Ship's time vs. island time?

[dotcomgirl]

Does anyone know if the times listed for each port are always ship's time or island time?

 

For example: Grand Cayman we are in port from 8am-4pm. Since Grand Cayman doesn't take part in Daylight Savings, island time would be 7am-3pm. Or does Royal Caribbean show all of their times in island time and thus we would truly be there from 8-4?

 

I am trying to book an excursion with an outside company and I don't know what time to tell them we get into port!

[sanger727]

I am pretty sure it is always in ship time. Most vendors that deal with cruise ships will have some idea of what time is ship time vs island time. Talk to who you are trying to book with to confirm.

 

Oh, and again, anyone who deals with cruise ships will know what time you are supposed to get into the port and leave, most reputable companies are very good with all that stuff.

Edited November 13, 2014 by sanger727

[thrifty99]

When we were on the Allure last week they reminded us to use ship time for everything and not the local time (think it was Cozumel they mentioned that for).

 

 

 

 

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[S.A.M.J.R.]

The times listed will be ship time. However, you don't know whether the ship changes time to match local. That can change ship to ship.

 

What I recommend doing is letting the 3rd party excursion company know what ship you're on and what day you're arriving. They'll know what time you'll be there.

[cb at sea]

Tell them the time your itinerary says....ship's time is ALL THAT MATTERS! You must go by ship's time, no matter what time it might be locally. So, if your itinerary say 9am, that's what you tell them.

[akcruz]

I am pretty sure it is always in ship time. Most vendors that deal with cruise ships will have some idea of what time is ship time vs island time. Talk to who you are trying to book with to confirm.

 

Oh, and again, anyone who deals with cruise ships will know what time you are supposed to get into the port and leave, most reputable companies are very good with all that stuff.

 

This is the most accurate answer here. Let the company you are looking at know the ship you will be arriving on and if they have dealt with cruise lines much at all they will help you with timing. Have done it many times. Each ship is unique and there is not one answer to your question.

[BillB48]

here is the question i sent to Royals Shore Excursion people ..I have attached the question and answer.. on the bottom is the email address to Royal Carribbeans Shore excursion desk..they will confirm it.

Issue: will you please advise us if the itneraries used by royal listed in publications are local times.

 

 

I hope this email finds you well. Please be advised that all debarkation times on itineraries are on local times.

 

 

Thank you and have a great day.

 

Inquiry Team Coordinators, Global Tour Operations

fax: 305-539-4131| email: shorex@rccl.com

 

Not shooting the messenger here... just the message. The "local time" they are referring to is actually ship time, which of course can be different from "island time." I can't think of a cruise that we have taken where we did not arrive at our port of call at the time stated in the itinerary, of course excluding some sort of unexpected event. Just a couple of years ago on a Royal ship, we were scheduled 9AM arrival at Cozumel...we arrived at 9AM ship time, however it was only 7AM in Coz! Got caught in that time warp of different change date of Daylight Saving Time.

 

That message from the shorex folks is just not accurate and is another example of even though you are dealing with what should be an accurate source of info... you are not getting the correct answer.

[Gonzo70]

are you saying the folks who set up the excursions from Royal Carribbean are wrong? I will ask you a question..you answer it. You do a panama cruise leaving Miami in EST. You arrive in San Diego for at 8am. you itinerary says in port from 8am to 6pm. if you go by ship time, thats 11am to 9pm. Your ship arrives in SD at 7am.. are you telling me you must stay on board until 11am? Now factor in the fact that the Captain has the right to change times. How would shore people know which ship changed the time.? they wouldnt. You can email them directly. you have the email address. I think the shore excursion people know more .let us know what you find out. If the ship stays in the same time zone, then yes...they are the same. now apply that same principal to a TA either direction..

1 Miami, Florida --- 4:00 p.m.

2 At Sea --- ---

3 At Sea --- ---

4 Cartagena, Colombia 7:00 a.m. 3:00 p.m.

5 At Sea --- ---

6 At Sea --- ---

7 Puntarenas, Costa Rica 7:00 a.m. 4:00 p.m.

8 At Sea --- ---

9 Huatulco, Mexico 8:00 a.m. 4:00 p.m.

10 Acapulco, Mexico 8:00 a.m. 5:00 p.m.

11 At Sea --- ---

12 Cabo San Lucas, Mexico 7:00 a.m. 2:00 p.m.

13 At Sea --- ---

14 San Pedro (Los Angeles), California 8:00 a.m. ---

 

If you leave miami at 4pm. and thats ship time and ship time never changes, when you arrive here in sandiego for disembarkation, at 8am which is ship time. you actually arrived in San Diego at 5am..Ever get off a ship at 5 am? does that make sense now.

 

Bill was 100% correct. The itineraries are ALWAYS listed in SHIP TIME. Ship time may or may not be the same as port time. It is up to the discretion of the Captain whether or not to adjust ship time to match port time. It is not possible to find out in advance if ship time and port time will be the same; it will be announced on the ship the evening before if a time change will occur. Generally if a voyage crosses multiple time zones (i.e. a Transatlantic or a voyage from the West Coast to East Coast as you listed above) the Captain will adjust ship time to match port time. However if the time change is just an hour the Captain may or may not adjust ship time to match port time. Always have a watch when on shore set to ship time so you do not miss the ship; do not rely on a cell phone for the time as it may revert automatically to port time. Private excursion companies that are reputable and used to dealing with cruise ship passengers will know when your ship is arriving.

