New to cruise ship diving--need advice

[Quero]

I'm not a new diver nor a new cruiser, but totally new to the combination of dive travel and cruise travel. In skimming through the threads here I see a distinct preference among experienced divers to make their own dive bookings with outside ops rather than going along with the divers on the ship.

 

From what I can tell, the advantages of diving with the ship's op are

1) get to know other divers on the ship

2) avoid being left behind in case of any delay in the return from the dive trip

 

And the disadvantages of diving with the ship's op are

3) diving a site selected for the least experienced among the divers in the group

4) diving in a crowd

 

Is that a fair summary? In the event of missing the sailing time because of an unforseen delay, does trip insurance or something cover the cost of reuniting with the ship at the next port of call?

 

I'll be on the Carnival Valor for the May 25 trip to the Western Caribbean and hope to dive at the four diveable stops: Cozumel, Belize, Roatan, and Grand Cayman. I already have my Coz op sorted out, but would appreciate independent-of-the-ship recommendations for ops that cater to experienced divers in the three other ports.

 

Thanks, cruise divers!

[bruce-r]

We get this asked from time to time, so I thought I'd just give my opinion as to what I think are some reasons a person might want to use the ship's dive excursion or make their own arrangement, so here goes

 

The way shore excursions work is that the cruise line contracts with companies at each port of call to provide the shore excursions the sell on the ships. In most cases, you can make your own arrangements and cut out the cost the cruise line adds to the trip.

 

Pros of making your own arrangements, at least for diving:

• usually cost less (but not always) so you need to compare for yourself to be certain.
  
• usually not limited on bottom time, dive your own profile
  
• can choose a smaller boat which will be less crowded
  
• can have a voice in decided the dive site
  
• smaller operator, more personal service
  
• better choice for more advanced divers
  
• you can shore dive if you want, which is much less expensive and not dependent on someone else's schedule. Grand Cayman is especially good for this.
  

 

Cons:

• more work for you to make plans, get to the meeting place
  
• ship won't wait if you are late, but being late is highly unlikely
  

 

Going with the ship's excursion

Pros:

• easy planning
  
• gear is often included
  
• good choice for the once a year cruise diver
  
• you get to dive with other people from your ship
  
• ship will wait if you are late ( this does matter to some people)
  
• easier logistically at some ports, especially Belize, or if you arrive in port too late for the morning dive boats from private operators.
  
• get to meet other divers on your cruise.
  

 

Cons:

• Usually cost a bit more, sometimes a lot more
  
• usually larger boats which can usually mean more people, but not always
  
• usually predetermined dive sites
  
• usually bottom times are predetermined, or everyone has to surface when the first person is low on air.
  
• dives are often follow the leader type dives, which is especially annoying for advanced divers or photographers
  

 

I hope this will help others decide which to choose, as there is no one right answer for everyone, every time.

 

[Madd Maxx]

Bruce, you can hopefully answer this one. Should my wife and I take our ton of equipment, or just the basics and rent. Im not wild about being in a small ships cabin with a lot of wet gear. We will only do three dives total over two days and other than the idea of the strange regulator mouth piece, I think we can make it on rented equipment. Your opinion??

Thanks Greg

[gmcrow]

Great points, but all of those things have to be tempered with how busy the port is and what ship you are sailing on. Smaller ships, longer cruises, and ships with older crowds often lead to better dive experiences even on ship's excursions. We've been on many 14 day trips where the ship's excursions were awesome, because there were only 6 divers on the ship! That situation changes, of course, when the those 6 are combined with divers from a bigger ship in a busy port.

 

Our thought on Western C. ports is always book your own in Coz and GC for sure. The May sailing date would lead me to think that your ship will have a young crowd, so you are better off booking on your own on Roatan as well. Belize City is so limited in operators, that no matter how hard you try, you probably can't avoid the crowd, or the follow me dive routine. We have reviews and recommendations on our blog at http://www.cruisedivers.blogspot.com

[bruce-r]

Bruce, you can hopefully answer this one. Should my wife and I take our ton of equipment, or just the basics and rent. Im not wild about being in a small ships cabin with a lot of wet gear. We will only do three dives total over two days and other than the idea of the strange regulator mouth piece, I think we can make it on rented equipment. Your opinion??

