Currency and time zones

[Tntt]

Our cruise will be going to roatan Honduras,  cozumel and Costa maya mexico next yr , if we want to buy souvenirs on the island will they take US currency and are these islands on a different time zone ?

[Clarea]

All of those ports (and the vast majority of the Caribbean islands that RC ships visit) take US Dollars.

[John&LaLa]

7 minutes ago, Tntt said:

Our cruise will be going to roatan Honduras,  cozumel and Costa maya mexico next yr , if we want to buy souvenirs on the island will they take US currency and are these islands on a different time zone ?

 

They typically stay on ship's time.

If you are sailing out of Texas, its the same time zone anyway. 

 

Currently on Adventure in Aruba, and we have changed to local time.  I think we get that hour back tomorrow 😁

[Wordell1]

The time zones on the island may vary based on time of year.  You will need to stay on "ship time" - which will depend on what ship you are on.  I highly suggest that you have a watch (not your phone) to make sure that you know when to be back.  Tour operators and businesses that cater to tourist (just about everyone in the ports you mentioned) will be used to the time differences.

All of the places mentioned take dollars.  I prefer to use cash only to avoid credit card issues.  I get my cash before leaving on the cruise and make envelopes for each stop with what I expect to spend, plus a little extra.  I take only the one envelope plus one credit card with me, leaving the rest of the cash and my other cards in the room safe.  

[gatour]

Cozumel and Costa Maya are in the Eastern Time zone.  I was kind of surprised by this as I thought they were in the central zone.  When I was double checking I found an article from 2015 that said they were switching in Feb of that year.

 

Roatan is the central time zone.

[SRF]

But realize, many tropical locations do NOT do Daylight Saving Time.  So it will depend on when you are traveling.

 

Ship may or may not change time to match local time in port.  And it is up the Captain, so can change from sailing to sailing and ship to ship, or how the Captain feels that day.

[LeeW]

There last week.  In Coz some stores had both peso and US price (and sometimes other currency) but all took US.  If you calculate exchange rate sometimes it is better to pay in one or the other, but not by much.  Didn't even see local pricing in Roatan.  All three locations use Standard Time year round and Roatan is Central time zone.  Your ship may or may may not change (ours did not, so Roatan local was one hour behind ship time).

 

Roatan does have some nice local wood products.  Carved bowl was $30.  Cinco Soles Vanilla in Coz.

[George C]

Take small bills to avoid getting change in local currencies. 

[eric2011]

All the small change from local currencies goes into a glass in my cabin and at the end of the cruise is an extra tip for the steward. Saves bringing it home and not being able to convert it

[crewsweeper]

On ‎12‎/‎12‎/‎2019 at 9:27 AM, gatour said:

Cozumel and Costa Maya are in the Eastern Time zone.  I was kind of surprised by this as I thought they were in the central zone.  When I was double checking I found an article from 2015 that said they were switching in Feb of that year.

 

Roatan is the central time zone.

Cozumel and Costa Maya are on Eastern STANDARD Time all year long.    Roatan is on Central STANDARD Time all year long.  No DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME at any of these ports.  Staying on ship time and putting your smart watch/phone in the no automatic update mode for time is the best strategy.  If the ship does change to local time, you will be notified.  But this is at the Captain's discretion and is usually reserved for longer voyages crossing many time zone or for overnight stays in time zones different than port of origin.