does NCL change the ship time at port?

[Pwrmaster7]

Specifically the Epic? I am trying to see if I have enough time to make the ferry back at tortola. They are currently an hour later than est time. The last ferry leaves at 5 their time so if its their time I cant make it. if its est time then its 4 boat time and I can make it lol. Thanks all

[kochleffel]

Last week the captain of the Epic did change to Atlantic time for Tortola and St. Thomas, then back to Eastern time en route Great Stirrup Cay.

 

However, that is not universal across NCL. When I was on the Gem for a cruise to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, which are also in the Atlantic time zone, the captain did not change the ship's time. Even the same ship with the same captain may not do the same as on the last sailing to the same ports.

[Pwrmaster7]

Well that is going to leave me in a lurch then....so far im striking out on both excursions I wanted to do on tortola and st Thomas. Not an ideal way to plan my first cruise lol

[shof515]

Do not forget Spring Forward, daylight saving time change coming up next Sunday on March 10. This time change might make Eastern Time about the same time as Atlantic time 

Edited March 7, 2019 by shof515

[don't-use-real-name]

Generally the ship will use the time local to the port.

 

This weekend is going to be mess with DST going back into effect.

Never the less at 02:00 AM local to the port DST will go into effect where it is observed ***

*** exception the POA sailing in Hawaii (Hawaii does not observe DST)

*** exception some foreign countries

Read your ships "Daily" newsprint and pay attention to the little advisory cards put on your bed by your cabin steward !

 

DST 02:00 AM MARCH 10th SUNDAY MORNING "SPRING AHEAD" CLOCKS ADVANCE TO 03:00 AM

 

Side note:

If the shore excursion is hosted sponsored by NCL - you will be OK

Off on your own - you should plan a comfortable cushion of time to be back on the ship.

Some of the time when disembarking at a port of call NCL will have a placard marque posted

with the time you need to be back to and on the ship.

 

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, Pwrmaster7 said:

Specifically the Epic? I am trying to see if I have enough time to make the ferry back at tortola. They are currently an hour later than est time. The last ferry leaves at 5 their time so if its their time I cant make it. if its est time then its 4 boat time and I can make it lol. Thanks all

NCL usually switches to local time in port. We sail NCL multiple times a year (including New England) and we have never encountered an instance where they did not switch to local port time. 

[myjillian]

Interesting...we have always been told to keep to ships time when at ports...once my husband , daughter and 3 grandkids were almost left behind because they were looking at the phone for the time... and once my brother and nephew missed the last shuttle to the ship in Cozmel and there was a man with his own boat taking the passengers who missed their ships shuttle to their  different ships..4 were in port that day ...It seems that he does that all the time...for no money just so that passengers have good Cozmel experiences....Cool Guy🤗

[dcruiser50]

I've been on over 16 cruises with NCL and they have always used port time, and will leave a notice of time change in your cabin and also note it on the dailies 

 

[zqvol]

When the US is observing DST the eastern Caribbean Islands are on teh  same time as Miami.

[RedRover96]

My understanding is the clock on the cabin phone is always the time the ship goes by.

[Nola26]

23 hours ago, Pwrmaster7 said:

Well that is going to leave me in a lurch then....so far im striking out on both excursions I wanted to do on tortola and st Thomas. Not an ideal way to plan my first cruise lol

Also a bad habit. Lots a recent examples of cruisers being left at ports. 

 

You can be in a lurch if the ferry breaks down or has other issues. Fellow passengers recently had a 25 minute delay in Tortola due to a flat tire on a non NCL excursion. They were returning hours early so they were fine, but I would not suggest trying to "make it" in time with a ferry ride, too many variables and not a lot of options for plan B, C, etc.

 

As a first time cruiser does NCL really not offer anything interesting in Tortola? In St Thomas if you do your own thing consider planning to return pretty early. We have done a taxi to a beach, back for showers and lunch and then walked to skyride and back to ship, working in some shopping too.

 

FYI Coki beach has great snorkeling in St Thomas. I used my own $25 Amazon snorkel set.

 

Generally I book NCL excursions. My experiences have been good and I don't stress about late returns. We returned after all aboard in Nassau last week. I was not worried, actually enjoyed being able to snap a photo of the ship all lit up, usually we are on the ship when it gets dark.

[Pwrmaster7]

28 minutes ago, Nola26 said:

Also a bad habit. Lots a recent examples of cruisers being left at ports. 

 

You can be in a lurch if the ferry breaks down or has other issues. Fellow passengers recently had a 25 minute delay in Tortola due to a flat tire on a non NCL excursion. They were returning hours early so they were fine, but I would not suggest trying to "make it" in time with a ferry ride, too many variables and not a lot of options for plan B, C, etc.

 

As a first time cruiser does NCL really not offer anything interesting in Tortola? In St Thomas if you do your own thing consider planning to return pretty early. We have done a taxi to a beach, back for showers and lunch and then walked to skyride and back to ship, working in some shopping too.

 

FYI Coki beach has great snorkeling in St Thomas. I used my own $25 Amazon snorkel set.

 

Generally I book NCL excursions. My experiences have been good and I don't stress about late returns. We returned after all aboard in Nassau last week. I was not worried, actually enjoyed being able to snap a photo of the ship all lit up, usually we are on the ship when it gets dark.

This is ideally what I wanted to do, but the jvd one is sold out I think bc it isn't on the web site. I've tried calling but been on hold forever. Trying again tomorrow. St Thomas I'll probably just do meegans bc it's easy though I really want to do trunk bay. 

[marktwothousand]

Does anyone know how time changes work on cruises to Puerto Vallarta, and then back up the Mexican coast? It sounds like a hot mess.

 

I am going on Bliss from Los Angeles in April. The ship will be leaving Los Angeles in Pacific time, and then stopping in Vallarta, which is Central. The next two days, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas, are Mountain time. And then finally, we return to Los Angeles, Pacific time. Does this mean we change our clocks three times?

[njhorseman]

46 minutes ago, marktwothousand said:

Does anyone know how time changes work on cruises to Puerto Vallarta, and then back up the Mexican coast? It sounds like a hot mess.

 

I am going on Bliss from Los Angeles in April. The ship will be leaving Los Angeles in Pacific time, and then stopping in Vallarta, which is Central. The next two days, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas, are Mountain time. And then finally, we return to Los Angeles, Pacific time. Does this mean we change our clocks three times?

We just did three similar itineraries on the Gem, and yes...we were constantly changing our watches. Just one thing to check...Mexico switches to Daylight Saving Time in April as opposed to the US  switching this past weekend so depending on the exact dates of your cruise you may encounter a different time zone situation than we did.

Edited March 12, 2019 by njhorseman