Ship's time vs. Island time

[debsea]

I have a question about time. Can someone confirm that the times listed for docking/departure times in Caribbean ports refer to ship's time (EST). I understand some of the islands run on CST. This is a significant consideration if you're booking shore tours independently.

[Aussie Gal]

I have never been to the Caribbean but when we have been in Europe, the ship adjusts all its clocks to the time zone that we are in. Sometimes our clocks are adjusted every day and sometimes they stay for a few days at that time, it just depends on the latitude.

Therefore when you are on the islands, you will be running at island time whatever that may be.

Jennie

[lknick]

Ship's time is the same as local time. Posted arrivals and departures are in local time.

[debsea]

Thanks for the replies. Having cruised Europe, I knew that was the case. When corresponding with a local dive operator in Cozumel, however, and they deal with cruise-ship passengers all the time, she warned that there could be a discrepancy. I just want to make sure we don't book an excursion and then find out we can't get back to the ship in time for departure.

[Stevesan]

Ship's time doesn't always conform. Our visit to Grand Cayman last September saw ship's time as one hour later. I don't know why, but it may have been due to daylight savings time?
An experienced tour operator will know the protocol for all visiting cruise ships. If they don't, you might want to steer clear of them.

[cruzincurt]

Last week when we visited Cozumel, they changed the ships time one hour the night before then back one hour after we left.

[Himself]

Islands in the Eastern Caribbean operate on ATLANTIC time which is one hour ahead of Eastern time and two hours ahead of Central Time. Ships time is always local time at the Port. So, if a ship is leaving Nassau at 5PM, that is 5PM Eastern time because Nassau is on Eastern Time. If the ship is leaving St. Thomas at 5PM that would be 5PM Atlantic time.
HIMSELF

[debsea]

Thanks to all your replies, I am assuming that our docking and departure time out of Cozumel are calculated based on CST.

[Roadwork]

This gets confusing because some cruise lines do not change from ship time to port time.

I have always know Hal to change the clocks to port time. You are notified the night before.

[cruzincurt]

You are correct, ships time is NOT always port time. I've been on RCCL cruises to the eastern where they specifically did not change ship's time. The daylight savings time also enters into the equation.

[Krazy Kruizers]

There have been times on different cruise lines, different itineraries, when the ship's clocks did not conform with the island time and it did cause confusion with with some passengers who almost didn't get back to the ship in time.

[RuthC]

On every HAL cruise I have ever taken, through every time zone I have ever crossed, the ship has changed it's clocks to conform to the local time.

St John, Nova Scotia is 1/2 hour ahead of it's neighboring Atlantic zone. The ship changed to agree.
When my ship crossed the International Date Line there was no October 31st, but I managed to acquire a bar bill for that date! That's because clocks are changed at 2:00 A.M. and the bars were open. :D

[gooselace]

I read somewhere that there are no clocks in cabins, as opposed to suites. Are there clocks in various public areas? On the Lido deck for example? I've been trying to find an inexpensive waterproof watch before I leave because I can't wear my watch in the pool or spa shower areas.

[cruzincurt]

There are clocks in the pool areas. Didn't really see any other places. I take a small battery operated travel clock to be sure to get up that last morning.

Walmart has some watches for as low as $5. Some Timex water resistant are around $20.

[Randyk47]

We've only been on HAL cruises that passed through different time zones and the ship's time has always adjusted. As I recall we got some notice....a card or slip of paper....reminding us that the time was changing. We have a travel clock that gets the correct time from a satellite and it automatically changes as we cross back and forth through time zones. Amazingly my wife picked it up on sale and it was less than $20.

[debsea]

Thanks for all the replies. I am confident, based on past experience, that the clock in our suite will magically adjust to local time. We have booked our scuba dive in Cozumel on this assumption. I will double-check when we get on board, and our dive operator has assured us that they will do whatever is necessary to get us back to the ship on time.

RuthC, that would be St. John's, Newfoundland that is 1/2 hour ahead of Atlantic time. Saint John, New Brunswick is on Atlantic time, and there is no similarly named port in Nova Scotia. As a Canadian, when we sailed in and out of St. John's on the Rotterdam, I thought nothing of it, but our American friends were quite baffled by this ridiculous 1/2 hour timezone change.

One month from tonight......Captain's Welcome Aboard Dinner on the Zaandam. Can't wait!

[KCat]

I read somewhere that there are no clocks in cabins, as opposed to suites.
So does this mean that there are clocks in the deluxe suites (specifically the Oosterdam)? If so, are they like a clock radio?

Thanks:)

[gizmo]

I am not sure about the Vista Class ships, but all the others have a big wall clock in the S cabins.

[RuthC]

RuthC, that would be St. John's, Newfoundland that is 1/2 hour ahead of Atlantic time. Saint John, New Brunswick is on Atlantic time, and there is no similarly named port in Nova Scotia. As a Canadian, when we sailed in and out of St. John's on the Rotterdam, I thought nothing of it, but our American friends were quite baffled by this ridiculous 1/2 hour timezone change.:o Thank you for the correction; I'm so embarassed. :o I really, truly, do know Canadian geography much better than that. Honestly!
And the funny thing is, I've been to St. John's, Newfoundland three times, and expect to be back next year.
(I've also been to Nova Scotia several times, and New Brunswick once.)

I apologise to all my Canadian CC friends.