ship's excursion in Limon, Costa Rica

[xeena]

We are on the Dec 9th sailing...Amsterdam.

 

One of the ports is Limon, Costa Rica....any comments on the Tortuguero Canal trip? it is only about 4 hours in it's entirety....this includes an 1 1/2 hr ride to get to the embarkation site....

 

wonder how long the Mawamba "cruise" itself might be....I tried looking up the word Mawamba and it seems to be a general term which could mean a viariety of things. i am thinking it's like a pontoon boat....

 

i am also assuming the ride back is probably the same length even though it originates in another town.....they do not give an estimate for that.

 

i would think that the scenery on both land rides would be interesting....but perhaps not?

[doone]

I can highly recommend this excursion. I took it when I did the Panama Canal cruise and thought if was one of my best excursions I have taken so far. One suggestion, pick an early excursion time as it gets hot and alot of the animals you would want to see try to seek shade as the day goes on. But highly recommend it.

[Gsel]

Completely agree with Doone! We did this tour also and it was one of the best we have ever done. Be sure you do the "early" version.

[peaches from georgia]

Great excursion. The ride is interesting, the 'cruise' is a lot of fun- open air boat gliding down the canals, you stop for refreshments either coming or going, and see a banana plantation. I agree with Doone- one of the best excursions we have ever taken and we would do it again. Yes, go in the morning. We would love to go back to Costa Rica. :)

[johnlcruise]

I'm going to be there on Nov.6th.

Question.

Will the ship be on ship time or Costa Rica time?

In other words if it's 9AM on the ship will it be 8AM in Costa Rica?

[doone]

The ship always follows the times of the ports. Another words, as you travel and the times change, the ship will notify you to set your clocks either ahead or back.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We also did this excursion -- thoroughly enjoyed!!

[LAKNARF]

Doone...........are you sure the ship changes time for each port??? We've been on many cruises(never on HAL) and the ships always kept the time of the originating port. It never went to local times.

[LAKNARF]

We were in Costa Rica last year. Rather than do a ship's tour, we opted to do one with a "local" named Oscar Brown. I have to say that this was one of the top 3 or 4 tours that we have ever taken from a ship. If you haven't committed to the ship tour yet, I suggest that you go to the port of call board and read up on Oscar's tours.

[Southbound]

We did the ship's Torteguera Canal excursion and it was a real winner! Normally, we try to book tours with a local company, but made an exception this time around and were very pleased. Agree with the others -- take the earliest departure.

[johnlcruise]

We were in Costa Rica last year. Rather than do a ship's tour, we opted to do one with a "local" named Oscar Brown. I have to say that this was one of the top 3 or 4 tours that we have ever taken from a ship. If you haven't committed to the ship tour yet, I suggest that you go to the port of call board and read up on Oscar's tours.

 

I did book with "Oscar Brown" Saw some very good reports on the port of call board.

Thats why I'm asking about ship time or port time when the ship docks.

Oscar told me the ship stays on ship time and that 9AM ship time will be port time of 8AM. Just want to make sure.

[RuthC]

Doone...........are you sure the ship changes time for each port??? We've been on many cruises(never on HAL) and the ships always kept the time of the originating port. It never went to local times.

She's sure. I'm sure she's sure. As your post said "(never on HAL)". HAL changes the time on the clock as the ship moves to different time zones.

I can't imagine it being done differently. It would have been horrendous had we not changed time when the ship I was on traveled eight time zones.

[hammybee]

She's sure. I'm sure she's sure. As your post said "(never on HAL)". HAL changes the time on the clock as the ship moves to different time zones.

I can't imagine it being done differently. It would have been horrendous had we not changed time when the ship I was on traveled eight time zones.

 

Absolutely, positively, no doubt about it, HAL's time is adjusted to local time. The same has occured on X, CCL RCCL and NCL sails I have been on.

[LAKNARF]

Absolutely, positively, no doubt about it, HAL's time is adjusted to local time. The same has occured on X, CCL RCCL and NCL sails I have been on.

 

 

Sorry hammybee, but I've been on X CCL RCCL Princess and others and the ship always stayed at original time zone. I never had to change my watch.

