Ship Time Vs. Local Time

[jtwind]

Hi!  Has anybody ever heard of a ship being in port, and showing a different time than the local time?  (A tour operator recently suggested that, since my cruise originates in Central USA time, even though my itinerary shows us docking in Cozumel at 9am, we will actually be docking at 10am local time.  Sounds weird, but what do I know.)

[CruiserBruce]

Varies by cruise line. Carnival has been known not to match local port time in a couple ports due to the port being very close to a time zone line, or to simply avoid only changing the times once going and once returning, considering that toomuch of a hassle to do.

 

Other cruise lines are very good and consistent about matching ship time to local time.

 

Ultimately, it is always up to the Captain.

[jtwind]

Any idea how I can find out?  I'm on a Princess cruise out of Galveston.  Maybe I'll hop on the Princess forum.

[donaldsc]

Just now, jtwind said:

Any idea how I can find out?  I'm on a Princess cruise out of Galveston.  Maybe I'll hop on the Princess forum.

 

Contact your TA or the cruise line.

 

DON

[leaveitallbehind]

Using US based closed loop cruises as an example, ship time typically is that time (zone) at the originating and terminating ports for the given itinerary.  As the ship may pass through and have ports of call at different time zones, the ship time may remain in those ports of call, or may change to the local time.  This decision is up to the Captain.  It an also vary from sailing to sailing on the same itinerary. As the crew's schedule is driven by time, it can be more disruptive to the crew to have the times change for temporary periods during the cruise than to just have the passengers note the difference and adjust their activities accordingly. 

 

Whatever time is to be used in those ports of call will be well announced on board and placarded at the departure doors when going ashore.  It is not complicated and is a common situation on many cruises.  All ship based tour operators are aware of the time being used and most local operators also are aware and adjust for this.

Edited February 3 by leaveitallbehind

[Charles4515]

9 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

many cruises.  All ship based tour operators are aware of the time being used and most local operators also are aware and adjust for this.

If the tour operator doesn’t know the ships arrival time in a port I would hesitate to book them. At a port like Cozumel they should have the port schedule. So it would not matter if the ship was on ship time. The port authority would have the actual time. 

[navybankerteacher]

44 minutes ago, jtwind said:

Hi!  Has anybody ever heard of a ship being in port, and showing a different time than the local time?  (A tour operator recently suggested that, since my cruise originates in Central USA time, even though my itinerary shows us docking in Cozumel at 9am, we will actually be docking at 10am local time.  Sounds weird, but what do I know.)

Yes, frequently a ship will maintain its own time (most often on a short cruise to a port or two in a different time zone). The daily schedule will almost certainly make it clear for each day you will be in a port - and the ship’s time, and departure time, will be posted where you leave the ship

[jtwind]

S

5 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

If the tour operator doesn’t know the ships arrival time in a port I would hesitate to book them. At a port like Cozumel they should have the port schedule. So it would not matter if the ship was on ship time. The port authority would have the actual time. 

The tour operator said that, since my itinerary showed 9am, we would actually be arriving at 10am local time.  i found that hard to believe.

[Charles4515]

20 minutes ago, jtwind said:

S

The tour operator said that, since my itinerary showed 9am, we would actually be arriving at 10am local time.  i found that hard to believe.

I find it easy to believe. Been there done that. Does it matter? Yes, you need to pay attention to the return time on the gangway. The tour operator should adjust for that. 

Edited February 3 by Charles4515

[leaveitallbehind]

59 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

If the tour operator doesn’t know the ships arrival time in a port I would hesitate to book them. At a port like Cozumel they should have the port schedule. So it would not matter if the ship was on ship time. The port authority would have the actual time. 

I agree that all ship sponsored tour operators know the correct time. The only reason I say "most" local operators is because there may be that odd man out who doesn't get it right, which would make "all" a risky comment.

[CruiserBruce]

1 hour ago, jtwind said:

Any idea how I can find out?  I'm on a Princess cruise out of Galveston.  Maybe I'll hop on the Princess forum.

Hopping on the Princess forum is an excellent and relevant idea.

[CruiserBruce]

1 hour ago, navybankerteacher said:

Yes, frequently a ship will maintain its own time (most often on a short cruise to a port or two in a different time zone). The daily schedule will almost certainly make it clear for each day you will be in a port - and the ship’s time, and departure time, will be posted where you leave the ship

Frequently will keep its own time? I seriously doubt that it's "frequently".  I can't think of one time is 27 cruises...almost 250 days, on 3 cruise lines where the ship's time has been different from local time.

