[teog]

We cruise once a year and preplan all dive arrangements with non-cruise dive shops. I dont find hauling dive gear on a cruise ship any worse than walking it around an airport. We havent found it to be a headache as others have mentioned. We find cruises and diving works great since you can dive all the islands you stop at. All the dive operators we have used have always worked around our schedule and often have other cruisers with similiar iteneraries.

You'll find most dive operators that have agreements with cruise companies tend to cater to cattle boat operations and overpriced. Using this forum and others you can find reputable diver operators and plan your own dive excursions. The benefits are you will dive in smaller numbers and more often than not, you'll save money by going directly to the dive shop.