However if you are "absolutely, positively, no doubt about it" sure, What can I say?

[hammybee]

Sorry hammybee, but I've been on X CCL RCCL Princess and others and the ship always stayed at original time zone. I never had to change my watch.

However if you are "absolutely, positively, no doubt about it" sure, What can I say?

 

Maybe it's up to the captain or maybe it's intinerary driven. Many cruises stay within the same time zone. Other intineraries cross multiple time zones and sometimes,the international date line. If the ship's clock did not adjust for local time, the results would be challenging for everyone.

[doone]

I am sure. You get a little card on your pillow the night before telling you to either set your clocks ahead or back.

 

I agree with Ruthc, I can't imagine trying to figure out what time it is in the ports if you keep to the embarkation port time. Its got to be crazy!!!!!

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[LAKNARF]

For my own knowledge I wanted to know the answer to the time change question, soooooooooo I tried calling HAL. After 15 minutes on hold I hung up and called X. According to them except for repositioning cruises, the ships clock remains at the same time as the port that the ship left from. It does not change with time zones.

[doone]

YIKES, that has to be extremely confusing.

[gizmo]

For my own knowledge I wanted to know the answer to the time change question, soooooooooo I tried calling HAL. After 15 minutes on hold I hung up and called X. According to them except for repositioning cruises, the ships clock remains at the same time as the port that the ship left from. It does not change with time zones.

 

You are correct about some other cruise lines. I have seen posts on this.

It is crazy. When people book private excursions, things get mixed up. There have been stories about missing the ship because of time zone problems, ship time is one time, local port time is another. :eek:

 

As everyone else posted, Hal changes time to match the local time in the ports. This way there is no confusion.

[RuthC]

For my own knowledge I wanted to know the answer to the time change question, soooooooooo I tried calling HAL. After 15 minutes on hold I hung up and called X.

:confused: Huh? Calling X doesn't get you an answer to the question of how HAL deals with time zone changes. It gets you an answer of how X deals with time zone changes.

Calling HAL and waiting gets the HAL answer.

[peaches from georgia]

For my own knowledge I wanted to know the answer to the time change question, soooooooooo I tried calling HAL. After 15 minutes on hold I hung up and called X. According to them except for repositioning cruises, the ships clock remains at the same time as the port that the ship left from. It does not change with time zones.

According to X, X ships remain on ship's time. I'm sure they did not tell you HAL ships remain on ship's time because they don't. If they did, and all of the posters here were wrong, don't you think some HAL cruiser would come on and say differently? Why ask the question when you won't accept the answer when 100% of those replying say the same thing- HAL changes time with time zones. I have the cards they give all pax to remind them to set their clocks back or ahead, but no scanner.

[hammybee]

Peaches,

It's also in the daily HAL program.

 

And not that it matters, but X and RCCL did change the respective ship's clock in Europe, given some intineraries span 3 time zones. It is possible however, they do not do this in the Caribbean when it's just an hour's difference.

[AAAAmerican]

Peaches,

It's also in the daily HAL program.

 

And not that it matters, but X and RCCL did change the respective ship's clock in Europe, given some intineraries span 3 time zones. It is possible however, they do not do this in the Caribbean when it's just an hour's difference.

 

HAL does have it in the Daily Program(s) and In Port as well..

 

Dont you all know you should listen to the Captain of your Ship..HammyDAM..another good Dam Ship and Great Dam crew!:cool:

[peaches from georgia]

Peaches,

It's also in the daily HAL program.

 

And not that it matters, but X and RCCL did change the respective ship's clock in Europe, given some intineraries span 3 time zones. It is possible however, they do not do this in the Caribbean when it's just an hour's difference.

;) The question though is does HAL change the clocks, isn't it? As you say, it doesn't matter what X and RCCL do in Europe or the Caribbean.

[LAKNARF]

Hopefully this will end the discussion on clock changes.

Specifically intended for RuthC (who appeared to lecture me) and Peaches My post was so that the OP would not get messed up time wise in ports. Hammybee stated that X CCL and RCCL also changed their clocks, AND THAT IS WHY I CALLED X. RuthC I am smart enough to know that calling X does NOT get an answer for HAL