Thanks Greg

 

 

You could get by if you take just your mask and wet suit. If you have a wrist mount computer take that too.

 

Personally, I'd still take my all my own gear. I'm comfortable with it and know how it works without having to learn new things.

[scubadiver888]

Bruce, you can hopefully answer this one. Should my wife and I take our ton of equipment, or just the basics and rent. Im not wild about being in a small ships cabin with a lot of wet gear. We will only do three dives total over two days and other than the idea of the strange regulator mouth piece, I think we can make it on rented equipment. Your opinion??

Thanks Greg

Greg,

 

I have been down to the Caribbean a few times and always rented equipment. I bring my own mask, fins and snorkel but rent the rest. I am starting to notice the difference between the equipment I get when renting and often spend more time then I like getting used to the bouyancy differences. I'm now going to buy my own equipment and bring everything. I always go for a small, inside cabin so it will definitely be a bit of a bother with all the equipment but I think it will be worth it; I really want to start getting into the fine tuning for bouyancy. Hopefully in the next year or two I'll start working on photography.

[Madd Maxx]

If there is a dive shop onboard will they hold your equipment, until you need it??

Greg

[bruce-r]

If there is a dive shop onboard will they hold your equipment, until you need it??

Greg

Never heard of one that did that.

[whoareyou2000]

Hi there:

 

I just got back from Liberty Western Caribbean and am thinking about the 11 day Souther Caribbean on Galaxy as you have booked for April 08. I would appreciate knowing how your cruise was when you return. Items such as: ship quality, ship entertainment, ship food, ship staff, ports of call, diving experiances and anything else of interest.

 

Thanks.

 

Tim (another Toronto diver)

 

Greg,

 

I have been down to the Caribbean a few times and always rented equipment. I bring my own mask, fins and snorkel but rent the rest. I am starting to notice the difference between the equipment I get when renting and often spend more time then I like getting used to the bouyancy differences. I'm now going to buy my own equipment and bring everything. I always go for a small, inside cabin so it will definitely be a bit of a bother with all the equipment but I think it will be worth it; I really want to start getting into the fine tuning for bouyancy. Hopefully in the next year or two I'll start working on photography.

[tunseeker1]

The only thing about planning GC is if there are rough seas you will be delayed in tendering.

[foneguy]

i have done diving both ways...booking with the ship s easy and i had great dive sites ...i booked in st marteen on my own, now i booked to dive little bay for my son, jr diver, it was half the cost and my son loved the sub ship wreck and he foound the old fort and cannons.......

 

as for equipment i took my own my son used the rental...i plan on taking mask fins snorkles on this cruise......takes too much space in a little cabin

 

either way you will do fine but deffinately take you own mas and fins as a bare minimum

[islandwoman]

In Grand Cayman, it's no problem to dive independent of the ship's excursion. Just walk to Eden Rock Diving Center http://www.edenrockdive.com/ , rent whatever you need, pay for the use of their facilities and dive off their dock.

 

When I was in Belize on the Carnival Legend, the ship anchored far out in the harbor. The ship's certified diving excursion boat picked us up at the ship, which was much more convenient then having to take the tender into shore to hook up with another dive op.

[Quero]

Never heard of one that did that.

 

I will have my gear with me, too, and was wondering the same thing. Is there a storage area for wet stuff? Or do I need to upgrade to a room with a balcony??? None of the cruise ships I've been on--5 different trips on 5 different lines--have had especially spacious bathrooms, and I can't imagine rinsing and drying scuba gear in them. (What a great excuse for an upgrade, eh?)

[bruce-r]

I will have my gear with me, too, and was wondering the same thing. Is there a storage area for wet stuff? Or do I need to upgrade to a room with a balcony??? None of the cruise ships I've been on--5 different trips on 5 different lines--have had especially spacious bathrooms, and I can't imagine rinsing and drying scuba gear in them. (What a great excuse for an upgrade, eh?)

