ship time vs. island time and is this doable?

[ginka]

I know that when we visit the islands we stay on ship time, so is 'ship time' the time zone of the port that we depart from? So if I am looking to book an excursion on St. Maarten that will meet me at the ship dock (a non carnival excursion...one on my own) at 9:15 am , and St. Maarten is one hour ahead of Florida time, would i get picked up 815 am ship time?

 

I will email them ahead of time so they are aware of what time the ship gets in, but if we are scheduled to dock at 8 am in St. Maarten, is it feasible (without FTTF) to be off the ship by 8:15 am or close to that?

 

Also, if we do this excursion, it is from 9:15 am - 130 Pm (st. maarten time) and we have to be back on the ship at 330 pm (SHIP TIME,..430 pm st. maarten time) would we have enough time to go from Simpson bay to Maho beach on our own (rather than taking their transportation back to the ship) and then getting a taxi on our own back to the ship.

 

I know some will say to post this in the St. Maarten forum, which I can do, it just seems like they arent very active.

[Cruise, J.D.]

I know that when we visit the islands we stay on ship time, so is 'ship time' the time zone of the port that we depart from? So if I am looking to book an excursion on St. Maarten that will meet me at the ship dock (a non carnival excursion...one on my own) at 9:15 am , and St. Maarten is one hour ahead of Florida time, would i get picked up 815 am ship time?

 

I will email them ahead of time so they are aware of what time the ship gets in, but if we are scheduled to dock at 8 am in St. Maarten, is it feasible (without FTTF) to be off the ship by 8:15 am or close to that?

 

Also, if we do this excursion, it is from 9:15 am - 130 Pm (st. maarten time) and we have to be back on the ship at 330 pm (SHIP TIME,..430 pm st. maarten time) would we have enough time to go from Simpson bay to Maho beach on our own (rather than taking their transportation back to the ship) and then getting a taxi on our own back to the ship.

 

I know some will say to post this in the St. Maarten forum, which I can do, it just seems like they arent very active.

 

Yes, the ship will generally keep the time of the departure port. The operators on the islands know when ships are supposed to dock. If they cater to cruise passengers, they would not schedule tours for times when passengers will not be available. Just email the provider if you can.

 

I personally would not plan on getting off by 8:15. Sometimes it takes quite a while from docking until the ship is cleared to let off passengers.

[k2excursion]

St Maarten seems to be pretty quick at clearing the ship. There is no guarantee of that, but it is certainly feasible to be off the ship just after 8:00am. FTTF does nothing for St Maarten, because it's not a tender port. Just be ready to get off the ship. Even though they don't like it, wait down around deck 1 or so with the crowd. The ship doesn't always announce that they are ready to let you off the ship, so you don't want to be in your room waiting for an announcement. You could certainly be to the meeting place at 8:15, if the ship is ready to let you off at 8:00.

 

Definitely find out from the tour provider whether they are talking about ship time or island time. Not all tour providers make the adjustment for you, but some do. Also, is this cruise happening before or after our upcoming "spring forward" time change? Once that happens in March, Florida time will be equal to St Maarten time, since they do not observe daylight savings time.

 

There will be plenty of taxis at Maho Beach, ready to take people back to the ship. Traffic is very heavy along that route back, and it can come to stops. Leave yourself plenty of time to get back if you decide to do that. Even to have just 45 minutes at Maho Beach to see a couple big planes land is worth it, if the timing could work out right.

Edited January 13, 2015 by k2excursion

[Tapi]

When we sailed on the Eastern itinerary, ship's time was actually adjusted to local time on our second sea night. It was then adjusted back one hour on our 6th night on our return to Miami.

 

 

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[LOVINCRUIZIN]

IN my experience, Royal Caribbean tends to adjust time, while Carnival tends to stay on ship time.

I don;t know if this is a standard, but def what I experienced

[ginka]

thanks for the input so far! we are sailing Feb. 20th, so it would be before the time change. Boy, that is confusing if some ships change and others dont...do we know for sure that Carnival stays on florida time for the Exotic Eastern? (san juan, st. maarten, st. thomas and Grand turk).

[Buffettfan 225]

As another poster said, returning from Maho area traffic especially after 2:30 can be a literal standstill. We left at 2:15 a few years ago, ran into heavy traffic and told driver get us to downtown Phillipsburg- it was then faster to take the water taxi across the bay than risk sitting in traffic all the way around.

Leave return with plenty of time.

O.s. I have also read that hurricanes have caused much of the beach sand to have disappeared, still great experience for plane watching.

[serene56]

IN my experience, Royal Caribbean tends to adjust time, while Carnival tends to stay on ship time.

I don;t know if this is a standard, but def what I experienced

 

 

It depends. if all the ports are one hour difference carnival will stay on ship time

 

but if one island is 2 hour time and the rest is 1 hour the ship time will reflect that one hour difference

[serene56]

thanks for the input so far! we are sailing Feb. 20th, so it would be before the time change. Boy, that is confusing if some ships change and others dont...do we know for sure that Carnival stays on florida time for the Exotic Eastern? (san juan, st. maarten, st. thomas and Grand turk).

 

 

this is why you NEVER ask someone what time it is.. you just never know.

you also do NOT ever use a cell phone to tell time.

 

all your ports except grand turk are one hour ahead of ship time.

