Ships Time, Local Time, Cell Phone Time, Daylight Saving Time

[jdcml]

Ok.. so the ship sails from port and that is consider ships time. Everything revolves around ships time and it doesn't deviate when you change time zones. Don't change your watch from ships time or you get left behind.  Local time doesn't exist when cruising.  Get it.

Booked an excursion in St Maarten tonight.  They are an hour ahead of us here in the eastern time zone so had to do some math on that one to be sure we grabbed the right slot and were back in time, etc.  Their time is one hour different than ships time as local time.  We were chatting with them to grab a certain time and they said that we wouldn't be in port in time for that one...even though our itinerary said we would - because it is of course based on ships time.

In the OLD days, you had to turn the knob on the side of your watch to change the time that your watch was reading.  Now you can place your phone in airplane mode and it doesn't connect to the local tower to adjust the time as you travel.  BUT - what if we wanted to check some emails and do some things and connect to wifi on an island that 9 times out of 10 isn't on ships time, but that is the only source of time one has?  I haven't worn an actual watch in years because clocks are on your phone our on the computer you are on.  Is your phone then reset to island time which then makes you late (or early) for dinner back on the ship? 😂

I KNOW that it's a really easy hurdle to overcome, but as we were booking a few excursions with this group we are going with the topic came up.  Some where an Apple Watch that connects back to the phone, but then when the phone connects to wifi to send an few emails everything gets out of sync.  Does anyone travel with an old school watch (that we don't own) just to be sure that one time piece is accurate and not subject to changing automatically based on your geographic location and a connection to a tower?  I can only imagine this whole thing gets even more screwed up with Daylight Saving where an hour is really two hours and yadda yadda. 

It has been a couple years since we cruised.  This process is super easy.  Whats the simple answer?

[Joe817]

"Does anyone travel with an old school watch (that we don't own) just to be sure that one time piece is accurate and not subject to changing automatically based on your geographic location and a connection to a tower?"

 

I do. It's a citizens chronograph. Battery operated, and I have to set the watch back 1 hour, forward 1 hour, etc. And it's never been a problem for me. 

 

One thing to keep in mind. Here in the U.S. we recently went back on Daylight Savings Time. It's an artificial time which I despise. So things get really screwed up, considering many countries and island nations never go off Standard Time. I know Mexico doesn't. So even though I am in the Central Time Zone as Cozumel is, they have an hour difference. For example, as I type this, it's 10:06CDT here in Texas, but in Cozumel, it is 9:06CST......even though we are in the same time zone, and hour difference. Stuff like this drives me nuts. For me, it's NOT a simple hurdle to overcome, when trying to stay on ships time vs. local time when you go on an excursion.

 

Sorry I don't have an answer for you.... I just needed to vent. 

[HerbertandB]

I wear a watch everyday to work because I don't carry my cell phone everywhere I go.  However, I bought a cheap Casio watch to wear for the cruise, one that could get wet, sandy, etc.

[SDPilot]

The simple answer, I'd say, is to go into your phone settings and turn off automatic time updating.  You can then choose a time zone (or set any time you wish), and the clock will work off of that until you turn automatic updating back on.

[crewsweeper]

Both good suggestions.

8 hours ago, HerbertandB said:

I wear a watch everyday to work because I don't carry my cell phone everywhere I go.  However, I bought a cheap Casio watch to wear for the cruise, one that could get wet, sandy, etc.

 

To add, set the watch to ship time and leave it alone.  If the captain for any reason decides to change time to port time, you will be notified in advance.

4 hours ago, SDPilot said:

The simple answer, I'd say, is to go into your phone settings and turn off automatic time updating.  You can then choose a time zone (or set any time you wish), and the clock will work off of that until you turn automatic updating back on.

 

To add, best thing is to set to ship time's time zone.  Then on final debarcation shift to auto update.

[BananaAnna]

Not sure why folks think ships don't change time. I've had time changes in many cruises, seems like our Panama Canal cruise (partial transit) had about 8 time changes.

I carry an old school watch that I can adjust manually for times when I need to override my watch/phone.

[beachbum53]

If you don't want to wear a watch, and are concerned about your smart phone not staying on ship's time, there is an alternative that might be worth considering. Buy a carabiner watch that you can clip to a belt loop or onto your backpack. Or, slip it in your pocket. Keep it set to ship's time, just as you would with a wristwatch. 

[purplephenom]

For those who aren't checking email or using their phone for anything other than pictures, if you leave your phone on airplane mode the whole time, the time won't change.  

 

If you're going to use your phone/internet, just turn off automatic time updating.  

 

If you have an iphone, go to Settings, General, Date & Time, and make sure set automatically is turned off.  (If it's on, it'll be green and white, if it's off it'll be all white).  

 

 

[Essiesmom]

You can use wifi on your phone/tablet while on airplane mode.  If you don't want to buy a wifi plan onboard to check emails, find a cafe on the island that offers free wifi, or wifi for the price of a drink.  Or just follow the crew to where there is free wifi.  EM

[sanger727]

7 hours ago, SDPilot said:

The simple answer, I'd say, is to go into your phone settings and turn off automatic time updating.  You can then choose a time zone (or set any time you wish), and the clock will work off of that until you turn automatic updating back on.

 

This. On iphone go to settings -> General -> Date&Time -> and swipe "set automatically" to off. Then you can put in whichever time zone you want it to stay on. I do this often for international flights because once the plane takes off I like to start using my destination's time instead of the time zone I'm leaving.

