changing the clock on TA's

[Micahs Grandad]

Just back from a great TA on the Royal and one strange thing happened.

 

Over the 17 days of the cruise we had to move the time up by 6 hours.

 

When we have done this in the past they left a card in stateroom reminding you that during the night the time would change by an hour.

 

On this one the time changed at 12 noon making 12 noon into 1 pm. We had early seating so in effect we were eating dinner at 4 30.

 

Was told this is what the capt Nick Nash likes to do as he feels it is better for his crew.

 

Asked quite a few other cruisers about it and everyone disliked this practice and thought only this captain did this.

 

Finally asked the CD Ron ___ and his answer was this is being done on Cunard and is spreading to quite a few Princess ships.

 

Personally think the CD's nose was starting to grow with his answer but wondering if anyone has seen this elsewhere on Princess?

[skynight]

Night is better for sure. Does not confuse passengers on board, and does not cause any disruptions to passenger's daytime schedules. Strongly hope this does not become the norm, even if Cunard runs their ships in this unfriendly manner. Furthermore, this statement seems strange "capt Nick Nash likes to do as he feels it is better for his crew." A cruise line and all its employees must always think and do first what is preferred by passengers, with employees glad to to a second seat. It seems the Captain has the roles reversed.

[pablo222]

Furthermore, this statement seems strange "capt Nick Nash likes to do as he feels it is better for his crew." A cruise line and all its employees must always think and do first what is preferred by passengers, with employees glad to to a second seat.

 

I have read here about it being done both ways on princess.

 

By changing during the night, by the end of the cruise, nearly every passenger facing crew member is 6 hours sleep deprived. It might actually be better for passenger service if this didn't happen.

 

However, it doesn't matter -- no matter which way it is done, some one would complain here.

[Pam in CA]

It's up to the Captain and it sounds like Captain "Crash" Nash prefers to change the time mid-day. Personally, I would find it way too confusing and disruptive.

[Thrak]

Hopefully you made note of this on your post cruise survey. If it was me I would not only note it there but also send a separate note to customer services. Changing the time mid-day sounds really bizarre and disruptive. Making my dinner time essentially 4:30 would really peeve me greatly.

[Shmoo here]

I have read here about it being done both ways on princess.

 

By changing during the night, by the end of the cruise, nearly every passenger facing crew member is 6 hours sleep deprived. It might actually be better for passenger service if this didn't happen.

 

However, it doesn't matter -- no matter which way it is done, some one would complain here.

And every passenger is 6 hours sleep deprived, also. Been there, done that.

[casofilia]

HELP; please not during the day. It would mess up too many things. You have to lose 6 hours one way or other.

 

On this one the time changed at 12 noon making 12 noon into 1 pm. We had early seating so in effect we were eating dinner at 4 30. Congratulations on using 12 noon not 12 pm.

[antsp]

We did miday on the Emerald a few years ago, and we did night time last month on the Crown, both eastbound transatlantic, personally i preferred midday. I do believe this is a Cunard thing and if i remeber correctly we had Captain Nash on our Emerald TA

[easyboy]

Not really a good move to change time mid day. I guess some late diners would be the least affected, having dinner at 7pm, instead of 8pm.

 

 

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[casofilia]

A question. Has the reverse ever happened? Change from 1 pm back to 12 Noon?

[john watson]

Cunard almost always change the clocks at midday and a ship's bell tolls and a time change announcement is clearly made followed by a humorous naval information announcement by the captain. The advantage of the system is that it is easy for passengers to understand what the time is, at any moment, whereas if you put the clocks forward or back at 2am on six nights on an eight night Transatlantic not everybody synchronises and you get people turning up at the wrong time sometimes missing a sitting for dinner. Disadvantages are that "on the Programme" there will be an hour missing or some back tracking around midday. Also elapsed time to an afternoon entertainment event can mislead you on how much time you have available meantime.

 

Regards John

[john watson]

A question. Has the reverse ever happened? Change from 1 pm back to 12 Noon?

 

I think Cunard change noon back to 11am. not 100% sure but the time does go back.

 

Regards John

[casofilia]

I suppose 11 am from Noon is more logical, just means you have to wait an extra hour for lunch!! But if there is something you want to go to at 11 am which 11 am is it?!! Remind me to give Cunard a miss.

[JimmyVWine]

The MDR is usually open for lunch on Sea Days from noon-1:30. But if noon instantly becomes 1:00, wouldn't the MDR only be open for a half an hour? And if they extend the hours, then they are crunching the transition time between lunch and dinner. People who show up for lunch at 11:59 (old time) will be leaving at 2:00 (new time) and people who typically dine at 1:00 will now be arriving at 2:00 (new time) which means that they won't leave until 3:00. Just in time to get ready for dinner!

[Micahs Grandad]

I have read here about it being done both ways on princess.

 

By changing during the night, by the end of the cruise, nearly every passenger facing crew member is 6 hours sleep deprived. It might actually be better for passenger service if this didn't happen.

 

However, it doesn't matter -- no matter which way it is done, some one would complain here.

