Does Freedom stay on Florida time or do they change to local time?

[jealdaka]

I'm trying to schedule something in Grand Cayman and just need to know for sure if Freedom of The Seas stays on Florida time or makes the adjustment to CST? The itinerary says we leave at 4 (back onboard by 3:30) but if they stay on EST that would mean 2:30 Cayman time. I think they change but am just not sure.

[cb at sea]

Don't worry about the time--you will need to stay on SHIP'S TIME! no matter what! As long as you and the ship's time are in sync, you'll have no problem!

Your tour guide will know about any time differences--that's their JOB!!!!!

[Evilgrin72]

Ship stays on time no matter where it goes. Whatever time zone you depart from, all times posted everywhere will be in that time zone. Never change your watch. If you're looking at a clock in a foreign country, you have to convert that to ships time (ET in this case.)

[jealdaka]

Don't worry about the time--you will need to stay on SHIP'S TIME! no matter what! As long as you and the ship's time are in sync, you'll have no problem!

Your tour guide will know about any time differences--that's their JOB!!!!!

 

I know to stay on ship's time. I just needed to know if this particular ship stays on Florida time or changes with the time zone they are in. Some do one and some do the other. It is NOT all the same.

 

When I book with a private vendor I think it is MY responsibility to know what the ship's time is - not theirs. Assuming that all the vendors know what time your ship is on is what can get one in big trouble.

[jealdaka]

Ship stays on time no matter where it goes. Whatever time zone you depart from, all times posted everywhere will be in that time zone. Never change your watch. If you're looking at a clock in a foreign country, you have to convert that to ships time (ET in this case.)

 

 

This is NOT always true. Many times you do have to change your watch to keep up with ship's time. That's why I asked the question in the first place. I just thought I would get an answer from someone recently on THIS ship that knew how it works.

[frudutx]

I know to stay on ship's time. I just needed to know if this particular ship stays on Florida time or changes with the time zone they are in. Some do one and some do the other. It is NOT all the same.

 

When I book with a private vendor I think it is MY responsibility to know what the ship's time is - not theirs. Assuming that all the vendors know what time your ship is on is what can get one in big trouble.

 

 

Leaving out of Miami and going to the Western Caribbean you will change the clocks when you enter the Central Time Zone. So you will need to make the adjustment to CST. However, all private tour companies we have used know this and have had us back to the dock in plenty of time to tender back to the ship.

 

d

[alphouston]

When we were on the Freedom, the ship stayed on Eastern Daylight time and did not change to the local time. There was a 2 hour time difference in Cozumel when we were there and a one hour difference in Cayman and Montego Bay.

[WhiteSoxFan]

It is also makes a difference when you are going. The Caymen islands do not change to daylight saving time. Therefore, if you cruise after march 9th when the US changes to daylight time Caymen will be 1 hour behind EDT. Cozumel does change time but not until April 6th so there will be a time period when it will be 2 hours behind and after April 6th it will be back to 1 hour behind.

 

Not too confusing at all.

[jealdaka]

Frudtex and Alphouston, I can see that you have each had a different experience just as I have. I think some times when one experiences something they think it is "always" that way and it just isn't.

 

Whitesoxfan, thanks for the reminder on Daylight Savings time.

 

I'll just plan as well as possible and double check when we get on the ship. If I need to adjust there will still be time to e-mail a change to the vendor. The last time we were in Cayman one of our group came back 45 minutes before the rest of us and got right on a tender and quickly to the ship. We checked out two more stores and hit a line that took us over an hour!!

[ACCagent]

I just looked back at the dailies from the last time we were in Grand Cayman on Royal Caribbean and the island time and ship's time were the same. We did change our clocks. I assume (but not positive) that it will be the same on Freedom. You are right to just double check. Have fun!

[ehfl]

On Freedom, you will get a memo to change your clocks...IGNORE THIS...it's wrong. Freedom stays on Miami time throughout the entire voyage.

[nlcentralchmps03]

Isn't it up to the captain whether or not to adjust to the time zones?

[Cuizer2]

I'm trying to schedule something in Grand Cayman and just need to know for sure if Freedom of The Seas stays on Florida time or makes the adjustment to CST? The itinerary says we leave at 4 (back onboard by 3:30) but if they stay on EST that would mean 2:30 Cayman time. I think they change but am just not sure.

I cannot believe some of the answers you have received.

 

1) I did this same itinerary on the Navigator in August 2004. The ship never changed its clocks from the Eastern time zone.

 

2) I did this cruise on the Freedom in June 2007. Once again the ship never changed its clocks from the Eastern time zone. Also, I too was concerned about this because I was booking an independent tour in Grand Cayman. Grand Cayman is in the Central time zone.

 

You will have to allow for this one hour time difference when scheduling an independent tour. Here is a link to my review, which goes into some detail about this, if you want to read it (the review is long) ...

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=30442

[Ronnie3750]

I'm not getting some of the answers here.

 

We were on Freedom at Christmas. We stayed on eastern time throughout the Western Caribbean cruise.

 

Grand Cayman was on eastern time.

 

Cozumel was on central time, but ship stayed on eastern.

 

Just checked internet time sites and currently, Grand Cayman is Eastern Standard Time and Cozumel is Central Standard. You would need to check for Daylight Savings changeovers, depending on when you sail.

 

The Compass clearly spelled out the time issues when needed.

 

We did private tours on Grand Cayman and on Cozumel and the tour leaders were well aware of the times we had to get back to the ship.

[Cuizer2]

I'm not getting some of the answers here.

 

We were on Freedom at Christmas. We stayed on eastern time throughout the Western Caribbean cruise.

 

Grand Cayman was on eastern time.

 

Cozumel was on central time, but ship stayed on eastern.

 

Just checked internet time sites and currently, Grand Cayman is Eastern Standard Time and Cozumel is Central Standard. You would need to check for Daylight Savings changeovers, depending on when you sail.

 

The Compass clearly spelled out the time issues when needed.

 

We did private tours on Grand Cayman and on Cozumel and the tour leaders were well aware of the times we had to get back to the ship.

You are right, Grand Cayman is in the Eastern time zone. However, it does not change for Daylight Saving and since I was there in the summer, it had the same time as places in the Central time zone.