Ship Time/Cayman Time help

[giginevelyn]

We are arriving next week via the Carnival Magic and I have booked a private charter. I am confused about this issue I have seen on various threads of ship time and Cayman time. Can someone help explain what the difference will be. My Carnival itinerary says we arrive at "7am".

 

Thank you!

[cb at sea]

It really won't matter.....IF you change times, you must go by whatever time the ship says it is. Your guide knows how this stuff works. Bring a watch (don't use your cell phone, it will show local time, not "ships" time). Remember that you have to tender ashore, so it will take a bit longer to get to shore...allow for that when booking your tour time.

[OCruisers]

Whatever you do stay on the ships time.

Do take a watch of some sort with you.

Private operators will be aware of what time your ship arrives .... They deal with this all the time.

LuLu

[Marie51]

Well we had an incident in Falmouth recently. The tour said to be off the ship to meet them at 9am which we did. In Jamaica it was 8am, one hour earlier. We stood around for an hour before the driver showed up. He said when we were told 9am that meant Jamaica time.

 

So.....clarify with the tour operator or you'll end up standing around for an extra hour like we did.

[Capt_BJ]

technical reply

 

Cayman is in time zone "-6" or what the US calls Central Time

 

BUT Cayman does not observe "day light savings time"

 

Florida ports are all in time zone "-5" or eastern time, and DO observe DST . . .

 

simple, right?

[EatonDoolittle]

I just got this clear explanation from a tour operator confirming me for a trip in April. I guess your question causes great consternation there, and she was heading it off at the pass.

 

What Capt_BJ said..and yeah, the DST throws another kink in it...

 

+++++++

Ship time vs Cayman local time is a bit tricky; some ships change time with each port; some do not. It is our experience that if your cruise ship stays on Florida time, then your ship time is an hour ahead of Cayman local time. If your ship stays on Texas/New Orleans time then your ship time should be the same as Cayman time. The Cayman Islands are an hour behind Florida time and the same as Texas/New Orleans time from March 09 until November 02, 2014. If you have any concerns about what time zone your ship will be on when it arrives in Cayman please contact your cruise line directly as, unfortunately, we are unable to provide you with that information.

[JimAOk1945]

This is what I do. When we get into our cabin, I look for the TV channel that shows the ship's current time, location, etc. then set I my watch to that time.

 

Also, it has been our experience that, if our ship crosses into another time zone, there will be a notice in the daily newsletter that we get in our cabin and I set my watch again either forward or back according to the instructions given.

Edited July 20, 2014 by JimAOk1945

[bookbabe]

technical reply

 

Cayman is in time zone "-6" or what the US calls Central Time

 

BUT Cayman does not observe "day light savings time"

 

Florida ports are all in time zone "-5" or eastern time, and DO observe DST . . .

 

simple, right?

 

 

Actually, Cayman is also Eastern Time (-5). It just feels like Central during parts of the year because of the no DST thing.

 

Winter, Cayman is the same time as Miami. Summer, Cayman is an hour behind Miami time.

 

The easiest way to figure is out is use this site - http://www.worldtimeserver.com/current_time_in_KY.aspx - if you scroll down there's a spot to enter your travel date...

Edited July 20, 2014 by bookbabe

[pompeii]

Actually, Cayman is also Eastern Time (-5). It just feels like Central during parts of the year because of the no DST thing.

 

Winter, Cayman is the same time as Miami. Summer, Cayman is an hour behind Miami time.

 

The easiest way to figure is out is use this site - http://www.worldtimeserver.com/current_time_in_KY.aspx - if you scroll down there's a spot to enter your travel date...

 

That is a great site! Very helpful, thanks bookbabe! The time zone thing sure is confusing, though...

[EatonDoolittle]

This is what I do. When we get into our cabin, I look for the TV channel that shows the ship's current time, location, etc. then set I my watch to that time.

 

Also, it has been our experience that, if our ship crosses into another time zone, there will be a notice in the daily newsletter that we get in our cabin and I set my watch again either forward or back according to the instructions given.

 

Well exactly.

I cannot recall ever being on a ship that did not notify us to change our clocks to coordinate with local time, but evidently some do not, or else a great number of people simply don't pay attention.

[S.A.M.J.R.]

The easiest solution...

 

Contact your tour provider. They will have a good idea what time your ship docks relative to the time you need to meet. They do this multiple time a week (if not daily). It's best to check with them then to ask on here. Different ships & cruise lines handle times differently so what our ship did doesn't mean your ship will do the same (even if it's the same ship).

[Capt_BJ]

oops

 

got my Caymans and my Cozumels mixed up

 

Cayman is same time zone as Florida ports but does not do DST ...

 

so the same half the year . . .

[JimAOk1945]

I cannot recall ever being on a ship that did not notify us to change our clocks to coordinate with local time, but evidently some do not, or else a great number of people simply don't pay attention.

 

Some "newbies" have no idea.