 

But, I also think that saying that the ship's time will be different than local time as a blanket statement might throw you off. I've been on more ships that switched to local time than didn't.

[pacruise804]

15 hours ago, Joe817 said:

"Does anyone travel with an old school watch (that we don't own) just to be sure that one time piece is accurate and not subject to changing automatically based on your geographic location and a connection to a tower?"

 

I do. It's a citizens chronograph. Battery operated, and I have to set the watch back 1 hour, forward 1 hour, etc. And it's never been a problem for me. 

 

One thing to keep in mind. Here in the U.S. we recently went back on Daylight Savings Time. It's an artificial time which I despise. So things get really screwed up, considering many countries and island nations never go off Standard Time. I know Mexico doesn't. So even though I am in the Central Time Zone as Cozumel is, they have an hour difference. For example, as I type this, it's 10:06CDT here in Texas, but in Cozumel, it is 9:06CST......even though we are in the same time zone, and hour difference. Stuff like this drives me nuts. For me, it's NOT a simple hurdle to overcome, when trying to stay on ships time vs. local time when you go on an excursion.

 

Sorry I don't have an answer for you.... I just needed to vent. 

 

Do you mean went back to Standard Time?  In Pennsylvania we observe Daylight Savings in the Spring/Summer and Standard Time in the Fall/Winter.  Either way I don't like it either, but it beats having school children waiting for buses in the dark at 7:30 am during November/December or having sunrise at 4:30 in the summer.

 

6 hours ago, BananaAnna said:

Not sure why folks think ships don't change time. I've had time changes in many cruises, seems like our Panama Canal cruise (partial transit) had about 8 time changes.

I carry an old school watch that I can adjust manually for times when I need to override my watch/phone.

Many (Carnival) cruises don't observe time zone changes if they are in the port less than a day.

[bluesman0711]

I wear a watch off the ship and just make sure it's on ship's time when I leave.

[crzndeb]

3 hours ago, pacruise804 said:

 

Do you mean went back to Standard Time?  In Pennsylvania we observe Daylight Savings in the Spring/Summer and Standard Time in the Fall/Winter.  Either way I don't like it either, but it beats having school children waiting for buses in the dark at 7:30 am during November/December or having sunrise at 4:30 in the summer.

 

Many (Carnival) cruises don't observe time zone changes if they are in the port less than a day.

I was confused by that statement also. Now granted, I just got back to the states after being on a TP to Asia, and having about 10 time changes, but I was pretty sure we went to back to Standard time on Nov. 3rd. I had to double check the posting date to make sure I wasn’t looking at an old post.

[Lottacruises]

20 hours ago, jdcml said:

Ok.. so the ship sails from port and that is consider ships time. Everything revolves around ships time and it doesn't deviate when you change time zones. Don't change your watch from ships time or you get left behind.  Local time doesn't exist when cruising.  Get it.

Booked an excursion in St Maarten tonight.  They are an hour ahead of us here in the eastern time zone so had to do some math on that one to be sure we grabbed the right slot and were back in time, etc.  Their time is one hour different than ships time as local time.  We were chatting with them to grab a certain time and they said that we wouldn't be in port in time for that one...even though our itinerary said we would - because it is of course based on ships time.

In the OLD days, you had to turn the knob on the side of your watch to change the time that your watch was reading.  Now you can place your phone in airplane mode and it doesn't connect to the local tower to adjust the time as you travel.  BUT - what if we wanted to check some emails and do some things and connect to wifi on an island that 9 times out of 10 isn't on ships time, but that is the only source of time one has?  I haven't worn an actual watch in years because clocks are on your phone our on the computer you are on.  Is your phone then reset to island time which then makes you late (or early) for dinner back on the ship? 😂

I KNOW that it's a really easy hurdle to overcome, but as we were booking a few excursions with this group we are going with the topic came up.  Some where an Apple Watch that connects back to the phone, but then when the phone connects to wifi to send an few emails everything gets out of sync.  Does anyone travel with an old school watch (that we don't own) just to be sure that one time piece is accurate and not subject to changing automatically based on your geographic location and a connection to a tower?  I can only imagine this whole thing gets even more screwed up with Daylight Saving where an hour is really two hours and yadda yadda. 

It has been a couple years since we cruised.  This process is super easy.  Whats the simple answer?

 

They still make watches you know....

[sanger727]

13 hours ago, Lottacruises said:

 

They still make watches you know....

 

They do. And I wear a watch every day but it's a smart watch. Mine automatically links to the time on my phone and there's no way to override that. So, the only way to adjust the settings on the watch is to adjust the settings on my phone. Yes, I could purchase an regular watch. But why; when it's super easy to just change the auto update settings on my phone and then my watch will list whatever time I want it to list.

[Lottacruises]

7 hours ago, sanger727 said:

 

They do. And I wear a watch every day but it's a smart watch. Mine automatically links to the time on my phone and there's no way to override that. So, the only way to adjust the settings on the watch is to adjust the settings on my phone. Yes, I could purchase an regular watch. But why; when it's super easy to just change the auto update settings on my phone and then my watch will list whatever time I want it to list.

 

 

Problem solved.

[TrqoisWtrs]

I have a solar powered watch I bring on cruises. Then I change to manual times on my phone.  I also check the Hub app anytime there is a ship’s time change just to make sure I’m good.🕰️

 

Although on Splendor’s cruise to Singapore we crossed the intl dateline, so skipping an entire day plus changing time another hour really threw the Hub app out of sync for almost a day.  But we were in the middle of 7 days at sea so didn’t have to worry about port or excursion times.  :)