So Confused, ship time vs local time cozumel

[tomsuelaw]

Ok, so we will be in Cozumel in January 2013 on the Dream. According to my CCL itinerary, we will be in cozumel from 10am-6pm (ship time/eastern time), but if you look at the Puerta Maya schedule (http://www.puertamaya.com/port-schedule.aspx) it has us at port from 8am-4pm (local time). This does not make sense to me. They are on central time and they observe DST, so they should only be an hour behind ship time.

 

I am confused why there is a 2 hours difference when there should only be 1 hour difference since both times observe DST.

 

If there is a discrepency, which times should I trust...does CCL have thier itinerary wrong and they are actually scheduled to be in port from 9am-5pm (ship time) or is the port wrong about when the Dream will be there....or am I wrong in my understanding of time zones :eek:

[natk]

Don't worry about local time...if you wear a watch don't mess with the time once you get on the ship.. If you use a cell phone don't trust it... Make sure you pick up a copy of the Fun times before you disembark...

[tomsuelaw]

Don't worry about local time...if you wear a watch don't mess with the time once you get on the ship.. If you use a cell phone don't trust it... Make sure you pick up a copy of the Fun times before you disembark...

 

Ok, this response is not helpful. Obviously since I am asking this question it is because I am trying to make plans and must take into account local time in order to book activities.

 

Yes, if I was just going to get off the ship and do my own thing then time would not matter and I would not have to factor local time...but if a local tour starts on local time then I am going to have to factor local time vs ship time.

[Redsfan]

I think that ship time will be based upon the Port you leave out of. The ship would be sailing Eastern Standard Time at that time and since Cozumel is Central Standard Time they would still be 1 hour behind ship time....

[fromthebus]

In Mexico they observe daylight savings dates we used to in the US before we changed the dates we observe.

[Redsfan]

the ship will also let you know if they are working on original Port Time or if they have switched to Cozumel time. My thinking is they will remain 1 hour ahead of Cozumel so plan accordingly...

[tomsuelaw]

So I was already assuming the local port time (central) would be an hour behind ship time (eastern)...but then why does the Puerta Maya website have the Dream scheduled for 2 hours behind. I am wondering if the error lies with CCL or the Puerta Maya website?

[natk]

you come asking for help..I offer you a response based on the question you asked.. and I get bashed.. NICE!!!

[KenMo]

If the ship's itinerary says 10-6, then that's what it is for the ship.

 

In January, if it's 10am ship time then it's 9am local. I have no explanation why the Puerta Maya schedule says what it says.

 

Here's a site I like to use when trying to figure out local times: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converted.html?iso=20130104T10&p1=156&p2=1235&p3=&p4=&p5=&p6=&p7=&p8=&p9=&p10=&p11=&p12=

[tomsuelaw]

you come asking for help..I offer you a response based on the question you asked.. and I get bashed.. NICE!!!

 

Natk, sorry you took offense. I was simply trying to explain why that type of answer does not suffice in order to get one that might. Was not trying to bash you!

[oncruisecontrol]

Assume that the Puerta Maya clock on the website is wrong. If you book any independent tours in advance of your sailing, make sure that whatever time the tour operator is using on their site,(2 hrs or 1 hr difference, whatever) it is within the time range that your ship will be in port according to ship's time. Do not take any chances with this. When you step off the ship your watch must be set to the ship time.Double check the ship's time with the security officer before you set foot on the gangway. Do not trust your cell phone. Triple check again with the tour driver, once you're on the ground with him, what time he is using. Otherwise, just book thru the ship. Not sure what you wish to do in Cozumel, but honestly you can really do Cozumel on your own. But, I would not recommend renting motor vehicles there.

[soccersharon]

Time zones drive me nuts!

 

Cozumel will be 1 hour behind ship time:

 

Miami (U.S.A. - Florida) Tuesday, January 15, 2013 at 10:00:00 AM EST

Cozumel (Mexico - Quintana Roo) Tuesday, January 15, 2013 at 9:00:00 AM (Central time)

 

ETA: Double-check with the ship as another poster said. I know for our trip to the Western, Grand Cayman will be the only stop that will match ship time (they do not observe daylight savings). The ship will make sure everyone understands the time difference = and to stay on ship time!

[MDSue]

Natk, sorry you took offense. I was simply trying to explain why that type of answer does not suffice in order to get one that might. Was not trying to bash you!

 

Actually, the person who responded was giving you excellent advice even though I understand your concern. I learned the hard way not to worry about island time and just stick with the ship time. The first time I did a Western itinerary tour, I was constantly confused about times and showed up an hour early for my scheduled tour. My cell phone was never correct either. Eventually, I bought a $10 watch from the ship's store and set it to the ship time and always used that for all my activities. When you leave the ship in the morning, check the clock on the ship and go by that. Make sure your watch corresponds. Most tour guides are aware of the difference and know exactly when your ship will dock and when you need to be back to the ship. It certainly doesn't hurt to clarify though.

 

At least I didn't become one of the pier runners because I thought it was an hour earlier on the island than it was on the ship. I suspect that time confusion leads to a lot of people not getting back on time (or coming back an hour sooner than they need to).

[kona_wahine]

We are doing the same cruise Feb 2. We will be in Roatan on the 6th. Our itinerary says we arrive at 9:00, but our Carnival sponsored activity says it leaves at 8:00. I'm assuming the arrival is based on ship time and our activity is based on island time. :confused:

[tomsuelaw]

Thanks to everyone for your responses, actually, I personally am doing something on my own. I am going to Paradise Beach via taxi so I personally am not concerned. However, others in my family are looking at non-cruiseline excursions, and need to know. They are 1st time cruisers and not CC members. I was trying to help them out by solving the time mystery :)

 

I hate time zones too. I prefer how NCL cruises do it, the ship time follows local time so this has never been an issue for us before.

