Need Help With Carib. Diving...Please, Please!!

[cruisecrasy]

B2B on RCI's Jewel to Western & Eastern Caribbean. Limited time in most good dive ports so wld have to go with RCIs scuba diving shore excursion if I knew what was being offered even. Problem being can't seem to get any information regarding what the Jewel offers - RCI says check out their website - yah right that worked - doesn't tell me even whether the Jewel is offering any. Phone calls to RCI also produced a big fat 'zippo' and my TA is also frustrated with the poor level of PR and with the very 'generic' information. Have u had this problem? Considering cancelling those cruises and going with a cruiseline that at least tells me what is available since diving is the main reason I am 'doing' the Carib again havin' seen most of it many times before. Any suggestions wld be most helpful and gratefully recd..

[budaman]

You don't state when you are scheduled, however, my experience with RCI's Scuba Excursions is that if there is a specific ship availability or unavailability for that excursion, it will state the limitation. If you look at all the diving excursions offered in each port, some will say it's unavailable or only available for 'insert ship name'

 

Talking to some of the dive operators at the Sea Space Expo this year, many of the operators in the Eastern Caribbean don't like fooling with the Cruise Lines because of scheduling, equipment availability and pricing. Not as much of a problem in the Western Caribbean.

 

With the adavantage of the M&M's for RCI, you whould be able to find 3 or 4 other divers on your cruises that would enable you to schedule some private charters in many of the Ports which will give you much more flexibility on your time available. The ship excursions will more than likely be set up with a high volume, commercial dive operation (i.e. large boats & many people in the water) and will actually cost as much if not more than a private charter. One good source of dive info besides this forum is the Scubaboards forums.

 

Mike

 

www.homepage.mac.com/csealove/

[bruce-r]

B2B on RCI's Jewel to Western & Eastern Caribbean. Limited time in most good dive ports so wld have to go with RCIs scuba diving shore excursion if I knew what was being offered even. Problem being can't seem to get any information regarding what the Jewel offers - RCI says check out their website - yah right that worked - doesn't tell me even whether the Jewel is offering any. Phone calls to RCI also produced a big fat 'zippo' and my TA is also frustrated with the poor level of PR and with the very 'generic' information. Have u had this problem? Considering cancelling those cruises and going with a cruiseline that at least tells me what is available since diving is the main reason I am 'doing' the Carib again havin' seen most of it many times before. Any suggestions wld be most helpful and gratefully recd..

No, I haven't had a problem like you are, mostly because I make my own plans for diving independently from from the ship's excursion.

 

What should you do? If your main reason for the cruise is diving, then I would suggest this: don't go on a cruise, go on a liveaboard dive boat instead. Diving from a cruise ship is OK, but not really convenient and you only get to make a few dives. On a liveaboard, the diving is convenient, and you can make many more dives in a week.

 

If you want to dive Cozumel, just go there for a week instead. It might even be less expensive than a cruise, I know it is for my family of 4.

 

If you still are wanting a cruise, I liked Princess better then RCI, and Princess is scuba friendly (with the exception of the Grand Princess out of Galveston which has terrible times in port for diving).

 

Also, don't forget that you can shore dive some decent sites at some of the islands. Grand Cayman is a good example of a shore diving destination.

[cruisecrasy]

the suggestions and comments. Wld still like to hear from anyone who has dived in those locales on a cruise.

Happy cruisin'!

[cruisecrasy]

the suggestions and comments. Wld still like to hear from anyone who has dived in those locales on a cruise.

Happy cruisin'!

[cruisecrasy]

the suggestions and comments. Wld still like to hear from anyone who has dived in those locales on a cruise.

Happy cruisin'!

[cruisecrasy]

the suggestions and comments. Wld still like to hear from anyone who has dived in those locales on a cruise.

Happy cruisin'!

[Hilary]

What's the itinerary?

[jtonra]

I did the Jewel Western itinerary last April and there was definately time to dive in Costa Maya, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. I chose not to dive in GC but dove both of other islands with local dive shops I arranged on my own. You can get more details in my review here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=170632

[cruisecrasy]

I did the Jewel Western itinerary last April and there was definately time to dive in Costa Maya, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. I chose not to dive in GC but dove both of other islands with local dive shops I arranged on my own. You can get more details in my review here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=170632

 

I need - thanks so much for posting & now just need to hear from anyone who has dived the 8 day Eastern Carib on Jewel.

Happy cruisin'

[bruce-r]

I need - thanks so much for posting & now just need to hear from anyone who has dived the 8 day Eastern Carib on Jewel.

Happy cruisin'

Help us out a bit and list the islands you will be visiting.

[cruisecrasy]

The Eastern Carib schedule is: San Juan, PR - 2 - 6 pm

 

St. Maarten - 9 am - 6 pm

 

Antigua - 8 am - 5 pm

 

St Thom - 8 am - 5 pm

 

Nassau - 12 - 6 pm

Really appreciate and help with this..

 

Happy cruisin'!

[bruce-r]

San Juan - time and distance won't allow you to dive anywhere decent. There is one hotel in San Juan that has an on-site dive shop and they dive there, but I can't comment as to the quality of the diving itself.

 

St. Maarten - I probably wouldn't dive here again. The operator RCI uses there is Dive Safari. They are OK, but unless the ocean is dead calm flat, you will have a rough boat ride as all the dive sites are out in the open ocean. I'd go to Orient Beach instead.

 

Antigua - Haven't dived here or heard much about it. Hopefully someone else will comment, or you could try a search on Antigua

 

St Thom - Coki Beach is an easy shore dive and http://www.divecoki.com is very convenient. The better diving is done from a boat. Check with http://www.sawyerdive.vi/ , http://www.admiraltydive.com or http://www.blueislanddivers.com All three get recommended on cruise critic.

 

Nassau - Haven't dived here either.

[cruisecrasy]

San Juan - time and distance won't allow you to dive anywhere decent. There is one hotel in San Juan that has an on-site dive shop and they dive there, but I can't comment as to the quality of the diving itself.

 

St. Maarten - I probably wouldn't dive here again. The operator RCI uses there is Dive Safari. They are OK, but unless the ocean is dead calm flat, you will have a rough boat ride as all the dive sites are out in the open ocean. I'd go to Orient Beach instead.

 

Antigua - Haven't dived here or heard much about it. Hopefully someone else will comment, or you could try a search on Antigua

 

St Thom - Coki Beach is an easy shore dive and http://www.divecoki.com is very convenient. The better diving is done from a boat. Check with http://www.sawyerdive.vi/ , http://www.admiraltydive.com or http://www.blueislanddivers.com All three get recommended on cruise critic.

 

Nassau - Haven't dived here either.

 

been very helpful. Do u know if RCI offers any dives in St Thomas? Do u recommend an afternoon dive if not able to make the morning one - ships have been known to arrive into port a bit late...I am fairly new at all this so any info is wonderful - u have been so helpful - many thanks.

Happy cruisin'!

[Hilary]

We dove with Blue Island Divers in St. Thomas and they were excellent. They pick you up right in front of where your ship docks. They asked what ship we were on to keep track, but our dive pickup time was 9:30, which gave us plenty of time to disembark the ship.

 

I agree with Bruce-r about everything he says.

[travelbugs]

If your going to St. Maarten...As soon as you get off of the ship take the ferry over to SABA. There is some spectacular diving over there. It's about a 40 minute ride over. Check on the internet, I know there were two dive outfits when we went over). They actually have a Medical University (and a hyperbaric chamber) over there too!