Royal Caribbean Guests Face Seven Time Changes on Transatlantic Crossing
Key Aspects:
Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas is currently operating a transatlantic crossing from Galveston to Barcelona.
Guests will experience seven different time changes during their sailing.
Each adjustment, most of which are in the afternoon, moves the ship time one hour ahead.
Adjusting to daylight saving time is hard enough twice a year, but current guests of Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas will have to survive seven different time changes in just over two weeks. It’s common for time changes on crossings, but it’s something not all guests expect, especially if it’s for the first time!
The Oasis-class ship embarked on a transatlantic crossing in Galveston, Texas, on March 16, 2026, and will arrive in Barcelona, Spain, on April 1, 2026. As the 6,780-guest ship sails closer to Europe, the clock will slowly inch forward.
All seven of the time changes move the ship time forward by one hour, so they hopefully won’t feel too disruptive to guests.
“As we travel eastward, our itinerary will include a total of seven time adjustments,” Royal Caribbean wrote to guests in a welcome letter, which was obtained by Cruise Hive.
“For six of these changes, clocks will move forward by one hour during the afternoon. The final adjustment will take place overnight, in alignment with Spain’s daylight-saving time change,” Royal Caribbean stated.
Many of the first six time changes, which were scheduled for sea days at 2 p.m. in the afternoon, have already occurred. Current guests have already jumped one hour ahead on March 18, March 20, March 21, March 23, and March 24.
The final 2 p.m. time change will take place on March 26. The one and only 2 a.m. change will be on March 29, shortly before the 227,000-gross ton vessel is scheduled to arrive in Malaga, Spain, at 8 a.m. local time.
Cruisers React to the Many Time Changes
Interestingly, the biggest complaint that guests had (and feelings of surprise) came from the fact that the time changes were mostly happening during the day instead of overnight.
“I hated how they did it in the middle of the day going across the Pacific. Overnight would be better,” one cruiser reacted on Facebook.
“Wow, skipping forward mid-day. Never saw that before. Interesting concept,” said another.
Others didn’t mind the timing of the shifts, and liked that it gives the hardworking crew members extra time to rest instead of less. For reference, approximately 2,100 crew members live and work onboard the Royal Caribbean ship.
“They do the time change in the middle of the day on eastbound transoceanic cruises for the crew. If they did it at night like they do for some Caribbean/Bermuda cruises, the crew would keep losing an hour of sleep. They would all be wiped out by the end,” one cruise fan explained.
A final subset was simply glad that they would be eased into Barcelona time instead of transitioning to the new time zone all at once. Spain is six hours ahead of Texas through March 29, when daylight saving ups that number to seven hours.
Staying On Time Matters
It’s important that passengers stay on the correct ship time in order to make the most of their cruise vacation and not miss out on activities and entertainment due to confusion.
If guests are operating an hour (or more) behind the ship, they could miss out on things like exciting activities, tasty dinners, or shows that they really wanted to see.
This is even more important while visiting cruise ports, as the all aboard time will be based on the ship time, which could be different from the port of call. It is ultimately up to guests to stay on schedule, and the ship will not wait for them if they are late.
Read Also: What Happens If You Miss Your Cruise Ship?
Additionally, shore excursions will leave without guests who do not arrive at the designated meeting spot timely. It is unfair to the punctual guests to wait for tardy passengers.
Just recently, Cruise Hive reported on a Carnival guest who missed their privately booked shore excursion because they got confused about the time onboard and the time on shore, and that’s a mistake that these Royal Caribbean guests won’t want to repeat.
Harmony of the Seas has already visited Nassau, Bahamas, and is yet to stop at Cadiz, Malaga, Cartagena, and Alicante in Spain. Guests will certainly want to make the most of their time in these popular destinations.
Luckily, Royal Caribbean has been and will continue to issue plenty of reminders about the time zones, including in the daily Cruise Compass newsletters, the Royal Caribbean App, and via letters left in guest staterooms.
Royal Caribbean Guests Face Seven Time Changes on Transatlantic Crossing