Time Zones

[battybtags]

I'm going on my first cruise next year and have a question regarding timing. Do most ships keep EST or do they change with the island they go to? (we're cruising on Royal Caribbean) Also, when you are given the time you have on an island (ex-8am to 5pm in st thomas), does the ship leave at 5pm island time or EST? I'm trying to book some tours and was curious as to how this works and how to make sure I'm back at the boat at the right time? Can anyone give me a good description of how this works? Thanks!

[gbphipps]

The ships generally adjust to local time, but if they don't they do make it clear in the dailies. One always goes by ship's time to reboard by. If the ship does not keep island time they will make a point of it in the dailies. Have a great trip!

[Sheffie]

Oh, the dreaded "Island vs. Ship time" dilemma.

 

Every captain can do what he wants, but MOST stay on local time. As gbphipps said, it will be posted in the dailies, but that doesn't help you with pre-planning.

 

My suggestion to you is to check with your tour operator. They see these ships come in EVERY week during cruise season and know what time your ship usually arrives.

[KarinaGW]

http://www.what-time-is-it.com/

 

Tells you what time it is right now in any city.

 

Note: For some reason (blame my lack of knowledge about geography) St. Martin is listed under Guadeloupe. And, of course, St. Thomas is US Virgin Islands.

[PVDCruiser]

http://www.what-time-is-it.com/

 

Tells you what time it is right now in any city.

 

Note: For some reason (blame my lack of knowledge about geography) St. Martin is listed under Guadeloupe. And, of course, St. Thomas is US Virgin Islands.

 

:confused: I find Philipsburg under the Netherlands Antilles.

[TEXASMUNK]

the easiest solution....

 

wait until you are onboard. All the good and solid advise can vary by ship's captain, time zones and daylight versus standard time.

 

Not to worry, work on ship's time and you will find it an easy adjustment.

 

and.... BON VOYAGE!!

[amapola]

Also, if your departure port is San Juan, there will be no time difference when you go to the islands. If you depart from FL to the Southern Caribbean, in the summer the time is the same also, as we keep Atlantic time year-round. In winter you will have a time difference of one hour, of course.

 

Hope I didn't make things more complicated :eek: :)

[wrp96]

Of my 7 cruises, 6 have stayed on the same time zone as the departure port (of course for 3 of those cruises the ship stayed in the same time zone the entire time). Only one changed time zones with the ports. Basically, it depends on the captain and the ship.

[KarinaGW]

:confused: I find Philipsburg under the Netherlands Antilles.

See, I had a brainfart as to whether Philipsburg had one or two ls so I used Marigot and I picked Guadeloupe because for that same geographically unknown reason, Hertz had St. Martin (Marigot and Philipsburg) there when I went to reserve my rental.