PADI Scuba Diver Certification Course Questions

[beverland]

Has anyone ever done the PADI Scuba Diver Certification Course on one of the Royal Caribbean ships? The price looks reasonable. Includes 12 hours of instruction and includes 2 dives in Sint Maarten. We are snorkelers and have been considering getting our certification in Jacksonville. Our water (The Atlantic) is not very clear here and I think this would be a great way to get the certification.

 

Any comments, suggestions, pros, cons out there?

[Jimmers]

My wife and I were both PADI certified onboard last year. Our experience is posted here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=619112&highlight=padi

 

If you need any more information try searching the scuba snorkeling discussion board.

 

I would be happy to answer any specific questions you may have regarding our experience.

 

Jimmers:)

[cruiseguy1016]

I don't recommend taking the course on the ship. You will lose too much of your vacation time. I am a diver so I know what is involved. You will need to spend many hours in a classroom and even more hours by yourself doing "homework". That kind of ruins a vacation, doesn't it? You will also need to spend several hours in the pool. After all that, you will need to take your certification dives. If the weather is bad at the ports where you are supposed to dive, the dives will be canceled and you will miss out. I strongly suggest that if you want to become a diver, take the course at home before you cruise. This way when you cruise, you will be able to choose where and when you want to dive and you won't miss out on any "vacation" time while taking the course. It's a great sport and there are a lot of things to see, especially in the Caribbean. It's a whole other world under water.

[Dive Master]

Also keep in mind the PADI course on the RCCL ships is the PADI Scuba Diver rating not Openwater.My understanding is the Scuba rating only allows you to dive to 40 feet under the supervision of an Insturctor or Dive Master.An Open Water certification requires 4-5 training dives not 2.I am sure it is a great course but I would make sure that I could do the additional dives in the future to get your Open Water certification.I spent more money doing resort courses than I did getting certified but I thought I was too old and fat.The only bad thing is once you get "hooked" discovering the underwater world you will spend lots and lots of money--so you have been warned.Diving is a wonderful sport--go for it !!!

[Jimmers]

If the weather is bad at the ports where you are supposed to dive, the dives will be canceled and you will miss out.

 

Now that would be a bummer. We had great weather on our 1st two checkout dives in St Marten. But now that you mention it I wonder if they have alternate dive sites at other ports.

 

Since these folks live in Florida I agree that ideally they should at least get their pool/classroom work done there and look to do their checkout dives in the caribbean. They may even be able to do two dives at one port and the other two at another for the full open water certification.

 

If they were going to go this route and use RCI for the referral dives they need to make sure the particular ship offers them. I think the Explorer does.

 

Our last cruise on the LOS did not and we had to book with an independent in Grand Cayman for our 3rd and 4th dives for open water cert.. Not a big deal but something to consider.

[Jimmers]

Also keep in mind the PADI course on the RCCL ships is the PADI Scuba Diver rating not Openwater.My understanding is the Scuba rating only allows you to dive to 40 feet under the supervision of an Insturctor or Dive Master.An Open Water certification requires 4-5 training dives not 2.

 

Correct. On the ship they talked us into doing just the classroom/pool work for the second open water part. This was $100 pp more and we lost most of the day in St Thomas.

 

It was a mistake because even though we did our 3rd and 4th checkout dives only a few months later while in GC, we had forgotten so much it was embarassing.

 

Better to do all at the same time while it's fresh, imo.

It was a very hard class and expensive but we enjoy learning new things especially when we can share the experience as a couple. DW was a trooper. I think she's forgiven me by now for ruining her first Eastern Caribbean cruise.:)

[Dive Master]

Correct. On the ship they talked us into doing just the classroom/pool work for the second open water part. This was $100 pp more and we lost most of the day in St Thomas.

 

It was a mistake because even though we did our 3rd and 4th checkout dives only a few months later while in GC, we had forgotten so much it was embarassing.

 

Better to do all at the same time while it's fresh, imo.

It was a very hard class and expensive but we enjoy learning new things especially when we can share the experience as a couple. DW was a trooper. I think she's forgiven me by now for ruining her first Eastern Caribbean cruise.:)

 

 

Yes, I strongly agree that it would be better to do all of your training dives together.It is nice that your wife dives with you.My wife doesn't like diving.I let her try it in a pool at Morehead City and she was freightened. If she dont like a 8 foot pool with unlimited vis, I dont think she would care for the Mt.Carmel Church Cemetery 137 feet down in Lake Jocassee!I dont feel you should force learning to dive on anyone--they got to want it.

Princess Cruises New Waves Program does offer full PADI Openwater certifications on their "grand " class ships. I set in on the program once while on a "Fam" trip. I could watch Alaska Video's or hang out by the pool---tough choice.The Instructors seemed very professional and had small classes.The price was very reasonable too as it let you get in 4 dives in the Caribbean.They even offered me a job and would pay for my instructor course if I signed a 2 year contract. Oh, to be 25 again and single !!! The wife was not going to go for that one !!!!