What happened to my cell phone?

[DalTXColtsFan]

Apologies if this question has been asked, but on both of the cruises I took, when we got toward the middle of the Gulf of Mexico or thereabouts suddenly my cellphone thought it was in a completely different timezone!

 

My poor roommate - he set his alarm for 6am so he could get up and watch the sunrise - woke up, showered, went out, looked at a clock and it was actually 1!

 

This happened to anyone else? Anyone know what it is that causes this?

[mferranti]

Apologies if this question has been asked, but on both of the cruises I took, when we got toward the middle of the Gulf of Mexico or thereabouts suddenly my cellphone thought it was in a completely different timezone!

 

My poor roommate - he set his alarm for 6am so he could get up and watch the sunrise - woke up, showered, went out, looked at a clock and it was actually 1!

 

This happened to anyone else? Anyone know what it is that causes this?

It's happened to me on Celebrity cruises. The ship's cell service resets it to Greenwich Mean Time. I now go into my phone's settings menu and disable automatic time updates while cruising.

[cb at sea]

Never, EVER use your cell phone to tell time when you're traveling through timezones... Get a watch, or bring a travel clock......cells are fine at home, but not when cruising!!!!

[TC1957]

Never, EVER use your cell phone to tell time when you're traveling through timezones... Get a watch, or bring a travel clock......cells are fine at home, but not when cruising!!!!

 

Why? We have done it on all our cruises...never had a problem with the time changing nor have we ever been charged a fee by our carrier.

[maywell]

I usually put my cellphone on airplane mode when I'm vacationing out of the US, so I'm not charge fees. Still able to tell time on it.

[njmomof2]

Yeah, happened to my mom a few years ago. We were cruising and she woke up, looked at her phone and started getting ready for the day. We were in an inside, so no natural light. It was the day of the wedding for Prince William and Duchess Kate.

 

I popped on the TV and was watching what I thought was a replay of the wedding. All of a sudden, I hear the anchors talking about the anticipation, and for some reason realize that this is LIVE! Look at another channel and find out it's 4 AM.

 

Well, that was exciting. Went back to bed and caught the wedding later on replay.

 

Now I make sure we have a stand alone clock in the room to avoid any other unpleasantly early mornings LOL!

[taglovestocruise]

Why? We have done it on all our cruises...never had a problem with the time changing nor have we ever been charged a fee by our carrier.

 

The biggest problem is that ship time and port time are sometimes different. Have your cell set to ship time so that you are back on time and then find that you cell resets to port or island time and you get back late..

[donaldsc]

Never, EVER use your cell phone to tell time when you're traveling through timezones... Get a watch, or bring a travel clock......cells are fine at home, but not when cruising!!!!

 

Why not. I do it all the time. Just put your phone in airplane mode and disable automatic time update.

 

Really easy and never fails.

 

DON

[Mary Ellen]

Why not. I do it all the time. Just put your phone in airplane mode and disable automatic time update.

 

Really easy and never fails.

Same here. I love that I can have multiple alarms set and that I can pick the sound of the alarm when using my phone as a clock. It can be a wide range of sounds - from totally obnoxious to a sweet chime depending upon my need. Our phones have more flexibility and are much easier to use than any travel alarm we've ever owned.

 

We've crossed the Pacific and Atlantic using our phones as clocks. I know crossing the International Date Line east bound it was a LOT easier repeating a day on my phone than it was changing the date back on my watch.

 

I always have 'data roaming' turned off, but on the ship I put our phones/tablets/iPads into airplane mode to be extra safe.

[Isklaar]

Why not. I do it all the time. Just put your phone in airplane mode and disable automatic time update.

 

Really easy and never fails.

 

DON

 

This is spot on.

I only learned to do it after my first cruise that went through different time zones, when my phone went crazy as OP describes, but ever since now I use airplane mode it works perfectly well.

[Bonnie J.]

My cell phone is turned OFF when we cruise. I use my battery clock or a wake up call if I want to be up by a certain time. (But Messages can be left there and my greeting says I'm unavailable and will return calls on date of day we get off. Use clock only last morning!)

Edited June 4, 2015 by Bonnie J.

[Flatbush Flyer]

Why not. I do it all the time. Just put your phone in airplane mode and disable automatic time update.

 

 

 

Really easy and never fails.

 

 

 

DON

 

 

Yes. Isn't it amazing that some folks spend hundreds on a smart phone and then don't spend the time to figure out how they work?

[donaldsc]

Yes. Isn't it amazing that some folks spend hundreds on a smart phone and then don't spend the time to figure out how they work?

 

Not surprising at all.

 

DON

[DalTXColtsFan]

The phone is often more smart than the person!

[snowskier]

Yes. Isn't it amazing that some folks spend hundreds on a smart phone and then don't spend the time to figure out how they work?

 

Like!

[BeagleOne]

Why? We have done it on all our cruises...never had a problem with the time changing nor have we ever been charged a fee by our carrier.

 

Because if you get off the ship, and the port time is different from ship time, your phone might reset to port time as soon as it picks up a signal. Then you might get back to the ship too early, or worse, too late.

[ithaca gal]

Why? We have done it on all our cruises...never had a problem with the time changing nor have we ever been charged a fee by our carrier.

 

But many people have had a problem with the time changing. Happy to learn about the disabling feature today!

[Extra Kim]

There´s two things you need to do when you get on the ship.

1. Make sure "data roaming/mobile data" turned off.

2. Disable automatic time update.

 

Do this and you will be fine.

 

If you put your phone in airplane mode you won´t be able to call/text and the same goes for others that might need to get hold of you.

[CPT Trips]

Wrist watch for time on shore and cabin phone for wake up. My dumb phone is off and in the safe.

 

20+ cruises and I can't recall ship time and port time ever being different.

[legaljen1969]

Why? We have done it on all our cruises...never had a problem with the time changing nor have we ever been charged a fee by our carrier.

 

When we left from Port Canaveral in late April, I looked at my phone on the night of departure (was on Eastern Standard Time/New York time when we left port. ) I had a regular watch so knew what time it should be. I was getting ready to shut my phone off for the rest of the week. When I looked, my phone said it was on Beijing time. We weren't even going TOWARD Beijing. Okay, I guess you could argue we were going toward the west, and if we traveled far enough we would be in the Far East.

[rockdoctor]

The easiest solution (for An iPhone) is the go to Settings, Date and Time. Turn off Set Automatically. Select a time Zone Manually. Enter your Time Zone manually and you're set.

[babs135]

Not happened on a cruise, but for about a week after we had returned from a holiday in Australia my phone was convinced I was still in Melbourne! :D

[Extra Kim]

When we left from Port Canaveral in late April, I looked at my phone on the night of departure (was on Eastern Standard Time/New York time when we left port. ) I had a regular watch so knew what time it should be. I was getting ready to shut my phone off for the rest of the week. When I looked, my phone said it was on Beijing time. We weren't even going TOWARD Beijing. Okay, I guess you could argue we were going toward the west, and if we traveled far enough we would be in the Far East.

 

I think that the ship use satellites for the phone lines and that´s why the time gets messed up.

[trev71]

I still use my cell phone. I turn off my data, so I don't get dinged for data. Before I go to bed I set my count down timer on my phone. I use that instead of picking a time to wake up. so I go to bed at 12am I want to be up at 8am. I set my timer for 8 hours, then my phone beeps

[DalTXColtsFan]

Nice to know I wasn't the only one this ever happened to! I was starting to doubt my sanity :).