Hi and Cruise Ship diving excursions

[Crewseer]

Hi All
Just day dreaming about diving and happened across this forum. Maybe something informative, or just good conversation about diving and equipment will enlighten me.

I do have a question regarding cruise ship excursion diving. Has anyone had any experience to follow with advice?

Crewseer

[Kokomo]

Just got back from a cruise but we didn't dive...we snorkeled. Many people in a small area. We overheard some people talking that did a dive and they sounded like they had a really good time.

[Charles R]

Are you talking about a live aboard "cruise just to Dive
" or a regular cruise that goes to several islands and you hop off and do what you want and hop back on to the next island?

"FYI I moved this thread to trips and travel you might get more responses in here"

[Zenagirl]

We took a Celebrity cruise a few years ago and dived at 3 of the stops. One thing we found that was for us cruising and diving doesn't match well. Our balcony was covered in wet dive gear and we thought it was a pain in the neck to drag our gear on and off at the ports.

If you have any specific questions, please ask, I might have an answer.

The next year we did a liveaboard trip in Belize and fell in love with that type of "cruising". We spent 2 weeks on a liveaboard last summer in the Bahamas and couldn't have asked for a better trip.

[johnyringo]

I've done the dive thing on a cruise, It is a pain in the...it's really hectic dragging your gear around, matching the ships schedule with the dive op. and etc. I doubt I'd do a cruise again for diving, mainly because the cruise ship scene, personally, isn't my thing. Hey, I don't like Vegas either and find the two very similar. That being said there are dive ops that cater to cruise ships, though they are pricey. What I did was call the dive ops in the 3 ports we were stopping in and set my dives up myself, at quite a savings over what the ship charges. We went to Roatan, Grand Cayman and Belize. If you happen to be doing that cruise you can PM me and I'd be happy to share any info. I have that may be helpful.

[georoc01]

I did this last year on a Western Caribbean cruise. I was introduced to diving on a cruise prior, attempted to get certified on a cruise ship(weather didn't cooperate), and have done diving excursions.

Anything in particular you want to know? Some ports make it fairly easy to do your own thing, others (Belize comes to mind), you are better off booking the excursion with the ship.

There is a diving section on cruisecritic.com which has lots of info on this topic too.

[WV Diver]

Originally Posted by Zenagirl

We took a Celebrity cruise a few years ago and dived at 3 of the stops. One thing we found that was for us cruising and diving doesn't match well. Our balcony was covered in wet dive gear and we thought it was a pain in the neck to drag our gear on and off at the ports.

If you have any specific questions, please ask, I might have an answer.

The next year we did a liveaboard trip in Belize and fell in love with that type of "cruising". We spent 2 weeks on a liveaboard last summer in the Bahamas and couldn't have asked for a better trip.

Originally Posted by johnyringo

I've done the dive thing on a cruise, It is a pain in the...it's really hectic dragging your gear around, matching the ships schedule with the dive op. and etc. I doubt I'd do a cruise again for diving, mainly because the cruise ship scene, personally, isn't my thing. Hey, I don't like Vegas either and find the two very similar. That being said there are dive ops that cater to cruise ships, though they are pricey. What I did was call the dive ops in the 3 ports we were stopping in and set my dives up myself, at quite a savings over what the ship charges. We went to Roatan, Grand Cayman and Belize. If you happen to be doing that cruise you can PM me and I'd be happy to share any info. I have that may be helpful.

I just got back from a cruise where I did a snorkeling trip with the wife. I have to echo similar concerns as Zena and Johny.

Just the snorkeling gear was hard to travel with, especially if you had time to look in the shops and had to shuttle to and from the boat as we did. I'm glad I wasn't dragging all the dive gear around.

We were in Coz and Grand Cayman and the time you spend in a port (6-8hours) could make a two tank dive charter tough scheduling. There are excursions that can be booked with the cruise line. But I have never used them.

I get the Vegas feeling concept also. We didn't dive because we were spending our time with our moms. But I'm not sure that cruising and diving really mix well. I think we have decided to stick with dive vacations for a while and save the cruising for our retirement.

[CaptainRon]

When I go on a cruise, I dive in only one port, usually Cozumel since I have been there several times already. I don't use the ship's excursion. Instead, I make prior arrangements with someone based on recommendations from others. I think it makes for a better dive with a smaller group and definitely cheaper than what the ship charges.

[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.

[scubasamurai]

did a dive with the shore excursions on the disney cruise and really had no problem. i didn't bring my own gear and it wasn't a big deal. had plently of time to get back to the boat and even shop. 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