 

The vendor will know what the ship is doing

Edited January 13, 2015 by serene56

[ginka]

this is why you NEVER ask someone what time it is.. you just never know.

you also do NOT ever use a cell phone to tell time.

 

all your ports except grand turk are one hour ahead of ship time.

 

The vendor will know what the ship is doing

 

 

So just curious...how do we know? Is it safe to say, that if I bring a watch, set it to the time the clocks say on the ship...that THAT is the time I can go by and that THOSE times will always be correct?

[Cruise, J.D.]

So just curious...how do we know? Is it safe to say, that if I bring a watch, set it to the time the clocks say on the ship...that THAT is the time I can go by and that THOSE times will always be correct?

 

Yep. There are clocks on the ship and a TV channel with ship info. The CD usually gives out reminders about ship time too.

 

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[TravelerThom]

IN my experience, Royal Caribbean tends to adjust time, while Carnival tends to stay on ship time.

I don;t know if this is a standard, but def what I experienced

By definition the time the ship is on is ship time. It doesn't matter what line you are on, the ship is on ship time. The issue is whether ship time remains constant or is adjusted, if need be, to match local time.

So just curious...how do we know? Is it safe to say, that if I bring a watch, set it to the time the clocks say on the ship...that THAT is the time I can go by and that THOSE times will always be correct?

It is correct that if your watch matches the ship clocks when you get off the ship in the morning, you are on ship time (which may or may not match local time). Re-boarding times are given in ship time, so if you follow your watch you will be on the correct time relative to getting back to the ship. HOWEVER this does not necessarily mean that you can set your watch at the beginning of the cruise, and never have to worry about re-setting it (you may not have to re-set your watch, but then again you may - otherwise on a TransAtlantic you would be arriving in Europe at midnight even though the sun has been up for some time).

 

Thom

[k2excursion]

The report of a ship changing times certainly complicates the plans. I have been on 15 Carnival cruises, & on none of them did we change ship time to match port time. In fact, on one cruise, all 4 ports were a different time, and 2 of them were 2 hours earlier than ship time, and we still didn't change the ship time. But I guess it could happen. It usually depends on the ship, what the captain and/or cruise director want to do. Get word from your tour operator about which time they mean, and you may need to make your decision about Maho once you know whether or not the ship will change it's time.

 

Regarding Maho Beach, some days there is plenty of sand, some days there isn't. It's not a beach meant to be used for a lazy beach day. I have been there twice, most recently 1 year ago, and there was plenty of sand both times. Last time, we stayed right underneath where the planes are landing. It's an amazing sensation seeing the planes landing right over your head. a little intimidating too. From that area, when the big planes are preparing to take off in the runway, you get blasted on the beach. The wind is intense. If you're on the beach, duck & cover & hang onto everything. The sand will be blown in your face if you don't duck, and all your stuff will be in the ocean if you don't hang onto it. It just adds to the fun.

Edited January 14, 2015 by k2excursion

[serene56]

So just curious...how do we know? Is it safe to say, that if I bring a watch, set it to the time the clocks say on the ship...that THAT is the time I can go by and that THOSE times will always be correct?

 

 

there also will be a NOTICE (on a pole) when getting off the ship at each port that is placed UNDER a clock.

[Sweet Dutch Girl]

Independent tour operators "know" what time a ship is set to. They would loose business if they confused patrons by flipping times. In all my years of cruising when I book a tour they are there at the stated time whether it is Island time or not. These tours often pick up cruisers from various ships which may or may not be on the "same" ship time. That is why they ask you, when booking, what ship you are arriving on before giving you a meet-up time. It's best not to over-think or over-worry this kind of stuff...tour operators have been doing this for years and years and years.

[TravelerThom]

Independent tour operators "know" what time a ship is set to. They would loose business if they confused patrons by flipping times. In all my years of cruising when I book a tour they are there at the stated time whether it is Island time or not. These tours often pick up cruisers from various ships which may or may not be on the "same" ship time. That is why they ask you, when booking, what ship you are arriving on before giving you a meet-up time. It's best not to over-think or over-worry this kind of stuff...tour operators have been doing this for years and years and years.

AGREED!

 

A few years ago we were on a TA from Barcelona to Miami that had three scheduled port stops in Morocco (Rabat, Casablanca and Agadir). A CC group negotiated with a local guide in Agadir and wanted to go to the old walled town of Taroudannt, but the timing was just too tight to attempt it, so we settled for a local tour. Rabat and Casablanca were dropped (replaced by an additional stop in Spain) for security reasons, so we thought we'd get into Agadir early morning (rather than noon as originally scheduled), so our "leader" makes arrangements for us to go to Taroudannt. Once on the ship it is announced that Agadir arrival will still be noon; back on the internet and back to Plan A (no Taroudannt) with the guide. Then unknown to us a member of the crew has an appendicitis attack, and the ship speeds up to arrive at Agadir (and its hospital) by 8am. We have heard NOTHING about this early arrival, but the guide sends an email at 1am asking if we still want to go to Taroudannt, and fortunately our leader is still up to get this email, and off we go in the morning. Taroudannt was a highlight of the cruse!

 

Guides worth using are REALLY GOOD!:)

 

Thom

 

PS I still stay aware of when we are due back on the ship and watch the time; "trust but verify"

[ginka]

Thanks for all the help!!