Can someone please explain ship time/time zones to me?

[nudistcruzer]

The longer a Carnival ship stays in a different time zone the more likely it will change. I was on the Carnival Pride in February. The ship changed to Atlantic Standard we even went into a Port That was on Eastern time and we stayed on Atlantic Standard. Before arriving in the Bahamas we changed back to Eastern time. Then after being home for two weeks in Tampa we all changed to Eastern Daylight Time which is Atlantic standard time. This was the very first time on more than 20 Carnival Cruises we changed time on the ship. Other Cruise Lines very often always change to the local time zone.  If you have an Apple Watch and your phone is on Ship's time and the port is not the same, your watch can and will change to the local time when not near your iPhone. Use a watch face that includes a World time showing ships time.

 

Changing the time was so unusual for the crew, many thought it was Daylight Saving Time starting... This was a two week charter. Changing time is not normal on a Carnival ship. 

Edited May 9, 2023 by nudistcruzer

[ilovesparky13]

On 4/13/2017 at 1:00 PM, acook620 said:

The easiest thing to do is stay on ship time. The ship won't adjust time as they go through different time zones so set your watch to ship time and leave it there. But when it's not daylight savings time they would be an hour behind

Plenty of sailings do change ship time as they go through multiple time zones. 

[nudistcruzer]

1 hour ago, ilovesparky13 said:

Plenty of sailings do change ship time as they go through multiple time zones. 

After twenty plus weeks on Carnival cruises all leaving from Florida. This past February was the first time we ever changed the time on the ship. It was only because we were in the other time zone so long. On other Lines, we would always change to match every port. Certainly on any Carnival repositioning cruise they would change the time zone. There is a 12 day cruise out of New York in February, I think every port except the home port is on Atlantic standard Time, I assume they would switch to Atlantic time, shortly after leaving New York. 

[janice2348]

On 4/13/2017 at 9:37 PM, sanger727 said:

Weird. My experiences conflict with what people are reporting. I've never not changed time zones on the ship. Usually it's just an hour and the ship gives you a million reminders on which day they want you to change the time.

 

Otherwise it will be super confusing to be on a different time zone than the port!

 

But yes, regardlesss do what is suggested, make sure whatever time keeping device you are using is on manual time zone settings. You'll know the time when you board. And don't change anything unless instructed to. There's usually a clock when you get off the ship so you can double check your on the right time.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Same here. Carnival May be different but on our NCL Western Caribbean cruise (out of Miami) we had six different time changes, including daylight savings time. We were always on the same time as whatever port we were in. It made us crazy!  

[tidecat]

On 5/9/2023 at 3:44 AM, nudistcruzer said:

After twenty plus weeks on Carnival cruises all leaving from Florida. This past February was the first time we ever changed the time on the ship. It was only because we were in the other time zone so long. On other Lines, we would always change to match every port. Certainly on any Carnival repositioning cruise they would change the time zone. There is a 12 day cruise out of New York in February, I think every port except the home port is on Atlantic standard Time, I assume they would switch to Atlantic time, shortly after leaving New York. 

As long as you stay only one hour behind the local time in port, the more likely you will NOT change.

[nudistcruzer]

5 hours ago, tidecat said:

As long as you stay only one hour behind the local time in port, the more likely you will NOT change.

As a reminder to everyone, this is a Carnival Thread. Of the 20 plus weeks I have spent on Carnival Ships, only once have we changed time on the ship and it was only a one hour time change. The difference is, it was a 14 day cruise with the majority of the time being in Atlantic Standard Time. All of us, including the crew, were surprised when they instructed us to change our clocks forward by one hour; that shows how rare it is on a Carnival cruise that is returning to the same port. So, as you said, on Carnival, it is nearly a certainty the ships time will not change. Of all the cruise lines I have been on, I think Carnival has been the most sensible when it comes to changing or not changing the time.

Edited May 11, 2023 by nudistcruzer

[jsglow]

7 hours ago, nudistcruzer said:

As a reminder to everyone, this is a Carnival Thread. Of the 20 plus weeks I have spent on Carnival Ships, only once have we changed time on the ship and it was only a one hour time change. The difference is, it was a 14 day cruise with the majority of the time being in Atlantic Standard Time. All of us, including the crew, were surprised when they instructed us to change our clocks forward by one hour; that shows how rare it is on a Carnival cruise that is returning to the same port. So, as you said, on Carnival, it is nearly a certainty the ships time will not change. Of all the cruise lines I have been on, I think Carnival has been the most sensible when it comes to changing or not changing the time.

I've changed times 4 times on cruise ships total. Twice on one way Alaskan cruises where you begin/end in different time zones (makes sense), once in Europe, and once on a 14 night Journey from Galveston heading 2 time zones east.  The latter was brilliant.  We matched the 'standard 1 hr. differential' common to all Florida based Carnival ships while in the islands. So a tour operator in St. Kitts, for example, treated us like any Carnival ship that shows up each day. He didn't need to figure out where we were from. 

[simplelife]

Carnival usually does not change ship time, but if the dom they announce it several times and post in the Fun times/Hub. .The key strategy here is to take an analog watch that you can set to ship time. Ship time is prominently displayed several places throughout the ship, including at point of debarkation.

