Local Time vs. Ship Time a lesson learned

[Mak7464]

I know there was another topic about this, but here is my lesson learned.

 

I booked some fishing in San Juan with a local guide.  Harmony was scheduled (on Dec 13) to arrive at 7 a.m.  This was not local time, this was ships time.  Apparently, when the eastern time zone is off of Daylight Savings (winter months) there is a 1 hour difference in San Juan and the ships generally stay on Eastern Time.  I was however told that this is at the discretion of the captain as well.

 

I discovered this on board as we were at St. Maarten and was able to email my guide and he was able to work with me.  just thought i would pass this on.  the 7 a.m. arrival was 8 a.m. local time. 1:30 all aboard was 2:30 local time.  I just kept my watch on ships time so i did not get messed up, because my phone did change to local time automatically. 

 

So if you are making plans outside of the cruise line....take this into account.

 

Matt

[Clarea]

 

The problem is that ship's time cannot be reliably predicted pre-cruise.  Captain makes that choice, which can be different cruise to cruise.

[CruisinCrow]

A good reminder not to rely on your cell phone too!

[JohninDC]

In Cozumel we love to watch pier runners who relied on their cell phones and are trying to catch the ship as it pulls away.

[C Dog]

We experienced that for the first time last month on Oasis.  Before our cruise, I actually didn't believe my wife when she told me that she had read Oasis doesn't observe the local time zones.  I told her there was no way that's true... that would be the dumbest thing I have ever heard.... but... she was right.   I really don't understand though; planes and trains observe local time!  I've never traveled anywhere and *not* observed local time.  Seemed like a lot of extra headache for no reason... crew and excursion guides were constantly reminding us of the difference in time.

 

Is this just a Royal thing?  Letting the Captain decide?  Never experienced that on our NCL cruises. 

[Joseph2017China]

I think that the Ship Time thing needs to be retired, and the clocks need to be whatever local time it is. 

 

20 years ago, everyone wore a watch.  The ship tells you don't change the time.  Most everyone uses the ships excursions.  The internet was not used for research.

 

Today, everyone uses a smart phone, gps watches, and the internet.  Doing tours privately is common.  The ship time is the most confusing, thing to handle.  You must change settings in your phone.  You must remember to use a watch.  You must remember never to look at a clock onshore. 

 

 

[rncruiser]

We were on Allure last week. We were told to stay on ships time so I was looking at the Royal App to check the time. However, when we were in Cozumel the app was two hours ahead of local time, rather than one hour. Luckily we were still back to the ship in enough time. There was only one pier runner surprisingly. 

[Magster1987]

How on earth can there be a two hour difference in cozumel? 😮

[Ogtubbx3]

I am taking my first cruise in one month on Allure. Going to Nassau, Cozumel, costa maya, and Roatan. This post is the first I’ve seen of anything regarding time changes... I had not idea this was something to pay attention to. Is there somewhere I can read about this for RCCL ships so I know what I have to know for the stops?

[Clarea]

5 minutes ago, Ogtubbx3 said:

I am taking my first cruise in one month on Allure. Going to Nassau, Cozumel, costa maya, and Roatan. This post is the first I’ve seen of anything regarding time changes... I had not idea this was something to pay attention to. Is there somewhere I can read about this for RCCL ships so I know what I have to know for the stops?

 

The cruise line does not publish any info about ship time vs local time.  Each Captain can decide to change ship time as they like, and it may not be the same week to week.

[Ogtubbx3]

1 minute ago, Host Clarea said:

 

The cruise line does not publish any info about ship time vs local time.  Each Captain can decide to change ship time as they like, and it may not be the same week to week.

Do they tell you when you board or do you have to ask?

[Clarea]

3 minutes ago, Ogtubbx3 said:

Do they tell you when you board or do you have to ask?

 

They normally don't tell you when you board, however you can ask Guest Services.

 

The typical way that you get notified is by the stateroom attendant leaving a note in your stateroom the evening before the time change.

[gnr25]

Only Roatan is in a different time zone. 1 hour behind, as it it central time. So you might not change time. You would be docked 8am-5pm, which would be 7am-4pm local time.

 

In March 2017, I was in Cozumel after Canada and the US had changed time, but before Mexico sprung ahead. We still got on the ferry at 7:45am ship time, even though it was 6:45am local. So the ship been cleared and there were sniffer dogs (for fruits and vegetables) working at 6:30am local. Very early for the local workers.

[CruisinCrow]

22 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 

They normally don't tell you when you board, however you can ask Guest Services.

 

The typical way that you get notified is by the stateroom attendant leaving a note in your stateroom the evening before the time change.

 

I've never gotten a note.  The dailies have always had reminders though.

