Is port arrival time ship time or local time?

[MDgal76]

Are the times listed on my vacation summary ship time or local time? I am trying to book a non NCL excursion and was told I arrive at 0700 local time but my vacation summary says 8 am.

 

 

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[KarlChilders]

Are the times listed on my vacation summary ship time or local time? I am trying to book a non NCL excursion and was told I arrive at 0700 local time but my vacation summary says 8 am.

 

 

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It has been my experience on NCL that the ship changes it's time to local time. I know that it can vary but this has been my experience.

[MDgal76]

It has been my experience on NCL that the ship changes it's time to local time. I know that it can vary but this has been my experience.

 

 

 

But is the time listed on my vacation summary (on the NCL website) local time? The excursion I’m looking at leaves at 0830 and according to the vacation summary we get in at 0800. Doesn’t seem like enough time to get off of the ship and take cab to the ferry. The excursion company said we actually get in at 7 local. So of course I’m totally confused and will probably just call NCL to un-confuse myself...lol!

 

 

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[kskelley40]

NCL does change the clocks to the local time so you will probably get into that port at 7am. If it is a reputable outside tour, which I am sure it is, they will know exactly when you arrive. So if they are saying 7am - I would plan on that.

It does get a little confusing with them constantly changing the clocks....

[KeithJenner]

Bringing the NCL random answer system into things will most likely cause more confusion.

 

As has been said, NCL almost always change ship time to local time. I have heard some comments that suggest this doesn’t always happen, but I’ve now done over 100 port visits and this has been the case in every one of them.

 

Perhaps the port you are visiting is one where this doesn’t happen (which I doubt NCL phone staff will be able to correctly confirm for you). More likely, what the person is saying is that the ship usually arrives earlier than the stated time. In my experience that is very possible.

 

Unfortunately you are unlikely to get a definitive answer. However, local tour guides do tend to be quite well on top of this stuff. They probably have more specific information than anyone else.

 

 

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[PelicanBill]

But is the time listed on my vacation summary (on the NCL website) local time? The excursion I’m looking at leaves at 0830 and according to the vacation summary we get in at 0800. Doesn’t seem like enough time to get off of the ship and take cab to the ferry. The excursion company said we actually get in at 7 local. So of course I’m totally confused and will probably just call NCL to un-confuse myself...lol!

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Yup here's how it works. You will change to local time if that is needed. Keep in mind that many places do not use Daylight Savings Time so when sailing from Eastern Daylight Time on the east coast to Atlantic Standard Time there is NO time change. If you said from Eastern Standard time to Atlantic Standard time then clocks go +1 the night before you arrive. Look up the time zone for your sailing date for all ports including your departure port!

 

The ship's arrival time in ports is almost always 1 hour before the itinerary time. That's because it takes an hour to dock and clear customs. Your itinerary is the "go ashore" time. The ship MAY give priority to Havens, Platinum, and those who book ship tours before allowing the rest of you off. The ship MAY also start calling go ashore early if all is done.

 

Tell your tour your ship's published "go ashore" time is 8:00AM, and you will be off as soon as they allow you off. 8:30 is a good bet but could be give or take 15 minutes.

 

WARNING. I caught the Breakway failing to change ship's clocks one day. TV clocks, clock behind guest services all wrong. Ship was clearly on a new time zone based on announcements and my watch which I had changed. Went to guest services and strongly suggested they contact ship operations ASAP or there will be many, many angry passengers... it was changed 15 minutes later.

[MDgal76]

Thanks all! It really is confusing! I just assumed the time on my vacation summary was the time I arrived (local) but then the 0830 local excursion time left no time for delays!

 

 

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[BirdTravels]

Thanks all! It really is confusing! I just assumed the time on my vacation summary was the time I arrived (local) but then the 0830 local excursion time left no time for delays!

 

 

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Your vacation summary is local time. The ship will change to local time. It should not be confusing. If you take a ship excursion, they will give you a meeting time and place. In small ports, that will be in the theater and they will let you off when your transportation is ready. Whether the ship arrives at the dock before the scheduled time is irrelevant. Just like your plane arriving at an airport early. Irrelevant.

[Sauer-kraut]

Your vacation summary is local time. The ship will change to local time. It should not be confusing. If you take a ship excursion, they will give you a meeting time and place. In small ports, that will be in the theater and they will let you off when your transportation is ready. Whether the ship arrives at the dock before the scheduled time is irrelevant. Just like your plane arriving at an airport early. Irrelevant.

