Help please with possible problems with time changes on a cruise

Hi there. I could use some help with how you manage with the time changes travelling on a cruise. By that, I mean If the ship is on Eastern time and I will be going on an Eastern Caribbean cruise that will take me to Atlantic time islands. I believe they are 1 hr ahead of ship's time. Is that correct?

I have been told that my cell phone will automatically change to the appropriate time zone time when crossing into the next time zone. If that is the case and I must stay on Ship's Eastern time, what are the best method(s) to get up in the morning for a port day excursion? I don't really want to rely on a wake up call (maybe I'm too much of a worry wart).

It seems like the Port's excursions/tours meeting times might be in Ship's Time. Is that correct? ( am going on Harmony of the Seas Eastern Caribbean- Nassau, St. Thomas and St. Kitts ports) If so, I need to stay on Ship's time to meet up with tours and of course for departure times. How much time before the ship's departure time did you get back to the ship by? (30 min? 1 hr?) What was the ship's policy about that?

thanks very much

Put you phone in manual time setting mode and keep it on ship's time.

wear a wrist watch and keep it on ship time. I have a travel alarm clock ($10) from Walmart that I use to get up on shore excursion days.

SHIP'S TIME is ALL that matters. Bring a watch...do NOT rely on your cell phone! Set your watch to whatever time the ship's clocks show....that's it! So easy! Do NOT worry about island time, or local time....the ONLY time that matters to you is what the ship's clocks say....synchronize your watch to the ship's clocks.

I don't trust a cell phone, watch is the way to go. Use the wake-up call on our cabin phone just in case there is an overnight time change.

I'm sure I will be corrected; if your cellphone is in airplane mode the time won't change.

I've been on several RCCL Caribbean cruises and they always change the ship time a day or two before to match the port times.

You can just manually set the time on your phone if you don't have cell or wifi service on ship. If your cellular service is left on to get the local time you will incur charges on your cell phone bill unless you've purchased a plan from your cellular provider.

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I've been on several RCCL Caribbean cruises and they always change the ship time a day or two before to match the port times.

 

You can just manually set the time on your phone if you don't have cell or wifi service on ship. If your cellular service is left on to get the local time you will incur charges on your cell phone bill unless you've purchased a plan from your cellular provider.

 

 

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Above information is not correct. Ships definitely do not change to match port time. It depends on the ship, captain, daylight savings time, etc. A good example is the number of people running in many ports and sometimes missing the ship!

Above information is not correct. Ships definitely do not change to match port time. It depends on the ship, captain, daylight savings time, etc. A good example is the number of people running in many ports and sometimes missing the ship!

We are just off Allure and ship never changed time until we switched to Day Light Savings time the last night. However I do recall being docked at Cozumel next to a Carnival ship that had different time showing on her clocks.

wear a wrist watch and keep it on ship time. I have a travel alarm clock ($10) from Walmart that I use to get up on shore excursion days.

Yep.

And the suggestion of keeping the cellphone on manual is good, though I've had phones develop minds of their own sometimes...

Do NOT worry about island time, or local time....the ONLY time that matters to you is what the ship's clocks say....synchronize your watch to the ship's clocks.

Well that's true for getting back onboard the ship, but it's not true when meeting tour operators off the ship. :)

I don't really want to rely on a wake up call (maybe I'm too much of a worry wart).

 

IMO, that is the best way of making sure you are up in time for port excursions. An on ship wake up call will always be "on ship time"

We had one day of mass time confusion on the Harmony TA. It was October 30th and that night we had gained an hour as we were sailing to the west and frequently gaining time. However that was also the day that Europe changed from Daylight Savings Time to Standard Time. I woke up and the time on the room phone in the cabin and the TV did not match! Also my cell phone and my wife's cell phone did not show the same time. We actually argued a bit about what time it really was. Finally I googled the World Clock and was able to determine the correct time! I could have also looked at my analog watch but that would have been too easy.