 

Well as we are a family of 4, we usually get a balcony cabin because we need the space. Holland America has tubs in more of their cabins, extra nice for rinsing.

 

One thing I have read of doing when you get back to the ship after the dives, take the gear up to the pool deck and rinse everything in one of the showers up there. Then lay it out in the sun and enjoy a drink while it drys.

[Quero]

Well as we are a family of 4, we usually get a balcony cabin because we need the space. Holland America has tubs in more of their cabins, extra nice for rinsing.

 

One thing I have read of doing when you get back to the ship after the dives, take the gear up to the pool deck and rinse everything in one of the showers up there. Then lay it out in the sun and enjoy a drink while it drys.

 

That sounds like a really good idea, when the gear is (mainly) dry, it can be moved to the closet in the cabin between dive days. Thanks for the tip! Plus, I'm looking into the possibility of balcony rooms anyway. Oh, and before somebody reminds me how minimal the storage room is in a cruise ship closet, I expect to be taking far less luggage than I did when I first started cruising ages ago when we needed formal gowns and all that THAT implies, LOL. If it comes down to a contest between a formal gown and my dive gear, guess what wins? I'll eat at the pizzeria if I have to in order to meet dress code requirements! (Luckily I'm not a foodie.)

 

Now that I'm getting my head around this, all that seems to be left is to source some dive ops that would like to work with me to provide some really memorable dives.

 

Now, Bruce and the rest of you who have given me such great advice, if you find yourself on the Star Cruises Andaman Sea trip with Phuket as a stop, I'll take you diving while you're here! In fact, I'll take you diving if you come here even if you're NOT on a Star Cruises trip.

[bruce-r]

Now, Bruce and the rest of you who have given me such great advice, if you find yourself on the Star Cruises Andaman Sea trip with Phuket as a stop, I'll take you diving while you're here! In fact, I'll take you diving if you come here even if you're NOT on a Star Cruises trip.

I'd love to take you up on that offer.

 

BTW, bruce-r = Sparky on D2D = Diveborg on Scubaboard.

[Quero]

 

BTW, bruce-r = Sparky on D2D = Diveborg on Scubaboard.

 

I had some of that figured out already ;) Thanks so much for your help here and on those other boards, too. And since I'm Quero everywhere, you can find me under that handle on SB, D2D, SD, LP and a few other places.

 

Let me know when you're ready to dip your toes and regs into our year-round 85° Indian Ocean waters!

[scubadiver888]

Hi there:

 

I just got back from Liberty Western Caribbean and am thinking about the 11 day Souther Caribbean on Galaxy as you have booked for April 08. I would appreciate knowing how your cruise was when you return. Items such as: ship quality, ship entertainment, ship food, ship staff, ports of call, diving experiances and anything else of interest.

 

Thanks.

 

Tim (another Toronto diver)

 

Hey Tim,

 

I'm planning on posting a review of the cruise when I get back but cannot promise anything. Being away from work for 2 weeks means I'll probably have a lot of catching up to do when I first get back.

 

Something to note, the ship quality will not matter too much. The ship will be going in for service after my trip, i.e. the April sailing is the last sailing before it goes in for service. It will probably be in its worst condition when I'm on it but I usually don't care too much about that. Good food and nice diving is all I really care about.

 

I'm definitely going to be tracking the dive operations and what the dives were like. :)

[scubadiver888]

I will have my gear with me, too, and was wondering the same thing. Is there a storage area for wet stuff? Or do I need to upgrade to a room with a balcony??? None of the cruise ships I've been on--5 different trips on 5 different lines--have had especially spacious bathrooms, and I can't imagine rinsing and drying scuba gear in them. (What a great excuse for an upgrade, eh?)

 

I have cruised with Princess using inside cabins. There is no storage for anything. I usually bring a scuba hanger and hang all my gear in the shower. The shower head is usually strong enough to hold everything.

 

The pictures for Celebrity Cruises (my next trip) shows the showers as being a little bigger than what I got on Princess.

 

I would be careful about using the balcony to dry things off. I heard of someone on my last cruise who put stuff out on the balcony to dry over night. Got up in the morning and it was gone. Best he could guess what that it fell overboard.