[BillB48]

are you saying the folks who set up the excursions from Royal Carribbean

are wrong? The answer you received from the shorex people is not the correct answer and it will lead to misinterpretation.

 

I will ask you a question..you answer it. You do a panama cruise leaving Miami in EST. You arrive in San Diego for at 8am. you itinerary says in port from 8am to 6pm. if you go by ship time, thats 11am to 9pm. Your ship arrives in SD at 7am.. are you telling me you must stay on board until 11am? I am not sure of the premise of your question. This where their answer is inadequate and is where we get into interpretation... debarkation is generally used when the passenger leaves the ship for the last time when the cruise is completed. The response that shorex folks provided is accurate when you are referencing the final debarkation. At final debarkation time listed will be local time and at this instance it will also be ship time. The same would apply to embarkation as well, ship time and local time will be the same at this point. Therefore when you arrive in SD at 8AM it will be ship time and also the time in San Diego as well. Upon arrival in SD the cruise is over according to the itinerary, so I'm not sure where the 6PM enters into the equation. The ship won't be staying on Eastern time for the entire voyage, it will be incrementally changing ship time so that it will match the time for arrival in California.

 

How would shore people know which ship changed the time. Many ships to adjust the ship's time to match island time, however this is not always the case. This is a problem when dealing with independent tour operators, most reputable tour operators will take the possibility of a different time on the ship into account. Most of the time we are only talking about 1 hour difference anyway. The 2 hour difference I mentioned in Cozumel was more of a fluke and I would not think that would be a common occurrence.

 

Thank you just the same, I won't need to email them.

[Gonzo70]

Bill there are people who believe there are two times. ship time and local time. and that EVERYTHING is ships time. The shore excursion people say all itineraries are based on local time. the point is you cannot send 2500-5000 people onto an island based on two different times if there is a time zone change. There must be a common time for all to use, which according to RCCL, is local time when in ports of calls. Take it up with RCCL...they book yoru trips i guess they are wrong

 

You are completely wrong on this. Ship time and port time are NOT always the same. Often they are, but I have had a few occasions where port time and ship time were an hour apart. Again the itinerary is in SHIP TIME. When in port it is possible the time will not be the same as on the ship. Set your watch to ship time; if you assume the port is on the same time as the ship you may very well miss the ship.

[mollyeilis]

You do a panama cruise leaving Miami in EST. You arrive in San Diego for at 8am. you itinerary says in port from 8am to 6pm. if you go by ship time, thats 11am to 9pm. Your ship arrives in SD at 7am.. are you telling me you must stay on board until 11am?

 

 

If you leave miami at 4pm. and thats ship time and ship time never changes, when you arrive here in sandiego for disembarkation, at 8am which is ship time. you actually arrived in San Diego at 5am..Ever get off a ship at 5 am? does that make sense now.

 

 

 

What do you mean ship time doesn't change? It certainly can change.

 

The night before Freedom approached St Maarten in early Feb we changed time. Then we changed back the next night. The Compass told us what to do, what time the ship was on, and we followed it.

 

On Disney last month we changed on our way into Grand Cayman and then changed back the night we left GC.

 

 

The ship leaving Miami on eastern time will CHANGE as you move along, and you will almost certainly end up on San Diego time once you get there. But at spots in between you might change, you might not. It's vital to pay attention to the Compass of the cruise you are on, not by some generic, they aren't on YOUR sailing, response from people on land.

[S.A.M.J.R.]

Exactly. there is no way the vendors of not royal cruise line can know if the ship s captain decides to change the ships time. The arrival and departure of ports is always in local time. Yes sometimes the ships stays in the same time zone so the times are same. There is No way any cruise line is going to send off passengers on the shore with two different times. It is comical that people will say NO YOU ARE WRONG. Yet I have talked to DISNEY< ROYAL, NCL, and Carnival. All say itineraries are on local time. But I have been told the cruise lines are wrong. OMG too funny...all these naysayers can email Royal at shorex@rccl.com

Please explain this...

 

In June we sailed on Freedom of the Seas. Two of our stops were Grand Cayman and Cozumel. Our ship NEVER CHANGED TIMES. However, when we arrived in GC (at 8am according to the ship), and we got to the pier, clocks there showed 7:30am, and we had to meet our 3rd party tour at 8am. How is that possible?

 

No one is saying the ships NEVER change time. We're saying ship time (which will be used when the ship is leaving) MAY not be the same as island time.

[AustinCruise]

My understanding is that it is Captains choice. We have experienced different things on the same itinerary on different trips/captains. When we have booked non RCCL excursions we have usually been told to meet a certain out if time after ship docks.

 

I have been on at least 2 voyages and 2 ports where ship time did not match locals time.

 

Rccl excursions are all relative to ship time.

 

The local (non rccl contracted) tour companies learn pretty fast. It isn't like the captain changes his mind week after week. One of the first questions we are asked is ship time and all aboard time (always relative to ship time) so they can get us back on time.

Edited November 19, 2014 by AustinCruise