I know it's been asked before...but it's a question on local time and excursions

[tiffnco]

I was reading all the other questions about ship time vs. shore time and how early is too early for a shore excursion...and I wasn't able to figure things out.

 

I am going on the Solstice this June. We are to be in GC from 7am to 4pm.

 

We have booked a tour with Fat Fish Adventures...they have an 8am tour and a 10:30am tour. The folks at Fat Fish told me I could do the 8am tour...but I was nervous about only having an hour to tender and make it to the rendezvous point (Hard Rock). They mentioned something about the time difference and that I really should be fine.

 

I have booked the 10:30 tour...but would much rather do the early one if it's an option for us.

 

So, my question boils down to...is 7am ship time really 6am GC time? Or will they be equal? :o

 

Any answer is appreciated...thanks!

[drew sailbum]

So, my question boils down to...is 7am ship time really 6am GC time? Or will they be equal? :o

 

Any answer is appreciated...thanks!

 

 

Assuming your ship stays on Eastern Daylight Time (ie, Florida time), then yes.

 

The Cayman Islands do not observe Daylight Savings Time. In the summer months, 7am in Miami is 6am local time in Cayman.

[tiffnco]

Great, thanks!

 

Now I'm off to ask about ship time on the Celebrity board...

:D

[FAD]

You also you need to consider returning. Carnival's Legend ship time for leaving is 4 and the last tender leaving Grand Cayman is ship time 3 which is 2 pm local time.

Most full day trip will not get you back 2 pm local time which really disappoints me I go to cruise to snorkel.

[tiffnco]

According to the folks on the Celebrity board, ship's time is reflective of local time...but it's all so darn confusing!

 

Now I'm just wondering if brochure time is the same as ship's time...

[sbnuggie]

Ha....welcome to my world a year ago:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=916513

 

1. The key is to find out if your ship stays set at a certain time. It turns out that the Legend stayed on Eastern Daylight Time for our entire trip so I could adjust easily.

 

2. As been posted, GC is on Eastern Standard Time and does not change to Daylight Savings Time.

 

3. We went with Fat Fish Adventures when in GC and had the time of our life, awesome company and awesome tour. We went on the 8am tour. The legend got in 7am - 4pm which was "ship time" and quoted in the brochure. This ended up being 6am local time. Unless Peter has changed he and his wife always quoted me Island Times for thier excursions. So the 8am start time was "island time" which was 9am "ship time". I think we ended up back in Georgetown around noon "ship time" so plenty of time to shop as the last tender leaves about 1 hr prior to the posted end time. Oh, and don't rush to be one of the first off the ship, we did and got onto GC at about 6:30 am "island time"/7:30 am "ship time" and nothing, and I mean nothing is open downtown, so we just ended up walking the streets finally just sitting on a bench for an hour before going over to the hard rock to meet Peter. Wished we stayed on the ship for an hour to let the crowds of early risers thin out.

 

So.....my advice is to determine if ship time is set throughout your cruise to the embarkation port time, if it is and it is Eastern Daylight Time, you will always be 1 hour ahead of GC :eek:

 

There you go....clear as mud.

[tiffnco]

Thanks for the reply...I really appreciate it!

 

It really is such a confusing topic...as I hear that Celebrity stays on Island Time...so I was too scared to book the 8am tour (even though I really do want that.) Maybe I should just bite the bullet and do it.

[sbnuggie]

I can't comment on Celebrity Tendering process, but for Carnival when we were in GC we were some of the first in the tender line and we left the ship on the first tender (which literally held about 100 people) and we were onshore in about 10 minutes and from there the hard rock is about a 5 minute walk. And there were 5 ships in port that day so it was busy but there seemed to be plenty of tenders for all of the ships.

 

IMHO I think you will have plenty of time to make an 8am meeting time if your ship begins tendering at 7am (island time).

[Ants Girl]

Ok so I have the ship time vs GC time down. My ship Liberty of the seas docks at 8:00am ship time and 7:00am GC time. So my question is if I get one of the first tenders will I have enough time to make the 8:00am Fat Fish Adventure? I can do the 10:30 if need be but I wanted to try to get the earlier one if possible.

 

Thanks