Ship time vs. Shore Time

[Ward189]

Question.. If you board a ship on eastern time, does that time stay throughout the cruise or do you need to adjust your clocks/watches if you change time zones. This is important to know as I am trying to book excursions in advance.

Many of the companies state that the excursion starts at 9:00am Cozumel local time. which would be different from eastern time.

[CruiseFever]

Up until our last cruise I would have said that sounds right to me and was indeed our experience. Ship's time is what's important because that's the clock the captain uses to decide when it's time to go.

But on our last cruise (on Princess though) we lost an hour overnight on a sea day then they gave it back at the end of the cruise.

It really doesn't matter I suppose as long as everyone is on the same page. One mistake I've heard made though was to assume that the shore excursion people (other than the ship's) know when your ship leaves.

If there are several ships in port they will leave at different times. The don't race to see who'll get out to sea first...although that could be fun don't you think?

That IS one of the advantages of booking through the ship: they will NOT leave their own tours behind...or at least I sure haven't ever heard of that happening.

They'll tell you this onboard, even print in in the daily shipboard newsletter.

If I had to bet, on your sailing, I'd bet you stay on Eastern time

Happy Cruising

Chris

[url="http://www.LifeIsCruising.com"]www.LifeIsCruising.com[/url]

Next up:
Caribbean Princess 06/26/04
Star Princess 10/24/04
Diamond Princess 12/22/04
Carnival Miracle 03/13/05

[shivfam]

Been on 6 carnival crusies all leaving from Fla. all 6 ships stayed on eastern time.

[garycarla]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by shivfam:
Been on 6 carnival crusies all leaving from Fla. all 6 ships stayed on eastern time.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes, but did they spend all their time in Eastern Time, which means of course they would not change their time? Keep in mind that some Islands do not do Daylight savings.

And, if you are on SHIPS time, does that not get confusing with the shore people who are on their time?

Alaska via Spirit 6/2/04

[Ward189]

Oh, I think I may be even more confused now. I leave from Miami and going Western Carribean. Want to do the cave tubing in Belize but the excursion company says it leaves sharp at 8:30am "Belize" time. Does that mean 9:30am ship time if I leave from Miami (eastern time)?

[jedgar]

Most ships stay on the time of the port of embarkation, some change ships time to match some or all of the ports visited, it's entirely up to the Captain of the ship. It would be best to state what ship you are sailing on, then someone who has sailed it recently could answer your question.

[bjkeen]

I always go to the Purser's desk and ask them what time we are going by before going on the excursion. I know this doesn't help you in your decision. The excursions that Carnival provides are scheduled to get you back on the ship in time to leave. Make sure you are not late returning to the ship, if you are not punctual, you will be left and the ship doesn't come back for you.
Enjoy your cruise!

Becky
[url="http://community.webshots.com/user/bjkeen100"]http://community.webshots.com/user/bjkeen100[/url]

Miracle Cruise
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=008080&cdt=2004;11;5;16;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]

May Eastern Caribbean Carnival Cruise 2006
Miracle 2004
Pride 2003
Regent Rainbow
Sensation 2000
Fantasy 1996, 2001

[richkinkade]

I've never been on a ship that sailed to a different time zone and didn't change to local time. They post time changes in the dailies.

[98Charlie]

Just to make it more confusing, Belize is on Central Time without Daylight Savings time. Currently it is +2 hours from Eastern Daylight (Miami) Time.

[bajohnsons]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by richkinkade:
I've never been on a ship that sailed to a different time zone and didn't change to local time. They post time changes in the dailies.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Like shivfam above, I've been on five Carnival ships and they've all stayed on Eastern time throughout the entire cruise, no matter what ports or local times were visited. It's been stressed by the CDs frequently on those ships.

ECSTASY 1997
PARADISE 2000
PRIDE 2002
PARADISE 2003
TRIUMPH 2004

[98Charlie]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> I've never been on a ship that sailed to a different time zone and didn't change to local time. They post time changes in the dailies. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Of our4 cruises that left the original time zone, 2 changed times and 2 did not. All made mention of the time in the Dailies. The ones that changed had additional notes on our pillows on time change nights. The ones that did not change also had a notice on the board as you disembark for the port saying something like: [B]"Stay on ship's time. All passengers on board by xxxx." [/B]