The end of Daylight Savings Time will soon be here, in places that adopted it last spring (not all did). That means the clocks go back an hour. Midnight is really 11 p.m. That means an extra hour of sleep, theoretically. In Cozumel, the popular Mexican cruise port, it means something else.
Confusion.
Actually, the time of day can always be confusing for cruisers in Cozumel. Next Sunday (October 27), for a week, it takes confusion to another level. That's because Cozumel goes to Standard Time next weekend, while Canada and the U.S. make the change the following weekend (November 4).
That's only part of the story, which has to do with ship's time versus Cozumel time. On Carnival and Royal Caribbean ships that depart from Florida, Cozumel time is one hour ahead of ship's time. Until next weekend. Then it's 
two hours ahead. For one week. So, if your ship is scheduled to depart at 5 p.m. ship's time, that's 3 p.m. in Cozumel. Depending on a local clock can cause you to miss your departure.
Having come too close to missing a ship because of the Cozumel clock, we don't take this lightly.
And it gets better (?).
Carnival and Royal Caribbean ships coming from Texas — just to make this even harder to explain — are on the same time as Cozumel. Until next weekend. Then ship's time is an hour ahead. For one week.
Norwegian tries to get around everything by adopting Cozumel time on the ship. Whatever it is on shore, it is on the ship. That means making sure everybody on the ship knows what times it is.
On the ship. In Cozumel.
It's probably a good idea to ask a crew member when leaving the ship, but don't ask for the time of day…ask how many hours until the ship leaves.
Norwegian Dawn
7 nights
December 8, 2013
Tampa (return): Roatan, Belize, Costa Maya, Cozumel
Inside: $449
Cost per day: $64
www.ncl.com