Ship Time vs. Island Time

[vski21]

I hope someone can answer this as I am a little nervous. Next Monday I will be in Cozumel from 8:00 AM til 6:00 PM. I booked an outside excursion (Cozumel Bar Hop) which is supposed to be 5 hours long. Since we are supposed to be in Cozumel for quite a bit of time, I thought this would be ok. However, I received my confirmation today and it states the tour will start at 11:15 AM island time (12:15 PM ship time).

 

This is making me a little nervous. Does anyone know when the ship is in Cozumel, do they go by island time? Or ship time?

 

I feel that if it is ship time...this is cutting it a little too close.

[CharmedMom]

The ships always go by ship time. If your excursion is booked through Carnival all should be fine with your excursion and time, however, if this is a private excursion (not through Carnival), you should probably worry and know that time is an issue and is your responsibility to make it back to the ship on time.

[arpie05]

1. You can post this in the Cozumel thread and get opinions from recent travelers to area.

2. If you have a trip booked with a reputable agency - they are used to dealing with when you have to be back to your ship. The know if you are on the Liberty when you have to be back. If they dont get you back - it will hurt their business.

 

When we went to Sydney, NS we stayed on ship time which was two hours BEHIND of local time. It was a pain but we dealt with. (Pain because most stuff closed at 5 pm which was 3 pm to us and we still had 3 hours in port)

 

The only time I was on a ship that changed time was when we sailed to Alaska.

 

Have a good time!

[vski21]

I've posted in the Cozumel forum also. I am waiting for replys. The Cozumel Bar Hop is very reputable and gets very high reviews on Tripadvisor also. I just wasn't sure if Carnival adjusts their time to reflect island time. If they did, I think I would be fine. If they don't...I think that 5:15 or 5:30 is cutting it a little to close since we should start boarding no later than 5:30 and the ship leaves at 6:00. It certainly doesn't leave any extra time if something were to happen.

[kingoftheicedragons]

Most likely the ship stays on ship time regardless of what time it is in Cozumel. The independent tour operator should know that, but if it was me, I would probably not go on that excursion at that time.

[maryred]

What time zone does your cruise leave from? Cozumel observes Central Standard Time and does do Daylight Savings on the same schedule as the USA.

Does the tour operator know your on a cruise?

Is the tour operator basing the schedule on you ship or some other ship that might be in port the same time?

Were those reviews from land based resort guests or from other cruisers on a similar docking schedule?

How far away from the dock does the tour take you?

Did you research transportation options back to the port in case your tour runs late?

Once you have answers to these questions (& possibly more) then you can determine if the tour is cutting it too close to cast off time for comfort. Personally when I think there may be a time difference between the ship's time and the port's time I and schedule independent tours I try to make sure that I'll be back at port terminal at least 1 hour before the sail away time (more if tendering).

Your best bet is to contact the tour company in the most expedient way, which might involve an international phone call, to calm your fears.

[happy cruzin]

The ships always go by ship time. If your excursion is booked through Carnival all should be fine with your excursion and time, however, if this is a private excursion (not through Carnival), you should probably worry and know that time is an issue and is your responsibility to make it back to the ship on time.

 

The ship will be on home port time.

Ship leaves from Miami, ship will be on Miami time all through the cruise.

Ship leaves from Galveston, ship will be on Galveston time all through the cruise.

It is also advisable to NOT use your phone for timekeeping.

And, I think you will o.k. getting back to ship on time in Cozumel. Just ask before you depart your excursion.

 

I would have said the same thing - prior to our cruise 2 week ago on the Breeze.

They did have everyone adjust their clocks the first sea day - by one hour.

Have not had that happen on Carnival in quite a while - but it certainly is what they are are doing on the Breeze 8 -day. :cool:

[lorijeannj]

The ship will be on home port time.

Ship leaves from Miami, ship will be on Miami time all through the cruise.

Ship leaves from Galveston, ship will be on Galveston time all through the cruise.

It is also advisable to NOT use your phone for timekeeping.

And, I think you will o.k. getting back to ship on time in Cozumel. Just ask before you depart your excursion.

[flounder315]

We did the Bar Hop in Oct and had a blast. The other side of the island is beautiful. We only had 6 people in our group and they assured us that they would get us back to the port on time. That is how they made their reputation. I would send an email and tell them your concerns and ask how many people are already booked for that day. I would worry if it is a big group because not all people will pay attention and get back on the bus when told to do so. But if they had to skip a stop to get you back to the port I'm sure they would do that.

[Ron_L]

I would have said the same thing - prior to our cruise 2 week ago on the Breeze.

They did have everyone adjust their clocks the first sea day - by one hour.

Have not had that happen on Carnival in quite a while - but it certainly is what they are are doing on the Breeze 8 -day. :cool:

 

I wonder why they did that. When we did the 8-day Eastern itinerary on the Breeze in December we stayed on Miami time the whole cruise.

[happy cruzin]

I wonder why they did that. When we did the 8-day Eastern itinerary on the Breeze in December we stayed on Miami time the whole cruise.

 

 

I thought it was weird. I have NO idea why - but it certainly confused a lot of people. :eek:

 

It was mentioned on the front page of the Fun Times that we got the night BEFORE it was to happen - with the towel critter and chocolates. So....some changed their clocks the night they received the notice and some didn't do it until the next day/evening (which was the date on the Fun Times).

 

VERY confusing - IMHO! :(