Has anyone taken the PADI certification course on a RCCL ship?

[SteveB48]

Getting certified WAS my vacation. In our case my wife was recovering from surgery so my son and I were able to go off and do this while she rested. In addition, I didn't get my medical sign off until 11 days before we left. There were no classed offered by our local dive shop that fit our schedule. In most cases, I agree, get certifed before the cruise. In our case, it worked.

 

If anyone is thinking about getting certified on ship, go to the PADI web site and fill out the medical form. If you have to answer yes to anything, go see your Dr. to see if you can safely dive. Our instructor said a lot of folks come on board planning to dive only to find out they can't. My issue was over 45 with a family history of heart attack or stroke. My mother has had a stroke so I had to answer yes. The other thing that can give you some of your cruise time back is to borrow someone's PADI book and read it before the cruise. That will reduce the reading and studying time on the ship.

 

Steve

[aloha43]

Let me tell you briefly about my dive certification in St. Maarten.

In 1989, I went for my deep water certification.

We departed for Man-o-war reef at 10:30 AM.

We were to be back to the marina by noon, or, there about.

 

The first dive to 60 feet went well.

The second dive to 120 feet went well also,

until we did our "safety stops" ascending.

When we surfaced our boat was GONE!

Just like the movie "OPEN WATER".

The Boston Whaler broke anchor line and, floated away.

 

Lucky for us, we were within

sight of St. Maarten. Also, there were no sharks around.

They found the boat within an hour..

 

It took them until after 6 PM to find us.

There were 6 of us...clinging together until we could be found.

That was a LONG time to float around with only head above water.

 

The good news is, I got my certification as a P.A.D.I. certified diver.

The bad news is, I have had ZERO desire to ever go again. :(

 

But, it is wonderful, if one enjoys scuba diving.... ;)

Wword to the wise person here.

NEVER go diving unless someone stays aboard the boat.

I know the US Coast Guard has that rule, but,

St. Maarten back then, did not...

 

I'm a bit confused by your timeline of events.

 

I am an experienced certified diver, also certified in 1989, and as far as I know they NEVER take a class of inexperienced on divers to that depth, ever. Our deepest dive was 40-50 feet until after we were completely certified.

 

Also, all dive companies do the deeper dives first, then a shallow one after.

 

They also use the anchor line for the inexperienced divers to hold on to while doing their "safety stops". So one would think they would have known the boat was gone before re-surfacing.

 

I'm not questioning the actuality of your experience, just the details and the order of which it happened.

 

And if you enjoyed the actual dives, why wouldn't you want to do it again under better or safer circumstances such as shallower water?

 

It just sounds odd to me.

[BillOh]

I will add this is one feature of the Oasis class that doesn't get talked about a lot. At least they have a pool that is 16 ft deep. That is a little more realistic than taking a class in a pool that is 4 ft deep. I didn't dive one year and took the refresher course on Allure in 2013, just to remind myself of my skills and practice.

[baldercash]

My wife and I took the PADI course here in Toronto over the winter we took advantage of a 2 for 1 special of $350.00 for two people. The course was over a weekend and was from 8 in the morning to 5 in the evening with a 45 minute break for lunch a mix of classroom and pool.

As mentioned by others most of it was common sense but common sense is not in large supply I was surprised at the lack of knowledge displayed by many in the course who were taking it as a refresher.

 

We passed and we booked dives in the Caribbean while on a spring cruise to complete our certification. I would suggest this as the best method to complete the course as not all are cut out to dive.

[BillOh]

Getting certified WAS my vacation. In our case my wife was recovering from surgery so my son and I were able to go off and do this while she rested. In addition, I didn't get my medical sign off until 11 days before we left. There were no classed offered by our local dive shop that fit our schedule. In most cases, I agree, get certifed before the cruise. In our case, it worked.

 

If anyone is thinking about getting certified on ship, go to the PADI web site and fill out the medical form. If you have to answer yes to anything, go see your Dr. to see if you can safely dive. Our instructor said a lot of folks come on board planning to dive only to find out they can't. My issue was over 45 with a family history of heart attack or stroke. My mother has had a stroke so I had to answer yes. The other thing that can give you some of your cruise time back is to borrow someone's PADI book and read it before the cruise. That will reduce the reading and studying time on the ship.

 

Steve

 

I wouldn't take the time while on a cruise if given other choices, but this was a good helpful post.

[S&M in Pgh]

I have done the refresher course on board so there was not much time required outside of about an hour for some Q&A and then the pool dive. I would not recommend it for either actually. Doing the pool work is not as easy as you would think if they do it on a sea day. Once the water starts sloshing around, being under water and trying to take your BCD and tank off can get dangerous.

 

Try to do it at home, is my suggestion.

 

Mike

[BillOh]

I have done the refresher course on board so there was not much time required outside of about an hour for some Q&A and then the pool dive. I would not recommend it for either actually. Doing the pool work is not as easy as you would think if they do it on a sea day. Once the water starts sloshing around, being under water and trying to take your BCD and tank off can get dangerous.

 

Try to do it at home, is my suggestion.

 

Mike

 

Oh, S&M is Susie and Mike. Never mind!

 

I know exactly what you mean. I took the refresher on Allure in 2013 because I didn't dive in 11 months. The class ran a bit long and I had our meet and mingle to go to and your right this excercise was getting tiring. I decided to cut the class short and go to the meet and mingle. I had achieved my goal of remembering how to setup the equipment and tear it down and the basics. When I went to quit the instructor tried to tell me I couldn't quit and she couldn't clear me to dive. I was with a private excursion so she had no real say in the matter since I was certified. In reality I took the course just because I had OBC and wanted to swim in the aqua theater pool.

[S&M in Pgh]

Oh, S&M is Susie and Mike. Never mind!

 

I know exactly what you mean. I took the refresher on Allure in 2013 because I didn't dive in 11 months. The class ran a bit long and I had our meet and mingle to go to and your right this excercise was getting tiring. I decided to cut the class short and go to the meet and mingle. I had achieved my goal of remembering how to setup the equipment and tear it down and the basics. When I went to quit the instructor tried to tell me I couldn't quit and she couldn't clear me to dive. I was with a private excursion so she had no real say in the matter since I was certified. In reality I took the course just because I had OBC and wanted to swim in the aqua theater pool.

 

 

They do it in the Aqua Theater Pool? That would be cool. Almost makes me want to book a cruise on the Oasis or Allure. Almost.

 

Mike

[BillOh]

They do it in the Aqua Theater Pool? That would be cool. Almost makes me want to book a cruise on the Oasis or Allure. Almost.

 

Mike

It was indeed.

 

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