jtwind

Someone mentioned that you could buy small bottles for consumption, but I can't find info.  (And I'm not talking about the duty free stuff that has to be held until the end of the cruise.)

Hi all.  If an itinerary says that we will be in port from 9 - 5, what would be the normal time disembarkation would start at a docked port of call?

2 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

On my most recent cruise that disembarked last week, I had an interesting experience with time zones.  It was a 14-day cruise that went from Galveston to Panama and back.  The Captain made the executive decision to change to Eastern Time on day 2 and stay there until day 14.

 

The cruise itself actually had stops in three different time zones - Central (Galveston and Limon, CR), Atlantic (Aruba and Curacao), and Eastern (the rest of them).  So, we were an hour off of local time at a few of our ports, but this minimized the disruption of having to change times for us passengers.

So, sometimes the time you got to port was off by one hour, as compared to the original itinerary?

1 hour ago, Paula_MacFan said:

We were on the Regal last week.  We had a different order of ports but here is our daily schedule.  We turned clocks forward on day 3 and stayed on that time until day six.  The captain announced we should check our watches and ensure we verified ship time vs port time in Cozumel.  We missed Costa Maya due to weather.  

Ok, so by doing this, your watches, ship time, and local time would all be the same for Costa Maya and Cozumel.  But they would not have all matched in Belize.

3 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

There are three docks. Puerta Maya  https://www.puertamaya.com/port-schedule.aspx is the one Princess usually uses. 

Right.  So, it says 9:00 for Regal Princess on Feb. 4.  That has to be local time, right?  That matches what is shown on the itinerary.  That would mean that I would be able to make a 10:00 local tour that is a 5 minute cab ride away.

Regal Princess sails out of Galveston.  In order, the stops are: Cozumel, Belize, Roatan.  Galveston, Belize, and Roatan are all on Central US time.  But Cozumel is on Eastern US time.  I was shopping for an independent tour, and the agent told me that, since the itinerary said we would be in Cozumel from 9:00 to 18:00, we would actually be arriving at 10:00 local time.  This sounds nuts.  Anyone know anything about this?  Thanks.

I can't find anything that is for sure, a port schedule for Cozumel.  Everything I find says 9, but I don't think any of them are the schedule for the actual port.

S

5 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

If the tour operator doesn’t know the ships arrival time in a port I would hesitate to book them. At a port like Cozumel they should have the port schedule. So it would not matter if the ship was on ship time. The port authority would have the actual time. 

The tour operator said that, since my itinerary showed 9am, we would actually be arriving at 10am local time.  i found that hard to believe.

Any idea how I can find out?  I'm on a Princess cruise out of Galveston.  Maybe I'll hop on the Princess forum.

My companion and I don't even discuss politics at home, since we're on opposite "sides".  I can't imagine what would happen if someone started talking politics at the MDR table.

Hi All!  Is all aboard time typically 1 hour before the departure time listed on the itinerary?  Thanks.

Hi!  Has anybody ever heard of a ship being in port, and showing a different time than the local time?  (A tour operator recently suggested that, since my cruise originates in Central USA time, even though my itinerary shows us docking in Cozumel at 9am, we will actually be docking at 10am local time.  Sounds weird, but what do I know.)

bump

I'm looking at tours in Belize, and the ones I want leave at 8:30 or 9.  The ship arrives at 8.  Without suite level priority or a cruise company excursion, how can I possibly arrange an independent shore excursion?  I'l really have no idea when I can get ashore.

Do they distribute the tickets the day before the tender port?  Typically, what time?  Where is the best place to find this info?

There will be 2-4 other big cruise ships in port for my days in Roatan and Cozumel.  What's it like trying to get a taxi when 12,000 people are dumped in port all at once?  Thanks.

What is the latest on where and when one can get a tender ticket for a private excursion, as early as possible?  I will be on Regal.  Thanks.

Both the travel agent and Windstar are telling us that none of the credits from the travel agent, American Express, or Windstar can be used for gratuities.  Does that sound right?  The travel agent also says that none of it is refundable.

According to this, they are 2 different places, not just a matter of tendering and docking:  https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/panama-city-port-584

That's what I've been seeing, a short drive.  So, how do we find out which one to tell the tour company to meet us at?

What exactly does it mean when the cruise starts or ends in Balboa/Fuerte Amador?  Aren't those two different sites?

On 11/13/2023 at 1:31 PM, canadianbear said:

We are back from our HAL excursion Ultimate Curacao, Beach & Turtle snorkel & lunch.  We are still in Curacao until 10:30pm tonight.  Our excursion was great. The “boxed” lunch was good too-chicken in a wrap, cookies, apple, pop or water.  
 

I took photos with our old underwater camera & we’re very happy how they turned out.  I’ll attach a couple I took.  I would recommend this tour. 

Were these taken while snorkeling?

On 11/26/2023 at 3:02 PM, Petoonya said:

Bill did not want to be here anymore and decided to leave this world. Some of you helped him through our last cruise- especially one dear soul who even helped him play gin rummy.

 

 

Oh no.  That sounds hauntingly similar to my situation.  I hope not, but I see you're in Oregon.  A couple who had seen us together on our last cruise, stopped me in the hallway, and asked if I was going to be on my own soon.  They told me that they had both lost their spouses recently, and had found each other through friends.  Here I am, a year and a half later, heading out shortly with someone who I met through friends.  Keep your chin up.  I'm not nearly as brave as you are.  Couldn't do it on my own.  Good luck!

Can anyone tell me anything about the snorkeling in Saline Bay, Mayreau (location of beach barbecue) or Mopian?

1 hour ago, Ski Mom 2 said:

We were there twice on a Star Collector. The first time we did the beach picnic only and the second time we spent at a restaurant/bar we had found. 
 

I believe there was one tour in the morning that some folks did. I’m not a big snorkeler   so I can’t answer those questions. 

OK.  I'll start a new thread.