Star port time vs ship time for Mex Riv

[Liza555]

I am not able to do a thread search at this time and was wondering if someone could tell me about the ship time vs. port time for the Star in March?

 

NCL has the following times on the itinerary :

Cabo : 11am

Mazatlan : 8am

Puerto Vallarta : 8am

 

Basically I am trying to book my own shore excursions and need to know if the Star says it docks at 11 or 8am, is that the port time?

 

I have gotten some conflicting answers.

 

Thanks,

Liza

[SeaShark]

I am not able to do a thread search at this time and was wondering if someone could tell me about the ship time vs. port time for the Star in March?

 

NCL has the following times on the itinerary :

Cabo : 11am

Mazatlan : 8am

Puerto Vallarta : 8am

 

Basically I am trying to book my own shore excursions and need to know if the Star says it docks at 11 or 8am, is that the port time?

 

I have gotten some conflicting answers.

 

Thanks,

Liza

 

 

OK...First, I'm going to caution you in that this is kind of a tricky subject. Understand first and foremost that ship's schedules are ALWAYS based on ship's time...not port time.

 

Second...March (and October) has some other dangers in that the United States and Mexico do NOT change from Standard Time to Daylight Saving Time on the same dates. THAT IS VERY IMPORTANT.

 

 

The United States will switch to Daylight Saving Time on March 14th.

 

Mexico will switch to Daylight Saving Time on April 4th.

 

 

 

The following was written for the Mexican Riviera cruises and applies under NORMAL conditions....that being the time BEFORE March 14th and the time AFTER April 4th.

 

During the cruise, the Star will enter three (3) different time zones: Pacific, Mountain, and Central.

 

However, the Star will only observe two (2) different time zones: Pacific and Mountain.

 

Pacific Time

The City of Los Angeles is under Pacific Time.

The Star will observe Pacific Time on Saturday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

 

Mountain Time

The City of Cabo San Lucas is under Mountain Time.

The City of Mazatlan is under Mountain Time.

The Star will observe MMountain Time on March Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

 

Central Time

The City of Puerto Vallarta is under Central Time.

The Star will NOT observe Central Time at any point during the cruise. The ship will remain on Mountain Time while visiting Puerto Vallarta.

 

Time Changes

The first time change occurs at the end of Sail Away Day.

During the night between Saturday and Sunday, the Star will switch from Pacific Time to Mountain Time. Everyone will need to turn their clocks AHEAD ONE HOUR before going to bed on Saturday.

The second time change occurs at the end of Puerto Vallarta Visit Day.

During the night between Wednesday and Thursday, the Star will switch from Mountain Time to Pacific Time. Everyone will need to turn their clocks BACK ONE HOUR before going to bed on Wednesday.

 

 

In summary, during most of the cruise “Ship Time” and “Port Time” will be the same. The only exception is Puerto Vallarta. “Ship Time” in Puerto Vallarta will be ONE HOUR BEHIND local Mexican time during the entire visit. For example, when it is 1:00 PM in Puerto Vallarta, it will be 12 Noon on the Norwegian Star.

 

Easy enough, right?:rolleyes:

 

Now here is the tricky part....

 

During the time between March 14th and April 4th, the United States is on Daylight Saving Time, and Mexico is still on Standard Time.

 

This means that Cabo and Mazatlan will be at the same time as Los Angeles, so no change in time will be necessary on the evening after embarkation. Puerto Vallarta will still be one hour ahead of the Star. If NCL moves ship time before getting to Puerto Vallarta...there is no issue as you will always have matching ship and port times. However, if they do not, the ship will remain one hour behind Puerto Vallarta.

 

 

 

 

Clear as mud, right?

[Liza555]

Thank you so much! Still confusing since we are on the March 13th sailing which the time change will occur in.

 

Liza

[crew mom]

Don't worry - they will wait for you!

 

The companies that do excursions know the ships schedule. If you are booking something for right when the ship arrives they will know what time the ship is expected to be there. If you are booking something for later in the day, you will have had time to figure out the time difference and what time it is locally.

 

Be sure and get back to the ship on time (ships time) - they won't wait for you!

[garycarla]

Yes, the vendors KNOW what is going on, usually better than anyone else. They will adjust accordingly. Only thing you need to worry about is knowing what time the ship will leave.

 

Yes, they will leave without you. But, they do not hold you to that 30 minute rule. If the ship is still there with the gangplank down, you can get on. They might leave a few minutes early though which could be a problem of course.