Hi there!
If you’re on one of the big cruise lines for an Alaska cruise (Princess, Holland America, NCL, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, etc!), no matter where you’re starting your Alaska cruise from, there will be a time zone change during your cruise.
Most Alaska cruises start from Vancouver, Seattle, or San Francisco.
Vancouver, Seattle, and San Francisco are all in the same time zone.
Alaska is one hour behind Vancouver, Seattle, and San Francisco.
12pm NYC time = 11am Chicago time = 9am Seattle / Vancouver time = 8am Alaska time!
So then… how does the time zone change work during an Alaska cruise?
During your Alaska cruise, you will have a time change, and that will be reflected onboard.
This is not anything you need to try to remember yourself though, because you will be given notification to your cabin when you’ll need to set your clock back forward or back.
ð When your cruise ship is traveling north to Alaska, you will be changing your time to go one hour back. This was a note left in my room by the room steward (aka housekeeping person) the evening before the ship time was going to change.
ð When your cruise ship is traveling south to Vancouver, Seattle, or San Francisco, you will be changing your time to go one hour forward.
ð You may also see “1 hour back” and 1 hour forward” on the Alaska cruise itinerary of the first onboard activities schedule you receive when you get on a cruise ship on embarkation day. For my round trip Alaska cruise from Vancouver, the time changes on the ship happened the first night we boarded the ship and the night of our last port day.
ð There may be a note on the onboard activities schedule about the time zone change.
ð The Princess Patter aka “Princess event listings” is the paper version of the list of daily activities on a Princess cruise ship. You will get a daily schedule of onboard cruise activities delivered to your room every day. The first daily schedule will be in your stateroom when you first arrive. You can also check for onboard cruise activities on the Princess app in the “journeyview” section. You can get a preview of activities before you board the cruise ship. The closer you get to your cruise date, the more activities you will see, as they will be continually added and/or the onboard entertainment schedule will be updated.
ð For my one-way cruise from Vancouver to Anchorage, the time change on the ship happened the second night of the cruise, the night before our first port day.
ð
Also, a tip that was given by a cruise director during the Wake Show on a Princess cruise was that the clock on the phone in your cabin will always be set to the bridge time aka ship time aka the time zone you want to be on!
The Wake Show is a daily show hosted by the cruise director on Princess cruise ships and they give you tips about your cruise! You can watch it on your stateroom TV. You should watch it!
There is also the time listed on your stateroom TV, and presumably that time is also correct!
ð Not sure what time it is?! Look at the time on the TV in your cabin! Your stateroom TV on a Princess cruise to Alaska is also good for lots of other things including checking the main dining room dinner menu and watching Alaska-specific destination shows to learn things about Alaska, short (2 minute videos) and long (45 minute episodes)!
Once it’s time to change the time to Alaska time, you can go into your phone settings to manually adjust the time zone to Alaska.
That is, if you don’t want to wait until the next day when you are in Alaska on land! When you are on land in Alaska, your phone will automatically change over to Alaska time, since the default setting on most phones is to adjust the time according to your location.
It is best to be in airplane mode while you are at sea to avoid any potential roaming charges.
ð On my samsung phone, you can manually change the time zone in the “settings” under the “general management” section where it says “date and time.”
ð The default settings on your phone is probably “automatic time zone” for the time to match the time zone provided by your mobile network.
ð If you want to manually change the time zone to Alaska time while you are in airplane mode at sea, you can change the time zone to Anchorage time.
ð On my samsung phone, you can de-select the “automatic time zone, and it will allow you to choose the time zone from a list.
And finally… another good way to know what time it is in Alaska is to use the world clock on your phone!
ð Look for the world clock on your phone and add Anchorage so you know what time it is in Alaska! This screenshot was taken in Japan, so every city is very behind. ðĪŠ
And that’s a bit about time changes during an Alaska cruise!
I was on Alaska cruises in May 2023. Your experience may vary!
Ideas for your Alaska cruise:
- Alaska cruise ports on your own
- What I did: My Alaska cruise from Vancouver
- What I did: My cruise from Vancouver to Anchorage
More to get familiar with Princess for your Alaska cruise before you go:
- Princess cruise dinner food in the main dining room
- Princess cruise boarding time
- What is the juice bar?
- What are premium desserts?
- Public viewing areas: Majestic Princess
HAPPY CHANGING TIME ZONES DURING YOUR ALASKA CRUISE!
There are partner websites included in this post. I may earn a commission.