J&KCruiser

After speaking to one of the show performers in July, it doesn't sound like they have any plans to do it ever again.

And IMO that's a go thing.

Will be headed to southern Caribbean on RC cruise in late August. Going with family and I usually get to pick one port to go off diving.

 

My port options are: St Maarten, St Kitts, Antigua, St Lucia, Barbados.

 

Looking for advice as to which port is best for diving. I'm a newer diver, certified in August 2016. Probably won't do Barbados as we will most likely end up doing an excursion to swim with the turtles.

 

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Not Antigua.

St Maarten - OK.

St. Kitts & St Lucia - IMO are the best of the list. Google for shops. I do not recall shops.

John

We will be doing a Great Barrier Reef cruise aboard Celebrity Solstice next year. I am looking for recommendations from anyone on this board that used a dive shop there that they liked. Our ship will be sailing out of Sydney and calling on:

 

New Castle

Airlie Beach

Cairns (ship will overnight there)

Port Douglas

Brisbane.

I did a 3 tank trip with Tusa Dive in Cairns (Jan 2016). Large boats but they separate divers from snorkels. Ended up diving with just a single buddy with no guide. Not deep so very little SI. Just long enough for them to refill our tanks plus couple of mins.

Will say you need to be aware of port times. We had 30 minutes from dock time to get back to ship. It was a 15-20 min walk.

Enjoy.

Grenada has famous diving, I just haven't been there yet. I'm going to use EcoDive when I'm there in Feb.

 

Harris

Denver, CO

I have dove in Grenada and was very surprised. Do not recall the details. IMO you will need to get away from the port city so dive.

As for Cozumel Allison is great and so are the prices. Have used her approx. 3 times for drift diving.

John

Just adding. Here is one reputable dive tour operator in Noumea that I can recommend. They fit in with ship timetables too. There are many others.

http://www.aquanature.nc/en/accueileng.html

Bobhsv,

Thanks.

I think I will do my scuba dives on couple of the first 3 stops (noumea, lifou and port-vila). Will enjoy the small island/beach life on the other stops.

I also checked the url for aquanature. No mention of scuba diving only snorkeling.

John

...

 

Lifou, Champagne Bay, Mare and Mystery Island are all tender, with tender rides being short/quick. Champagne Bay is by far the best beach in the Sth Pacific. You will be able to purchase local tours once there, to various places like the Blue Holes.

 

Hope that helps.:)

Thanks,

I am trying to determine if I can get to a business that I think is located in Luganville. Dive shop called Aquamarine Santo. Address is "Main St, Luganville" or at least I think it is. Is Champagne bay the name of the village we tender to?

My contact says Champagne Bay to their shop in town is 45-50 min ride which is way to long for me to go alone.

Thanks

John

We are cruising to several locations in New Caledonia and Vanuatu in Jan 2016 and attempt to find activities in the ports. Big problem is not knowing where in the port ships tender/dock.

Anybody know exactly where ships tender/dock in the following locations (as stated by RCCL)?

- Noumea

- Lifou

- Port-Vila

- Vanuatu (Champagne Bay)

- Vanuatu (Mystery Island)

- Mare

Thanks in advance

John & Karen

My DH and I noticed that on both the Holland America and Royal Carribean cruise ship excursion of a 2 tank dive in Bonaire there is an upper age limit of 65. Is this strictly adhered to. There is no 65 year old age limit to dive on an excursion from the cruise ship in Cozumel, Turks and Caicos or Grand Cayman or Aruba. We will be in Bonaire with Holland America in January and were really looking forward to diving there. Any information is much appreciated.

Check the info in the thread on ABC island. Check the multiple shops that are very near the cruise terminal.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2134592

John

Will be traveling to Cartagena via cruise in mid Jan 2015 and would appreciate anybody with Cartagena dive experience.

Concerned about ground transportation to/from shop or their willingness to pick up. Also the distance to dive site.

I have a couple of shops in mind.

- http://www.tortugadive.com

- http://WWW.BUZOSDEBARU.COM

- http://www.cartagenadivers.com

Thanks

John

We will be on cruise to Bonaire Nov 16th and what to go to the No Name Beach in Klein.

Understand that there is a Water Taxi, No Return (I think). Where would we get the Taxi? What is the Cost?

What is available at the beach for other activities?

Would like to rent Snorkel vest for the day. Any suggestions?

Thanks

John & Karen

If your going to Rangiroa must dive just outside the atoll with six passengers.

The dives were fantastic. Drift dives. Extreme sealife counts. dive to approx 25 meters (??).

I would never miss the opportunity to repeat this dive

http://the6passengers.com/en/

Good luck and enjoy

John

was told that cruise is not currently open in USA market but maybe in couple of weeks.

thanks

John

Just checked again on the RCCL corp web site.

Select Plan a Cruise>Ships>voyager then jan 2016. 3 cruises show up

- 8 night South Pacific cruise on Jan 22

- 14 night New Zeeland on Jan 8

- 10 night South Pacific cruise on Jan 30

We need all three the to do the trip. The 10 night goes to Fiji for a couple of stops. Between the 3 cruises only one stop repeated.

The 10 night shows on the page as n/a for pricing no button for booking. Maybe there is a separate web site for Australia travelers????

Not finding any other cruise to replace the 3rd one.

Thanks

John

The dates out there, but we looking at 3 cruises together on Voyager for Jan 2016 out of Sydney. My problem is that while listed the cruise on Jan 30th does not accept booking. I was attempting to research direct with RCCL on the booking and she was not able to see reason for not being allowed to book.

Anybody know what’s going on?

It is a key part of the trip to have 3 different itineraries.

Thanks

John

Another question on back to back....for those who have done it....more enjoyable for a back to back on the same ship .....or go one week on one cruise ship then off and get back on a different cruise ship for the second week (Same port) ???

We for one vote for the Change the Ship B2B's. Otherwise to many things are the same. Best if the second/third/forth ship is different cruise line. That way the meals are different as well as the CD's stories and jokes.

You will need to select a major departure port with options such as Ft Lauderdale & Miami.

We have be switching ships for the past 3-4 years in Jan. Doing 3 ships this Jan/Feb.

Also get ideas for laundry (self is available on some lines. First day on board is a great day to wash some clothes before everybody needs to do some)

Enjoy

John & Karen

will be in Bonaire on Jan 17th from ship and interested in getting in some dives. Any recommendations.

I have been researching the following

- Dive Flamingo

- Buddy Dive Resort

- WannadiveBonaire

- Bonaire Dive & Adventure

- Toucan Diving

- Dive Friends Bonaire

Port time 7am till 2pm (not much)

Have a Buddy.

PADI OW cert

Will need to rent some equipment (BC,Reg) along with the tanks & weights they provide.

I will be returning to Bonaire in Nov 2014 also.

Thanks in Advance

John