Traveling with Gear Advice...

[scejas]

Hello guys... I finally convinced my gf to get certified and I'll be back in the water diving full time soon.

 

We have two cruises schedule for later this year -- I assume that Carnival will not have a problem with me traveling with my gear?

 

Is there any advice you guys can hand out on cruising with dive gear?

[KaC-Cruiser]

We've traveled with all our gear on four cruises (Celebrity, RCL, Princess & Carnival), and so far - no problems. We pack it all in regular suitcases for checking and carry on our regs & computers. When we come back to the ship after diving, they just run your dive bag thru the x-ray machines like ever other thing people are bringing back on board.

[sea-jay]

scejas - I always travel with all my gear, even weights since I use a weight integrated BC and soft weights. Because I drive to all the ports in Florida and other dive sites I frequent, I don't have to worry about airline weight restrictions. One reason I travel with my own gear is I know everything fits and is in good condition. I have my regulator/octopus serviced annually and always thouroughly rinse everything when I get back home (I do a quick rinse after diving at the dive shop). A second reason is that I know everything fits properly, from fins to mask to wetsuit. I had to rent a regulator on one dive because mine had a faulty valve (the valve failed even tho it was new - called infant mortality amoung parts guys) following its annual service one trip. The rented one tasted on salt water which meant it hadn't been rinsed since last dive, if ever.

 

The one thing I don't take is a dive knife but I do carry dive shears. Most ships will take the knife if they spot it in your gear and then you have the hassel of getting it back everytime you leave the ship to dive and when you get home. Some divers I've talked to even forgot to get it back on departure because of the rush of getting off ship and to an airport.

 

I have a hard sided dive bag with handle and wheels for traveling and inside I carry a net back pack that I load everthing in for the actual dive trip. The net back pack allows water to drain out before I get back to the ship and the hard sided bag keeps the water in if anything leaks in the trunk of my car.

 

You may also want to take a large sheet of plastic, about 4-6 feet square (the type painters use). I carry one to lay out my gear to dry after a dive before packing it back in the bag aboard ship. This keeps the shower free and water off the carpet. Most gear will pretty much dry overnite.

 

BTW - I note you are from the Miami area. Have you "dove the Grove" in Key Largo yet?:)

 

 

Happy bubbles.

[scejas]

sea-jay -- no I haven't, I'm starting up again I have been dry for about 3 yrs -- I was seriously out of shape and took a timeout to lose about 60lbs. Now I'm back but I need to get a couple dives under my belt again ...

 

I'm NAUI certified Master Diver w/ Nitrox Cert. So I want to get about 10 dives in before my cruise. I have about 120 logged dives before my break...

 

I really wanna plan out how I'm going to handle diving while cruising cause the quarters are cramped.... and it will be two divers in the room.

[Hilary]

Once our gear was dry, we'd put it back in our boat bags and stash them behind a chair in our cabin. We had a veranda, so used that to dry gear, which made it so much easier than sitting on deck waiting.

 

If you live in Miami, go do a few weekends down in Key Largo and do a refresher course plus some long, shallow dives. The Keys are the perfect place to practice your skills and get your buoyancy control back.

[scejas]

Yeap that's exactly what I'm planning to do...

[sea-jay]

scejas - My last trip to Key Largo we did a shark feed with Capt. Slate's dive center. Lots of fun. I was also getting my advanced open water cert (PADI).

 

Plan to get nitrox this spring so I will be diving there again. DW gave me a certificate to dive the Living Seas at Disney World's Epcot this August for my birthday. I also expect to take a couple of day trips with my local dive club this year. At least one to Key West and probably one to Jupiter or thereabouts. Anyone want to join in?

[w&k]

Sea-Jay because I might show up! Boynton Beach is my favorite spot. Gotta wait until the water warms up some, though. Froze my a&& off in Nassau in December.

 

 

Scejas - I'm also a Florida drive-to-cruise diver, and have not had the pleasure (?) of toting dive gear on an airplane yet. However, we are taking the 11 day Empress on March 27-April 7, so am going to be measuring my big rolling dive bag and suitcases for airplane dimensions this weekend. You will probably want rolling bags as the docks can be really long. Really really really long. We have a nice large rolling dive bag because I won it in a drawing, but I may have to divvy up into two smaller cheap rolling bags I bought awhile back to sacrifice to the saltwater gods. Welcome back to diving, and congrats to your GF for joining the ranks of the lady sharks!

