Scuba Certification Excursion

[bcsfd279]

Good morning everyone,

 

Has anyone done the dive cert Excursion onboard. I've always wanted to do it. I see them in the pools on Sea day mornings.

 

Thanks for any input

 

Ryan

 

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[Clarea]

My wife did it on Allure, and enjoyed it. However, she was surprised by how much time it took away from the cruise, including study time and very early morning wake-ups. She says she would have preferred to have taken the course before the cruise.

[BillOh]

My wife did it on Allure, and enjoyed it. However, she was surprised by how much time it took away from the cruise, including study time and very early morning wake-ups. She says she would have preferred to have taken the course before the cruise.

 

 

That is the way I went and I'm glad I did. Once I boarded Allure though in 2013 (certified summer of 2012) I went to the Sea Trek shop and reserved a scuba refresher for people already certified. Cost me $60, but I got to swim in the aquatheater pool and brush up on my skills. That took about 2 hours on the first sea day.

[schmeed]

That is the way I went and I'm glad I did. Once I boarded Allure though in 2013 (certified summer of 2012) I went to the Sea Trek shop and reserved a scuba refresher for people already certified. Cost me $60, but I got to swim in the aquatheater pool and brush up on my skills. That took about 2 hours on the first sea day.

 

 

How deep is the AT pool? I'm guessing at least 15 feet based on how high the divers dive from.

[matj2000]

Do it at home.....

[Clarea]

How deep is the AT pool? I'm guessing at least 15 feet based on how high the divers dive from.

 

 

I believe they told my wife it was something like 18 feet deep.

[LeesSummitCruiser1]

My wife did it on Allure, and enjoyed it. However, she was surprised by how much time it took away from the cruise, including study time and very early morning wake-ups. She says she would have preferred to have taken the course before the cruise.

 

Many people I know who take scuba on vacation that aren't use to a detailed training course are surprised how long it takes and how much work it is. I took the course many years ago and I have worked in emergency response since then and it is a rigorous course. But you are being trained to dive as deep as 80 feet, and you have to learn about managing air, buoyancy, how to recover from loosing your regulator, mask, how to share air, protecting the ocean. It's not just putting on the gear and jumping in.

[BillOh]

How deep is the AT pool? I'm guessing at least 15 feet based on how high the divers dive from.

 

 

My questionable memory says 16 ft.

[BillOh]

Many people I know who take scuba on vacation that aren't use to a detailed training course are surprised how long it takes and how much work it is. I took the course many years ago and I have worked in emergency response since then and it is a rigorous course. But you are being trained to dive as deep as 80 feet, and you have to learn about managing air, buoyancy, how to recover from loosing your regulator, mask, how to share air, protecting the ocean. It's not just putting on the gear and jumping in.

 

 

A fairly accurate description. The only way I would recommend taking the full certification on board one of the Oasis class ships is if you have already been on that ship and that itinerary multiple times. I've done Allure twice and Oasis once on the Eastern itinerary, if I wasn't certified I might consider doing it that way. While indeed rigorous, its fun and exciting and better than being at work! :confused:. Still I chose to do it at home over a period of a few weeks.

[bcsfd279]

Thanks for all the responses everyone. I appreciate it. I might just sign up on my upcoming allure cruse, as I've sailed several times.. -Ryan

 

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[LeesSummitCruiser1]

Thanks for all the responses everyone. I appreciate it. I might just sign up on my upcoming allure cruse, as I've sailed several times.. -Ryan

 

Sent from my SM-N920T using Forums mobile app

 

 

It's demanding but worth it. Try and do the classroom work ahead of time. You can get that through PADI even if Royal doesn't send it out ahead of time.

[coolbluegreenseas]

The book work can be done at home and online, leaving the pool and open water for the cruise.

