Another cruise ship/dive op question

[Christi]

For clarification:

When I say ship time vs. Cozumel time, I am referring to arrival and departure time. Based on my experiences in accommodating cruise ship passengers, there is almost always a difference, unless the ship came out of a port in the same time zone we are, which is Central.

For example, a client will tell me that their ship arrives at 10:00am. This is almost ALWAYS 9:00 Cozumel time. So I always ask them to confirm if this is ship time or local time. Some ships post the arrival times in ship time, and some post them in local time. Each ship varies.

A couple of weeks ago, I had a client tell me he had to be back to the ship by 3:00 we didn't depart until 9:00am, which would have given us plenty of time. AT 2:00, his wife is calling me frm the ship screaming at me that the ship is about to leave and that it was my responsibility to know this and get him back in time. Needless to say, I didn't much appreciate that. This is why I ALWAYS ask ship passengers to confirm ship time vs. local time.

If you are making your arrangements outside of the ship, it is your responsibility to provide correct information regarding arrival times and departure times to the operator.

 

[Clearwater]

Christi,

Just curious -- wouldn't the harbor master's list you referred to earlier use local times for each ship's arrival and departure at the port?

For all I know the official ship's time for logbook and crew purposes could be in Zulu time (GMT/UTC). But it sure makes sense to keep things as simple as possible for the guests.

That said, I know some people (e.g., my wife) steadfastly keep their watches on their home time zone no matter where they are. Problem is, they may forget this if there's only an hour or two difference, or do the math wrong if there's more.

)This habit drives me nuts, BTW.) :shakehead

 

[Christi]

Yes, the harbor master list gives us local times. The problem is that the list doesn't get sent out in a timely manner. Sometimes the ship gets here a day or two or three before the list is distributed...and almost never in time to confirm this before the passengers board the ship. Once they board the ship, communication is very difficult which requires me to get all of these details taken care of before the client boards the ship. While I know that ships have e-mail access, some people can't or won't check their e-mail from the ship.

Christi,

Just curious -- wouldn't the harbor master's list you referred to earlier use local times for each ship's arrival and departure at the port?

For all I know the official ship's time for logbook and crew purposes could be in Zulu time (GMT/UTC). But it sure makes sense to keep things as simple as possible for the guests.

That said, I know some people (e.g., my wife) steadfastly keep their watches on their home time zone no matter where they are. Problem is, they may forget this if there's only an hour or two difference, or do the math wrong if there's more.

)This habit drives me nuts, BTW.) :shakehead

 

[Christi]

Just as I posted my last post, the ship schedule for next week came into my inbox.

According to the schedule I just received, The Splendor of the Seas arrives on 1/3/07 at 6:00am local time, and departs at 2:00pm local time and will be docking at the Internationl Pier south of town.

So you see, the arrival time is in fact different.

I will also correct myself. This list is sent out by the tourism office, not the harbor masters office.

 

[Clearwater]

Christi: According to the schedule I just received, The Splendor of the Seas arrives on 1/3/07 at 6:00am local time, and departs at 2:00pm local time and will be docking at the Internationl Pier south of town.

So you see, the arrival time is in fact different.

Yes, it's earlier than the original itinerary, but that's hardly unusual for short hops -- it's in Costa Maya the day before, and even though it doesn't leave until 8 p.m. it hardly needs to go full speed ahead to get up to Coz.

(It's interesting that the tourism office or whoever knows this, though, because as of two days ago the Royal Caribbean "help desk" was still saying 7 a.m. Thanks for the tip off!)

The important thing -- if not outright terrible -- is that the departure time is the same, which still makes for a short day of diving. :shakehead

Oh well, it beats a day at the office! :14:

 

[nyprrthd]

Remember: Arrival time has nothing to do with when you can get off the ship. As it was mentioned in earlier posts, after the ship docks or anchors they have to get customs clearance before they can allow anyone off the ship. Then, the passengers who have excursions booked through the ship are escorted off first. Only after that do they let everyone else go ashore. If you're in a tender port, there's no telling how long the process can take.

To get a feeling for how your ship runs things in the different ports, go to http://boards.cruisecritic.com/, and then "roll calls." Find your ship, and a recent sailing date to see comments. You can also find your sailing date, and "meet" people who will be on the cruise. We hooked up with several divers on our last cruise, and dove with them all week.

The roll call for your ship is at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=273

 

[Christi]

Remember: Arrival time has nothing to do with when you can get off the ship. As it was mentioned in earlier posts, after the ship docks or anchors they have to get customs clearance before they can allow anyone off the ship. Then, the passengers who have excursions booked through the ship are escorted off first. Only after that do they let everyone else go ashore. If you're in a tender port, there's no telling how long the process can take.

To get a feeling for how your ship runs things in the different ports, go to http://boards.cruisecritic.com/, and then "roll calls." Find your ship, and a recent sailing date to see comments. You can also find your sailing date, and "meet" people who will be on the cruise. We hooked up with several divers on our last cruise, and dove with them all week.

The roll call for your ship is at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=273

FWIW...I've been allowing an hour 1/2 between arrival time and departure time for the cruise ship passengers I've been accommodating these past few months. It's never even taken them an hour to get to us. I've been very surprised.

 

[scubawife]

Having worked in the cruise industry for way too many years, and having almost missed the ship in Cozumel some years back, I would recommend that you double check the LOCAL times for the Coz port call once your cruise is underway. Check at the front desk and tell them you've booked diving in Coz and need to confirm the LOCAL times with your dive operator. The RCI ships all have internet cafes, so, it will be easy for you to drop an email to your dive op to reconfirm your times.

And as anyone who has cruised or has provided services to cruise passengers knows, port call times can change once a sailing is underway. Also, pay attention to the "all aboard" time vs the departure time.

 

[Clearwater]

Sad to say...after all that...we ended up not diving in Cozumel owing to some ear pain my wife experienced after our second dive in Costa Maya (report in the general Mexico section). I could have gone -- and probably should have -- beautiful day, calm seas, visibility looked like forever. Sometimes I can just kick myself for being such a nice guy! :shakehead

Oh well, the good thing is Coz is a two-hour flight from us and we regularly visit Playa del Carmen anyway. We shall return, eventually without a cruise ship. We like cruising, and we also like diving, but trying to blend the two doesn't always make for a perfect mix.

FWIW, when the Splendour of the Seas went to Key West after Cozumel, they maintained "ship's time" the same as its home port of Galveston. So now I know...

Thanks again to everybody who pitched in with advice and recommendations. Next time I promise to put them to use!

 

[smatterchu]

(snip)
Oh well, the good thing is Coz is a two-hour flight from us and we regularly visit Playa del Carmen anyway. We shall return, eventually without a cruise ship. We like cruising, and we also like diving, but trying to blend the two doesn't always make for a perfect mix.

Sorry your wife had ear pain.Hopefully, you'll make it back that way soon...

I hear you about a cruise ship. I love both types of vacationing, but I find that my cruises aren't nearly as relaxing if I'm diving. I didn't really get to un-wind until the last day (at sea) -- and that's really the day you are supposed to be packing and getting ready to go home.

I think I'll either cruise or do live-aboard diving....or just plan destination stays and dive from there. :nod: