Current dive operator for Princess on Grand Turk?

[w&k]

Folks-

 

I'm looking for anyone that has been on a (fairly) recent dive through Princess in Grand Turk - I'm looking for the operator and cost, since Princess still does not have their excursions up for our trip at the end of February.

 

I do see some older information on this board that Princess used Oasis Divers, on a large boat, which does not show on their website.

 

Normally, I would not consider the shorex, but the port time is odd, and it's near the end of the cruise, which makes a non-refundable deposit just that much less attractive.

 

Thanks so much for your help!

 

Wendy

[dot73]

I'm on the Jan. 30 Grand Princess cruise. I don't know who the scuba operator is but below is the description of the excursion. the price is $99

 

Grand Turk Certified Scuba

The Turks and Caicos has the third largest barrier reef in the world and the diving is considered some of the best in the Atlantic and Caribbean.

Board your transportation at the Grand Turk Cruise Terminal for the brief ride to the dive shop to receive your equipment and safety briefing. Depart by dive boat to the first dive site, typically a pristine coral reef. Get up-close and personal with incredible sea life and myriad colorful fish as you explore the reef, teeming with healthy varieties of coral and sponges. Re-board the boat and relax during the cruise to the next dive site. Re-enter the water to explore this incredible reef system on your second dive. Board the boat for the return ride to shore and the dive shop and take a few minutes to browse for a memento or two before making the return to the cruise terminal. Scuba equipment, professional supervision, and transportation are included.

[bruce-r]

Folks-

 

I'm looking for anyone that has been on a (fairly) recent dive through Princess in Grand Turk - I'm looking for the operator and cost, since Princess still does not have their excursions up for our trip at the end of February.

 

I do see some older information on this board that Princess used Oasis Divers, on a large boat, which does not show on their website.

 

Normally, I would not consider the shorex, but the port time is odd, and it's near the end of the cruise, which makes a non-refundable deposit just that much less attractive.

I'm pretty sure it is still Oasis that does the ship's excursion. Their large pontoon boat is pretty much exclusively for the ship's excursions as well. People staying on the island get to go on the smaller boats.

[King Neptune]

When we went to Grand Turk last year it was Oasis but that was Nov 2007 so I don't know if they still use them. They were OK but I wouldn't use them again if I had a choice.

[the_dylaness]

Does Oasis do HAL's dives too?

[w&k]

I knew the wonderful folks on here would have the answer!!!! ;)

 

Right now, we have five folks for this dive, and probably at least a sixth later. If there are 24 spots available, that wouldn't be so bad.

 

Maybe I could also drop an E-mail to the Oasis folks to see if we could at least have our own 'group within the group' and dive our own profile & computers.

 

Dot73 - if possible - could you possibly see how many spots they sell?

 

King Neptune - what did you not like about Oasis on your trip?

 

I really appreciate the help!!!!!!

 

Wendy

[scubaran]

Folks-

 

I'm looking for anyone that has been on a (fairly) recent dive through Princess in Grand Turk - I'm looking for the operator and cost, since Princess still does not have their excursions up for our trip at the end of February.

 

I do see some older information on this board that Princess used Oasis Divers, on a large boat, which does not show on their website.

 

Normally, I would not consider the shorex, but the port time is odd, and it's near the end of the cruise, which makes a non-refundable deposit just that much less attractive.

 

Thanks so much for your help!

 

Wendy

 

In this case you might want to take the chance and go with a private operator. Blue Water Divers is one of the best dive shops I've dove with. Plus they only go out with 6-8 divers at a time with really personal service. If you send them an e-mail at their website: http://www.grandturkscuba.com/, they can let you know if there's any problem with your port times. Really, might want to look a bit harder at them before you decide.

 

Randall

[w&k]

until I read about the 50% non-refundable deposit at the time of booking. That means that I would get to shell out $200 or more, and if something happens, or we (or someone else) isn't able to make the trip for some reason, it's gone.

 

I understand the rationale for deposits, and don't have a problem with it. I just have a problem with the non-refundable part. Non-refundable deposits seem to be the norm in Grand Turk, though.

 

In all my diving history, we have only ever missed one dive - I got a couple of garlic scallops that were a bit off, and ended up miserable in the bathroom all night. By morning, I was wobbly-kneed, and so tired I could not keep my eyes open. Not exactly a good day to dive for me, or anybody else on the same dive. We called the shop the second they opened to let them know that I was ill and not able to dive, and to ask them where we should send a check for our missed dives. They said no problem, just come dive with us next time.

 

I have had divers not able to go on a trip from sinus problems, but have always been able to pick up replacement divers, so we had the same number, or usually we have extra folks from wearing dive T-shirts, dragging gear around the ship, and hanging out in bars onboard.

 

In the last couple of years, we have had to cancel two cruises, and cancel the couple of dives associated with them, but it was more than three months in advance, so there was no problem (MIL- cancer, and DH eye surgery).

 

Grand Turk is day 13 of a 14 day trip, giving everyone ample time to absorb any cold (or other) germs floating around the ship.

 

So... I'm just looking for options to make this work at the moment.

 

If we could pull off the group-within-a-group, I would be just as happy with that, as DH and I can have our group geared up and in the water before the weekend warriors figure out which way the regulator goes on the tank. ;)

 

Thanks so much for your help!

 

Wendy

[dot73]

There are 20 spots available for the scuba excursion on Princess.

[King Neptune]

King Neptune - what did you not like about Oasis on your trip?

