Port of call departure times - ship vs local time

I'm cruising out of Galveston, Texas. On carnival.com when I login to my account and view my itinerary, it says I will be in Grand Cayman from 7:00-4:00, I will assume this is central time since I am cruising out of Galveston but correct me if I am wrong.

Grand Cayman is in the eastern time zone which would be an hour ahead, so when we get to Cayman it will really be 8:00 local time, correct? I have heard some ships don't change the ship time to local time, some do. The ship will make an announcement if they do change times, right? I am asking because I have an excursion that meets up at 9:00 LOCAL time, which would be 8:00 ship time if the ship does not change the time.

Also, for the departure time is that the time when the ship actually starts to leave, or is that when the last tender leaves the island?? I doubt we will be on the island until the very last minute, I'm just curious more than anything. Thank you!!

The ONLY time that matters is SHIP'S time. There are clocks at every exit. Make sire your watch is set to ship's time. Not all ships change time to match local time. The last tender leaves 30 mins before sailaway.

The funny thing is, ships actually run on GMT and a 24 hr clock but the clocks for passengers are in normal times. If they say 7 AM to 4 PM it is ships time. like they said, match your watch to ship clocks on the wall. You can ask crew members.

Okay thanks!!

If you're someone who doesn't wear a watch and uses a cell phone to check the time, be sure to turn on Airplane Mode on your phone. Not only will this prevent it from racking up roaming fees, it'll keep the phone's clock from automatically adjusting to a new timezone. I take it a step further, just to be safe, with my iPhone. You can go into the time & date settings and turn off the "Set Automatically" function.

I just sailed on the Freedom twice, and the ship never changed times going to Jamaica/Grand Cayman/Cozumel.

Ship time is all that matters!

A really important information is that you sail with a Carnival ship. It seems that they stick to one time for the ship throughout the cruise, no switch to local time.

The cruise ships I have been on always had local time.

A really important information is that you sail with a Carnival ship. It seems that they stick to one time for the ship throughout the cruise, no switch to local time.

 

The cruise ships I have been on always had local time.

Agree. Carnival is the very notable exception...virtually all other cruise lines will change their clocks to match local time.

One other possible glich is that Grand Cayman does not use daylight savings time. So when Galveston is on Central DST, GC is on Eastern ST which is the same.

 

Also, for the departure time is that the time when the ship actually starts to leave, or is that when the last tender leaves the island?? I doubt we will be on the island until the very last minute, I'm just curious more than anything. Thank you!!

Departure time is when the ship leaves. All Aboard time is approximately 30 minutes before that. The All Aboard time will be posted, so will the time of the last tender. So watch for those important notices before you go ashore.

I know that all the matters is ship time but I would also like to know in comparison brecause we are also booking an excursion that goes by grand cayman time and ai want to know how much more time we will have on the island.

I know that all the matters is ship time but I would also like to know in comparison brecause we are also booking an excursion that goes by grand cayman time and ai want to know how much more time we will have on the island.

You answered your own question - all that matters is ship time. And ship time is at the sole discretion of the Captain of that particular ship on that particular itinerary. Previous cruise experience is helpful but never a guarantee as to the observed time on your cruise. The excursion operators will know the times the ships are in port relative to the times they are running the excursion and will adjust accordingly. The port times will be posted on the ship's daily newsletter, announced in advance for that port of call, as well as posted as you leave the ship. That is all you can go by to be certain.

First of all, ships run on some form of local time, they do not run on GMT. Local time, as are all time zones, is related to GMT by being plus or minus from GMT.

So what is that local time. Obviously when the ship is in its original departure port, it is on that local time. After it leaves port, most ships shift to the various time zones that they might be in and everyone will be told in the daily information sheet that the time will change overnight, etc., just like changing time zones at home. That being said, some ships may not shift for one particular port if the captain decides to not change for one quick stop, or a ship can stay on one time zone the entire cruise. Again, most ships will change, but if a line has a policy in certain areas not to do so, they can do that. You will be advised when you are aboard.

As for setting up a private tour, the tour operators know the ships' schedules as well as the cruise lines. Just tell them what ship you are on, and the day of your arrival. You can tell them you have the arrival and departure times, but are unsure of the time zone of those times. You should not have any problem. You will not be the first one to make a tour reservation from you ship or cruise line, and the tour operators know. Ships' schedules are locally put out by the harbormaster, and everyone from shopkeepers to tour operators know the details.

For those asking or wondering about departure times and all aboard times, just know that you have to know the ship's time when you disembark. You work from that time, and whether or not its the same as the local time! And DON'T just aim to be back by departure time. Be back by "all aboard time." Period.

After it leaves port' date=' most ships shift to the various time zones that they might be in and everyone will be told in the daily information sheet that the time will change overnight, etc., just like changing time zones at home. That being said, some ships may not shift for one particular port if the captain decides to not change for one quick stop, or a ship can stay on one time zone the entire cruise. Again, most ships will change, but if a line has a policy in certain areas not to do so, they can do that[/b']

Not necessarily. It is not a cruise line policy but up to the Captain of a given ship on a given itinerary as to whether or not he wishes to change to local time or maintain the time at the original port of departure. The number of ports of call or how long the visit is generally has nothing to due with this, unless the port of call has an extended planned stay. The time he maintains - or changes to - on board is "ship time". This applies mainly to closed loop cruises as transatlantic on others crossing multiple time zones due adjust timed accordingly.

We were told by a Captain during a bridge tour - when he was asked about this - that the decision is typically made to accommodate the crew by maintaining a fixed time schedule for their shift assignments. More typically than not if only one time zone changes during the itinerary, he will maintain the original port time as that is easier overall than making a one day adjustment. As previously referenced, If a ship is in a given port of call for more than a day - such as with many Bermuda cruises - the Captain will adjust en route to and from the port of call to be on local time there. This is done for both the benefit of the passengers and crew as they will be in that port of call for a longer period of time.