[jtwind]

I can't find anything that is for sure, a port schedule for Cozumel.  Everything I find says 9, but I don't think any of them are the schedule for the actual port.

[Charles4515]

4 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Frequently will keep its own time? I seriously doubt that it's "frequently".  I can't think of one time is 27 cruises...almost 250 days, on 3 cruise lines where the ship's time has been different from local time.

We had it happen 3 or 4 times in over 60 cruises. I seem to recall it was because Cayman was on the itinerary and it had to do with Cayman always being on standard time. Mexico is now always on standard time. 

[Charles4515]

5 minutes ago, jtwind said:

I can't find anything that is for sure, a port schedule for Cozumel.  Everything I find says 9, but I don't think any of them are the schedule for the actual port.

There are three docks. Puerta Maya  https://www.puertamaya.com/port-schedule.aspx is the one Princess usually uses. 

Edited February 3 by Charles4515

[navybankerteacher]

19 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Frequently will keep its own time? I seriously doubt that it's "frequently".  I can't think of one time is 27 cruises...almost 250 days, on 3 cruise lines where the ship's time has been different from local time.

I recall it happening at least twice - 30 cruises on ten lines. 

[jtwind]

3 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

There are three docks. Puerta Maya  https://www.puertamaya.com/port-schedule.aspx is the one Princess usually uses. 

Right.  So, it says 9:00 for Regal Princess on Feb. 4.  That has to be local time, right?  That matches what is shown on the itinerary.  That would mean that I would be able to make a 10:00 local tour that is a 5 minute cab ride away.

[Charles4515]

8 minutes ago, jtwind said:

Right.  So, it says 9:00 for Regal Princess on Feb. 4.  That has to be local time, right?  That matches what is shown on the itinerary.  That would mean that I would be able to make a 10:00 local tour that is a 5 minute cab ride away.

The port schedule is in local time.  It usually takes about 30 minutes for the ship to clear with the port authorities. 

[CruiserBruce]

12 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

I recall it happening at least twice - 30 cruises on ten lines. 

Twice is not "frequently ".

[Heidi13]

3 hours ago, jtwind said:

Any idea how I can find out?  I'm on a Princess cruise out of Galveston.  Maybe I'll hop on the Princess forum.

 

As others have posted, it is entirely at the discretion of the ship's Masters. Many Masters, myself included, cannot comprehend arriving with the ship's cloxs not consistent with local time: however, others don't have an issue.

 

Any reputable tour operator should be able to determine the ship's arrival and departure times from the local port authority.

[MBP&O2/O]

We always kept local time. It often proved inconvenient for us as on shorter trips it could mean advancing one day and retarding the next. In those days it was regarded as courteous to the host nation.

[Honolulu Blue]

On my most recent cruise that disembarked last week, I had an interesting experience with time zones.  It was a 14-day cruise that went from Galveston to Panama and back.  The Captain made the executive decision to change to Eastern Time on day 2 and stay there until day 14.

 

The cruise itself actually had stops in three different time zones - Central (Galveston and Limon, CR), Atlantic (Aruba and Curacao), and Eastern (the rest of them).  So, we were an hour off of local time at a few of our ports, but this minimized the disruption of having to change times for us passengers.

[navybankerteacher]

9 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Twice is not "frequently ".

It is a lot more frequent than your “never” out 27 cruises.  The real point is that cruisers should be aware of the time they should get back on board.

[jtwind]

2 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

On my most recent cruise that disembarked last week, I had an interesting experience with time zones.  It was a 14-day cruise that went from Galveston to Panama and back.  The Captain made the executive decision to change to Eastern Time on day 2 and stay there until day 14.

 

The cruise itself actually had stops in three different time zones - Central (Galveston and Limon, CR), Atlantic (Aruba and Curacao), and Eastern (the rest of them).  So, we were an hour off of local time at a few of our ports, but this minimized the disruption of having to change times for us passengers.

So, sometimes the time you got to port was off by one hour, as compared to the original itinerary?

[Honolulu Blue]

13 minutes ago, jtwind said:

So, sometimes the time you got to port was off by one hour, as compared to the original itinerary?

The itinerary was based on ship's time and was always correct. But sometimes ship's time was an hour off of local time.