nd Rule - Only change the time on your watch/clock when directed by the cruise line. You will be notified via Daily.

 

The Daily will be in your cabin when you turn in for the night. If you read that you should remember that the time will change, DO NOT go immediately to change your clock as this is the Daily for the following day and you don't want to change your clock in advance. Not to worry though, when it is time to change the clock a card will be left on your bed to remind you that it is now time to change your clocks. Also when you are leaving the ship, there will be signs giving you another reminder of the ship's time. Just ensure the time on your watch agrees.

[njhorseman]

The Daily will be in your cabin when you turn in for the night. If you read that you should remember that the time will change, DO NOT go immediately to change your clock as this is the Daily for the following day and you don't want to change your clock in advance. Not to worry though, when it is time to change the clock a card will be left on your bed to remind you that it is now time to change your clocks. Also when you are leaving the ship, there will be signs giving you another reminder of the ship's time. Just ensure the time on your watch agrees.

 

 

That doesn't make sense. You generally don't see the next day's Freestyle Daily until you've returned to your cabin for the night. That is exactly the time to reset your watch...immediately before going to sleep...because it will be the next day...on the new ship's time, when you awaken the next morning.

[CaptData]

Here's my rule of thumb. Always ask before leaving ship what time it is. Then make sure your watch agrees with it. Be back 30-45 mins before the time they tell you to be back ie 430 be back by 4 pm. This way you will never miss the ship. If you are on a ship's tour then you will not have to worry they will hold the ship if they are a little late.

[missingmaui]

Thanks for the help so far. So, for instance, we are planning on going to Nachi Cocum in Cozumel. They are open from 9am-5pm. I'm guessing that this is local time. How will we know what the time difference in ship time and local time, so that we know when to show up? Does ship time usually change to local time? I'm sure that this will be crystal clear once we're on-board, I'm just an obsessive worrier!

[Toyz711]

leaving from new orleans doesn't have the same probloems as the cruises that leave from florida has,for the western caribe. new orleans is in the same time zonne, florida isn't.

yes, nachi's time is local time. if the spirit changes times....you wil be well notified. it's the same as flying/driving, once you get into another time zone, you change your watch.

[Traveller20074]

THANK YOU FOR POSTING THIS!

 

I didn't understand it either :o

[Traveller20074]

Ok, I'm back and STILL confused.

 

why is the ship's time different than the "land time" of where you're visiting?

 

This doesn't make sense. Why would the time on the ship be different on land? I must be missing an important piece of information where this whole thing would make sense LOL

[NMLady]

Ok, I'm back and STILL confused.

 

why is the ship's time different than the "land time" of where you're visiting?

 

This doesn't make sense. Why would the time on the ship be different on land? I must be missing an important piece of information where this whole thing would make sense LOL

 

It is a very rare occurence for ship time to be different from local time.

It only happens in a very few places where that place is different time than the rest of their area.

It happens so rarely that it's not worth being concerned about.

[terrymtex01]

Thanks for the help so far. So, for instance, we are planning on going to Nachi Cocum in Cozumel. They are open from 9am-5pm. I'm guessing that this is local time. How will we know what the time difference in ship time and local time, so that we know when to show up? Does ship time usually change to local time? I'm sure that this will be crystal clear once we're on-board, I'm just an obsessive worrier!

 

You might want to check out Carlos and Charlies beach club. We did Nachi Cocum and it was ok, but we passed Carlos and Charlies beach club on the way to Nachi Cocum and it looked VERY nice. Worth at least checking out.

[Traveller20074]

It is a very rare occurence for ship time to be different from local time.

It only happens in a very few places where that place is different time than the rest of their area.

It happens so rarely that it's not worth being concerned about.

 

then...I CAN use my cell phone as an alarm.

 

 

right? Others were telling me that the time change might mess with it. Or something.

[bakerintn]

The custom of changing ships time to the next ports local time may not be consistent across all cruise lines.....but NCL seems to almost always follow that practice...so when you wake up in the morning, the ship's time matches the port that are in or just coming in to.

