Ship time vs Island time (ST Thomas and Grand Turk)

[kasil]

I'll be on Conquest in February. We are due to be in St Thomas from 7-3 ship time. Is that Atlantic Standard time like the island or Eastern Standard time like out departure port of Miami? What about Grand Turk where we are in port 8-4? Thanks

[Scurvy Seadog]

EST just like your departure port.

[kasil]

I just checked and Grand Turk is on Eastern Standard time so that means that ship time and island time are the same, correct?

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

St. Thomas same as EST Grand Turk one hour behind. Usually you go by whatever the ships time is for Grand Turk.

[crewsweeper]

St Thomas is on Atlantic Standard Time (UTC -4) and thus an hour a head of Miami, currently on Eastern Standard Time   UTC-5).

 

Grand Turk is also on Eastern Standard Time (UTC -5) and is the same as Miami.

[Ken'swife]

I just went through this in December.  I booked a private yacht/snorkel excursion through Seas the Day. (Excellent trip, by the way!) We were supposed to meet them at 1:45pm. I told all my group to meet me at 1:30pm.  I did not realize that island time was not the same as ship time in this port.  I ended up running around like a lunatic trying to reach everyone to tell them we had to get off the ship an hour EARLIER than we had planned.  Thankfully, I reached everyone at the very last minute and we made it to our tour just in time.  I was a nervous wreck.  Hopefully lesson learned about the difference of island time and ship time.  Bad thing about it was I thought I HAD figured it out before we left and I was STILL wrong.  NOT a fun way to start a day in port but could have been worse. LOL

[coevan]

1 hour ago, Ken'swife said:

I just went through this in December.  I booked a private yacht/snorkel excursion through Seas the Day. (Excellent trip, by the way!) We were supposed to meet them at 1:45pm. I told all my group to meet me at 1:30pm.  I did not realize that island time was not the same as ship time in this port.  I ended up running around like a lunatic trying to reach everyone to tell them we had to get off the ship an hour EARLIER than we had planned.  Thankfully, I reached everyone at the very last minute and we made it to our tour just in time.  I was a nervous wreck.  Hopefully lesson learned about the difference of island time and ship time.  Bad thing about it was I thought I HAD figured it out before we left and I was STILL wrong.  NOT a fun way to start a day in port but could have been worse. LOL

 

 

Didn't the tour company tell you when to meet? Every tour I have been on we are told to meet at 9 am Atlantic time, always very specific. The 9 am was non specific, just an example. The tour companies definitely know the difference between their time and ship's time. 

[Wombservice]

1 hour ago, coevan said:

 

 

Didn't the tour company tell you when to meet? Every tour I have been on we are told to meet at 9 am Atlantic time, always very specific. The 9 am was non specific, just an example. The tour companies definitely know the difference between their time and ship's time. 

I just went through this with a non-Carnival excursion company in PR - when I booked, no one said anything about time differences, but I thought I had it all worked out.  What I didn’t factor in was Daylight Saving Time!! (Cruise is in May).  That particular tour only had that one time slot available, so I ended up - regretfully - cancelling the tour.  It can definitely get confusing; you would think that tour operators would be fully aware of ship docking times and time zones and inform potential customers, but I guess that’s not the case!

[Ken'swife]

2 hours ago, coevan said:

 

 

Didn't the tour company tell you when to meet? Every tour I have been on we are told to meet at 9 am Atlantic time, always very specific. The 9 am was non specific, just an example. The tour companies definitely know the difference between their time and ship's time. 

No, I double checked the e-mails after the trip.  Nothing was mentioned about it.  

[coevan]

We always do private tours and never found it confusing and never missed a tour.