 

Thought it was worth posting, sorry if you do not agree. Either way by the end of all the changes it will even out.

[Micahs Grandad]

Hopefully you made note of this on your post cruise survey. If it was me I would not only note it there but also send a separate note to customer services. Changing the time mid-day sounds really bizarre and disruptive. Making my dinner time essentially 4:30 would really peeve me greatly.

 

Yes I did and believe they will get lots of complaints from passengers.

 

Still a great time was had by all.

[fishywood]

I have sailed an eastbound Transatlantic--not Princess or Cunard--with the hour lost in the middle of the night on nights 1, 4, 5, and 6 (prior to calling at Ponta Delgada on day 8). The three consecutive nights of lost sleep sold me on the concept of advancing the clocks at midday; I really hope any future eastbound TA I take does so. No, it does not truncate the lunch hours, just realigns them. [You can search the boards for Daily Programmes from QM2 Eastbound crossings if you wish to see how the schedule actually works out].Only real loss is that lunch and afternoon tea are now an hour closer together, essentially ruling out having both. But channeling my grandma: would it kill you to eat light a few afternoons? Maybe I am less sympathetic as I always do late seating dinner--but as someone who usually attends the late show(s), and also prefers to rise early enough for MDR breakfast, any alternative to losing an hours sleep is welcome.

 

And to the suggestion that it would be more logical on a westbound TA to set the clocks back at noon than it is to set them forward during the day on an eastbound: aside from the issues with crew scheduling (the extra midday hour would require waiving the maximum-consecutive-hours-on-duty rules for a significant number) there is no doubt that having lunch start one hour later than normal would generate far greater complaints than dinner one hour "earlier". I put "earlier" in quotes because after some teething at the first time change, one should be able to adequately "adjust" their internal clocks in the space of an afternoon on subsequent days.

 

I know there was one cruise line that years ago experimented with advancing the clocks at both noon and the middle of the night on long eastbound voyages, replacing two 23 hours days with one 22 hour. Does losing both an hour of activity and an hour of sleep on the same day cancel itself out? Judging from this thread I don't expect it to happen anytime soon (at least on a USA-based line).

[nukesubsailor]

The last time I sailed across the Atlantic ocean the clocks were reset to Greenwich time as soon as we left the American coast. When returning, we reset the clocks to USA eastern time when we entered American waters.

But then that was years ago and aboard a submarine rather than a cruise ship. At least we only had to adjust to a time change one time per crossing.

[casofilia]

The last time I sailed across the Atlantic ocean the clocks were reset to Greenwich time as soon as we left the American coast. When returning, we reset the clocks to USA eastern time when we entered American waters.

But then that was years ago and aboard a submarine rather than a cruise ship. At least we only had to adjust to a time change one time per crossing.

 

Funny thing; we always set our watches to the arrival time zone when we fly. Then, knowing the arrival time, we know how long we still have to go; no need to try to work it out.

[Pierlesscruisers]

I think Cunard change noon back to 11am. not 100% sure but the time does go back.

 

Regards John

 

Depends on which way you're sailing! <g>

 

Tom

[katisdale]

We sailed from Sydney Australia to San Francisco last June/July on Sun Princess. Our time changes were in the middle of the day. Having early sitting dinner we teased our waiter one evening after several of these changes that we should be ordering breakfast. Actually it doesn't seem to affect me much except that I would prefer to be sailing west rather than east. Twenty-five hour days (going west) have much appeal.

[Hlitner]

We have done at least 2 dozen crossings (in both directions) and the mid-day clock changing (for east bound crossings) has been kicking around several cruise lines for years. Somebody told us that the practice started on HAL, but I am sure you will other stories. There is just no pleasing everyone. Losing an hour sleep every night bothers many folks and there is some thinking that the afternoon on sea days is good since most folks do not really miss that hour. As to the early dining thing...it is certainly a valid issue. But there are other dining options so those that have early dining are generally making that choice!

 

On a personal basis we love those afternoon clock changes.

 

Hank

[FritzG]

We much prefer the night time changes whether we're taking a east or westbound ta. I hope the daytime change doesn't take effect on all ships.

[Micahs Grandad]

We have done at least 2 dozen crossings (in both directions) and the mid-day clock changing (for east bound crossings) has been kicking around several cruise lines for years. Somebody told us that the practice started on HAL, but I am sure you will other stories. There is just no pleasing everyone. Losing an hour sleep every night bothers many folks and there is some thinking that the afternoon on sea days is good since most folks do not really miss that hour. As to the early dining thing...it is certainly a valid issue. But there are other dining options so those that have early dining are generally making that choice!

 

On a personal basis we love those afternoon clock changes.

 

Hank

 

If we had known they planned to do midday time changes we would have made other arrangements for dinner probably late seating

[ggprincess2004]

We have never experienced a mid-day time change on any of our Princess sailings, including the crossings. Most recently, all the time changes were done over night, whether adding or subtracting an hour at a time. With all the sea days we had in a row, they could have easily chosen to it during the day, but it was always done overnight. Gaining hours is wonderful, losing them is just terrible, when you are losing an hour every other day.