 

Cell phones need to connect to their servers to get a time change...if you are connected to the ships cell tower, you will be paying a charge for each incoming and outgoing message, including texts. I would put my cell phone into "airplane mode" to avoid those charges.

[njhorseman]

Ok, I'm back and STILL confused.

 

why is the ship's time different than the "land time" of where you're visiting?

 

This doesn't make sense. Why would the time on the ship be different on land? I must be missing an important piece of information where this whole thing would make sense LOL

 

It boils down to the discretion of the Captain, who makes the call as to whether the ship's time will be changed to match local time. Sometimes it appears to happen when different ports that should be in the same time zone aren't, because one doesn't change to daylight savings time, or changes to daylight savings time on a different date. Sometimes there doesn't seem to be any obvious rationale. I have been on two relatively short cruises from NY to Atlantic Canada where the ship didn't change to local time in a port...for no apparent reason.

[njhorseman]

then...I CAN use my cell phone as an alarm.

 

 

right? Others were telling me that the time change might mess with it. Or something.

 

No you can't use your cell phone as an alarm if the ship is not changing to local time. Your cell phone will pick up the time from the local cell phone towers when you're in port, and if the ship isn't using local time your cell phone's time won't match the ship's time.

[pumpkin228]

then...I CAN use my cell phone as an alarm.

 

 

right? Others were telling me that the time change might mess with it. Or something.

 

 

 

DO NOT go by your cell phone. My cell phone is set to change automatically with GPS as to where I am but every year when traveling to Bermuda it not only changes in the wrong direction (ie, instead of one hour ahead) it goes 2-3 hours BACK. Making my cell phone completely off! Must be the Bermuda triangle or something. I always bring a travel alarm with me as even using the plugs onboard made my clock slow down.

 

And Whereever you are, the ship time is the same as the time zone you are in! So no worries about island time being differnt then ship time, the time is the time no matter what!

[Don Haynes]

It boils down to the discretion of the Captain, who makes the call as to whether the ship's time will be changed to match local time. Sometimes it appears to happen when different ports that should be in the same time zone aren't, because one doesn't change to daylight savings time, or changes to daylight savings time on a different date. Sometimes there doesn't seem to be any obvious rationale. I have been on two relatively short cruises from NY to Atlantic Canada where the ship didn't change to local time in a port...for no apparent reason.

 

So true. Never assume other nations follow the United States daylight savings time changes...

 

Not every nation does daylight savings, and many who do do the changes on different days...

 

Remember you are abroad in Mexico, Belize, or Honduras. You are not in the United States of America...

 

In those situations where the time may be different ashore from the ship, stick with the ship's time...

[njhorseman]

DO NOT go by your cell phone. My cell phone is set to change automatically with GPS as to where I am but every year when traveling to Bermuda it not only changes in the wrong direction (ie, instead of one hour ahead) it goes 2-3 hours BACK. Making my cell phone completely off! Must be the Bermuda triangle or something. I always bring a travel alarm with me as even using the plugs onboard made my clock slow down.

 

And Whereever you are, the ship time is the same as the time zone you are in! So no worries about island time being differnt then ship time, the time is the time no matter what!

 

 

This is wrong!!! Do you think I was lying when I said I've been on two cruises where the ship's time was not changed to match local time? Do you think other Cruise Critic members who have reported the same thing are lying?

 

:mad:

[Toyz711]

ship time is different from port time, when the ship sails from one time zone into another. some ships may change to local time, or not...always, always read the ship's newsletter for what time they are on.

with the spirit,we sailed during december of '07, we never had to change our watches. time stayed the same. new orleans, cozumel, santo tomas and (for us) roatan..all central time.

we Loved nachi, it was so laid back..just what we needed, DH got a massage, loved the food. for those that want more of a party, nachi is very quiet.

[Traveller20074]

No you can't use your cell phone as an alarm if the ship is not changing to local time. Your cell phone will pick up the time from the local cell phone towers when you're in port, and if the ship isn't using local time your cell phone's time won't match the ship's time.

 

I'll have it in airplane mode. :)