Has anyone tried Scuba Certification program?

[2Happy]

I'm having a tough time getting definitive info from the company regarding how many people per cruise can sign up. If you've tried and succeeded or failed, please let me know what your experience was. I'm very interested in the onboard Scuba Certification and considering booking a cruise just to get this. RCL doesn't let you sign up in advance, though and I'm concerned about being able to join a class once I'm aboard. Your input will help

[killman]

On our last two cruises we thought about doing the SCUBA certification on the ship, but we never did. I will tell you that it did not appear that many people took the class on the cruises we were on. We were on Voyager once and Mariner the second time. On the Mariner they did have one boy, probably 12 years old trying SCUBA in the pool. It was a little rough out at sea that day and he was getting bounced around pretty good! We have since been certified and on our cruise this coming April we plan on doing some diving at one of the ports. I know this didn't help you much, but I would say that I doubt you have any trouble booking once you get on the cruise. Each ship will be different, so don't hold me to this!

[lschrage]

Here's my response from a few weeks ago when someone else asked about the same thing...

 

Hubby and I are doing the 12/5 sailing of the AOS and just did our Open Water Certification last week. We did the classes, pool work (pool was 15 feet deep), and open water dive here in Michigan. Having just completed everything, I can't even possibly imagine trying to do everything during your cruise. The biggest thing to remember is that you want to be completely comfortable and relaxed while diving, and the only way to be comfortable is to practice. The thought of cramming everything in to your cruise basically defeats the fun of a cruise.

 

Also note that the ship's pool work is only done in the ship's' pools, and there's a big difference between a ship's shallow pool and most land-based (read "deeper") pools (which local dive shops will use for your instruction). You really do want to do your pool work in a deeper pool so you get a feel for what you will need to know for ear pressure equilization, and also so you get a better idea of how to control you buoyancy. I can't even imagine going from an extrememly shallow ship's pool to the open ocean. I would also think that the level of training as well as one-on-one instructor time would not be as good as what you would encounter with a land-based program.

 

When I'm on my cruise in December, I want to relax, and enjoy the ships amenities as well as the islands and the underwater scenery. I wouldn't want to be rushed through a scuba course, and then be stressed by having to do the four required Open Water Certification dives (and I won't kid you, open water certification was not a cake walk...it was pretty exhausting as we did three dives one day and then the second day we did the navigation dive and then the long snorkel). When I'm on the cruise, the only reading that I want to do is to be looking at the Compass to figure out what I want to do for the day, not reading scuba books and Dive Charts.

 

Perhaps an option for you would be to see about doing the class and pool work at home first and then see about doing your open water certification either on the cruise, or doing it a few days before in the port city (depending on what port you're departing from...If Miami for example, I would imagine that there would be plenty of dive shops that can take you through the OWC process).

 

Sorry to be such a killjoy, but I really think that you'd be better of with a more time-intensive land-based program. Scuba is a sport that really needs to be learned and absorbed by the student by being taught by a really good instructor in as much time is as needed by the student to learn it and feel comfortable with it. Being processed through it in a week in very shallow pools seems like a way to just churn out divers and give out C-Cards, which may ultimately put the new and possibly under-trained diver at risk.

 

Lynne

[SeaBaby]

Just back from Explorer. We're not scuba divers, but were interested by the scuba lessons going on in the pool. There were about 6 people, and they spent a good 3 hours in the pool at least two days that we observed. They did seem very relaxed in the pool. The last port call in Nassau, they all left the ship together with the scuba gear, so they must have done a real dive then.

 

SeaBaby

[thedog01]

This is in its own thread.

 

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For anyone considering the PADI Scuba certification on MOS, I just did it and would be happy to answer questions. It does take a fair bit of time (1/2 day in pool, 1/2 day reading your text, most of an afternoon watching videos and then 1/2 day excursion for the open water parts), but it was a great way for me to get certified. The default package gets you a PADI SCUBA Diver certification (2 open water dives, no dive tables or navigation skills), so you can only go to 40 ft and need to dive with a dive professional. To get the full open water certification, it is 2 more dives, another couple of hours in the pool and watching videos and $150. If you did that, you would be spending most of your days during the middle of the cruise doing SCUBA stuff. Depends on what you want to do with your vacation.

 

The staff were quite professional and good about the instruction. It was fun, but the pace of learning was that of the slowest student. We were in a couple of groups of 4 students per instructor.

 

When you are done, they give you $100 off the price of a set of SCUBA gear in the on-board shop. About $800 for reg set, BCD & depth/pressure gauge. You need to have your own mask and snorkle, which you can buy from them, but they have a limited selection.

[VABeach]

We did SNUBA in April. It was enough to make us happy. It was so much fun, we're doing it again in June.:D It's the easy way out if you don't want to invest a lot of time or money, plus, you still get all the fun.:p

[Tonyr]

2happy, I took the padi class on mariner of the seas. The instructors were great, you have about 4 hours of pool time done on your day at sea, 3 to 4 hours of classroom, you get your books and you read three chapters on your own time then in the class you watch a video go over material then take a test. When you get to your next port you go out on 2 different dives, unless you want to get aopen water certification then you have 2 to 3 more hours of classroom and two more dives to make. I was very pleased with the class and the instructors glad i waited to do it on the ship. They had 4 teachers on the mariner so there's no risk of class being sold out. Hope this helps and have a great cruise. Tonyr

[kend50]

I just did the scuba program on the Mariner in May 2005. It was the Western cruise. For the initial certification, you have four to five hours in the pool on Monday. You need to read and answer chapters one through three by Wednesday afternoon. You meet for three hours and view video's and take a test. On Thursday we did out two dives in Grand Cayman. We left the ship at 8:00 and were back on board by 2:00. After you pass you can dive up to 40 feet with a Dive Master. If you chose to do this part the cost is 249.00. You must have your own mask and snorkle.

 

The second part starts at 4:00 the afternoon of your first two dives. You review chapters four and five, which you have already read and taken the chapter test, and watch video's. The next day you meet at the pool at 8:30 for two hours of pool training. After that you depart the ship for your last two dives. We were back on board by 4:00. You meet the next day and take the final test and process all of the paperwork to send to PADI. The cost of this part was 150.00.

 

I hope that this will help all that are interested in taking the diving program. My instructor was Daniel and he was very patient and not in a hurry to get the class over in time. He was more interested in you finishing the required training. I had a great time doing this program and made some very good friends. The best part of it is that if you manage your time, it does not take away from the on ship activities.