luvtovaca Posted November 19, 2016 #1 Share Posted November 19, 2016 After several cruises I know I should know this...we have never cruised in the winter after DST ended, so it's not really been an issue. We are docked in St. Maarten 9 am - 6 pm as stated on our booking summary. The various websites that show what times ships are in port (CruiseTT, etc.) all show this same timing as well. However, St. Maarten is currently 1 hour ahead of EST. We have a tour booked and the tour operator said our port time is perfect for the 10 am tour which gathers at 9:30 and their directions specifically state to use island time. He even sent a link with the ships in port and their times for that day which match the 9-6 timing. So, if island time is one hour ahead meaning we are docked 10-7 (island time) this doesn't make sense? We wouldn't make the 9:30 island time meeting if we dock at what is actually 10 am. Am I correct in assuming the times Carnival listed must indeed be island time? This sounds more confusing than it should be, hope the ? makes sense.:o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BethersD Posted November 19, 2016 #2 Share Posted November 19, 2016 As far as I know, times are always listed according to ship time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klfrodo Posted November 19, 2016 #3 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Ship time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coevan Posted November 19, 2016 #4 Share Posted November 19, 2016 After several cruises I know I should know this...we have never cruised in the winter after DST ended, so it's not really been an issue. We are docked in St. Maarten 9 am - 6 pm as stated on our booking summary. The various websites that show what times ships are in port (CruiseTT, etc.) all show this same timing as well. However, St. Maarten is currently 1 hour ahead of EST. We have a tour booked and the tour operator said our port time is perfect for the 10 am tour which gathers at 9:30 and their directions specifically state to use island time. He even sent a link with the ships in port and their times for that day which match the 9-6 timing. So, if island time is one hour ahead meaning we are docked 10-7 (island time) this doesn't make sense? We wouldn't make the 9:30 island time meeting if we dock at what is actually 10 am. Am I correct in assuming the times Carnival listed must indeed be island time? This sounds more confusing than it should be, hope the ? makes sense.:o You are making way too much of this. Every tour operator knows ship time and their local time, this is what they do for a living. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bakersdozen12 Posted November 20, 2016 #5 Share Posted November 20, 2016 You are making way too much of this. Every tour operator knows ship time and their local time, this is what they do for a living. Exactly, they know exactly what time the ship is scheduled to arrive and will be at the pier to meet you accordingly. As long as you don't take your time getting off the ship, and instead get off right when they start letting people off and go directly to the designated meeting spot, you will be fine. Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvtovaca Posted November 20, 2016 Author #6 Share Posted November 20, 2016 I wouldn't have asked the question if I thought it was "making too much of it". We have cruised enough to know how things work and almost always use non-cruise line tours. This is the first time there seems to be a discrepancy. The tour operator gave me a link to the site he uses for which ships are docked at what times and it has our ship to be there 9-6 which he referred to as "island time". This is where the confusion came into play, as Carnival ALSO has it listed as 9-6, which we know from past experience is generally "ship time". SO, if Carnivals "ships time" matches the St. Maarten ships in port websites "island time", there is a discrepancy somewhere since Carnival is on EST and St. Maarten is not...I admit I'm no rocket scientist but it's confusing and I would like not to miss the excursion we have paid for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCruisers Posted November 20, 2016 #7 Share Posted November 20, 2016 The time listed are the ship's time for when you are currently scheduled to arrive and time you are scheduled to leave the port. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easyboy Posted November 20, 2016 #8 Share Posted November 20, 2016 It's the ship's time. The tour operator knows exactly what time to expect your arrival. It's the operator's worry. Not yours. Just relax and enjoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisOz Posted November 20, 2016 #9 Share Posted November 20, 2016 We pay extra to book these through Carnival. Much less than RC and others so don't take that as a criticism by the way... So I regard the ship time / local time thing as one of the benefits of having booked through Carnival. Just relax, I paid for them to do the worrying! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvtovaca Posted November 20, 2016 Author #10 Share Posted November 20, 2016 We pay extra to book these through Carnival. Much less than RC and others so don't take that as a criticism by the way... So I regard the ship time / local time thing as one of the benefits of having booked through Carnival. Just relax, I paid for them to do the worrying! Just an FYI, it's not always more expensive through Carnival. IIn fact on NCL we found their excursions the same price as private. We have done it both ways. For us it just depends on the offerings for that particular cruise and how busy a port will be that day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1sttimeAlaska Posted November 21, 2016 #11 Share Posted November 21, 2016 I suspect somewhere before you get to your port, ship's time will change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheatie59 Posted November 21, 2016 #12 Share Posted November 21, 2016 I suspect somewhere before you get to your port, ship's time will change. Sorry, but no, it won't. Carnival uses the time at the departure as ship time for the entire cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scurvy Seadog Posted November 21, 2016 #13 Share Posted November 21, 2016 (edited) On all 9 Caribbean cruises that I have taken, the ship time has been consistently kept the same time as the original departure port. Edited November 21, 2016 by Scurvy Seadog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coevan Posted November 22, 2016 #14 Share Posted November 22, 2016 Believe me the only ones worried about the time is nervous tourists. The tour companies know when your ship comes in, when it docks, what time the ship is on, what local time is and they know when you need to get back to the ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peajay84 Posted November 22, 2016 #15 Share Posted November 22, 2016 So if Port Canaveral and Nassau are in the same time zone, then there should be no concern over keeping track of "what time is it where"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
summersigh Posted November 22, 2016 #16 Share Posted November 22, 2016 You are making way too much of this. Every tour operator knows ship time and their local time, this is what they do for a living. Not necessarily - in our experience with private tours most go by island time and expect you to do so as well. Last winter in both St Kitts and in St Maarten ship time was 1 hour different than island and both of our private tours operated on Island time. Both were with reputable well known companies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvtovaca Posted November 22, 2016 Author #17 Share Posted November 22, 2016 Not necessarily - in our experience with private tours most go by island time and expect you to do so as well. Last winter in both St Kitts and in St Maarten ship time was 1 hour different than island and both of our private tours operated on Island time. Both were with reputable well known companies. Thank you! Someone "gets it". This is exactly why I posed the question. Now I know I'm not being a worried tourist. I will re-contact the tour operator when it gets closer... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amydresh Posted November 22, 2016 #18 Share Posted November 22, 2016 Not necessarily - in our experience with private tours most go by island time and expect you to do so as well. Last winter in both St Kitts and in St Maarten ship time was 1 hour different than island and both of our private tours operated on Island time. Both were with reputable well known companies. I agree with this. I was going to book an excursion in Grand Cayman when we are arriving at 7 am-4 pm CST. GC in Jan is on EST. The company was trying to book our tour for 8:15 a.m. when we would only have been in port for 15 minutes at that time. They insisted that we were arriving on island time but I knew that was not the case and wasn't wanting to risk it. When I asked if there was any chance that she was wrong and what would happen if I booked and we weren't able to make it on time, she said we better not book through them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kacot Posted November 22, 2016 #19 Share Posted November 22, 2016 I agree with this. I was going to book an excursion in Grand Cayman when we are arriving at 7 am-4 pm CST. GC in Jan is on EST. The company was trying to book our tour for 8:15 a.m. when we would only have been in port for 15 minutes at that time. They insisted that we were arriving on island time but I knew that was not the case and wasn't wanting to risk it. When I asked if there was any chance that she was wrong and what would happen if I booked and we weren't able to make it on time, she said we better not book through them. AGREED... last winter we were on Carnival, but booked a private tour on St. Maarten. Our tour operators did not realize that Carnival was on ship time and thus an hour behind island time. It was a bit of a mess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViolinKate Posted December 21, 2016 #20 Share Posted December 21, 2016 Thank you! Someone "gets it". This is exactly why I posed the question. Now I know I'm not being a worried tourist. I will re-contact the tour operator when it gets closer... Did you ever get this figured out? I'm stressing about the same thing for our cruise next week (presumably the same.. Conquest Christmas Cruise). We have booked with Swaliga 2 for an all day tour. Hopefully it all works out. They say Carnival told the port that they'd be in at 9am local time. Which agrees with other port times listed. Fingera Crossed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Micahs Grandad Posted December 21, 2016 #21 Share Posted December 21, 2016 Not necessarily - in our experience with private tours most go by island time and expect you to do so as well. Last winter in both St Kitts and in St Maarten ship time was 1 hour different than island and both of our private tours operated on Island time. Both were with reputable well known companies. I found this to be true in st kitts as well. Contact tour company and tell them you will be there at a time based on originating point. BTW OP why did you pay in advance? We always pay at end of tour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easyboy Posted December 21, 2016 #22 Share Posted December 21, 2016 I found this to be true in st kitts as well. Contact tour company and tell them you will be there at a time based on originating point. BTW OP why did you pay in advance? We always pay at end of tour. We also don't book private tours that require advanced full payment. Refunds are uncertain if port of call is cancelled, which is the prerogative of the Captain/cruise line for varying reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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