 

Thanks!

[tomsuelaw]

We are doing the same cruise Feb 2. We will be in Roatan on the 6th. Our itinerary says we arrive at 9:00, but our Carnival sponsored activity says it leaves at 8:00. I'm assuming the arrival is based on ship time and our activity is based on island time. :confused:

 

Yes, I just booked a Roatan excursion too and it says start time 8:15...I called CCL and they were clueless. I asked them if it was simply a ship time vs local time thing and they had no idea. I just figured since I booked that one thru CCL it should all work out ok...I hope ;)

[soccersharon]

Yes, I just booked a Roatan excursion too and it says start time 8:15...I called CCL and they were clueless. I asked them if it was simply a ship time vs local time thing and they had no idea. I just figured since I booked that one thru CCL it should all work out ok...I hope ;)

 

That makes sense. 9:00 am ship time = eastern time. Since Roatan is central time, they are 1 hour behind. Seems to me all times listed for excursion are on ship time (the only time that matters).

 

As others have said, MOST independent tour operators are very aware of the differences. They know Carnival stays on ship time, and NCL adjusts for local time (from what I understand).

[seguetocaribe]

I, too have been confused by the time difference issue for our upcoming cruise. I found this (by accident) when I was booking an excursion to Mr. Sanchos in Cozumel and it is very helpful!! Go to cozumel-watersports.com when it asks you if you want to view the new website click yes and then at the top of the page, you put in your cruise line, cruise ship and dates and it will show you an itinerary of the ship times and local times for each port.

[kona_wahine]

Yes, I just booked a Roatan excursion too and it says start time 8:15...I called CCL and they were clueless. I asked them if it was simply a ship time vs local time thing and they had no idea. I just figured since I booked that one thru CCL it should all work out ok...I hope ;)

 

Lol, I thought about calling them but decided I didn't need that headache. I figured the same as you; since its thru carnival all should be ok.

[vols159]

Don't worry about local time...if you wear a watch don't mess with the time once you get on the ship.. If you use a cell phone don't trust it... Make sure you pick up a copy of the Fun times before you disembark...

 

 

Ive sailed out of PC Florida 2x both going to cozumel and both times on sea days the ship would switch times so they could be on cozumel time we gained 2 hours going and gave back 2 hours on the way home

[vols159]

Thanks to everyone for your responses, actually, I personally am doing something on my own. I am going to Paradise Beach via taxi so I personally am not concerned. However, others in my family are looking at non-cruiseline excursions, and need to know. They are 1st time cruisers and not CC members. I was trying to help them out by solving the time mystery :)

 

I hate time zones too. I prefer how NCL cruises do it, the ship time follows local time so this has never been an issue for us before.

 

Thanks!

 

I have sailed ncl 2x to cozumel and like you say we gained 2 hours going and gave it back on the way home.. I prefer to be on the same time as port..

[doitallWMB]

Always ship time western Caribbean on Carnival...No worries.

[cruzinlisa]

Ok, so we will be in Cozumel in January 2013 on the Dream. According to my CCL itinerary, we will be in cozumel from 10am-6pm (ship time/eastern time), but if you look at the Puerta Maya schedule (http://www.puertamaya.com/port-schedule.aspx) it has us at port from 8am-4pm (local time). This does not make sense to me. They are on central time and they observe DST, so they should only be an hour behind ship time.

 

I am confused why there is a 2 hours difference when there should only be 1 hour difference since both times observe DST.

 

If there is a discrepency, which times should I trust...does CCL have thier itinerary wrong and they are actually scheduled to be in port from 9am-5pm (ship time) or is the port wrong about when the Dream will be there....or am I wrong in my understanding of time zones :eek:

 

I would imagine one of them is wrong. I know that Cozumel is in Central time zone and they observe day light savings time. Last time we were there we never had to change our watches, as we are in Central time zone here too. Personally I would trust that Carnival is correct, but then again they can always change things, depending on what the port says.

[Ken076]

You might want to get recent copy of Fun Times and s3e what's said about time. Ken

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[oldrailfan]

I'm not really following several of the points on this thread...

 

Cozumel is in time zone UTC-6, which is the same as Central Standard time. The original poster said (s)he was sailing in January. The whole Northern Hemisphere is on Standard time in January, so there will be one hour difference between Florida and Coz.

 

Carnival ships usually stay on port-of-embarkation time, so there would be at the most one hour of difference. Several folks have stated that NCL ships reset to local time, but that's apples-and-oranges in this case...

 

If the OP is booking excursions independently, the excursion would be on local time, so OP would have take into account the difference between ship time and local time. (i.e., if the excursion is at 10 AM local, that's 11 AM ship time) Usually, the excursion operators would help you with time differences during the booking, but you never know... biggest thing to remember is that if the ship is leaving at their time of 6 PM, you'd better plan on being back by 5 PM local...

 

Someone else noted that time zones are a pain-in-the-neck. They're right, but we're stuck with them, and they're way ahead of every town and city keeping their own time. Just a thought.

 

ADDED: A possible source of confusion is that for about three weeks in the spring and again in the fall, Cozumel is on Standard time, and Miami is on Daylight-Savings, so for those two or three weeks, there is a two hour difference. But again, by January both cities are on standard time.