 

 

By the way...there are still cabins available on that Empress sailing, and I have dives booked for Aruba, Barbados, Curacao, St. Kitts, and St. Lucia if anyone wants to jump in!

 

We have a slightly different method of taking care of our gear on-board because we usually cruise in the cheap seats - the semi-famous "gear and beer". Short version: we haul everything up to the pool deck, and I jump in the freshwater shower with the gear. My DH Keith scopes out a spot for drying, and totes back and forth while I rinse. Somewhere in this process a bucket of frosty cold beverages shows up to amuse us while the gear dries. It's also a good way to meet the other divers on the boat!

 

Great diving to everyone!

 

Wendy

[sea-jay]

Forgot to mention that I usually have a balcony cabin also.

 

Wendy - good idea to rinse and dry out by the pool, Never thought of that cause I'm not a real pool person. Too much sun in my younger days while working as a life guard. Last year the first carcinoma showed up. :( Fortunately, basil cell, so wasn't too serious but I do try and avoid the sun as much as possible - that's why I stay under water instead of on top!!:D

 

BTW Wendy - My email address is in my signature so if you ever want to meet and do a dive, contact me. I will let you know when/where my dive club plans diving this summer and maybe y'all can join us.

[divadiverfl]

We do the bag w/wheels, we have a balcony also. When or if you don't have a balcony--my husband went up on the sun deck and laid all our gear our while drying he dried out in the sun also.

 

We also carry a small bottle of odor be gone to rinse out the gear. Make sure you dry them good.

 

I like having a sea day before we get back to port after our last dive so the gear can dry.

 

Never have had a problem with our gear/luggage. We drive to all the Florida ports also. So much easier.:)

[SeaChelle]

I know it is a pain but if you can I would carry the dive gear off the ship during disembarkation. Either that or pack it in a regular suitcase with no dive stickers instead of a dive bag. We were always worried about leaving our dive equip outside our room on the last night, but since we bring everything and usually have two very full bags of just dive gear, its not really easy to carry it off. Well our fears were realized on our last cruise because we had our dive gear stolen sometime between when we put it outside and when we went to pick it up in port. It is so easy for someone to just grab and go with it. I know this is the case for all luggage but dive gear is obvious to passerbys and people know its worth. From what I have heard Princess only compensates $250.00 for lost luggage... despite its over $3000 cost. Live and learn.

[cruzegirl]

I took my dive gear on my last cruise and was so glad I did.... I'm a newer dive, less than a year so I felt so comfortable/familiar with my own stuff..

We have a penthouse balcony suite so it was great... I just took my gear to the bathroom, rinsed it in the tub with the shower head that had a handle and let it initially drain in the tub... Then a little later took it on and left them on the balcony.... awesome... it all dried quickly too.. Hadn't thought of the rinsing by the pool idea... awesome....

[blueridgecruiser]

Son & I took dive knives on recent Carnival Destiny cruise. No problem. They had the knives for us at the gangway at every port we told them we were diving at, then gave them to us at disembarkation in San Juan.They programmed our dive days in the computer and it "beeped" to remind them to give us our knives and then again to collect the knives when we returned to the ship. No problem at airport as they were in checked luggage.

[w&k]

Crud. Crud. Crud.

 

My big dive bag is too big for the airline, but it might squeak by if I don't use the outside pockets.

 

Has anyone ever had their dive bag measured as well as weighed?

 

Luckily, we bought our tickets while the weight limit was 70 lbs (and according to the website, 70 lbs will be honored), but the oversize may get us.

 

Grrrr...... I realize that there are priorities, but 3 bags of dive gear out of 4 doesn't leave much room for other things. Guess I might have to mix-and-match in the bags. I can see it now - formal night with a whiff of 'eau de bootie' following me down the hall ;)

 

Any advice?

 

Wendy

[cruzegirl]

Wendy,

I took my dive gear with me to Hawaii.... They did weigh it but that was all and it was under the 70lb limit.... So I checked it and the large suitcase and then took a small carry on for my regulator, laptop and such... Worked out well though I was teased immensely by my roommates for all the luggage I brought........lol.....:p