It turns out that many, many people on board did not know what time it was when they left their cabins that morning. Thankfully it was a sea day....

Put you phone in manual time setting mode and keep it on ship's time.

Also turn off the "Automatic time zone" setting on Android phones (not sure about iPhone.) These are two different settings.

We use alarms on our smartphones as well as wake up calls as a backup.

We use a watch too.

P.S. Our older flip phones were useless as a clock and alarm while at sea and in foreign ports.

If the itinerary shows an arrival at 3pm in San Juan, does that reflect local time?

If the itinerary shows an arrival at 3pm in San Juan, does that reflect local time?

That's what RC has told us. The itinerary listed on the booking confirmation and the website is supposed to be local time.

If the itinerary shows an arrival at 3pm in San Juan, does that reflect local time?

It's always ship time. Unfortunately it's up to you to know if there is a difference.

Captains don't always change ship time. On a transatlantic ships time was changed at 1:00 PM. YMMV

I always rely on my watch and keep on ships time.

I've been on several RCCL Caribbean cruises and they always change the ship time a day or two before to match the port times.

 

You can just manually set the time on your phone if you don't have cell or wifi service on ship. If your cellular service is left on to get the local time you will incur charges on your cell phone bill unless you've purchased a plan from your cellular provider.

 

 

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This is not correct in our experience. I have been on many cruises where the captain announces that ship's time will be different from local times. Different ships, captains and itineraries will dictate. Just watch the daily planner and listen to any announcements.

We had one day of mass time confusion on the Harmony TA. It was October 30th and that night we had gained an hour as we were sailing to the west and frequently gaining time. However that was also the day that Europe changed from Daylight Savings Time to Standard Time. I woke up and the time on the room phone in the cabin and the TV did not match! Also my cell phone and my wife's cell phone did not show the same time. We actually argued a bit about what time it really was. Finally I googled the World Clock and was able to determine the correct time! I could have also looked at my analog watch but that would have been too easy.

 

It turns out that many, many people on board did not know what time it was when they left their cabins that morning. Thankfully it was a sea day....

LOL... And really, if it's a sea day, who cares???

And when they do change the time they announce it on the compass but remember that's for the following day.

I met a couple who were already dealing with an England to Florida time change, and they saw in the compass delivers at dinner time to change their clocks at x o'clock, so before bedtime that same night they did. They were either an hour early or late for the class they wanted to take, can't remember, because they were supposed to change it then following day, not that night. :)

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LOL... And really, if it's a sea day, who cares???

To quote Chicago, "Does anyone really know what time it is? Does anybody really care?"

People were missing exercise classes, trivia, and other planned activities so they cared a little!

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On our Western Caribbean Cruise on Vision we changed the clocks by and hour going and again on the way back. On our recent Eastern Caribbean on Harmony no time changes on board.

My husband keeps his phone on airplane mode so the time on it doesn't change and always matches ship time.

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Wear a watch and keep it on ship's time, do not trust a cell phone.

We are about a week off from a Transatlantic where the time changes one hour every day for something like 6 or 7 days. I had a watch, but occasionally looked at my cell phone and it was never correct.

Got back to the US on 11/23 and turned my phone on and off several times and it never corrected the time.

I read the compass, use my phone and program in the various places I am visiting.

If you are very worried about missing an excursion, you could:

- ask the excursion organiser what time they will be leaving (and if it is local time)

- book the wakeup call

- get up an hour early just in case

I agree it can be confusing! In the last month I have travelled to many different time zones and I wear a watch on one wrist set to local time and keep my fitbit set to home time. But I always check the clocks in the place I am and often google 'current time in....."

In case anyone is still interested. We are in San Juan, AT&T, Samsung S5. Second day, time has not changed on my phone. On Jewel OTS.

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Just off 11 Night Serenade to Southern Caribbean and Ships time did advance at 2AM second Sea Day. Both of us have iPhones and they both made both time changes correctly. I had to manually change my handed watch but SO has a new TISSOT and it also changed automatically.