Ship time vs local port time

[travelbuds]

Wondering if the ship time will be the same as local port time on Norwegian cruises. Planning to do some independent excursions and don't want to miss an excursion (or the ship) because of possible time difference. Does Celebrity change time zones to match local time on their creuises? Thanks.

[Port Power]

Norway only has one time zone, so I doubt the ship would be different.

[markeb]

Where are you sailing from? Norway is all on Central European Time. The only time change would be if you're sailing from the UK.

[travelbuds]

6 minutes ago, markeb said:

Where are you sailing from? Norway is all on Central European Time. The only time change would be if you're sailing from the UK.

Sailing from Southampton UK, with stops in Belgium and Norway. Planning to do some independent excursions in Bruges and in 4 Norwegian ports. Want to make sure the independent excurions don't start before ship gets into port.

[cruisestitch]

You will not run into a time problem in Norway.

[markeb]

3 minutes ago, travelbuds said:

Sailing from Southampton UK, with stops in Belgium and Norway. Planning to do some independent excursions in Bruges and in 4 Norwegian ports. Want to make sure the independent excurions don't start before ship gets into port.

You’ll be on British Summer Time in Southampton and probably change to Central European Time (summer time as well) before your first stop on the Continent. Belgium and Norway are CET, so no additional changes until you start the return to Southampton. 

[travelbuds]

Just now, markeb said:

You’ll be on British Summer Time in Southampton and probably change to Central European Time (summer time as well) before your first stop on the Continent. Belgium and Norway are CET, so no additional changes until you start the return to Southampton. 

Thank you for your quick replies! Never been to Europe before.

[Jim_Iain]

Celebrity "Generally" stays on the same time as the port.    There are a number of ports around the world that the ship says on ship time.   They will be communicated in advance for planning purposes.

 

One that comes to mind is Newfoundland which has a 1/2 hour time zone.  It was a little confusing with most partners having one watch set to Ship Time and the other to Land Time.

[Northern Aurora]

Several years ago we did a Norwegian fjords cruise on Celebrity, and my memory was that while in Norway we were on local time.

[travelbuds]

7 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Celebrity "Generally" stays on the same time as the port.    There are a number of ports around the world that the ship says on ship time.   They will be communicated in advance for planning purposes.

 

One that comes to mind is Newfoundland which has a 1/2 hour time zone.  It was a little confusing with most partners having one watch set to Ship Time and the other to Land Time.

We usually bring a couple extra watches while traveling just in case. Thanks.

[the penguins]

2 hours ago, travelbuds said:

We usually bring a couple extra watches while traveling just in case. Thanks.

you will be on local time at every port.

Private excursion companies and private guides will all operate to match the time the ship is in port. No need to stress - relax and enjoy.

As you haven't been to Europe before the following may help: Credit cards are widely accepted (make sure you have one that doesn't charge you a fee) and don't let the Credit card company/shop do the conversion i.e. leave everything in the local currency. You will need a little local currency (Nor). If you have any small bills left don't change them back just use them for any extra tipping on the ship -  

[travelbuds]

5 minutes ago, the penguins said:

 

As you haven't been to Europe before the following may help: Credit cards are widely accepted (make sure you have one that doesn't charge you a fee) and don't let the Credit card company/shop do the conversion i.e. leave everything in the local currency. You will need a little local currency (Nor). If you have any small bills left don't change them back just use them for any extra tipping on the ship -  

Thank you for  your comments. Curious who does the conversion if not the credit card issuer?

[markeb]

33 minutes ago, travelbuds said:

Thank you for  your comments. Curious who does the conversion if not the credit card issuer?

 

The merchant or their bank. Never in your favor...

 

The button may ask if you'd like the transaction in USD or NOK (or Euros or GBP). NEVER select USD...

[ScottC4746]

4 hours ago, travelbuds said:

Wondering if the ship time will be the same as local port time on Norwegian cruises. Planning to do some independent excursions and don't want to miss an excursion (or the ship) because of possible time difference. Does Celebrity change time zones to match local time on their creuises? Thanks.

Yes and no.  Your cruise daily as well as onboard announcements will tell you. I think if you cross time zones, in my experience, sometimes you match local time, other times you do not.

[the penguins]

10 hours ago, travelbuds said:

Thank you for  your comments. Curious who does the conversion if not the credit card issuer?

The store/ stores processor. Each purchase shows in the currency of the country you are in and the store will ask if you would like them to change it to your currency - sounds helpful but it just costs you extra. The answer is always "no thank you". The same applies to us on the ship as X will generously offer to convert our account from $ to £. Just make sure you use a card that does not charge a currency transaction/ conversion fee - there are lots to choose from.

