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For recent cruisers who have had a stop in St Maarten....

lanabanana

By lanabanana,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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lanabanana

lanabanana

Posted
Posted

My son-in-law is leaving our ship in St Maarten to fly to Orlando and has a 9:30am flight from Phillipsburg. The Dream is scheduled to arrive in St Maarten at 7am, but if I understand it correctly, the ship stays on Eastern Standard Time which would be 8am island time. Knowing that it takes a bit for them to allow disembarkation in port, I'm feeling a bit nervous about him making his flight.

 

Can someone who has recently stopped in St Maarten with a scheduled 7am arrival time, tell me what time they began to let passengers off the ship?

 

Thanks so much!

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LUPY48

LUPY48

Posted
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Although I haven't cruised into SXM in a couple of years, I do a land vacay there every year. I would be very concerned about making that flight, due to the fact that it's international and they insist that you're there 2 hours prior.

What day of the week is SXM port?

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lanabanana

lanabanana

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Although I haven't cruised into SXM in a couple of years, I do a land vacay there every year. I would be very concerned about making that flight, due to the fact that it's international and they insist that you're there 2 hours prior.

What day of the week is SXM port?

 

We are in port on a Wednesday and I'm pretty sure that I read that Carnival stays on ship time the whole voyage. I wish they did not. It makes things very confusing!

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DISNEY1975

DISNEY1975

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If the itinerary states 7:00am, its 7:00am local time, at the port you are at.

 

With that said, Ive been on numerous cruises where the ship was not on schedule arriving at the port. (Fault of weather and even a ship at dock was having problems and did not allow my ship to dock on time). At this point, if the airline ticket it purchased, hope for the best. If everything goes smoothly you should be fine. I personally never rely on things going smoothly!

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broberts Excellent Advice! Rare

broberts

Posted
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Local EST is now 16:13, local time in St Maarten is 17:13. If the cruise is this month then 7 am ship's time would be 8 am local time.

 

As another poster suggested airlines typically recommend check-in 2 hours before departure.

 

There is traffic in St Maarten. The cruise terminal and SXM are separated by Philipsburg. You may want to check and see how many ships are porting the day you are in.

 

Most ships have a procedure that passengers departing in a port of call have to go through - some forms to complete, etc. Also, I would expect that there might be entry formalities with the St Maarten authorities as the person is not on a cruise visit. Visa required?

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jonbgd

jonbgd

Posted
Posted

Ive been to STX several times the last was in Nov

I dont recall if we were on a different time

Sorry:o

But I do have a couple questions

Has Carnival already approved this?

Also is there a fine for him doing this?

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babyblue78

babyblue78

Posted
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We were in St. Maarten on the Dream back in October, the ship does stay on EST the entire voyage. The airport is not close to the cruise port either and there is traffic, so I would be very concerned about him making the flight.... If there is no later flight to Orlando maybe he can fly to Miami then drive to Orlando, I think that American has regular flights between MIA and SXM so you may want to look into that.

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DISNEY1975

DISNEY1975

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I have never been on a ship that stays on "ship" time. Ive never heard of it, period. We always use our cell phones as watches/clocks/alarms etc.. They automaticly adjust to local time when you travel.

 

We have been from Boston to Bermuda, Boston to Canada, Miami to Eastern Carib. Miami to Western Carib, NY to UK on NCL, RCI, Princess and Cunard. I have never once heard of "Ship time" If it were something different, we would have missed the ship plenty of times. Maybe its a Carnival thing??

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broberts Excellent Advice! Rare

broberts

Posted
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I have never been on a ship that stays on "ship" time. Ive never heard of it, period. We always use our cell phones as watches/clocks/alarms etc.. They automaticly adjust to local time when you travel.

 

We have been from Boston to Bermuda, Boston to Canada, Miami to Eastern Carib. Miami to Western Carib, NY to UK on NCL, RCI, Princess and Cunard. I have never once heard of "Ship time" If it were something different, we would have missed the ship plenty of times. Maybe its a Carnival thing??

 

Yep. Although I seem to recall a Princess cruise that did not always adjust ship time to local time.

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ready2cruzagain

ready2cruzagain

Posted
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I have never been on a ship that stays on "ship" time. Ive never heard of it, period. We always use our cell phones as watches/clocks/alarms etc.. They automaticly adjust to local time when you travel.

 

We have been from Boston to Bermuda, Boston to Canada, Miami to Eastern Carib. Miami to Western Carib, NY to UK on NCL, RCI, Princess and Cunard. I have never once heard of "Ship time" If it were something different, we would have missed the ship plenty of times. Maybe its a Carnival thing??

Your cell phones adjust automatically but that is why Carnival states in the Fun Times...do not go by your cell phone. Cruised for 21 days in Dec. and times did not change...stayed on ship time.

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DISNEY1975

DISNEY1975

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Your cell phones adjust automatically but that is why Carnival states in the Fun Times...do not go by your cell phone. Cruised for 21 days in Dec. and times did not change...stayed on ship time.

 

Ive never heard of such a thing. Thank goodness for this thread!

 

So, Im going (first time on Carnival) to Southern Carib. in May. Even though my itinerary states I will be in (example) Barbados from 8am to 5pm, it could really mean 9 - 6? Or is it 8 - 5 ship, time, 7 - 4 local time?

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oscar1966

oscar1966

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We were on the Dream last month with a stop in St. Marten. We stayed on ship time which was an hour earlier than island time. I am sorry, but I can not remember what time we are able to leave the ship; but it definitely was not 7 am, I am thinking it was closer to 8. The flight time is too early for me to be comfortable with.

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libtrek

libtrek

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Back from a b2b cruise. Left both weeks from San Juan which was on AST. Ship stayed on that time until end of 2nd week, repositioning cruise. Since we ended cruise in Miami, ship went back to EST. St. Thomas, both weeks, was done on AST.

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gtalum

gtalum

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Ive never heard of such a thing. Thank goodness for this thread!

 

So, Im going (first time on Carnival) to Southern Carib. in May. Even though my itinerary states I will be in (example) Barbados from 8am to 5pm, it could really mean 9 - 6? Or is it 8 - 5 ship, time, 7 - 4 local time?

 

The Carnival itineraries are based on ship time. Keep your watch on ship time and ignore times from any other courses.

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