Please explain Ship time vs local time

[ashton57]

We will be on the Horizon in December and one of our port days is in St. Kitts. We have a non ship excursion planned for 11am. When I look at my itinerary on my cruise details on the Carnival website is says we will be arriving into St. Kitts at 10am. Are they referring to 10am ship time or the local time in St. Kitts? I already called Carnival and unfortunately the rep seemed confused. She said she thought the time showing on the itinerary is local time and not ship time. From what I can tell the time in St. Kitts in December will be one hour behind ships time. If someone can explain how this works for me I would be so grateful. 

[ashton57]

***Actually it will be 1 hour ahead in St. Kitts not behind. 

[boomhower]

That is ship time and not local.  The ship and everything associated including excursions keep ship time on Carnival.  Double check with your excursion what they are using, it varies between the local folks. 

[Cobrakev]

Ship time is the same time as the port you are embarking from. That time never changes.  Local time is of course the local time of the port you are in that day. Tour companies know what time the ships are in and will use SHIP time as a pickup time.

[BananaAnna]

13 minutes ago, Cobrakev said:

Ship time is the same time as the port you are embarking from. That time never changes.  Local time is of course the local time of the port you are in that day. Tour companies know what time the ships are in and will use SHIP time as a pickup time.

This is incorrect - ships do change times from original port and may or may not match local time. When we did Panama Canal cruise ship changed time 4 or 6 times during cruise.

[shof515]

24 minutes ago, Cobrakev said:

Ship time is the same time as the port you are embarking from. That time never changes.  Local time is of course the local time of the port you are in that day. Tour companies know what time the ships are in and will use SHIP time as a pickup time.

 

Ships can change times, and if they do it it will be mentioned on the fun times newsletter and a notice will be delivered to your cabin. Tour company will use local island time, they do not know what ship time is. I have done private tours that involved time changes and in their email they always say something like tour time is 9am local island time, there is a 1 hour difference from us eastern time. if you are using following us eastern time, the tour will be at 10am.

[mexicobob]

1 hour ago, BananaAnna said:

This is incorrect - ships do change times from original port and may or may not match local time. When we did Panama Canal cruise ship changed time 4 or 6 times during cruise.

When we to Alaska the time changed on the ship.  Some of the crew said it made it hard on them when they lost an hour.

[jsglow]

Okay, some clarification here.  For MOST normal Caribbean cruises (not Panama canal, not Alaska), ship time will remain the same throughout, namely the time zone applicable during embarkation (let's say EST out of Mia in the winter).  That clock won't change onboard.  And all the information you receive (like when you need to be back to the ship on a port day) will be reflective of that original ship time.  As others have said, that may not coincide with local time in any individual port.  That said, the private tour operators do this every day and understand the conversion.  Any communication you have with them beforehand can clarify any differential between the two.  And it's always good to check with your tour operator during your tour.

 

Here's an important thing to remember.  Do not rely on your cellphone to be accurate with respect to ship time once you set foot ashore.  There is no substitute for a good wristwatch set to ship time during the week. 

[NebraskaSatellite]

On 10/21/2018 at 10:49 AM, jsglow said:

  There is no substitute for a good wristwatch set to ship time during the week. 

Absolutely true.  I bought a $9 Casio waterproof watch before I left and wore it all week, and I had not worn a watch since getting my first cell phone almost 20 years ago.  Nice to be able to keep track of the time while snorkeling, etc., to make sure you stay on schedule, and not have to worry about local networks syncing your phone to an undesired time zone.

[latitude918]

44 minutes ago, NebraskaSatellite said:

Absolutely true.  I bought a $9 Casio waterproof watch before I left and wore it all week, and I had not worn a watch since getting my first cell phone almost 20 years ago.  Nice to be able to keep track of the time while snorkeling, etc., to make sure you stay on schedule, and not have to worry about local networks syncing your phone to an undesired time zone.

 

+1 on this.  I got a cheap runner's watch from Target and it gets set to ship time.  When I go ashore, it is hooked onto my backpack.  It has not failed to get our group of crazy drunks back on ship on time, every time.