Conflicting answers about DST and Port time. Carnival Dream 3/20/2010

[mystifyny]

We will be traveling on the carnival dream on 3/20/2010. I was trying to book some private dive excursions and I was having some difficulty figuring out the ship time and port time.

 

I know when we leave we will have just entered into Daylight Savings time. So if we stay on port time we will be 2 hours ahead of island time.

 

Well that is OK However when we are in port on Costa Maya on 3/25 the itinerary reads we will be in port from 7am - 3pm. So I called Carnival and asked them about the port time. Seeing we will be already in DST and if we stayed on ship time we would actually be in Costa Maya from 5am - 1pm island time. The rep told me the time listed was island time.

 

So this was conflicting as to what I have read and have actually experienced on other cruises. The difference was when I cruised before it was during standard time and it was before the US decided to change the DST date. Lucky us we are traveling within that 3 week window where the rest of the world still changes time in April.

 

So then I send an e-mail to Carnival. My reply back was "yes you will be in port in Costa Maya from 5am - 1 pm" Now this just seems crazy to me. What in the world would be open for anyone to do at 5AM? That just seems crazy to me they would even let people off the boat at that time......

 

Seeing I have tried to get a straight answer from 2 different people at Carnival and got a different answer both times is very unsettling. All I want is a straight answer and that appears to be a very difficult thing for carnival to provide.....:-(

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

When I am in doubt, this is where I check:

 

http://www.timezoneconverter.com/cgi-bin/tzc.tzc

 

Tom

[BooBooMonkey]

But, could someone please clarify whether the times advertised by Carnival in our itineraries are ship time or port time, or does it vary?

 

Thanks!

[shof515]

I too have a question about time zones. I am going on the canada cruise at the end of sept, and the 2 ports in canada is in a timezone where it is 1 hour ahead of standard eastern time. during those 2 days, do we use land time or stay on the eastern time?

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

All times referenced by Carnival for it's excursions and port times are SHIP TIME. Twice we have been on a ship where they changed the clocks, once we FELL BACK, the other time we SPRANG FORWARD thanks to DST. I much prefer the FALL BACK, as our cruise was then 1 hour longer, the other one cost us a cruise hour!

 

I know during a TA sailing, and likely a canal passage, that the clocks are slowly changed. Not sure about other sailings.

 

Tom

[mystifyny]

It just seems very weird to me that Carnival would doc somehwere at 5AM and allow people to get off the boat. Has anyone ever experienced this?????

[mrpayroll]

But, could someone please clarify whether the times advertised by Carnival in our itineraries are ship time or port time, or does it vary?

 

Thanks!

Any excursions booked thru Carnival are SHIP time...Excursions booked by independent carriers are local time...If Carnival says you arrive at 7am, that is SHIP time....

[iowagirl411]

All posted port times (ship, Capers, reservations, documents, carnival.com, etc.) are always posted in "ship time", never local time.

[iowagirl411]

Well that is OK However when we are in port on Costa Maya on 3/25 the itinerary reads we will be in port from 7am - 3pm. So I called Carnival and asked them about the port time. Seeing we will be already in DST and if we stayed on ship time we would actually be in Costa Maya from 5am - 1pm island time.

So then I send an e-mail to Carnival. My reply back was "yes you will be in port in Costa Maya from 5am - 1 pm" Now this just seems crazy to me. What in the world would be open for anyone to do at 5AM? That just seems crazy to me they would even let people off the boat at that time......

 

.....:-(

 

It just seems very weird to me that Carnival would doc somehwere at 5AM and allow people to get off the boat. Has anyone ever experienced this?????

 

I've been there this early a couple of times. Don't worry! Everything will be open. The dancers will be dancing. The bartenders will be bartending! The shops will be open & the taxis will be running. Excursions will be for sale. Even the guy behind the tree selling MJ will be there waiting.They know when a ship is docking! If you weren't already aware of the time, you would never guess. You never can get off the very second that a ship docks either.

[BooBooMonkey]

Even the guy behind the tree selling MJ will be there waiting.They know when a ship is docking!

 

LMBO!!!:p Funniest thing I've read all day :D.

[iowagirl411]

Any excursions booked thru Carnival are SHIP time...Excursions booked by independent carriers are local time...If Carnival says you arrive at 7am, that is SHIP time....

 

Not necessarily. I've been booked with independent excursions both ways. Sometimes they will even say both, like "That will be x:00 am local time & x:00 am ship time.

 

Be careful when booking independent excursions that you get the time thing straight.

[iowagirl411]

LMBO!!!:p Funniest thing I've read all day :D.

 

Just doing my part to inform new cruisers!