2nd Annual (NOV 2007) Cruise Critic Scuba Cruise to Southern Caribbean (RT from FLL)

[Sailfish]

I'll be leading another scuba group cruise in 2007 and although approved by Laura Sterling, Cruise Critic Community manager, this voyage has not yet been confirmed. But that's not stopping me from checking in at this site to see how many of you might be interested.

 

The Second Annual Cruise Critic Scuba Cruise will be aboard the Carnival Legend, departing Fort Lauderdale the day after Thanksgiving in 2007. It's an eight day voyage to the Southerm Caribbean, calling on St. Maarten, St. Kitts and St. Lucia. Though not port intensive, the three days of diving should prove to be rather good. With four days at sea - two prior and two after our ports of call - I guarantee you won't have any issues getting plenty of R&R.

 

In St. Maarten, we might visit the Proselyte, which sank in 1801. Its cannons and anchors, now encrusted with coral, are strewn along the sea floor and have become home to many creatures. Or perhaps we will dive the wreck of Carib Cargo, an intact cargo ship sitting upright on a sandy bottom.

 

 

In St. Lucia, you can expect to dive Anse Chastanet Reef which is part of the Soufriere Marine Management Area (SMMA). This reef, which is home to more than 150 different species of fish is comprised of a marine plateau and dramatic slopes that fall away to a depth of more than 130ft.

 

 

There are 5 wrecks and about 25 reef dives on St. Kitts. Since few ships call on this island paradise, the island and surrounding reefs are unspoiled. I plan to coodinate our dive package through Shore Trips, the same people who are working with me on December's Scuba Cruise. You can expect the pay around $100 per two tank dive; the cost to dive at these ports of call is always high, though I will be working to hopefully reduce the cost for the group. Once the group is confirmed, I will have more information about our dive package at the group's forum.

Here are the details of the cruise; once the booking is confirmed, I will post more information. As usual, it will include some shipboard credit and a reduced deposit of $25pp. Prices for this eight day cruise will be more in line with 7 day cruises (a bargain if you ask me) - you should be able to get an inside room for well under $700pp.

 

Ship: Carnival Legend

Sail Date: 11/23/07 (day after Thanksgiving)

DeparturePort: Round Trip Fort Lauderdale Friday departure

Itinerary: Southern Caribbean

 

Group Name: 2nd Annual Cruise Critic Southern Caribbean Scuba Cruise

 

Requested Amenities:

$100 per cabin shipboard credit

Champagne & Chocolates

 

 

Reduced deposit: $25pp

 

 

 

Approximate Pricing:

 

4A: $625pp

6A: $775pp

8A: $925pp

 

This year's Scuba Cruise in December is heading to the "Exotic Western Caribbean" aboard the Carnival Valor; it's hard to beat that itinerary for divers - Belize, Roatan, Grand Cayman and Costa Maya. At the moment, we have over 50 people in our group.

 

Please don't hesitate to email me or to post a reply if you have any questions. As I said, this cruise is technically still in the works. Your feed back - pro or con would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks.

 

Suzi

[ZydeDiverDC]

Hello Suzi!

wow ! sounds great.. ! As we are still very excited about attending the Dec 2006 cruise ... you know that we would love to be involved in this one as well!

Please keep us posted!:)

[sea-jay]

Would love to join you but I absolutely refuse to sail Carnival when there are so many other cruise lines that cater to the more sedate crowd of which I am proud member. Can anyone spell couch potatoe???:D

 

When you sign up for a Celebrity or Royal Caribbean cruise like this, call me.

[bruce-r]

Would love to join you but I absolutely refuse to sail Carnival when there are so many other cruise lines that cater to the more sedate crowd of which I am proud member. Can anyone spell couch potatoe???:D

 

When you sign up for a Celebrity or Royal Caribbean cruise like this, call me.

On on board with you sea-jay. I also have no interest in even trying a Carnival cruise. I picked a HAL cruise for 2 reasons. The big one is a stop at Grand Turk for a couple of awesome wall dives, and the second because I think I'll really enjoy a HAL cruise. It also didn't hurt that I got a good price on a Suite. ;)

[Sailfish]

Would love to join you but I absolutely refuse to sail Carnival when there are so many other cruise lines that cater to the more sedate crowd of which I am proud member. Can anyone spell couch potatoe???:D

 

When you sign up for a Celebrity or Royal Caribbean cruise like this, call me.

 

I hear where you are coming from, as I have not been a huge fan of Carnival in the past either. But it's not the cruise line that dictates my choices - it's the itinerary and group amenities. The fact is Carnival is great for groups and a few of their itineraries are more conducive to diving - more so than the other cruise lines. I agree that Carnival isn't for everyone. I will confess, I always check Princess and Royal Caribbean first, hoping that they would offer a similar group package. Unfortunately, I always end up back with Carnival - they seem to always offer more for less $$$.

