Scuba Certification at Sea?? Harmony of the Seas

[keepings5]

My daughter wants to get scuba certified while on the Harmony but I am worried that it will take up most of her vacation time. Dos anyone have info on the class and dive hours and locations? We go to San Juan this trip and since we have never been she wants to make sure that the port time will not be spent diving for the whole time.

 

TIA

Lori

[Clarea]

My wife did the scuba class on Allure, and it took up much more time than she expected. Lots of studying and early morning meetings. The day she did go to dive was at St. Maarten, and she was gone from early morning to mid-afternoon.

[TNCruzer56]

Best to get certified now at reputable dive shop. There many dangers associated with scuba diving, not to mention the equipment, is used over and over. Are the air filled stations up to snuff?

When I got certified I had 120 hours of classroom, pool hours and open water training. JMHO

[SRF]

There is a thread here on CC about someone who did the on board certification. LOTS of good information.

 

Yes, it will take a bit of time, but if she wants to do it, it will be a vacation itself. :)

[dpostman]

Best to get certified now at reputable dive shop. There many dangers associated with scuba diving, not to mention the equipment, is used over and over. Are the air filled stations up to snuff?

When I got certified I had 120 hours of classroom, pool hours and open water training. JMHO

 

120 hrs of classroom :eek: Are you sure that is not a typo? My certification was 12hrs Classroom.

 

I had my kids certified at the same time, but I also made them do the complete online course on top of the Face to face Classroom sessions and they both aced the written exam. Access to the online courses were free with the dive shop course purchase.

 

Anyone planing on doing their certification on board, I would recommend do the same thing, do all the out of pool part online first, and just have to do the pool work on the ship. They do those early in the day and no studying required.

 

Personally, I would still recommend getting the certification done before the cruise and building a relationship with a local dive shop. But they do offer it on board, (Way more expensive) and the reasons why someone may choose to do it on board may be valid and really are none of my business ;-)

 

I found the equipment supplied by Anthem when on our SCUBA excursion to be in very good shape. They also supplied all the same makes of gear as our dive shop used for our pool work and checkout dives: Sherwood and Aqua Lung.

 

dp

[TNCruzer56]

120 hrs of classroom :eek: Are you sure that is not a typo? My certification was 12hrs Classroom.

 

 

 

I wouldn`t dive with you or anybody with that little training, at least not a dive below 15 feet.

Yes 120 hours. It was one of my college filler classes. 50% of the class did not get certified. Our instructor was an ex Navy Seal and was determined to make sure that his graduates came back safe every dive, at any depth. One of the pool days, he`d put aluminum foil on the inside of our mask (to simulate being mask-less in low visibility water) and then he`d sneak up behind you and turn off your air, pull off your fins etc. To pass the pool portion, we had to drop our mask, fins and snorkel in the deep end of a collegiate pool and in one breath, swim from the far shallow end to them, put them on, and surface with your mask water cleared. To this day I still remember the Time/Depth tables. 60/60 rule, etc.

It`s a wonderful world down there, so much to see.

It`s only after I took up spearfishing and turned into a "hunter" that I lost interest in diving, but still go from time to time.

-

Why all this rambling??? Things can and do happen underwater and if one is prepared and avoids panic, all ends well.

[dpostman]

I wouldn`t dive with you or anybody with that little training, at least not a dive below 15 feet.

Yes 120 hours. It was one of my college filler classes. 50% of the class did not get certified. Our instructor was an ex Navy Seal and was determined to make sure that his graduates came back safe every dive, at any depth. One of the pool days, he`d put aluminum foil on the inside of our mask (to simulate being mask-less in low visibility water) and then he`d sneak up behind you and turn off your air, pull off your fins etc. To pass the pool portion, we had to drop our mask, fins and snorkel in the deep end of a collegiate pool and in one breath, swim from the far shallow end to them, put them on, and surface with your mask water cleared. To this day I still remember the Time/Depth tables. 60/60 rule, etc.

It`s a wonderful world down there, so much to see.

It`s only after I took up spearfishing and turned into a "hunter" that I lost interest in diving, but still go from time to time.

-

Why all this rambling??? Things can and do happen underwater and if one is prepared and avoids panic, all ends well.

 

Wow that is lots of time.

