Fascination - ship time vs local time

[SaturnMom]

Hi,

 

I am going to sail from San Juan in two weeks and ready to book some excursions.Thanks for the lovely CC members' suggestions, I locked into several local tours that I would like to join. When I reading their reviews from TA, some have mixed reviews. Usually for the one with only 1 star, it was because the people almost missed the ship on their return, or missed the meet up time because of the time confusion.

 

If the Fascination is sailing out from San Juan, and all port of calls are in the same time zone, does it mean the ship time and the local time will be always the same? Thanks in advance. :D:D

[Hillbillygram]

Hi,

 

I am going to sail from San Juan in two weeks and ready to book some excursions.Thanks for the lovely CC members' suggestions, I locked into several local tours that I would like to join. When I reading their reviews from TA, some have mixed reviews. Usually for the one with only 1 star, it was because the people almost missed the ship on their return, or missed the meet up time because of the time confusion.

 

If the Fascination is sailing out from San Juan, and all port of calls are in the same time zone, does it mean the ship time and the local time will be always the same? Thanks in advance. :D:D

Hi! Hubby and I are on the Sept. 16 cruise out of San Juan. We booked Thenford Grey's tour in St. Kitts and the confirmation email referenced Atlantic Standard Time for the tour time. That made me curious, so I Googled it and it was the same as Eastern Daylight Time.

[MeganGC1983]

We are on the sailing before y’all! Can’t wait!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[LittleYiaYia]

Ship time on the Fascination is the same as embarkation port : San Juan. (AST)

which is the same as Eastern Standard Time. All the islands on your itinerary are on AST.

[coevan]

The tour operators are well aware of the local time and ships time. Every private tour we take come with explicit instructions as where and what time to meet.

[WIFamily]

Ship time on the Fascination is the same as embarkation port : San Juan. (AST)

which is the same as Eastern Standard Time. All the islands on your itinerary are on AST.

 

This is correct, our April 1st Fascination cruise out of San Juan, we did not have to modify any clocks or watches... the ships time was local time at each island.

[SaturnMom]

Great! Thank you. Which tour did you book with Thenford Grey? I am planning to take the taxi and go to the beach.

[SaturnMom]

Thank you everyone. If the ship time is the same as local time, then make planning much easier. Hubby wants me to book excursions through Carnival because he doesn't want to take the risk of missing the ship. But I want to save some $$ because we are visiting so many ports.

 

I told him if we dock at St. Martin from 7am - 5pm, even for a 5 hour tour starts at 9:30 am, we should be back to the pier by 3:30 pm and still have a lot of time to spare. And seem like most of the time, Fascination is the only ship visit the port.

 

This is my first time visiting Eastern Caribbean, do you have any suggestion for each port? Something that we must do? I am a beach people, so if I can't find anything that I really want to do, I will just take a taxi and spend the whole day swimming and snorkeling.

 

Thanks.

[Hillbillygram]

Great! Thank you. Which tour did you book with Thenford Grey? I am planning to take the taxi and go to the beach.

We are doing his Grand Island Tour. It is the only tour that we didn't book through Carnival. We were in St. Thomas in May and did the Magen's Bay Beach Tour with Paradise Point. This time, we are doing a "his & her choice" on our own. Hubby wants to go to the Pirates Museum that is next to the entrance to the Paradise Point tram. Then we are taking a taxi to either Coki Beach or Sapphire Beach.

[coevan]

"Thank you everyone. If the ship time is the same as local time, then make planning much easier. Hubby wants me to book excursions through Carnival because he doesn't want to take the risk of missing the ship. But I want to save some $$ because we are visiting so many ports."

Your husband is falling into Carnival's fear factor. YOU WILL NOT MISS THE SHIP WITH A PRIVATE TOUR. These people do this everyday for a living. as far as the time, even if different, is a non factor. My son Captained in St.Thomas for years. They take out all sorts of tourists, cruise and hotel. They have all the ships direct phone lines. After 100's of snorkel excursions, trips to St. John and BVI, they never missed the ship, not even close.

[ddbaab53]

Hi! Hubby and I are on the Sept. 16 cruise out of San Juan. We booked Thenford Grey's tour in St. Kitts and the confirmation email referenced Atlantic Standard Time for the tour time. That made me curious, so I Googled it and it was the same as Eastern Daylight Time.

 

The wife and I and 3 other couples are on this cruise also.

[cb at sea]

Ship's time is ALL that matters....whatever time the ship is using, you need to also use. Doesn't matter WHAT time it is in your ports...ship's time is ALL that matters!

[salty dingo]

Ship time never changed from San Juan. All the ports were on the same time, as far as I know. We just kept our phones on airplane mode, and verified they were in sync with ship's time, and we never paid attention to shore time - that does not matter.

