Time zone question

[gratefulstu]

Hi all,

We are visiting St. Maarten for the first time when we cruise on the RCCL's FOS in March. Anyway, I remember reading a few excursion reviews and there was some discussion about a time change or they are on a different time schedule than the ship uses. I don't recall the details, hence my post. What is the deal with the time difference i St. Maarten, if there is in fact a difference.

 

Thanks!

[Lard Greystoke]

Hi all,

We are visiting St. Maarten for the first time when we cruise on the RCCL's FOS in March. Anyway, I remember reading a few excursion reviews and there was some discussion about a time change or they are on a different time schedule than the ship uses. I don't recall the details, hence my post. What is the deal with the time difference i St. Maarten, if there is in fact a difference.

 

Thanks!

 

I believe all the Eastern islands are on Atlantic time, which is the same as Eastern Daylight Time. In other words 8 AM Atlantic time is 7 AM Eastern Standard Time. So if your ship is on Florida time, there will be 1 hour difference from island time.

[RoobyDoo]

Lard Greystoke is correct that St. Maarten time is one hour later than EST. The ship will change its time accordingly to match island time, on the appropriate day at 2 am. Your ship dailies will tell you when you should advance your watch/clock one hour, to take effect the following morning. Thus, the ship time and island time will be the same, and the excursion times will match. The dailies will tell you when to move back your watch/clock during the return trip.