Times on the itinerary vs Island time

We are sailing on Liberty of the Seas, and I am trying to figure out if the times in port are based on the island, or ship. If it is ship time, that means it is actually later in Grand Cayman than our itinerary states, and that will change which shore excursion we can do. I am also worried about the time it will take to tender. With all of the itinerary changes, that port will now have 5 ships with approximately 16,000 passengers.

I’ve been on 20+ cruises, a lot of them on RCI and the ships have always changed the Ship Time to match the Island-Time zone.

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I’ve been on 20+ cruises, a lot of them on RCI and the ships have always changed the Ship Time to match the Island-Time zone.

 

 

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I would say that more time than not, my experience has been that the ships have stayed on their home port time.

On Allure right now for Western Caribbean. Ship has stayed on ships time the entire cruise.

This is why I am asking. In the past out of Miami doing Western we stayed on ship time. This time is also Western out of Galveston. Currently Caymans, are the same as the ship, but they do not observe daylight savings, so the times may be different.

I keep my watch set for Ship time, this way I know what time I need to be back.

Your private guide will know what time to expect you. Whether the ship changes time or not, you only need to go by SHIP'S TIME...that's the ONLY time that matters. Your guide will wait, because, if you arrive later than you think, he would have no customers! No worries. Tendering only takes about 5-7 mins, once the tender leaves the ship. A tender holds a BUNCH of people, so it can take a few mins. to get everyone on and seated.

Your private guide will know what time to expect you. Whether the ship changes time or not, you only need to go by SHIP'S TIME...that's the ONLY time that matters. Your guide will wait, because, if you arrive later than you think, he would have no customers! No worries. Tendering only takes about 5-7 mins, once the tender leaves the ship. A tender holds a BUNCH of people, so it can take a few mins. to get everyone on and seated.

The island was only supposed to have 6 or 7,000 visitors from cruise ships that day. Due to rerouting it is now 16,000. The tour operator has people from other ships already booked, and has stated to meet at 12:15. My itinerary says we arrive in port from 10:30-7, but island time would be 11:30 if that is ship time. This is why I am trying to confirm the time. I wouldn't be worried if there weren't so many people trying to get a tender. I did email my travel agent, but it is a Saturday evening, and I am impatient.

We are sailing on Liberty of the Seas, and I am trying to figure out if the times in port are based on the island, or ship. If it is ship time, that means it is actually later in Grand Cayman than our itinerary states, and that will change which shore excursion we can do. I am also worried about the time it will take to tender. With all of the itinerary changes, that port will now have 5 ships with approximately 16,000 passengers.

Accoriding to RC, the itinerary you get pre-cruise is based on local time.

The island was only supposed to have 6 or 7,000 visitors from cruise ships that day. Due to rerouting it is now 16,000. The tour operator has people from other ships already booked, and has stated to meet at 12:15. My itinerary says we arrive in port from 10:30-7, but island time would be 11:30 if that is ship time. This is why I am trying to confirm the time. I wouldn't be worried if there weren't so many people trying to get a tender. I did email my travel agent, but it is a Saturday evening, and I am impatient.

Not everyone gets off ship. Stop worrying. Enjoy your cruise

Only worried about booking, and it is 2 months until we sail. I will relax once I jump on board. Until then it is all on me to get everything done. Who wouldn't want to get off in Cayman? If I had my way, we would spend a week there.

Thanks Bob. I didn't see that at all while looking. An extra hour definitely makes it doable. Most of my concerns came from the change of number of people in port. I am not upset about that, but it definitely adds to the concern for getting a tender.

Ask the excursion operator what time your ship normally gets in. He can probably tell you fairly reliably how much time you'll have from when your ship arrives to when they need to depart.

I had this same question for the November 12th sailing - one week after DST ends, so I did a couple of things.

I checked out the Port Authority of the Cayman Islands website and it shows the Liberty of the Seas in port from 10:30am - 6:00pm - which is EST so I thought my documents should show arrival at 11:30 and departure at 7:00pm. If indeed we stay on ships time.

I called Royal and the first 2 people said the times in the itinerary were local, but then 2 people said to stay on ships time, and then one guy told me to stop the first local and see what time it is. :confused:

So.. I dug up few old Compasses from this past winter. Sure enough, right on the first page of all cruises with the Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Jamaica itinerary on the Liberty leaving from Galveston after DTS ends, there is a note:

"Time Change

Dear Guests,

Please set your watches and clocks one hour forward before sleeping tonight. On Monday (date) all of the ships clocks will be set one hour forward at 2:00am."

So, yes, indeed the boarding time is listed as local Galveston time, but then everyone is to set their clocks to the new ship time which is EST won the ship sets sail, which is also local time for Grand Cayman and the other stops.

I had this same question for the November 12th sailing - one week after DST ends, so I did a couple of things.

 

I checked out the Port Authority of the Cayman Islands website and it shows the Liberty of the Seas in port from 10:30am - 6:00pm - which is EST so I thought my documents should show arrival at 11:30 and departure at 7:00pm. If indeed we stay on ships time.

 

I called Royal and the first 2 people said the times in the itinerary were local, but then 2 people said to stay on ships time, and then one guy told me to stop the first local and see what time it is. :confused:

 

So.. I dug up few old Compasses from this past winter. Sure enough, right on the first page of all cruises with the Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Jamaica itinerary on the Liberty leaving from Galveston after DTS ends, there is a note:

 

"Time Change

Dear Guests,

Please set your watches and clocks one hour forward before sleeping tonight. On Monday (date) all of the ships clocks will be set one hour forward at 2:00am."

 

So, yes, indeed the boarding time is listed as local Galveston time, but then everyone is to set their clocks to the new ship time which is EST won the ship sets sail, which is also local time for Grand Cayman and the other stops.

There is no rule. It is up to the captain on any given sailing on whether ship time will change to match local.

Reach out to your excursion organizer. They will know what time the ship usually gets in. If you're doing a Royal excursion, it will match ship time.

The excursion operator was unsure in the email which time zone I had on the itinerary schedule. I am not worried about getting back to the ship on time. According to the port authority we arrive at 10:30. That gives us far more time to get off the ship, but we will plan to get the earliest tender possible. We don't want the RCCL excursion. I have seen those boats, and I don't think you could pay me to be on one. Especially during the holidays, when there were be a million kids wanting to pet a stingray (mine included). We are going with a small company, that limits the tour. It appears everything will be fine. Except we may or may not have time for the eatery my husband mentioned. I think he will survive if we miss that stop.