lifestyle, travel This is Cozumel

Cozumel Clocktower

Cozumel will put the clocks back an hour next Saturday night, along with the rest of Mexico. However, the clocks don't change in the U.S.A. and Canada until a week later, so there will be 7 days when the island is one hour behind Central Time and two hours behind Eastern Time.

This is especially important for cruise ship passengers, as their ship time may be an extra hour ahead of local island time when they arrive.

Different cruise lines have different ways of deciding what time their cruise ships take. Carnival and Royal Caribbean (RCCL) cruise ships, for example, usually 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 they give passengers display ship times, so cruisers should remember this isn't necessarily the same as Cozumel time.

Changes to and from Daylight Savings Time in Mexico, and the U.S.A. and Canada are always slightly out of sync, which creates a few weeks in the spring and fall of each year when the time difference is more than usual.

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...

Arrival to Cozumel Carnival and RCCL from Florida Carnival and RCCL from Texas Norwegian Disney and others.
Up to and inc. Oct. 25, 2014 1 hr ahead. e.g. 10am onboard is 9am in Cozumel. Same as Cozumel time. Same as Cozumel time. Varies, check with cruise line or contact us.
Oct. 26 to Nov. 1, 2014 2 hrs ahead. e.g. 10am onboard is 8am in Cozumel. 1 hr ahead. e.g. 10am onboard is 9am in Cozumel. Same as Cozumel time. Varies, check with cruise line or contact us.
Nov. 2, 2014 to Mar. 7, 2015 1 hr ahead. e.g. 10am onboard is 9am in Cozumel. Same as Cozumel time. Same as Cozumel time. Varies, check with cruise line or contact us.
Mar. 8, 2015 to Apr. 4, 2015 2 hrs ahead. e.g. 10am onboard is 8am in Cozumel. 1 hr ahead. e.g. 10am onboard is 9am in Cozumel. Same as Cozumel time. Varies, check with cruise line or contact us.
Apr. 5, 2015 to Oct. 24, 2015 1 hr ahead. e.g. 10am onboard is 9am in Cozumel. Same as Cozumel time. Same as Cozumel time. Varies, check with cruise line or contact us.
Oct. 25 to Oct. 31, 2015 2 hrs ahead. e.g. 10am onboard is 8am in Cozumel. 1 hr ahead. e.g. 10am onboard is 9am in Cozumel. Same as Cozumel time. Varies, check with cruise line or contact us.
Nov. 1, 2015 to Apr. 2, 2016 1 hr ahead. e.g. 10am onboard is 9am in Cozumel. Same as Cozumel time. Same as Cozumel time. Varies, check with cruise line or contact us.

Find out about Cozumel shore excursions 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 and reserve the right to change ship schedules, so please use this information as a guide only and check with your cruise line or listen for announcements once onboard your ship if you want to be sure.