Questions about luggage & time changes on the Caribbean Princess

[mickeyfan1]

Hi, we will be sailing aboard the Caribbean Princess in two weeks and I have a couple of questions for those of you that have just returned. Are we safe locking our luggage once we get to the port, or will we need to leave it unlocked for security to search again before it is delivered to our rooms? We will carry a backpack on board with our camera's and other valuables, but we were wondering if we should go ahead and lock up the rest of our luggage.

Also, did the ship adjust to local time in the Western Caribbean or did you all stay on east coast Daylight Savings Time? We have an 8:30 excursion booked with Captain Marvin's in Grand Cayman, and I've read conflicting reports on whether or not Princess adjusts their ships to local time or stays on east coast time.

Thanks for your help!

Jennifer

[KAJOKG]

Jennifer: You can lock your luggage when you go to the ship. I always lock ours. Your carry ons will go through xrays at security as you board ship. The ship adjusts to port time. If there is a time change at your port of call, you will be notified with a notice on your pillow to re-set your clocks.

KB

NCL NORWAY - 2000
GOLDEN PRINCESS - 2001
GOLDEN PRINCESS - 2002
HAL NOORDAM - 2002
HAL VOLENDAM - 2003
ISLAND PRINCESS - NOV. 2003
HAL VOLENDAM - JAN. 2004
CORAL PRINCESS - OCT. 2004

[GloriaF]

Absolutely agree about the time change issue. Just back from the Regal to Hawaii, and 3 of the 4 nights at sea require a time change even though there is no port or land. It made it a lot easier to adjust our body clocks than to do it all in one time change. As stated above, there will be a note left on your bed along with your chocolates, and the CD will remind everyone at the evening entertainment as well.

Gloria

Grand Princess, Eastern, April 2001
Grand Princess, Western,April 2002
WE"RE BACK!Regal to Hawaii, April 5, 2004

[SuzeeQ]

I wouldn't advise locking anything...should someone see something of concern in your luggage, your locks will be broken off....same thing with airlines....you can't fly with locks on either.

[Linda CruiseDiva]

I don't believe that's accurate about locks being cut off by cruise line security. If it's being done, it's something brand new and all cruise lines aren't doing it.

Definitely lock/secure your luggage before handing it over at the pier. In fact, I "lock" the zippers on my soft-side luggage with cable ties before checking in at cruise ports and airports. If TSA inspectors need to look inside, they cut off the cable ties and replace them with blue ties.

While some cruise lines' ships stay on "ship time," on our last two Princess cruises we were advised to change our watches for the different time zones we were in.

Linda
CruiseDiva

[CruiseFever]

We did too and I like the way the Princess CD put it at the Welcome Aboard Show:

"We're taking an hour from you tonight but we'll give it back later in the week"

Happy Cruising

Chris

www.LifeIsCruising.com (http://www.LifeIsCruising.com)

Next up:
Caribbean Princess 06/26/04
Star Princess 10/24/04
Carnival Victory 12/19/04
Carnival Miracle 03/13/05

[spongerob]

We didn't adjust our clocks at all during the western Caribbean cruise, except for the switch to DST before we returned to FLL.

We always lock our bags. There are now TSA-approved locks that you can use while flying. They can open these using a special pass key. We NEVER leave our bags unlocked when we embark.

Just completed:
Caribbean Princess Apr 3/04
Golden Princess Apr 10/04
Coming up:
Tahitian Princess Oct 14/04

[KAJOKG]

Spongerob -- If you don't adjust your clocks, how do you keep your excursions times straight? Either you don't take them, or you just have your own inner clock which tells you to get to the tender line. Which?????

KB

NCL NORWAY - 2000
GOLDEN PRINCESS - 2001
GOLDEN PRINCESS - 2002
HAL NOORDAM - 2002
HAL VOLENDAM - 2003
ISLAND PRINCESS - NOV. 2003
HAL VOLENDAM - JAN. 2004
CORAL PRINCESS - OCT. 2004

[spongerob]

It might have been an unusual case for that particular cruise. DST kicked in the night we left, but we did not adjust ship's time. It appeared that ship and shore time were the same in Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. We did adjust clocks on hour forward after we left Cozumel.

There was some confusion on board the first couple of days. The person making the morning announcement couldn't seem to decide what time it was. The first morning, we had a selection of three different times to choose from. The next day we could choose from two different times. Language issues were causing a problem.

All ship's tours appeared to be conducted using ship's time. If you are booking independent tours, find out how any differences are handled. Sorry I can't be of more help.

Just completed:
Caribbean Princess Apr 3/04
Golden Princess Apr 10/04
Coming up:
Tahitian Princess Oct 14/04

[Jacqueline]

Jennifer -
Princess always uses local time. I am concerned that you will not make an 8:30 am time with Marvin.
You are tendered in Grand Caymen and may not be able to disembark for a while as the ships tours get off first. Then you need to take a walk to the shop.

Jacqueline
Constellation 3/20/04
HAL Westerdam 7/30/04
Tahitian Princess August 2003
Grand Princess Western Caribbean 2003
Brilliance of the Seas Baltic 2002
Ocean Princess- Alaska 2001
Celebrity Zenith- Bermuda 2001
Grand Princess Med 2000

[KAJOKG]

Spongerob -- Thanks for the explanation. I know there are instances when the ship's time and port time are not the same, but that is rare. From your original post, I assumed you just didn't bother to change your clocks. Your experience must have been a bit confusing. But that's travel, and one must go with the flow.

KB

NCL NORWAY - 2000
GOLDEN PRINCESS - 2001
GOLDEN PRINCESS - 2002
HAL NOORDAM - 2002
HAL VOLENDAM - 2003
ISLAND PRINCESS - NOV. 2003
HAL VOLENDAM - JAN. 2004
CORAL PRINCESS - OCT. 2004

[lstone19]

Spongerob, your cruise was unique because of the change to DST and because not all of the islands observe DST. It appear you observed local time everywhere but because of the U.S. change, the ship's time changes did not occur where they usually do.
When you boarded in FLL, you were on EST (UTC-5). That night, the U.S. went to DST (for EDT, UTC-4) but Jamaica and Grand Cayman do not observe DST so both were still UTC-5. So no change in ship's time.
Cozumel is in the central time zone - CST is UTC-6 and CDT is UTC-5. Cozumel does observe DST so it was UTC-5 there as well - no change in time at any port yet since boarding.
Now you headed back to FLL where it now being DST, the time was UTC-4. So now you made the only time change of the cruise.
UTC (Universal Coordinated Time - the ordering of the letters comes from the French spelling) is the same as GMT. UTC-5 means 5 hours behind GMT. Remember standard time in one time zone is the same time as daylight time in the next time zone west. So EST and CDT are the same.

-- Larry

Seaward 12/90
Southward 12/92
Sky Princess 5/93
Dawn Princess 6/01
Coral Princess 12/24/02 Cancelled
Coral Princess 12/23/03