[Ogtubbx3]

I have the app now which is on ship time and I’m going to turn off the automatic option for my phone 

[mcatmcat]

It’s 2018 now people are susbtiting regular watches for apple watches and other brands. Royal is becoming more technological  advanced when it comes to check-in etc why is so hard for a captain to simply change ship time to local time. 

[Zach1213]

23 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 Each Captain can decide to change ship time as they like, and it may not be the same week to week.

 

That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. This needs to be done away with, or at least some consistency established...the former makes a lot more since in (almost) 2019.

[Homosassa]

If one travels on a cruise line where the line attracts well traveled passengers, the ship will always be on local time in port as the passengers understand the concept of time zones and changes.

 

It is only on the cruise lines where the passenger base is often less experience with travel outside their little corner of the world or just seem to travel on a line that is "just like home," that the ship will always try to stay on home port time.

[long4acruise]

Currently on Grandeur.  Anticpating the upcoming southern storm, the Captain had informed us a day prior that we needed to be back onboard Wed by 4pm in Nassau for a 4:30 departure versus our original scheduled 5:30 onboard/ 6pm departure to get ahead of the storm. The Compass and frequent announcements reminded us. Well, two were left behind after we waited nearly an hour for them and their passports were turned over to the Nassau officials!  We are now speeding up the coast with a little side-to-side rocking and rolling to make up time and stay ahead of the storm.

 

Some wil never be on time regardless of local time, ship time or their time!

[Zendeck]

Thank you for this posting!  This will be our first cruise on Royal in April and I must say that during our last 6 cruises we never had to think about things like this, we would be told by the ship announcements to change our clocks as well as the notice in the daily navigators each night.  From reading RC postings over the last year I became aware that RC does not follow local time and I've been very stressed about it.  LOL  Similar to the postings on here, my husband thought this was absolutely crazy and didn't believe me that the ship doesn't follow local time.   My approach will be to purchase a water proof cheap watch that I will wear on our non-RC excursions so that I make sure we are on ship time and not being laughed at as pier runners!!! 🤣

[long4acruise]

13 minutes ago, Zendeck said:

Thank you for this posting!  This will be our first cruise on Royal in April and I must say that during our last 6 cruises we never had to think about things like this, we would be told by the ship announcements to change our clocks as well as the notice in the daily navigators each night.  From reading RC postings over the last year I became aware that RC does not follow local time and I've been very stressed about it.  LOL  Similar to the postings on here, my husband thought this was absolutely crazy and didn't believe me that the ship doesn't follow local time.   My approach will be to purchase a water proof cheap watch that I will wear on our non-RC excursions so that I make sure we are on ship time and not being laughed at as pier runners!!! 🤣

Relax and don't stress too much.  Get a "system" that works well for you - use a watch set to ship time or as I've seen some cruisers use their cellphone alarm or timer.  When doing non-ship excursions or just walking around and shopping, I tend to depart the ship early and plan to return at least two+ hours before the stated "All Aboard" time.  I also do whatever we plan that's furthest away first and then work my way back closer to the ship as it gets later in the day.  Have also found that most locals and tour operators know what time each ship arrives in port and when we're supposed to be back onboard.

Enjoy your cruise travels!

[robtbob]

When in Rome do as the Romans do. When on the Captains ship, use the Captains clock, or you maybe left on the dock.

[papaflamingo]

This isn't really as hard as everyone seems to be making it.  I'm sure there's lots of reasons why a Captain would choose to stay on ships time.  One might be the number of clocks that would need changing throughout the ship, only to be changed back the next day.  A second reason is people not getting the word of the change.  Suppose the local time is one hour ahead and the Captain changes.  You don't get the word and show up as the ship sails.  Easier to just keep everyone on the same time zone for a 7 night Caribbean cruise.  

As for cell phones, not all that difficult to take it off "automatic" for time changes and use "manual" for the cruise.  

Anyway, just my humble opinion. 

[Johnamac123]

On 12/18/2018 at 2:18 PM, JohninDC said:

In Cozumel we love to watch pier runners who relied on their cell phones and are trying to catch the ship as it pulls away.

That's hilarious     ...

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

I agree, it really isn't that hard. 

 

1) When pre-planning 3rd party excursions, ask the excursion operator what time the ship gets in (believe me, they'll know) and compare that to the itinerary.  If it's different, double check with the excursion operator.  

2) When you get the cruise compass the night before, there will be a section that shows ship time/local time.  Take note if it's different.

3) When you leave the ship, make sure you bring some time keeping apparatus that doesn't sync.  Have it set to "ship's time" and refer to that when deciding when to head back to the ship.

 

Comparing cruising and airports is apples to oranges.  You generally aren't going to be getting off then back on the same airplane eight hours later, and look at how many airplanes are at an airport vs. how many cruise ships are at a port.