Prebooked excursion now worried about time zones

[Kpak]

We are first time cruisers and are cruising the Caribbean on symphony from Miami in August. We have booked an excursion with viator and I’ve just watched lots of you tube videos about people arriving back to ship too late and seeing it sail away. 

I have been able to find the time zones that all our island ports are in but can’t seem to find the time zone that the ship will be in , tomcheck wheteher the booked excursions will fit timewise?

i have an option to cancel the trip and book with the cruise ship if I need to . 

What advice would you give us and does anyone know where we can find out the time zones of the ship? 

TIA Kpak

[WAAAYTOOO]

Welcome to the  blog site, Kpak.

You needn't worry about the time change issue.  The ship's Captain is the one who will decide whether the ship's time will change or not.  They make it very clear and you will get notices in your stateroom about any time changes.

One piece of advice....when you are leaving the ship, confirm what the "all aboard" time is and verify that your watch is the showing the proper time.  ..and never EVER wait until the last minute to get back to the ship.

[tiny260]

For your cruise the ship should stay on Miami time (Pinging @twangster to confirm this), if time is going to be moved up or back the Captain usually makes an announcement and it will always be posted in the Cruise Compose (News letter left in your cabin every night). 

As @WAAAYTOOO says, there will be signs when leaving the ship as to what time all aboard is, I always try and get back at least an hour before that time. One other caution is that if you use your cell phone as your watch leave it in airplane mode or it will register to the local cell provider and reset to the local time, not ship time.

I would converse with Viator or the actual tour operator and discuss that you are coming in on a cruise ship and that you are concerned about the timing, if they are a good established tour operator that deals a lot with cruise customers, this should not be a foreign topic to them.

If you don't get satisfactory answer I would book with the cruise ship, that way if you are late, the ship will wait for you. 

[twangster]

The ship will start on Miami time but what happens from there depends.

Most of the time it seems Royal Captains (and Cruise Directors) will adjust ship time to match island time and you will find the times listed on your itinerary will match island time.  

Look over past cruise compasses from previous guests and you may see the notation of time changes for summer itineraries on Symphony:

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass?ship=1167

Many excursion companies are well aware of the need to be back well in advance.  Talk it over with them to confirm.  

[Kpak]

Thanks everyone. I will contact viator and if in doubt  I ll cancel . I will also stop watching videos that scare me . Too many people missing their ships .

Still very excite and can’t wait till August x

[hayley_bopp]

On 6/13/2019 at 6:12 PM, WAAAYTOOO said:

One piece of advice....when you are leaving the ship, confirm what the "all aboard" time is and verify that your watch is the showing the proper time.

I always take an analogue watch and ensure this is set to ship's time so I can still use my and phone and not worry about automatic time changes.