OP is using a private tour operator.

[brookie848]

While we've always changed to match local time, I think on rare occasions, the Western Caribbean itinerary does not match local times, depending on the order of the ports. I believe it was on the DougOut's Dawn or second Escape cruise that they didn't change to local time.

 

Like others have said, the time listed on your cruise documents will most likely be the local time. And if the tour operator doesn't know when ships are due to be in/leave, I'm not sure how much I would trust them.

[zqvol]

But is the time listed on my vacation summary (on the NCL website) local time? The excursion I’m looking at leaves at 0830 and according to the vacation summary we get in at 0800. Doesn’t seem like enough time to get off of the ship and take cab to the ferry. The excursion company said we actually get in at 7 local. So of course I’m totally confused and will probably just call NCL to un-confuse myself...lol!

 

 

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Which port? Many of us have been to a lot of ports and may be able to give you a better answer with port specific information.

[zqvol]

Yup here's how it works. You will change to local time if that is needed. Keep in mind that many places do not use Daylight Savings Time so when sailing from Eastern Daylight Time on the east coast to Atlantic Standard Time there is NO time change. If you said from Eastern Standard time to Atlantic Standard time then clocks go +1 the night before you arrive. Look up the time zone for your sailing date for all ports including your departure port!

 

The ship's arrival time in ports is almost always 1 hour before the itinerary time. That's because it takes an hour to dock and clear customs. Your itinerary is the "go ashore" time. The ship MAY give priority to Havens, Platinum, and those who book ship tours before allowing the rest of you off. The ship MAY also start calling go ashore early if all is done.

 

Tell your tour your ship's published "go ashore" time is 8:00AM, and you will be off as soon as they allow you off. 8:30 is a good bet but could be give or take 15 minutes.

 

WARNING. I caught the Breakway failing to change ship's clocks one day. TV clocks, clock behind guest services all wrong. Ship was clearly on a new time zone based on announcements and my watch which I had changed. Went to guest services and strongly suggested they contact ship operations ASAP or there will be many, many angry passengers... it was changed 15 minutes later.

 

This is not correct. You can expect to get off the ship within 15 minutes of the time stated on the NCL web site, and that is based on the local time.

[zqvol]

Thanks all! It really is confusing! I just assumed the time on my vacation summary was the time I arrived (local) but then the 0830 local excursion time left no time for delays!

 

 

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Unless the excursion is picking you up at the pier, you are unlikely to make an excursion at 8:30. The ONLY time I have ever been at a port earlier than what was said on the cruise lines web site was at Grand Cayman, and the ship stayed on Miami time the whole trip, and GC doesn't observe DST.

[PelicanBill]

This is not correct. You can expect to get off the ship within 15 minutes of the time stated on the NCL web site, and that is based on the local time.

 

 

 

What are you saying is not correct? This is how it's worked for my last 12 NCL ports.

 

 

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[casofilia]

We have found that on arrival in a port that ship time is local time. They will keep you informed the evening before of any time change overnight. Also long cruises often put out a sheet showing all the times and distances that you would be interested in.

[ncbrowns]

As has been said, NCL almost always change ship time to local time. I have heard some comments that suggest this doesn’t always happen, but I’ve now done over 100 port visits and this has been the case in every one of them.

 

We just sailed a Canada / New England itinerary on the Gem last month, and they did *not* switch the ship time to local time in Halifax NS and Saint John NB. They stayed on Eastern instead of switching to Atlantic (+1 hour). No idea why. This caused us a problem on a shared tour we had booked, where the other couple was late because they were looking at the ship's time instead of the pre-arranged local time.

 

The arrival/departure times on our pre-cruise ncl.com itinerary were in local time. The NCL dailies did warn that ship time was not changing to local time for those ports, but this still doesn't make sense to me.

 

All other itineraries we've sailed have adjusted the ship's clocks to match local time.

[MDgal76]

Unless the excursion is picking you up at the pier, you are unlikely to make an excursion at 8:30. The ONLY time I have ever been at a port earlier than what was said on the cruise lines web site was at Grand Cayman, and the ship stayed on Miami time the whole trip, and GC doesn't observe DST.

 

 

 

That’s what I thought! Decided to scrap the excursion and go to Mr Sanchos. Didn’t feel like risking it!

 

 

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