port times same as local times?

[cruzinismyname]

We will be on the April 7 Spirit transitional cruise through the Panama Canal and I am getting conflicting answers on this. Does anyone know the answers on this cruise that starts in Tampa Bay and ends in Seattle? Stops are Grand Cayman, Cartagena Columbia, Puntarenas Costa Rica and Cabo.

[bigdog1958]

It is up to the captain if and when to change ship time during your cruise. 

[Elaine5715]

Go now to a time site like time.gov and check now to see if there is a time difference.  

[anastasia3939]

It's up to the captain, and apparently they may change for a particular sailing. I found this out the hard way last month on Venezia.  I called Carnival and talked to a representative and asked about my particular sailing.  I said "I don't know" is an acceptable answer. He told me, "No, I assure you the captain goes by local time, don't worry." The day before out port of call the cruise director announced that we would not be switching times, so we would be one hour behind local time.  Thankfully, I had the internet package and was able to contact my independent tour operators to see if they could accommodate our time changes, and they did.

All that to say, you can't know with any reliability, until you are on the ship.

[mz-s]

I would feel sure that for a full transit of the canal, you'll be doing frequent time changes.

[Old Fart Cruisers]

1 hour ago, mz-s said:

I would feel sure that for a full transit of the canal, you'll be doing frequent time changes.

I agree about doing frequent time changes, but when we did an itinerary almost identical to the O.P.s, even though ship's time kept changing, it still wasn't the same as port time on two of the stops.  One time we changed before a port that was on the same time zone we were already on, and the other time we changed after we left a port when we should have changed before we arrived.  As others have said it's up to the captain on each cruise. 

[Elaine5715]

2 hours ago, anastasia3939 said:

It's up to the captain, and apparently they may change for a particular sailing. I found this out the hard way last month on Venezia.  I called Carnival and talked to a representative and asked about my particular sailing.  I said "I don't know" is an acceptable answer. He told me, "No, I assure you the captain goes by local time, don't worry." The day before out port of call the cruise director announced that we would not be switching times, so we would be one hour behind local time.  Thankfully, I had the internet package and was able to contact my independent tour operators to see if they could accommodate our time changes, and they did.

All that to say, you can't know with any reliability, until you are on the ship.

Independent tour operators should know very well what time the ship uses.  

[shof515]

40 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

Independent tour operators should know very well what time the ship uses.  

that has not been my case. they are very clueless what ship time is, they dont know what that is. Tour operators always uses local port time

 

in my experience, it seems to depend on the captain and the ports. i just got off the Venezia on the 12 day to the Southern Caribbean. Ship time only changed on daylight changing time, in some of the ports they was a 1 hour time difference 

[bstel]

Sailed the Pride March 2023 to Panama Canal partial transit and changed time zones 2 times (i think).  Just sailed the Pride last week and never changed time zones, so we were 2 hours ahead in Belize.

[jsglow]

4 hours ago, mz-s said:

I would feel sure that for a full transit of the canal, you'll be doing frequent time changes.

Absolutely correct. This is especially true as you will traverse 3 different time zones to your end destination. My GUESS is that Captain will move you back an hour on the initial sea day, then leave it until you pass through the Canal where he'll do 2 steps once out in the Pacific with numerous sea days to work with.

Edited March 20 by jsglow

[jsglow]

1 hour ago, Elaine5715 said:

Independent tour operators should know very well what time the ship uses.  

For 'normal' cruises, yes. These unique situations are always tougher. We frequently email with our independent cruise operator once we know the ship time v local time situation onboard.  

[staceyglow]

5 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

Independent tour operators should know very well what time the ship uses.  

I have seen plenty of independent tour operators who advertise tours as "shore excursions", even if they start and hour before the ship docks or end after the ship disembarks.  This is true even if Carnival is the only ship in port that day.

 

It's up to the person booking the tour to make sure that it fits with the ship's schedule.

 

 

Edited March 20 by staceyglow

[MaisonRose]

9 hours ago, cruzinismyname said:

We will be on the April 7 Spirit transitional cruise through the Panama Canal and I am getting conflicting answers on this. Does anyone know the answers on this cruise that starts in Tampa Bay and ends in Seattle? Stops are Grand Cayman, Cartagena Columbia, Puntarenas Costa Rica and Cabo.

I learned way back to wear a real wrist watch to keep track of the time. It’s much easier than adjusting your phone.

[Elaine5715]

6 hours ago, shof515 said:

that has not been my case. they are very clueless what ship time is, they dont know what that is. Tour operators always uses local port time

 

in my experience, it seems to depend on the captain and the ports. i just got off the Venezia on the 12 day to the Southern Caribbean. Ship time only changed on daylight changing time, in some of the ports they was a 1 hour time difference 

That should be a red flag.  Every independent tour operator I have used, followed ship time

[anastasia3939]

On 3/20/2024 at 10:02 PM, Elaine5715 said:

That should be a red flag.  Every independent tour operator I have used, followed ship time

I only use independent tour operators that have great reviews. Carnival doesn’t know if the ship is going to follow ship time or local time, the captain changes it depending upon the sailing..but it’s a red flag if the independent operator who has passengers from multiple lines and resorts doesn’t read the captain’s mind? I disagree.

[dacsmom]

It all depends. No one can give you the right answer

 

[Mike45LC]

On 3/26/2024 at 12:04 AM, anastasia3939 said:

Carnival doesn’t know if the ship is going to follow ship time or local time, the captain changes it depending upon the sailing.

This is so true!  Pathetic, but true.