Hi and Cruise Ship diving excursions

[emcbride81]

Originally Posted by scubasamurai

the funny and slightly disturbing part was the marina was a run down piece of fecal matter and we had an armed escort of three police officers with m4 assualt weapons!!!! but i did have a good time haahahah

hmmmm let me guess...Jamaica? Maybe Nassau?

[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.

[John Yaskowich]

Originally Posted by 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.

I agree that in general you will save money by booking any excursion on your own. The one big "BUT..." is that if the ship-booked excursion is running late, the ship will wait for you or the cruiseline will get you to the next port-of-call. If you booked it on your own, you either run like heck to make it or wave bye-bye to the departing ship from the dock and make your own arrangements to meet the ship. Could be a pain if your passport is tucked safely away in your stateroom safe.

That being said, my wife and I have only done 1 ship-booked excursion during 2 cruises. We are cruising again in Feb 09 and will probably book on our own again.

[georoc01]

Originally Posted by emcbride81

I agree with what most have said, diving and cruising are tough unless you do the excursions thru the cruise. I have not done those, but what I have heard is that you are often with the Discover SCUBA people. I don't know if this is true across the board or not.

On our last cruise to Coz, one of the people we dove with called Dive with Martin ahead of time and they had a boat waiting for us. They told them to bring as many people as they could...and they found us. That could be an option.

We are taking a cruise in October and one of the ports in Curacao...good shore diving there, so no need to coordinate with a shop. Same goes for Bonaire and Cayman.

I have booked dives through an excursion both under a discover scuba situation and once I was certified. While the dives may be through the same shop. They have always split the groups once we got to the dive shop.

Once nice thing in Belize by booking through the ship was that they pick you up and drop you off directly at the ship. Given the long tender into Belize City, it was certainly worth it.

[teog]

Originally Posted by John Yaskowich

I agree that in general you will save money by booking any excursion on your own. The one big "BUT..." is that if the ship-booked excursion is running late, the ship will wait for you or the cruiseline will get you to the next port-of-call. If you booked it on your own, you either run like heck to make it or wave bye-bye to the departing ship from the dock and make your own arrangements to meet the ship. Could be a pain if your passport is tucked safely away in your stateroom safe.

That being said, my wife and I have only done 1 ship-booked excursion during 2 cruises. We are cruising again in Feb 09 and will probably book on our own again.

I can tell you in the 10 different dive operators I have booked with while cruising, never have I been left behind. Could it happen? Maybe but the dive operators work frequently with cruise passengers and make ample time to get you back on your ship. Just make sure you book your dives with reputable dive operators.

But if your the type of person to worry about being left behind, you may want to book with the cruiseline instead.

[CaptainRon]

Originally Posted by teog

I can tell you in the 10 different dive operators I have booked with while cruising, never have I been left behind. Could it happen? Maybe but the dive operators work frequently with cruise passengers and make ample time to get you back on your ship. Just make sure you book your dives with reputable dive operators.

But if your the type of person to worry about being left behind, you may want to book with the cruiseline instead.

I agree. Make sure you use a reputable company. They know if they didn't get you back in time, the word would get around.

[Crewseer]

WOW !!! I think I'm about to cancel all my dive excursions. I was thinking about how my gear will never dry in our already crowded quarters. I think we got the room with the slanted walls. Maybe not that bad but it's on the 8th floor. One thing I didn't hear is how far from the ship do you have to haul your stuff before you hop in a vehicle?

I guess this could be a hard lesson and all the more reason to go to Aggressor live-a-board. I'm planning on a week long to Cabos San Lucas in November but not staying at a dive resort. Any advice there?

[mitsuguy]

I had an excellent experience on my first cruise - dove with the ship at 2 ports, and did an independent shore dive at the other port...

its a mild pain lugging your stuff around, but get the right bag and it is very easy (either rollers or backpack style) to get stuff moved... our first port was jamaica, and the huge benefit there was the dive boat docked at the same dock as the boat - very little moving around... there were 12 of us, and 3 DM's plus a camera person IIRC and boat captain... we all kinda split up under water but stayed in the same general area...

second port was grand cayman, where we walked a half mile from the ship to a dive center and did two shore dives - they were awesome for being right off the shore - if I lived there, I'd spend two or three days a week there for sure...

last was cozumel, which my wife waited too long to make arrangements, so we did the cruise ship thing... this felt a little clumsy this time, they had to shuttle us by taxi a little ways, but all in all not a horrible experience - picked us up right at the dock stores after 3 hours of sightseeing, then dropped us off with enough time to spare to get back on the ship comfortably...

[NeurosurgeryNP]

I have dived with cruise ship excursions and had no problems. I do not have my own BC, Regs, etc - do have my own persnal equipment, and this definitely makes it easier in terms of lugging things around. I will be diving again on a short cruise we are going to in Grand Turk and apparently the dive operator for the ship is pretty decent from what we have heard.

[Duckydiver]

I have cruised many times and have done about 3 or 4 dive excursions. Almost all of them have been excilent. The last one that stands out is two weeks ago we were on Princes CL in Cozumel. We did a 3 tank drift dive as a excursion. The dive boat was not crowded, 7 divers, 4 staff. That opperation was called Dive House, I beleve. Also almost all of the cruise assosiated dive excursions have have snacks and drinks on board.

As far as the cruise, if you bring your own gear, a balcony would very beificial. for letting it dry after you wash it.

Hope that helps