 

Although they have toned down the "party till you drop" aspect of their cruises, they tend to be more casual and laid back than other cruise lines, which some people object to. They also have a tendancy to attract a lot of young fmailies with little kids (though you'll be hard pressed to find a lot of kids on this day after Thanksgiving sailing). I personally don't care much for the way they structure their days at sea (not enough active things to do in my opinion). But they offer a lot to groups - a reduced $25pp deposit on early bookings, generous shipboard credit - in our case it's $100 per cabin, and a free group party aboard the ship.

 

As far as the ports of call are concerned, with the exception of St. Maarten, I have been eager to dive again in St. Lucia; St. Kitts will be a first for me. You are absolutely correct that the quality of a cruise aboard the Carnival Legend can't compare to the more upscale experience aboard a HAL or Celebrity ship. Although I often cruise as a couple with Celebrity, Royal Caribbean and Princess (never been with HAL), a Carnival scuba group cruise is a different experience.

 

On my Volleyball Group Cruise aboard the Carnival Pride in February, I was plesantly surprised how well they treated our group. We had comfortable accommodations, decent food (not 5 star caliber by any stretch of the immgination) and great service. Everyone had a great time, and I expect no different from our Scuba cruise aboard the Valor this December or the Legend in 2007.

 

I appreciate your comments, as it's nice to get feedback. I looked long and hard at Princess this time. As a group leader I am compelled to offer a sailing that will sell well. Cruise Critic took a chance with me in allowing me to offer a Scuba Cruise. They didn't think it would sell - we currently have 29 cabins booked on the Valor for December and not a month has gone by where I have not emailed out our brochure to several people! Apparrently, divers like to cruise - go figure!

 

In trying to come up with a unique dive itinerary, I looked at what all the other cruise lines were offering; none could compete with Valor's itinerary when it came to a dive friendly cruise. Trust me when I say, there is still a lot of prejudice against Carnival. But that's slowing changing too.

 

In my opinion, the highlight of the 2007 Scuba Cruise is going to be St. Lucia. St. Maarten is hit or miss, in my opinion, though people who have never been diving there will be happy they did. As for St. Kitts, I don't know much about the diving there, but it's always fun to visit places you have never been to. I'm guessing we'll probably get more non-divers than divers on this cruise, so our dive group should be more intimate.

[bruce-r]

I think that now that Princess has improved the port times on the Grand out of Galvaston, that looks like a decent dive itinerary.

 

Sailfish, I wish you nothing but good luck with your up coming cruises.

[10X]

I won't sail Carnival either. I prefer Princess and they have some great itineraries for diving. This year I dove St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Bonaire. In 2007 I'm planning on St. Lucia, St. Thomas, St. Kitts, and Bonaire, and I'm considering Grenada as well.

[Sailfish]

I won't sail Carnival either. I prefer Princess and they have some great itineraries for diving. This year I dove St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Bonaire. In 2007 I'm planning on St. Lucia, St. Thomas, St. Kitts, and Bonaire, and I'm considering Grenada as well.

 

Aren't you talking about cruises that depart from Puerto Rico? This cruise will depart out of Fort Lauderdale. The above ports of call would also be my preference - I had a lot to select from when it came to cruises that departed Puerto Rico, but I was looking for an easy gateway city, and Puerto Rico isn't one for most people.

 

I am not going to lecture anyone about Carnival - when it comes to cruises I am kind of neutral. I tend to focus more on the ports of call than the ship. With that said, I recognize that Carnival isn't for everyone.

 

I appreciate your input. I have not booked this cruise yet, though I will soon. When I do, I am fairly confident I will get a nice group together. I am a little surprised so many of you feel the way you do about Carnival. Until recently, I had only been on Carnival's older ships, and I must say, I didn't care for them at all. But having been on their newer ships, I must say they really aren't that much different than what the other cruise lines offer (though give me a Voyager Class ship anyday). I am no cruise expert by any stretch of the imagination, but thus far, only Celebrity's product was superior to the other main stream cruise lines I have been on - Royal Caribbean, Princess, NCL and Carnival. And one reason I don't plan to cruise much with Celebrity was because I don't care for their ships - not many active things to do on them while at sea.

[10X]

What's wrong with the cruises leaving from Puerto Rico? I've done 5-6 of them and they are great. Next year we're doing back-to-back cruises out of San Juan, something we've done before.

 

I don't care where the cruise is leaving from, if it doesn't take me to where I want to go, it's not worth taking. Ft. Lauderdale or Miami hold no sway over me. It's where the ship is going, not where it's leaving from.

 

Incidently, the above cruise I talked about was a Princess cruise that left out of Ft Lauderdale. It was a 14 day and I loved every minute of it.

