Understanding the difference between ship time and local time is useful for visitors arriving to Cozumel on cruise ships. Different cruise lines have different ways of deciding what time their ships take. And, it is even more important around March and November each year, when the U.S.A. moves to and from Daylight Savings Time before or after Mexico.

Cozumel clocktower.

Carnival cruise ships always go with the time of their homeport and stick with it, whereas Norwegian cruise ships change their onboard time during the voyage, to match the local port they are arriving to.

The itineraries cruise lines give passengers display ship times, so cruisers should remember this isn't necessarily the same as Cozumel time.

Cozumel is usually on U.S. Central Standard Time, so the same as Texas, but one hour behind Florida, New York and Toronto.

In March, clocks go forward an hour for daylight saving in the States, but not until three or four weeks later in Mexico.

This means that during those weeks the U.S.A. is an extra hour ahead.

For example, for these weeks, Texas will be one hour ahead of Cozumel and Florida will be two hours ahead.

This happens again when the clocks go back an hour at the end of October in Mexico, but not until a week or two later in November in the U.S.A.

A new Mexican law is also planned that will mean Cozumel and the surrounding state of Quintana Roo create a separate new time zone and synchronize their clocks with Florida.

The proposal has already received approval by one chamber of the Mexican government and is just waiting for approval by the other before it can take effect, although it's not clear when this will be.

If you're visiting soon on a cruise and are confused, don't worry! Here's a quick reference guide to help you work out what time it is...

Find out about Cozumel tours for cruise ship passengers or more about Cozumel cruises and cruise lines in general.

Disclaimer: we confirmed this information at the time of writing but cruise lines may change their policies, so please use this information as a guide only and check with your cruise line if you want to be sure.