 

 

[RWolver672]

On 4/13/2017 at 9:27 PM, coevan said:

The only reason the time matters at all is for shore excursions. Not only CCL but ALL shore excursion employees know EXACTLY when your ship is going to leave and what time to get you back. Some of you are making way too much of the time thing. The time will be posted boldly on your fun times, BE BACK ON THE SHIP 4pm SHIPS TIME.

 

That's great if you go on an excursion.  For those that just walk around or lay on the beaches, you still need to keep track of time for getting back on the ship.

 

Yes, the time will be posted on the Fun Times but you still have to make sure that you are going by ship time and not island time.  As others have mentioned, if you don't have a watch, buy a cheap one just to be safe.

[broadwaybaby123]

You ALWAYS stay on Ship Time.  There's a billion reminders on the ship from crew, printed on your schedule, announcements onboard, and even on your cabin TV telling you to stay on Ship Time.  If you don't you'll likely wind up on social media as a Ship Runner.

[nudistcruzer]

4 hours ago, broadwaybaby123 said:

You ALWAYS stay on Ship Time.  There's a billion reminders on the ship from crew, printed on your schedule, announcements onboard, and even on your cabin TV telling you to stay on Ship Time.  If you don't you'll likely wind up on social media as a Ship Runner.

Regardless, as you say, staying on ship's time is the most important thing regardless of whether the ship changes to the local port's time or not.

 

For me, it is much easier to stay on "ship's" time if they change to the local time. Since I have an Apple watch which will not stay on anything other than local time, (an iPhone can stay on something other than local time, an Apple Watch may not.)

 

As soon as I leave the vicinity of my iPhone the time on my Apple Watch changes to local time and there is no way to know this has happened, there is no alert. The only way to make 100% sure that your Apple Watch is not giving you the incorrect time is to leave the watch at home. If you live near a time zone border the only way to make sure your watch is not giving you the incorrect time is to use a hammer and destroy the watch. Setting the time zone on the iPhone only keeps the watch set to that time zone when the watch is connected to the iPhone.  If you keep your iPhone with you at all times, then, that Apple Watch on your wrist serves no purpose and should be disposed of. Besides, sometimes, you run out of battery power on your iPhone, then, your watch will also revert to local time.   If you are in the military and you must stay on "Zulu time". Don't ever use an Apple Watch. 

 

Hopefully, Apple will fix this bug. Currently, an Apple Watch Ultra with WatchOS 9.5 and an iPhone 13 Pro iOS 16.5 has this bug. I just tested it again by setting my iPhone to "Zulu time"(UTC) and then I turned off my iPhone and my watch after a few minutes changed back to local time...

 

 

Edited May 28, 2023 by nudistcruzer

[crooooze]

8 hours ago, nudistcruzer said:

Regardless, as you say, staying on ship's time is the most important thing regardless of whether the ship changes to the local port's time or not.

 

For me, it is much easier to stay on "ship's" time if they change to the local time. Since I have an Apple watch which will not stay on anything other than local time, (an iPhone can stay on something other than local time, an Apple Watch may not.)

 

As soon as I leave the vicinity of my iPhone the time on my Apple Watch changes to local time and there is no way to know this has happened, there is no alert. The only way to make 100% sure that your Apple Watch is not giving you the incorrect time is to leave the watch at home. If you live near a time zone border the only way to make sure your watch is not giving you the incorrect time is to use a hammer and destroy the watch. Setting the time zone on the iPhone only keeps the watch set to that time zone when the watch is connected to the iPhone.  If you keep your iPhone with you at all times, then, that Apple Watch on your wrist serves no purpose and should be disposed of. Besides, sometimes, you run out of battery power on your iPhone, then, your watch will also revert to local time.   If you are in the military and you must stay on "Zulu time". Don't ever use an Apple Watch. 

 

Hopefully, Apple will fix this bug. Currently, an Apple Watch Ultra with WatchOS 9.5 and an iPhone 13 Pro iOS 16.5 has this bug. I just tested it again by setting my iPhone to "Zulu time"(UTC) and then I turned off my iPhone and my watch after a few minutes changed back to local time...

 

 

Agreed. For this reason, I wear a cheap Casio watch on cruises, which is simpler to set back and forth and reliably stays on ship time.

 

Smart phone and watch issues aside, I find it a bit frustrating when we are instructed to change the times on our clocks, but the ship does not adjust the time that is displayed on the cabin phones. Recently on the Spirit, the clocks on the cabin phones were wrong for a full day.  Forget about confirming ship time on the Hub app, because it was not working and showed ship time as midnight.

 

Luckily, old reliable Casio ensured I did not miss my free mimosa at the 9:30 AM “Diamonds for breakfast” event at Effys. LOL

[broadwaybaby123]

23 hours ago, broadwaybaby123 said:

You ALWAYS stay on Ship Time.  There's a billion reminders on the ship from crew, printed on your schedule, announcements onboard, and even on your cabin TV telling you to stay on Ship Time.  If you don't you'll likely wind up on social media as a Ship Runner.

I almost forgot too...in some cases, they have a clock either at the gangway as you get off the ship or sometimes as you go through the terminal once you get off the ship with the Ship Time.