[Canuck2008]

I'll be on the Carnival Valor for the May 25 trip to the Western Caribbean and hope to dive at the four diveable stops: Cozumel, Belize, Roatan, and Grand Cayman. I already have my Coz op sorted out, but would appreciate independent-of-the-ship recommendations for ops that cater to experienced divers in the three other ports.

 

Thanks, cruise divers!

 

Hi Quero,

 

I sailed the Carnival Valor on January 20-27, 2008, and dove at all 4 ports utilizing the excursions through Carnival and I was completely satisfied with all the dive operations, except for Don Foster's in the Caymans. The DM/Instructer at Don Foster's (Sally) insisted on seriously underweighting everyone on the first dive, but on the second dive after complaints from everyone onboard the boat, the second DM/Instructer allowed everyone to properly weight themselves which made the second dive an enjoyable experience.

 

As a general overview, I think Carnival did a good job in selecting it's dive operators, and I would have no problem in booking any future excursions through the Carnival Cruise ship. I found that when we arrived at each port, we always met early at pretermined locations on the ship and we were usually given priority in being the first group off the ship.

 

The 4 ports, dive operators and diving site were as follows:

 

Port - Grand Cayman / Dive Operator - Don Foster / Short Tender 1000'

Good Equipment / Excellent Dive Boat

 

1st Dive - Eagle Ray Rock - Max Depth 80'

2nd Dive - Arm Chair Reef - Max Depth 60'

 

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

 

Port - Roatan / Dive Operator - Anthony Key Resorts / Dock at Port

Good Equipment / Excellent Dive Boat / Well Organized & Divided Group Based on Experience

 

1st Dive - Mandy's Ell Garden - Max Depth 70'

2nd Dive - Romeo's Elbow - Max Depth 60'

 

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

 

Port - Belize / Dive Operator - Hugh Parkley's / Long Tender to Port

Good Equipment / Excellent Dive Boat / Picks you directly from Carnival Ship using their own boat as the ship must tender passenger a good distance to the port / Well Organized & Divided Group Based on Experience / Suggest using the Carnival Excursion as we were given priority and were the very first off the boat, and arrived back 15 minutes before departure.

 

1st Dive - Aldo's Armchair - Max Depth 80'

2nd Dive - Creek Ozeen - Max Depth 60'

 

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

 

Port - Cozumel / Dive Operator - Sand Dollar Sports / Dock at Port

Good Equipment but dated / Good Dive Boat but crowded compared to the previous 3 Dive Boats/ Well Organized & Divided Group Based on Experience

 

1st Dive - Santa Rosa Wall - Max Depth 80'

2nd Dive - San Clementa - Max Depth 60'

 

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

 

P.S. Had a great time aboard the Valor, the cruise ship staff really go out of their way to give you an enjoyable experience.

 

:)

[BuzzF117]

I dove while on the Crown Princess in Feb and my gear all packed only weighed in at 34 lbs that was with a shorty wetsuit. We had a balcony cabin so I left my stuff to dry on the balcony and repacked it every evening then I knew I was ready to walk out the door the next morning. I will always take my own gear espcecially since you never know what type of gear you going to get.

[scubaran]

That sounds like a really good idea, when the gear is (mainly) dry, it can be moved to the closet in the cabin between dive days. Thanks for the tip! Plus, I'm looking into the possibility of balcony rooms anyway. Oh, and before somebody reminds me how minimal the storage room is in a cruise ship closet, I expect to be taking far less luggage than I did when I first started cruising ages ago when we needed formal gowns and all that THAT implies, LOL. If it comes down to a contest between a formal gown and my dive gear, guess what wins? I'll eat at the pizzeria if I have to in order to meet dress code requirements! (Luckily I'm not a foodie.)

 

Hi,

 

Gee, will you marry me???? :D My wife drags on two bags and 1/2 of my bag and she doesn't even dive. I bring everything execpt BCD, tanks and weights. I know my stuff has been maintained and in good working order (reg's getting annual service as we speak), unlike the last BCD I rented in Grand Turk. Gee, maybe I should bring my BCD along next time as well.:D

 

Randall