Ship Time vs. Island Time - NCL in St. Maarten

[BlueC5Kitten]

Hi all...quick question...does anyone know whether the NCL ships (specifically the Gem on the 10-day itinerary) sail and port on ship time(EST) or on island time?

 

I am most concerned about St. Maarten, which does not change for daylight saving time, and therefore doesn't fall back in the winter...so ship time would be one hour behind island time, totally messing up an independently booked excursion.

 

TIA!!!

[BlueC5Kitten]

Just in case anyone is interested, according to the shore excursion department, the ship's port times are all listed in local port time. Specificlly for St. Maarten, the indicated docking time is 8:00am, which in St. Maarten is Atlantic Standard Time...one hour ahead of Eastern Standard Time.

 

Happy Cruising!

[Got Tequila?]

There will be a card delivered to the cabin at "turn down" telling you to change your clocks....and also when to change them back on the trip home. The information is also posted in the Freestyle daily as well.

[BlueC5Kitten]

There will be a card delivered to the cabin at "turn down" telling you to change your clocks....and also when to change them back on the trip home. The information is also posted in the Freestyle daily as well.

 

Thanks for the helpful info...I'm familiar with the process whilst on-board. It won't help if I am trying to book an excursion a week before my cruise though...;)...which is the reason for my enquiry in advance of my cruise.

[spirit rev]

Hi all...quick question...does anyone know whether the NCL ships (specifically the Gem on the 10-day itinerary) sail and port on ship time(EST) or on island time?

The times I have been on the Gem, ship time and island time are the same, even on St. Maarten. Plus, I would htink, independent tours will know exactly when ships will arrive - it's their business to know when they come in and more importantly when they will leave and when final all aboard is. It's their bread and butter.

[BlueC5Kitten]

The times I have been on the Gem, ship time and island time are the same, even on St. Maarten. Plus, I would htink, independent tours will know exactly when ships will arrive - it's their business to know when they come in and more importantly when they will leave and when final all aboard is. It's their bread and butter.

 

Yeah, that's kind of what I thought too...but the group I am looking to use is small, and the trips are limited to six people...divers, many from resorts or folks staying on-island...so they don't just cater the the cruise folks or know all of the lines' schedules. The differential of an hour would make a significant difference in whether I can do the two-tank dives in the morning versus the single tank dive offered later in the morning.

 

Fortunately, I was able to get an answer from NCL that worked well with the two-tank dives, which makes it so I can have some time in Philipsburg in the afternoon, before departure. On my last cruise that took me to St. Maarten, we were told to stay on ship time, which is why I was concerned.