 

Both Padi and Naui require 12hrs Classroom for Rec Diving. I can only think of Commercial or Search and Rescue diving that would require anywhere near 120hrs. Even Advanced or Master Diving certs don't require that much classroom. They are based more on actual dive time experience

 

 

Sounds way too grueling. Although, our open water checkout were done in Birchy Head Nova scotia. Water temp was a balmy 46 Deg F. It took me 45 minutes out of the water just to be able to take a leak ;p

 

dp

[Capt_BJ]

reprint from my 2 Aug 2017

 

PADI Open Water Diver Course - XZC4

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/shoreE...stinationCode=

 

"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 at some of the world’s most spectacular underwater destinations. At the end of your certification course, you’ll be equipped to execute dives independently in depths of up to 60 feet."

 

This is a common way to complete certification today. DD did this several years ago. She did the book work via computer based training and then we made arrangements with a dive shop in Key Largo .. sometimes called a 'Universal Referral'. Day one we checked in early and started with a test to verify grasping the 'book learning' concepts. Then we moved to a pool session. A swim test was conducted then equipment familiarization and basic skills like mask clearing buoyancy etc. which completed the morning. Next it was off to a dive boat for checkout dives one and two ending day one. On day two, back to the boat for open water dives three and four and POOF, on successful completion the requirements for PADI OPENWATER DIVER have been met.

 

on the page I linked there is a button to search for cruises that offer this, but it always comes up empty for me .....

 

$600 per person ... a place like Sunset House charges $400 per person for guests staying at the resort. Places in the Keys typically around $300

 

******************************

for OP what this means with regards to time

 

1. You do the classroom/book work b4 the cruise via computer based training. Class time on board 'should be' to verify only.

 

2. Pool session 'requires' a couple of hours .... if there is a skills 'issue' additional time may be required

 

3. There are 4 open water checkout dives required and PADI says only 2 dives may be completed in one day. SO, this means the student will have two diving days/ports and you can expect the excusion for the checkout to be 3 to 4 hours (same as a 2 tank dive for certified divers). Labadee is NOT one of the ports that has diving so you can plan accordingly . . .

 

4. {I too took a certification as a 'credit course' in my school years and we a BUNCH of extra class time to fill the hours required for a 'colege credit' amount of hours. WAY beyond what PADI, NAUI and at the time YMCA required. We got all 3 certifications (if willing to pay the 3 agencies.) YMCA had the most requirements of all ...... required most book hours.}

Edited February 5, 2018 by Capt_BJ

[TNCruzer56]

Wow that is lots of time.

 

Both Padi and Naui require 12hrs Classroom for Rec Diving. I can only think of Commercial or Search and Rescue diving that would require anywhere near 120hrs. Even Advanced or Master Diving certs don't require that much classroom. They are based more on actual dive time experience

 

 

Sounds way too grueling. Although, our open water checkout were done in Birchy Head Nova scotia. Water temp was a balmy 46 Deg F. It took me 45 minutes out of the water just to be able to take a leak ;p

 

 

dp

Shrinkage??? Never liked wetsuits diving or surfing. Couldn`t imagine 46 degrees.

-

Yep it was grueling and perhaps a little overkill, but every time I ran into a shark, 8 ft barracuda in the keys even when my mouthpiece 2/3rds tore off, never panicked. Did our checkout dives in the Gulf Stream off Lauderdale. 60-80 ft. Love those drift dives.

[keepings5]

Thanks for the info. It sounds like she would have to spend St. Thomas and San Juan diving. Not sure if she will do that. I'll have to let her decide:)

[Dennis#1]

My daughter wants to get scuba certified while on the Harmony but I am worried that it will take up most of her vacation time. Dos anyone have info on the class and dive hours and locations? We go to San Juan this trip and since we have never been she wants to make sure that the port time will not be spent diving for the whole time.

 

TIA

Lori

 

Thanks for the info. It sounds like she would have to spend St. Thomas and San Juan diving. Not sure if she will do that. I'll have to let her decide:)

 

Recommend that your daughter gets her scuba diving certification before you depart on your cruise. Otherwise, as you started, she will be spending lots of her time learning the classroom basics and shallow water/swimming pool lessons. Because diving is considered a risky and dangerous sport, do not skimp on getting the best possible training. In my opinion, the scuba courses offered on cruise ships are too short and offer the basic minimiums to get to an open water dive.

 

You may want to visit a local diving shop for options. I received my basis and advanced PADI certification before a cruise. I am currently PADI Master Scuba certified.