[Donh44]

"Thank you everyone. If the ship time is the same as local time, then make planning much easier. Hubby wants me to book excursions through Carnival because he doesn't want to take the risk of missing the ship. But I want to save some $$ because we are visiting so many ports."

Your husband is falling into Carnival's fear factor. YOU WILL NOT MISS THE SHIP WITH A PRIVATE TOUR. These people do this everyday for a living. as far as the time, even if different, is a non factor. My son Captained in St.Thomas for years. They take out all sorts of tourists, cruise and hotel. They have all the ships direct phone lines. After 100's of snorkel excursions, trips to St. John and BVI, they never missed the ship, not even close.

 

 

This is absolutely true with one exception. On the outside chance that there is an accident or some kind of mechanical problem or traffic congestion, Carnival is NOT obligated to wait for that group to get back to the ship. If it is a Carnival excursion, they WILL wait. Just a thought for consideration and not meant to be contradictory.

[salty dingo]

This is absolutely true with one exception. On the outside chance that there is an accident or some kind of mechanical problem or traffic congestion, Carnival is NOT obligated to wait for that group to get back to the ship. If it is a Carnival excursion, they WILL wait. Just a thought for consideration and not meant to be contradictory.

You can mitigate this risk by taking an early tour. For example, in St. Lucia, the traffic can get pretty bad coming back from Rodney Bay if you wait until 3 pm to leave, thinking you only have a 30 minute taxi and the deadline is 4:30. Could be stressful... we headed back at 1 pm when there was no traffic, after getting an early start.

 

If you absolutely must "cut it close" on return time, a ship tour may make sense, but you don't have to put yourself in that position. There are plenty of early tours.

 

If the unforeseen does happen, like you wind up in the hospital or something, there's travel insurance for that.

[SaturnMom]

You can mitigate this risk by taking an early tour. For example, in St. Lucia, the traffic can get pretty bad coming back from Rodney Bay if you wait until 3 pm to leave, thinking you only have a 30 minute taxi and the deadline is 4:30. Could be stressful... we headed back at 1 pm when there was no traffic, after getting an early start.

 

If you absolutely must "cut it close" on return time, a ship tour may make sense, but you don't have to put yourself in that position. There are plenty of early tours.

 

If the unforeseen does happen, like you wind up in the hospital or something, there's travel insurance for that.

 

Hi Salty Dingo,

 

Seem like you just came back from Fascination, how was your trip? I like your idea, and maybe I should pick some 4 hours tour instead of 6 hours. :D

 

Thanks.

[salty dingo]

Hi Salty Dingo,

 

Seem like you just came back from Fascination, how was your trip? I like your idea, and maybe I should pick some 4 hours tour instead of 6 hours. :D

 

Thanks.

A six hour tour is going to be a loooong experience, especially with a port every day. Shorter tours make it easier to have lunch on the ship when it's not busy, and a break. The latter part of the day is really good for checking out the local port area near the ship.

 

I wrote a detailed review last week but last I looked it was not yet published. It was a great time all around. Not disappointed in the least. If you have questions let me know.

[SaturnMom]

A six hour tour is going to be a loooong experience, especially with a port every day. Shorter tours make it easier to have lunch on the ship when it's not busy, and a break. The latter part of the day is really good for checking out the local port area near the ship.

 

I wrote a detailed review last week but last I looked it was not yet published. It was a great time all around. Not disappointed in the least. If you have questions let me know.

 

Can't wait to read your review, please post it out.

[salty dingo]

Can't wait to read your review, please post it out.

Will do. Currently, the latest reviews are from July sailings.

[pusywillow]

We are doing his Grand Island Tour. It is the only tour that we didn't book through Carnival. We were in St. Thomas in May and did the Magen's Bay Beach Tour with Paradise Point. This time, we are doing a "his & her choice" on our own. Hubby wants to go to the Pirates Museum that is next to the entrance to the Paradise Point tram. Then we are taking a taxi to either Coki Beach or Sapphire Beach.

 

Thenford Grey is the best! A few years ago, when he was just starting out, I took a private tour with him. It lasted the entire day and we saw and did so much. Glad to see he has expanded his business and is doing so well.

[SaturnMom]

We are doing his Grand Island Tour. It is the only tour that we didn't book through Carnival. We were in St. Thomas in May and did the Magen's Bay Beach Tour with Paradise Point. This time, we are doing a "his & her choice" on our own. Hubby wants to go to the Pirates Museum that is next to the entrance to the Paradise Point tram. Then we are taking a taxi to either Coki Beach or Sapphire Beach.

 

 

Thanks for your suggestion, I checked with the operator today, and they only offer Grand Island Tour on the day we visit. It is a long tour but I booked it anyway. :D Thanks again.