[ScottC4746]

9 hours ago, the penguins said:

The store/ stores processor. Each purchase shows in the currency of the country you are in and the store will ask if you would like them to change it to your currency - sounds helpful but it just costs you extra. The answer is always "no thank you". The same applies to us on the ship as X will generously offer to convert our account from $ to £. Just make sure you use a card that does not charge a currency transaction/ conversion fee - there are lots to choose from.

And my experience, I always ask for the charge to go through in local currency as I often get a more favorable exchange rate.  Keyword: Often, not always.  Some countries are chip and pin for example UK.  I do not have a charge card being American that works that way, so I have to remind them it is a chip and sign where I have to sign a charge slip.  It is has been two to three years since I have been to the UK, so it might have changed.

[the penguins]

1 hour ago, ScottC4746 said:

And my experience, I always ask for the charge to go through in local currency as I often get a more favorable exchange rate.  Keyword: Often, not always.  Some countries are chip and pin for example UK.  I do not have a charge card being American that works that way, so I have to remind them it is a chip and sign where I have to sign a charge slip.  It is has been two to three years since I have been to the UK, so it might have changed.

Never had a better rate from a store. Essential you must have a Credit Card that doesn't charge a fee so you get the rate on the day. 

Everywhere in the UK/Europe Chip and Pin is the norm. Thankfully the US is now catching up and at long last when we visit our family in Dallas we can get our Gas at the pump without any issues. 

[travelbuds]

13 hours ago, the penguins said:

The store/ stores processor. Each purchase shows in the currency of the country you are in and the store will ask if you would like them to change it to your currency - sounds helpful but it just costs you extra. The answer is always "no thank you". The same applies to us on the ship as X will generously offer to convert our account from $ to £. Just make sure you use a card that does not charge a currency transaction/ conversion fee - there are lots to choose from.

Have credit card with chip but never needed to use a PIN with it. Have purchased items from Canada with credit card in past; kept it in Canadian currency. Shows up on credit card statment in USD. No transaction fee.

[markeb]

3 hours ago, the penguins said:

Never had a better rate from a store. Essential you must have a Credit Card that doesn't charge a fee so you get the rate on the day. 

Everywhere in the UK/Europe Chip and Pin is the norm. Thankfully the US is now catching up and at long last when we visit our family in Dallas we can get our Gas at the pump without any issues. 

 

5 hours ago, ScottC4746 said:

Some countries are chip and pin for example UK. 

 

I'd almost say contactless is the norm. The limit used to be £30 as I recall, but I'm pretty sure that's been lifted or eliminated. Apple Pay, Google Pay, and contactless. At least it means we don't have to remove all doubt where we're from by signing a slip...

[markeb]

On 5/16/2024 at 1:09 PM, travelbuds said:

Thank you for your quick replies! Never been to Europe before.

 

Since you've never been to Europe, I'd suggest you check out the British Isles/Western Europe Board.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/148-british-isleswestern-europe/

 

There's also a board for Northern Europe & Baltic Sea

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/116-northern-europe-baltic-sea/

 

Some of your questions and some of our replies aren't Celebrity specific, and you'll find a wealth of information on those two boards.

Edited May 17 by markeb
Added link to Northern Europe board

[the penguins]

15 minutes ago, markeb said:

 

 

I'd almost say contactless is the norm. The limit used to be £30 as I recall, but I'm pretty sure that's been lifted or eliminated. Apple Pay, Google Pay, and contactless. At least it means we don't have to remove all doubt where we're from by signing a slip...

contactless limit is now £100 but there are frequent spot check that require you to enter the pin number. This can prove difficult when/if you only have the card on your phone rather than an physical card. I am a volunteer cashier at a local charity/not for profit store and these checks whilst important to prevent fraud are a real pain. I strongly advise that you always carry a real card, we take to separate cards: one in my name with Boss (Anita) as the secondary card holder and one in the Bosses name with me as the secondary. One set remains on the ship for use if one of the first set is lost/stolen/compromised.

[travelbuds]

16 minutes ago, markeb said:

 

Since you've never been to Europe, I'd suggest you check out the British Isles/Western Europe Board.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/148-british-isleswestern-europe/

 

There's also a board for Northern Europe & Baltic Sea

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/116-northern-europe-baltic-sea/

 

Some of your questions and some of our replies aren't Celebrity specific, and you'll find a wealth of information on those two boards.

Thank you for your time making comments and posting those links.

[the penguins]

55 minutes ago, travelbuds said:

Have credit card with chip but never needed to use a PIN with it. Have purchased items from Canada with credit card in past; kept it in Canadian currency. Shows up on credit card statment in USD. No transaction fee.

Unless you are making a contactless purchase you will need to enter the pin every time in the UK and Europe. The transaction fee doesn't show as such just the rate of exchange can be very bad on some cards.