 

Wendy, On the day that we went there were 21 divers and we were split into two groups each with a dive master. However once we got in the water, the two dive masters stayed together which meant we had 21 divers all in the same area and with the mix of experience it was a free for all with people bumping into you at every opportunity.

 

Maybe its just how they do their cruise ship tours but I was not impressed with how they conducted themselves.

[w&k]

King Neptune - boy, have I BTDT on a cattleboat full of weekend warriors, most recently a couple of years ago in Nassau with Stuart's Cove.

 

DH and I had a long talk over dinner this evening, and we have decided to try the excursion with Oasis, and if it looks like an underwater mob scene, we'll just grab our folks, mosey out of the mess, and head back to the DMs when the weekend warriors have run out of air (which won't take long).

 

Large ops aren't normally our style, but with the three strikes of strange port time, non-refundable deposit, and the end of the cruise germ situation, it's just a little much to overcome to go for Blue Water right at the moment.

 

However, booking with the shorex will give us the freedom to cancel and go with Blue Water or someone else if we change our mind later.

 

I really appreciate the folks on Cruise Critic, and particularly on this board, more than I can express - I would love to dive with all of you someday, and swap some stories over your favorite beverage afterward. ;)

 

Thanks again...

 

Wendy

[mcw331]

until I read about the 50% non-refundable deposit at the time of booking. That means that I would get to shell out $200 or more, and if something happens, or we (or someone else) isn't able to make the trip for some reason, it's gone.

 

I understand the rationale for deposits, and don't have a problem with it. I just have a problem with the non-refundable part. Non-refundable deposits seem to be the norm in Grand Turk, though.

 

In all my diving history, we have only ever missed one dive - I got a couple of garlic scallops that were a bit off, and ended up miserable in the bathroom all night. By morning, I was wobbly-kneed, and so tired I could not keep my eyes open. Not exactly a good day to dive for me, or anybody else on the same dive. We called the shop the second they opened to let them know that I was ill and not able to dive, and to ask them where we should send a check for our missed dives. They said no problem, just come dive with us next time.

 

I have had divers not able to go on a trip from sinus problems, but have always been able to pick up replacement divers, so we had the same number, or usually we have extra folks from wearing dive T-shirts, dragging gear around the ship, and hanging out in bars onboard.

 

In the last couple of years, we have had to cancel two cruises, and cancel the couple of dives associated with them, but it was more than three months in advance, so there was no problem (MIL- cancer, and DH eye surgery).

 

Grand Turk is day 13 of a 14 day trip, giving everyone ample time to absorb any cold (or other) germs floating around the ship.

 

So... I'm just looking for options to make this work at the moment.

 

If we could pull off the group-within-a-group, I would be just as happy with that, as DH and I can have our group geared up and in the water before the weekend warriors figure out which way the regulator goes on the tank. ;)

 

Thanks so much for your help!

 

Wendy

 

From Blue Water Divers site...

 

"To make a booking we require a 50% deposit taken on Visa or MasterCard. This is a non refundable deposit, however if - in the highly unlikely event the cruise ship does not come, or reschedules, then we can refund you 40% back and retain only a 10% deposit."

 

 

So if the ship misses the port it is only 10%. I think it is worth the gamble to not have to dive on a cattle boat.

 

We have dove with them several times including 3 weeks ago. I have nothing but the best to say about their operation. I'll be posting video from our last trip soon.

[NeurosurgeryNP]

Dove with the Princess excursion in April and it was with Oasis. Large pontoon boat, but I felt that we got great service for the size of the boat and with about 15 divers on board. There were 2 divemasters on the boat, and we were split into 2 different groups and taken to separate areas at the same site at different times and them crossed paths along the way, if I remember correctly. Didn't feel like we were bumping into each other. Also, we had a very narrow time frame to be in port for GT on the Caribbean Princess when we were there - I think we had 5 hours and by the time we got off and to the meeting place it was down to four hours. We returned from the dive trip with just enough time (15 minutes) before all aboard to grab a tee shirt at the ron jon shop. It was really cutting it close for us. I would not have felt comfortable doing a private tour here given the 5 hours of time we had in port that day on our ship.

[vacationingbabe]

We are going to grand turk next week, we tryed to book through blue waters, they had been booked for over a month, so we contacted Oasis, they said we had to book through Princess, they only work with the cruise ships. We will be doing the 2 dives, Will let you all know how it was when I return on the 20th.

[Dive Master]

I did the 2 tank dive with Oasis back in Oct 2006 while cruising on the Carnival Fantasy.The ship was to sail at 200 PM so I booked through the ship.Oasis did have a large pontoon boat pulled up on the beach. They had a Captain and 3-4 Dive Masters for our group of about 14-15 divers.I did not have a buddy and of course they wanted to team me up with a guy doing his first open water dives.I really wanted to check out the Wall but no way I was taking a newbie down there.One of the Dive Masters teamed up with the new guy and I was allowed to go "solo". The Dive Master told me to watch my air, keep the group in sight, and do not go into DECO. Then he told me one more thing." I want you to clearly understand that I am not leaving the group to come chase you down the Wall."I was fine with all of that.The Wall was awesum.I tipped the Dive Master really good .I remember him telling me it was a nice tip especailly since he did not do much for me.I told him that was exactly the point !I guess you could say they were a cattle boat but I found the boat to be roomy and the employees great to work with.I thought they were very professional and hope I get to dive with them in the future. Hope this helps.