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What is the difference between cruise ship time and Belize time?

The time issue is often a source of confusion for cruise ship passengers. The time in Belize is easy to figure out. Belize is on central time (CST), just like Houston and Chicago. Belize does not observe daylight savings time. (Our web site displays a Belize time clock in the sidebar.) The times for our tours reflect Belize time.

During daylight savings time season, Florida is two hours ahead of Belize and Texas is one hour ahead. (In other words, if it's 10 am in Miami it's 8 am in Belize.) During standard time season, Florida is one hour ahead of Belize, while Texas time is the same as Belize time. (In the United States, daylight savings time begins the second Sunday of March and ends the first Sunday of November.)

Carnival cruise ships almost always remain on Florida time throughout their travels, even when they cross into the central time zone. During standard time season, ship time aboard a Carnival liner is one hour ahead of Belize time. During daylight savings time, ship time aboard a Carnival liner is two hours ahead of Belize time. (The exception is the Carnival Triumph, which sails out of New Orleans and remains on central time.)

Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, and other cruise lines generally adjust their ship clocks to reflect the time zone in which they are sailing. During standard time season, ship time will likely be the same as Belize time. During daylight savings time, ship time will likely be one hour ahead of Belize time.

The itinerary that your cruise ship distributes to you and your fellow passengers will generally reflect ship time.

From your perspective, the time issue should not be a source of anxiety. Our business is based almost entirely on serving cruise ship passengers and part of our job is to closely monitor cruise ship schedules. Our departure times are set to fit within the port times of ships calling on Belize.

CRUISE SHIPS SERVING BELIZE
Cruise Line	Ship	Home Port
Carnival Cruise Lines	Carnival Dream	Port Canaveral, FL
Carnival Cruise Lines	Carnival Glory	Port Canaveral, FL
Carnival Cruise Lines	Carnival Legend	Tampa, FL
Carnival Cruise Lines	Carnival Miracle	Fort Lauderdale, FL
Carnival Cruise Lines	Carnival Triumph	New Orleans, LA
Carnival Cruise Lines	Carnival Valor	Miami, FL
Holland America Line	Maasdam	Fort Lauderdale, FL
Holland America Line	Statendam	Fort Lauderdale, FL
Holland America Line	Veendam	Tampa, FL
Norwegian Cruise Line	Norwegian Jewel	Miami, FL
Norwegian Cruise Line	Norwegian Pearl	Miami, FL
Norwegian Cruise Line	Norwegian Spirit	New Orleans, LA
Royal Caribbean	Enchantment of the Seas	Fort Lauderdale, FL
Royal Caribbean	Grandeur of the Seas	Tampa, FL
Royal Caribbean	Independence of the Seas	Fort Lauderdale, FL
Royal Caribbean	Jewel of the Seas	Fort Lauderdale, FL
Royal Caribbean	Liberty of the Seas	Miami, FL
Royal Caribbean	Navigator of the Seas	Fort Lauderdale, FL