Bliss in Dec. Ship vs. Local time

[motherland15]

Going on Bliss in December to Mexican Riviera from LA (Pacific Time). It looks like Cabo and Mazatlan are an hour ahead (Mountain TIme) and Puerto Vallarta is 2 hours ahead (Central Time). Will the Bliss/ship time adjust to local time? I've seen both answers! lol

[waterjock]

Cruise ships always change to local time. The last thing they want is passengers getting confused with the time to be back on board the ship.

[motherland15]

Thanks. I did hear that on the Joy, ship matched local for Cabo and Mazatlan, one hour ahead (vs. two) for Puerto Vallarta. 

[njhorseman]

23 hours ago, waterjock said:

Cruise ships always change to local time. The last thing they want is passengers getting confused with the time to be back on board the ship.

No...not always. I've been on  a few NCL cruises where they did not change to local time in certain ports because it would mean whipsawing back and forth.

 

And some other cruise lines...most notably Carnival...frequently don't change to local time .

 

[njhorseman]

10 hours ago, motherland15 said:

Thanks. I did hear that on the Joy, ship matched local for Cabo and Mazatlan, one hour ahead (vs. two) for Puerto Vallarta. 

The other poster is wrong and sometimes NCL does not change to local time if it would result in several consecutive days of going back and forth. 

[julig22]

On 2/23/2020 at 6:53 PM, waterjock said:

Cruise ships always change to local time. The last thing they want is passengers getting confused with the time to be back on board the ship.

Not true.  It is up to the captain and they will tell you if they are changing time or not. Typically they won't change if it's a daily back and forth change and you will be on ship time.

[motherland15]

Wow, confused. lol  I'd like to purchase independent excursions. So, for example, Puerto Vallarta is 2 hours ahead of LA, docks 8-5 pm (stated on itinerary).

 

What does that mean? If I schedule an excursion for 9 am and it docks at 8 am ship time, it's 10 am local time, so I'd miss that excursion. Is that correct? I'd need to then book an excursion around 11 am local (9 am ship).

[julig22]

2 minutes ago, motherland15 said:

Wow, confused. lol  I'd like to purchase independent excursions. So, for example, Puerto Vallarta is 2 hours ahead of LA, docks 8-5 pm (stated on itinerary).

 

What does that mean? If I schedule an excursion for 9 am and it docks at 8 am ship time, it's 10 am local time, so I'd miss that excursion. Is that correct? I'd need to then book an excursion around 11 am local (9 am ship).

Pretty sure the docking time listed on your itinerary would be local time.  Most tour operators are fully aware of the use of ship time and would probably know what time the ship usually docks.  Also if you read the comments,  ship time is not generally used unless the ship is zig-zagging between time zones.  If you are sailing straight from LA to Puerto Vallarta, you will probably be advised to change your clocks.

[motherland15]

7 minutes ago, julig22 said:

Pretty sure the docking time listed on your itinerary would be local time.  Most tour operators are fully aware of the use of ship time and would probably know what time the ship usually docks.  Also if you read the comments,  ship time is not generally used unless the ship is zig-zagging between time zones.  If you are sailing straight from LA to Puerto Vallarta, you will probably be advised to change your clocks.

Ok. It doesn't go back/forth. First 2 ports (Tues and Wed) change time zones (one hour ahead), and third port (Thurs) 2 hours ahead from embarkation/debarkation port. So, go by local time?

[julig22]

5 minutes ago, motherland15 said:

Ok. It doesn't go back/forth. First 2 ports (Tues and Wed) change time zones (one hour ahead), and third port (Thurs) 2 hours ahead from embarkation/debarkation port. So, go by local time?

That is what I would do - you can also mention it to your tour operator who will probably tell you what has happened in the past.  Also post your concern on the roll call for your ship/sail date and ask what others are doing.

[smplybcause]

Not all ships change time - my last few Royal cruises did not - but my last several NCL cruises all have.

 

On the itinerary it's port time to schedule your excursions. Depending upon the captain it may be different than ship time, but it seems NCL always switches to port time equaling ship time. 

 

My last Breakaway cruise was western. We went back in time 1 hour each night 1 and 2. The first two ports were on that time, then the night of our second port we went forward an hour where we were for the next two ports. Normally we would have gone forward again on the last sea day, but disembark day was when the clocks fell back in Florida so we didn't have to. 

 

Also, the operators pay attention to ships. If one gets in late, or has a delay in disembarking people they know and adjust for it. 

Edited February 25, 2020 by smplybcause

[BirdTravels]

NCL changes to local time on almost all of its cruises. Yes, there have been a few exceptions.
 

For the purposes of this thread, really don’t care about RCL or Carnival. 

[VideoTech]

1 hour ago, motherland15 said:

Wow, confused. lol  I'd like to purchase independent excursions. So, for example, Puerto Vallarta is 2 hours ahead of LA, docks 8-5 pm (stated on itinerary).

 

What does that mean? If I schedule an excursion for 9 am and it docks at 8 am ship time, it's 10 am local time, so I'd miss that excursion. Is that correct? I'd need to then book an excursion around 11 am local (9 am ship).

If you're booking through the ship, they will coordinate the excursion time no matter what.

 

If you're booking independently, just discuss this with your excursion operator. Most of them are very familiar with the various ship's port times, and would not remain in business for very long if they ignored those times.