 

What people think of any particular cruise line has more to do with their internal needs than anything. For example, I have two friends are only a cruise or two short of becoming Princess Elite passengers, so they don't lack cruising experience. They heard many great things about Celebrity so they decided to give it a try.

 

After the first cruise they were very disappointed. They didn't care for Celebrity at all. However, knowing all the good reviews, they couldn't imagine that Celebrity could be that bad, so they wrote it off as a bad experience and booked another Celebrity cruise.

 

When they got back from the second one they were equally disappointed and vowed never to cruise Celebrity again. So they certainly didn't think Celebrity stood out above the "mainstream" cruise lines.

 

For us we will look at Princess first. That failing where we want to go it's on to RCI. We will cruise either of the two lines interchangably, but prefer Princess. We have sailed on 4 different cruiselines. We're toying with the idea of seeing what Holland America is all about.

[Sailfish]

What's wrong with the cruises leaving from Puerto Rico? I've done 5-6 of them and they are great. Next year we're doing back-to-back cruises out of San Juan, something we've done before.

 

I don't care where the cruise is leaving from, if it doesn't take me to where I want to go, it's not worth taking. Ft. Lauderdale or Miami hold no sway over me. It's where the ship is going, not where it's leaving from.

 

Incidently, the above cruise I talked about was a Princess cruise that left out of Ft Lauderdale. It was a 14 day and I loved every minute of it.

 

What people think of any particular cruise line has more to do with their internal needs than anything. For example, I have two friends are only a cruise or two short of becoming Princess Elite passengers, so they don't lack cruising experience. They heard many great things about Celebrity so they decided to give it a try.

 

After the first cruise they were very disappointed. They didn't care for Celebrity at all. However, knowing all the good reviews, they couldn't imagine that Celebrity could be that bad, so they wrote it off as a bad experience and booked another Celebrity cruise.

 

When they got back from the second one they were equally disappointed and vowed never to cruise Celebrity again. So they certainly didn't think Celebrity stood out above the "mainstream" cruise lines.

 

For us we will look at Princess first. That failing where we want to go it's on to RCI. We will cruise either of the two lines interchangably, but prefer Princess. We have sailed on 4 different cruiselines. We're toying with the idea of seeing what Holland America is all about.

 

Thanks for your very informative reply!

 

Because this is an official Cruise Critic Group Cruise, I had to take a lot of factors into consideration - things like port of origin, the ports of call, length of cruise, pricing, group incentives (a reduced deposit promo) and group amenities (like $100 in shipboard credit), sail date, etc. I have to be able to "sell" this cruise. Suffice it to say, there are a lot of factors influencing my decision to host this cruise. Recognizing it's not for everyone, I fully support your position and thank you for your input.

 

For people who live west of the Rockies, getting to Puerto Rico can be a pain. We live in Northern California and every couple of years travel to dive in Bonaire - let me tell you getting to Puerto Rico is not easy! And it's costly, unless you use air miles.

 

Like I said before, when it's just the two of us, I tend not to cruise with Carnival - as we are Diamond Crown & Anchor members with Royal Caribbean we have an incentive to cruise with them and Celebrity. We also very much like Princess - I wish the others had Personal Choice Dining like Princess.

 

A group dive cruise is different - it's great for people who want to dive together but prefer the amenities of a cruise. We book easy gateway departures and keep pricing low.

 

Again, great to hear back from you!

[cruzegirl]

Suzi,

I'm definitely interested in this cruise as are Jody & Carla..... Can't wait to get info. on it....

To the other posters-FYI,

I have done 3 Carnival Cruises, 1 of them just being the Valor Scuba Cruise, (1) Princess and (1) NCL.. While Princess is still my line of choice, I had a blast on the Scuba Cruise/Carnival.. They treated us very well, I'm sure Suzi's organization on things helped with that...lol. But they did well.... Between the group amenities, Cabin credit, it was great....An excellent group, great dives, great divers and my 2 friends who were non divers felt very included.. But I guess also a good vacation is what you make of it...

So before "knocking" Carnival, take some other things into consideration.... It was great fun......

[ZydeDiverDC]

Hello Suzi!

Wow we are finally back and unpacked! We truly enjoyed meeting you and all the group! And tho I wasn't able to dive much due to my cold it was still a very enjoyable cruise! We are still interested in taking this cruise so who do we contact to set up payment for the deposit?

I agree on your viewpoint about the ports!~ and as far as St Maarten ~ to me its just a wonderful new opportunity to explore possibilities!!