[MandyGirl]

We just did our Open Water certs last March and had really looked at RCCL for it. Ultimately we decided on going back to a dive shop in St Thomas where I felt really comfortable with the dive instructor from a previous Discover dive. (Yes.... my fourth Discover dive.... finally got over my fear of getting certified! Cozumel, Bonaire, Roatan, then St Thomas.... and she won my confidence - thank you Coki Dive Center!!). We had even considered doing the class part and confined water at home then do referral dives in ports on a cruise and researched that for NCL Escape ... but ultimately we decided we wanted to enjoy the dives more and stick with a resort course, being afraid it would take too much time away from the cruise. Worked well for us. We did almost all skills in first dives and had very few skills left to do for dives 3 and 4

[shred5]

What kind of certification is it on the ship?

Certainly can not be Padi because it requires so much open water diving and can not be done in a pool?

Padi certification requires allot of reading and/or video watching with so many tests.

I could never see doing this on a ship, allot of studying and learning charts.

 

but then again I was certified a while ago.

[Capt_BJ]

for info ... this is a new approach from RCCL from what they've offered b4. Basically they are doing the 'referral' portion of PADI OPEN WATER cert' .... you do the book work on your own b4 the cruise.

 

PADI Open Water Diver Course - XZC4

 

" You'll begin at home by studying the basic principles of scuba diving and safety-related skills using the Open Water Diver Manual online. Then once onboard it's time to hit the water: within the safe and shallow surroundings of your ship's pool, you'll be led by expert PADI dive instructors through confined water dives, complete with all the necessary scuba gear. Once you are comfortable in the water, you'll head out at two different cruise ports to experience two-tank dives "

 

So you would not be spending a lot of cruise time in a classroom .... one pool session then two-tank dives in two different ports.

 

Nothing new except that RCCL is running it..... dd got certified this way. Book work on line then booked with a Key Largo dive shop for a weekend trip. Arrived Sat morning where she was given a test to verify the 'book learning' had been done and grasped. Then a pool session, followed by an afternoon 2 tank boat trip. The next day another 2 tank trip and BAM - open water completed.

 

Different from RCCL's earlier offering which was 'only' SCUBA DIVER certification.

 

The search function is not working for finding cruises where they are offering this but sounds like an OASIS class offering at least.

[Frick_&_Frack]

I had been thinking of doing this on Anthem this trip; however, it's my first cruise on Anthem. I figure I'd check it out this time and then can do it next March. I'm a super-early riser (yes, even on vacation), and I've been to these ports a lot. So, may just be something cool to do for me. I'd love it if someone who takes it gives us a mini-review when they get back. Thanks!

[shred5]

for info ... this is a new approach from RCCL from what they've offered b4. Basically they are doing the 'referral' portion of PADI OPEN WATER cert' .... you do the book work on your own b4 the cruise.

 

PADI Open Water Diver Course - XZC4

 

" You'll begin at home by studying the basic principles of scuba diving and safety-related skills using the Open Water Diver Manual online. Then once onboard it's time to hit the water: within the safe and shallow surroundings of your ship's pool, you'll be led by expert PADI dive instructors through confined water dives, complete with all the necessary scuba gear. Once you are comfortable in the water, you'll head out at two different cruise ports to experience two-tank dives "

 

So you would not be spending a lot of cruise time in a classroom .... one pool session then two-tank dives in two different ports.

 

Nothing new except that RCCL is running it..... dd got certified this way. Book work on line then booked with a Key Largo dive shop for a weekend trip. Arrived Sat morning where she was given a test to verify the 'book learning' had been done and grasped. Then a pool session, followed by an afternoon 2 tank boat trip. The next day another 2 tank trip and BAM - open water completed.

 

Different from RCCL's earlier offering which was 'only' SCUBA DIVER certification.

 

The search function is not working for finding cruises where they are offering this but sounds like an OASIS class offering at least.

 

 

That is pretty cool thanks for the info. So you do the two dives in port awsum..

 

I wonder if they would let a certified diver do it. I have not been diving in a while and really would like a refresher coarse.

