Scuba on Ship's Excusion or Independent?

[Moostang]

I have been reading up on scuba sites about ships excursions and I am not reading very good things, I was wondering if anyone as done them and their thoughts. If we did it, it would be on St Thomas and the ship uses Underwater Safaris. We are really thinking about using an independent like Blue Island Divers, this is going to be my first saltwater dive so I want to make the most of it.

[Pilot70D]

We have been diving with both operators recently and IMHO Blue Island Divers gives you a better dive experience.

 

We have been diving for several years as we have cruised the Caribbean on Princess, HAL and Celebrity. Rarely do we book our dive excursions through the cruise line. We have booked two dives through the cruise lines and twenty six dive excursions privately. The classic dilemma you hear about is "If you book through the ship and your late they will wait for you". This may be true but we have never even come close to being late or missing the ship no matter how we booked the dive trip.

 

The two and possibly only two advantages to booking through the cruise line are convenience and comfort level. It is easy and convenient to simply book through the cruise line. One entry on an order form or one phone call and everything is arranged. No worrying about transportation to and from, dive boat departure times, etc. On the other hand there might be and often are some pretty significant drawbacks when booking through the ship.

 

Many (most?) times you get a better dive and a better dive site by choosing your own operator. Many dive operators that are used by the cruise lines take cruise ship divers to the nearest dive site to the cruise ship port. This is a cost containment issue. The operator is paying a fee or commission to the cruise line consequently their profit is somewhat diminished. In return they have a steady stream of prepaid divers. Don't get me wrong - these dive operators will provide you with a good dive trip but there may be much better dive sites at any given port. With a private operator you make your desires known and can even request a specific dive site. You may also have a smaller number of divers on the boat with a private operator. On one of our dive excursions through the ship we encountered the "cattle boat" syndrome. Never have we been on an overcrowded boat with private operators. In short you may and probably will get a more personalized experience with a private operator.

 

Let's talk about the comfort level that I mentioned earlier. You assume that the cruise line has inspected all of their excursion dive operators and that the operators met certain standards for safety, cleanliness and caliber of equipment. All of this is true. However, we make sure that all of the private operators met our standards for these same things. Rental equipment isn't an issue for us. We bring our own except for tanks & weights. We fell that you're much safer and better off bringing your own but that is another topic.

 

I am the one that has booked all of our dive excursions over the years. It does take a certain amount of time to do the research before selecting which operator we want to dive with. This site is invaluable and is always my starting point but there are a lot of other Internet sites that provide even more information. We feel that that the few hours I spend is well worth it and produces a much better dive experience. We have never had a truly bad dive trip no matter how it was booked. The ones that we have booked privately have always been a little to a lot better.

 

I hope this info is helpful or at least steers your thinking a little. If you have specific questions I can be reached by email. I have the same User ID on Yahoo that I do here. Now go out and enjoy those next dives and that next cruise.

 

Everyone have a great day out there.

[RedHeadTexan]

I have been reading up on scuba sites about ships excursions and I am not reading very good things, I was wondering if anyone as done them and their thoughts. If we did it, it would be on St Thomas and the ship uses Underwater Safaris. We are really thinking about using an independent like Blue Island Divers, this is going to be my first saltwater dive so I want to make the most of it.

 

My first cruise I was nervous about missing the ship, so I opted to do HAL's scuba excursions. In Grand Turk I was on a cattle boat and it was chaotic to say the least. This was my first ocean dive and having 24 people on a boat did fluster me a bit. Our next "diving" port was St Thomas and the tour operator through HAL was Underwater Safaris. I loved the entire experience with them. There were only 8 divers on the boat with 2 Dive Masters. I informed them that I was new to diving and they gave me lots of tips after the first dive. I felt very comfortable with them and truly enjoyed both dives. Now if it had been a cattle boat, then I am not too sure I would have enjoyed it as much. I like small numbers on a dive boat.

 

Now that we are preparing for our third cruise I am researching and booking independently mainly because we are in each port for 10 hours. I have no fear of missing the ship anymore, so I might as well book on my own. Plus, the ocean dives I have been on outside of cruise vacations have been the best dives by a longshot.

[Moostang]

Thanks P70 and RHT!!

The one thing I read was the dive operator they used to use for the Coki Beach dive (not same one they gave me for boat dive)was doing very unsafe practices (no flag and such). I also heard they are more beginner dives, although I am the first to admit I am not that experienced, but I am also not that timid and love more of a challenge. That review really pointed out how they do go for the best bid on the contract over quality of the dive. That was my big reason for questioning the cruise dive, then of course I kept hearing the "cattle boat" too.

