Confused about time in port...

[Ron_L]

OK... I know that this has been discussed, and I thought I had it all figured out, but after contacting Native Way about one of their excursions, I am back to being confused :confused: Can someone who has been in GC (preferrably on Valor and during the time of year when DST is in effect) please help me understand. here's the scenario...

 

1. According to Carnival, Valor will arrive in GC at 7:00am and leave at 4:00pm. From what i have read on CC that is ship time, and ship time will be set to Miami time (Valor's home port). In April, Miami will be on Eastern Daylight Time.

 

2. According to worldtimeserver.com GC does not observe DST so GC will be on Eastern Standard Time, so GC will be one hour behind Miami and Ship time. That puts us in port from 6:00Am to 3:00PM local time.

 

3. The Rays, Reef and Rum Point tour from Native Way runs from 9:00am to 2:15pm Eastern Time according to their web site. the web site does not state specifically whether this is EDT or EST, but I am assuming EST since that is GC local time. That puts us back at the dock at 2:30 EST.

 

4. The last tender is set to leave at 3:30 ship time, or 2:30 EST, so getting back to the dock at the same time as the last tender departure is cutting it too close for me.

 

So... I sent Sharon at Native Way an e-mail just to make sure that I was right. here is her response...

 

No worries. The tour departs the cruise ship pier at 9 AM Eastern Time and completes at 2:15 PM Eastern Time. You will get back to the cruise ship pier at 2:30 PM Eastern Time (this is one hour before you need to be there).

The tour is awesome. No one taking our tour has missed the ship.

 

Now I know that Sharon knows her business, but if everything I have figured out up above is correct, then when she states tht the tour will get back to the dock one hour before the ship leaves that doesn't sound right to me. To confuse things even more, I looked at the GC port authority web site and that site shows Valor in port from 9:00am to 4:00pm local time on April 21st.

 

Where am I going wrong? Help me untangle myself! I'd like to do the RR&R tour, but will I really get back to the dock with an hour to spare? I'm tempted to just book an excursion with Carnival to avoid all of this mess.

[LizzieTrowbridge]

"No worries. The tour departs the cruise ship pier at 9 AM Eastern Time and completes at 2:15 PM Eastern Time. You will get back to the cruise ship pier at 2:30 PM Eastern Time (this is one hour before you need to be there).

The tour is awesome. No one taking our tour has missed the ship."

 

Sounds like they do go by eastern standard time, which changes with DST, so I think you are fine. You can always go to meet the tour, and if it leaves at 9am ship time, you know you will be back on time. Good luck!

[Ron_L]

Sounds like they do go by eastern standard time, which changes with DST, so I think you are fine.

 

Actually, the Cayman islands do not observe DST, so their time stays the same all year long.

 

Sharon just clarified this for me. The times that she quoted are already converted to ship time, so it looks like we will make it back just fine.

[Cruisin Kay D]

Ron, you're not alone in your confusion on ship's time & local time & tours!!! I consider ourselves very experienced at cruises & particularly Caribbean ports... but I'm confused & flustered too!!! Soon going on our 21st cruise but 1st one on Carnival -- all other ships we've been on change time to local port times and never had to worry about ships-VS-local!!!