Grand Cayman time vs HAL ship time

[msm0908]

We are hoping to book an excursion that meets at 8:15 am local time in Georgetown in March 2012. Our itinerary states that our ship arrives at 8:00 am (called HAL and they told me that this is ship time). The excursion company told me that our ship will arrive at 7:00 am local time and we should be able to make it to the tour. Is this correct? I am so confused :confused:, I have searched the internet and not found a definite answer. Not very good with all this DST and time zone thing. Could someone please help? Thanks in advance!

[jtl513]

For Grand Cayman the ship time will be set the same as local time. When we were there we tendered, but I don't know if that is always the case. If it is, it's highly unlikely you'll make an 8:15 excursion that is not HAL's.

[Mary Ellen]

Also keep in mind that Grand Cayman is a tender only port. That takes a bit of time to get going. Unless one has a HAL shore ex and you are not in a PH, deluxe suite, or a 4* Mariner, you'll need to get a tender ticket and wait your turn to go ashore.

[Caribbean Chris]

Also (to add to the gloomy tidings), sometimes if weather is rough on the west side, the ships have to anchor on the south side of the island and tender in, with shuttle buses available to take passengers to Georgetown.

 

(Don't be confused by time zone changes as that has nothing to do with it. The ship's posted arrival time is always the same time zone as local time, in my experience.)

 

Probably the reason the tour operator said the ship arrives at 7 is because they often do arrive fairly early in the morning, but by the time the ship is cleared by authorities and you tender ashore (after the ship excursion passengers go), you would be looking at arriving in Georgetown more like 10 a.m. at best if you are not on a ship's excursion.

[jtl513]

(Don't be confused by time zone changes as that has nothing to do with it. The ship's posted arrival time is always the same time zone as local time, in my experience.)

There are exceptions. The ship time is never on local time in Puerto Vallarta. Because it sits on a time-zone boundary, whichever time zone is used is wrong for some people going ashore, so no change in ship time is done..

[Caribbean Chris]

There are exceptions. The ship time is never on local time in Puerto Vallarta. Because it sits on a time-zone boundary, whichever time zone is used is wrong for some people going ashore, so no change in ship time is done..

 

Wow, you learn something every day! I've never been to PV.

 

But... help me here...the "ship time" must be the same as at leat one of the two possibilities ashore, right?

[jtl513]

But... help me here...the "ship time" must be the same as at leat one of the two possibilities ashore, right?

Yes ... but I believe it's not the time where the pier is. (I've never been there either.) :)

[Pete Jackson]

The tour companies should always give GMT for their departures as well as the local time. This is easy for them to know. And on the ship, you can always get GMT from your television (not always the same as London time, however, because London time is GMT +1 in the summer).

 

Some people might get confused by GMT at first, but it's not really a difficult concept to learn and get used to.

 

Right now, it's 2 PM Eastern Daylight Time and 6 PM (or 1800) GMT.

[Krazy Kruizers]

The last couple of times we were in Grand Cayman -- there were several ships there -- and it was a zoo!! HAL uses their own tenders and they constantly had to wait to get into the downtown piers -- South and North piers -- the island tenders have priority -- they service most of the other ships. One time it took us an hour to get to shore and an 1 1/2 hours to get back to the ship. Many people missed their tours because of this tendering process.

One time we tendered into the new Royal Watler terminal.

You could end up at any of those piers.

I seriously doubt if you would make an 8:15 private tour.

[msm0908]

Thanks to all who have replied. Will cancel this 8:15am excusion, looks like we won't be able to make it. Luckily, we have another tour company that we could make arrangements with. Thanks again for all of your help!

[SmokinActuary]

Keep in mind the Caymans do not observe daylight savings time.