Between John and I we took well over 2000 pix and 70 movies! egads.. and I still have my other cruise pix from the NCL cruise just 2 weeks prior to deal with.. I feel swamped! Tho I must say from a quick review that everyone looks fantastic! :)

[2112]

I won't make it because there are too many consecutive sea days for my taste, but I find it interesting that so many people on this thread are refusing to go on Carnival when they have never been on Carnival. Not quite sure why. I have been on 3 Carnival ships and 2 RCCL ships, and although I prefer RCCL because of the beauty of the ships, Carnival still has a nice product (better food than RCCL and just as good service). And for all their reputation, I also didn't see any more partying on their ships than on RCCL. As for what might attract me to a group cruise, find a port intinsive itinerary regardless of departure point. Either the NCL Jewell out of Miami or one of the Princess or Celebrity ships out of San Juan that include Bonaire. I am from Northern California too (Concord), and yes San Juan is a very long flight, but it is all about value (# of ports per $) for me. I have even thought of sailing the Carnival Destiny which includes several good diving ports and you can find a week for just over $400 pp.

[Sailfish]

I won't make it because there are too many consecutive sea days for my taste, but I find it interesting that so many people on this thread are refusing to go on Carnival when they have never been on Carnival. Not quite sure why. I have been on 3 Carnival ships and 2 RCCL ships, and although I prefer RCCL because of the beauty of the ships, Carnival still has a nice product (better food than RCCL and just as good service). And for all their reputation, I also didn't see any more partying on their ships than on RCCL. As for what might attract me to a group cruise, find a port intinsive itinerary regardless of departure point. Either the NCL Jewell out of Miami or one of the Princess or Celebrity ships out of San Juan that include Bonaire. I am from Northern California too (Concord), and yes San Juan is a very long flight, but it is all about value (# of ports per $) for me. I have even thought of sailing the Carnival Destiny which includes several good diving ports and you can find a week for just over $400 pp.

 

I have plans to host the 2008 Scuba Cruise and it will be tentatively planned for aboard the Emerald Princess which will sail out of FLL and go to Bonaire etc. I don't have the exact itinerary, but it will cal on the ports in the southern caribbean. I am looking at a Christmas voyage possibly - very dive intensive.

 

I'll keep everyone posted on that one as well, but for the time being, I'm more focussed on the one coming up in November.

 

Suzi

[jimw]

I have plans to host the 2008 Scuba Cruise and it will be tentatively planned for aboard the Emerald Princess which will sail out of FLL and go to Bonaire etc. I don't have the exact itinerary, but it will cal on the ports in the southern caribbean. I am looking at a Christmas voyage possibly - very dive intensive.

 

I'll keep everyone posted on that one as well, but for the time being, I'm more focussed on the one coming up in November.

 

Suzi

 

I looked at the itinerary, sounds great. As longtime visitors to Bonaire, it would be fun to visit via ship.

[ZydeDiverDC]

Well, I took the plunge. made the deposit and look forward to picking out the cabin!

zowie!

do you have a link to the 2008 cruise to peruse???:confused:

[Sailfish]

Well, I took the plunge. made the deposit and look forward to picking out the cabin!

zowie!

do you have a link to the 2008 cruise to peruse???:confused:

 

As of a few weeks ago, Princess did not have winter 2008 in the system yet. They will soon, and when they do, we'll let you know. I am still working on a date - any recommendations?

 

We are looking at the Emerald Princess out of Fort Lauderdale. Here is the itinerary:

 

[cruzegirl]

Suzi,

How about some dates prior to November??? I think there might be a better response if it was prior to the holidays or in the summer.... Just a thought....:D

[Loves_Dogs]

Scuba group cruise sounds wonderful but I am one of those Mothers who refuse to take their child out of school to vacation. We went on the CC group cruise last June on Destiny and had some good dives. Maybe someone in the future will have a group dive cruise during the summer break.

[bruce-r]

Scuba group cruise sounds wonderful but I am one of those Mothers who refuse to take their child out of school to vacation. We went on the CC group cruise last June on Destiny and had some good dives. Maybe someone in the future will have a group dive cruise during the summer break.

I feel the same way, plus DW is a teacher and taking unpaid time off work to go on vacation for her is practically impossible.

 

The only times of the year we can cruise as a family are: the summer, the last week in March (spring break in Oregon), and 2 weeks around Christmas.

[Sailfish]

I too would prefer a summer sail date - okay by me. But the itinerary I am looking at with Princess does these scuba friendly voyages only in the winter. I too work in education - administration - but my work schedule is a modified school year calendar - a little more flexible than some. I also have more latitude than teachers. But I hear ya!

 

So what itinerary and sail date are best? I am itching to go back to Bonaire, and the fact that Princess has a nice ship calling on this itinerary in the winter seems ideal. How does winter break - around New Years sound? Pricey - the only real drawback. Otherwise, I was thinking Thanksgiving or even President's Week.

 

I look at the number of points generated by the sailing - that's was gives group perks. I'll let you guys know what I come up with - to some extent, Laura Sterling at Cruise Critic has the final say.

 

Winter 2008/09 sail dates won't be published for a few months. Either way, I'll post when I get viable dates.