[scubaran]

I have been reading up on scuba sites about ships excursions and I am not reading very good things, I was wondering if anyone as done them and their thoughts. If we did it, it would be on St Thomas and the ship uses Underwater Safaris. We are really thinking about using an independent like Blue Island Divers, this is going to be my first saltwater dive so I want to make the most of it.

 

Hi,

 

While I think Pilot70D was right on, I have done the ship's excursion with Underwater Safaris. They go to Buck Island just outside St. Thomas bay. When I went with them we met at the dive shop in Havensite shopping right outside the fence from the ship, filled out the paperwork and paid for any additional equipment anyone needed. Then we literally walked to the bow of the cruise ship and their boat was ready to go. We had 10 divers and three dive masters. Buck Island is a shallow dive, no deeper than 40ft. with no current. We did a dive off the left of the boat into the neighboring reef and the second dive was off the right in a wreck that is really more large pieces of wreckage than a solid boat. The dives were fine and very appropriate for a beginner diver. If you feel more comfortable booking through the ship, this first dive would be fine for you but like most said, booking through a private operator always seems to provide a bit more personal service.

 

Also as a note, don't be shy and tell the guys on the boat that this is your first salt water dive. They'll help you figure out the weight you need and usually team you up with a buddy that's more experienced (I know I'm a rescue diver and as soon as the boat finds out it seems they team me with a newbie, which is fine as long as everyone takes it slow and calm). Remember you need to stop whatever you're doing when they start the dive brief, set up your gear and get things put away as soon as you get aboard and be aware of your surroundings and other divers. You'll be fine and I'm sure have a wonderful dive!

 

Randall

[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
  
• 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
  

 

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.

 

 

I'd go with http://www.admiraltydive.com again. I had a great trip with them last time. I took These Photos

[Moostang]

Thanks for all the info and I can tell you, I am not shy about letting them know my skill level, of course I am not shy about a challenge either.

 

 

T, but on those pics Bruce, did you use a strobe? We are thinking with our camera (olympus c-5050)we can get down probably 30ft and have a decent pic, up here in the lake we can get a decent pic at 20.

[scubadiver888]

Hi,

 

While I think Pilot70D was right on, I have done the ship's excursion with Underwater Safaris. They go to Buck Island just outside St. Thomas bay. When I went with them we met at the dive shop in Havensite shopping right outside the fence from the ship, filled out the paperwork and paid for any additional equipment anyone needed. Then we literally walked to the bow of the cruise ship and their boat was ready to go. We had 10 divers and three dive masters. Buck Island is a shallow dive, no deeper than 40ft. with no current. We did a dive off the left of the boat into the neighboring reef and the second dive was off the right in a wreck that is really more large pieces of wreckage than a solid boat. The dives were fine and very appropriate for a beginner diver. If you feel more comfortable booking through the ship, this first dive would be fine for you but like most said, booking through a private operator always seems to provide a bit more personal service.

 

Also as a note, don't be shy and tell the guys on the boat that this is your first salt water dive. They'll help you figure out the weight you need and usually team you up with a buddy that's more experienced (I know I'm a rescue diver and as soon as the boat finds out it seems they team me with a newbie, which is fine as long as everyone takes it slow and calm). Remember you need to stop whatever you're doing when they start the dive brief, set up your gear and get things put away as soon as you get aboard and be aware of your surroundings and other divers. You'll be fine and I'm sure have a wonderful dive!

 

Randall

 

Actually, I was in St. Thomas last year and booked with the ship. We went out with Underwater Safari. We got chatting and I mentioned I've never seen a shark. The boat master changed direction and took us to a location were we had a better chance of seeing a shark. There was a shark but it was just at the edge of my viz and took off the moment I looked at it.

 

Generally speaking, what Bruce has listed as pros and cons is spot on but Underwater Safari, if they have a good feeling about all the divers, is a little more like a privately booked dive. Most other dive operators just assume everyone is totally green and dive accordingly. If there is a green diver in the group, Underwater Safari would have to take everyone to a more limited dive site. Underwater Safari still limits the underwater time as they have to get us back in time to take out a second group from the ship.

 

One other con for booking private, if you are a solo diver, is that some will not take you without a buddy and occasionally they will cancel the dive if they don't get enough other divers. I've had this happen to me in St. Kitts.

 

Darrell

[bruce-r]

Thanks for all the info and I can tell you, I am not shy about letting them know my skill level, of course I am not shy about a challenge either.

 

 

T, but on those pics Bruce, did you use a strobe? We are thinking with our camera (olympus c-5050)we can get down probably 30ft and have a decent pic, up here in the lake we can get a decent pic at 20.

I was just using the camera's internal flash for those photos. That is the camera I have as well, with the Olympus housing.

[Moostang]

Thats great to know, it is probably the same housing we have, bigger then those cheap bags you buy, but I feel much more secure with it.