Time Change on Freedom?

[MCPayne]

Hi everyone.

In looking at a cruise compass I found online for Freedom of the Seas (October 2009), it appears the captain does not change the time when we are in port to match island time. Has anyone sailed on her this year and can verify this? I'm looking at booking excursions so I was hoping someone can tell me if the ship's time is an hour ahead of island time.

[Dave]

It's Captain's discretion as to what time the ship stays on. It can also depend on the time of the year. However in most cases if the ship was not changing time last October, it isn't doing it on any cruise. I can say that when I was on the Freedom and the Liberty, doing the same itineraries, we did not adjust the clocks.

[Dwayne]

I've been on a few cruises and they have only changed the time once to match local time. It was a different cruise line, and I think it was in error during a drydock repositioning. Most East Coast cruises stay on ship's time. As Dave noted it is up to the Captain.

[MCPayne]

Thanks Dave and Dwayne. I know it's up to the captain from what I've read before regarding this issue. On my last cruise the captain did adjust the time to match island time (Enchantment of the Seas in September 2009).

Also, I assume the excursion times listed on RCI's website are ship time?

[Sonny V]

I've been on a few cruises myself and don't remember a ship ever changing the ship's time to a port's time. The only time change I recall is a time zone. I'm sure there would always be an announcement if a change was made.

Sonny

[MCPayne]

Yes, on my last cruise there were announcements on the TV, and in the Cruise Compass reminding people of the time change to match island time for Grand Cayman and Cozumel.

Again, I know it's up to the captain, so I guess that was his choice to do it to avoid any confusion.