[rukkian]

I just did discover scuba for the first time last month in St. Maarten, I loved it and decided I wanted to get certified. I was going to do it at home, but we booked allure for next year, and tried to get it on there, but it is not offered since they only have one port with scuba on our itinerary.

Compared to doing it locally (I live in Iowa), it sounded much more appealing, since my certification dives would happen in beautiful ocean life at ports instead of some nasty fresh water lake.

My boys (will be 14, 16) say they want to do it, so we will probably book another discover scuba for cozumel and then they have a pool dive on the ship to get the basics first so I can see if my boys will be able to handle it in the pool first.

[TonyL128]

On the Oasis class ships, Royal offers two type of certification:

 

1. Scuba certification - which consist of the first 3 sections of the certification manuel, 2 pool dives and 2 open water dives.

 

2. Open Water certification- which is in addition to the above, the last two sections of the manuel, 2 more pool dives and 2 more open water dives.

 

The difference between the two certification is the depth you can dive to.

 

If your cruise only have one dive port, you can do the Scuba certification. My wife did the Open Water certification during our B2B Christmas cruise. Personally, to do an Open Water certification in just one week is doable, but, you will not enjoy your cruise.

 

 

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[rukkian]

At this point, the only thing they are offering on ours is the basic, 1 pool dive learn the skills. No open water or certification is included. Maybe they will change that by the time we cruise (over a year out), but since my kids want to try it, I will probably just stick to another discover, as it was awesome last time. Hopefully cozumel will be just as good.

[TonyL128]

Cozumel is a great diving spot, you guys will enjoy it.

 

 

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[prince319]

Does anyone know of a way to contact Royal Caribbean Excursions office/desk directly?!?

 

My friend signed up for the PADI Certification (already paid and everything...she travels for her job so she can't do the certification locally before she gets on ship) but wants to do the online portion ahead of time before we sail on Oasis in May. She is just curious when Royal will send her the online study portion or if they actually wait until she gets on the ship (the description indicates that you study online before getting on the ship but some that have signed up for it recently (Dec 2016) said that the online portion was done on the ship via an iPAD they gave you).

 

Just want a (hopeful) clarification one way or the other directly from Royal as well as a copy of the waiver that needs to be signed in case she needs to get doctor's approval.

 

Thanks!,

Mikki

[Clarea]

Does anyone know of a way to contact Royal Caribbean Excursions office/desk directly?!?

 

My friend signed up for the PADI Certification (already paid and everything...she travels for her job so she can't do the certification locally before she gets on ship) but wants to do the online portion ahead of time before we sail on Oasis in May. She is just curious when Royal will send her the online study portion or if they actually wait until she gets on the ship (the description indicates that you study online before getting on the ship but some that have signed up for it recently (Dec 2016) said that the online portion was done on the ship via an iPAD they gave you).

 

Just want a (hopeful) clarification one way or the other directly from Royal as well as a copy of the waiver that needs to be signed in case she needs to get doctor's approval.

 

Thanks!,

Mikki

Try shorex@rccl.com.

[Capt_BJ]

dunno about the RCCL plan specifically

 

but when dd did Certification this way she signed up for the on line portion direct with PADI (thru the web site) and when done got a certificate of completion which was presented to the place she did "wet" work .....

[TonyL128]

Does anyone know of a way to contact Royal Caribbean Excursions office/desk directly?!?

 

My friend signed up for the PADI Certification (already paid and everything...she travels for her job so she can't do the certification locally before she gets on ship) but wants to do the online portion ahead of time before we sail on Oasis in May. She is just curious when Royal will send her the online study portion or if they actually wait until she gets on the ship (the description indicates that you study online before getting on the ship but some that have signed up for it recently (Dec 2016) said that the online portion was done on the ship via an iPAD they gave you).

 

Just want a (hopeful) clarification one way or the other directly from Royal as well as a copy of the waiver that needs to be signed in case she needs to get doctor's approval.

 

Thanks!,

Mikki

 

 

 

We will be on Oasis in April. We know the Dive Center and we can ask for you.

 

 

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