Cruise Ship Divers

[LowVizWiz]

Does anyone have any experience with taking a group dive from a cruise ship that docks at 8am? Any tips or suggestions?

The stop in St. Thomas a couple of weeks ago was 8 AM to 3:30 PM. I was off the ship by 8:15, on board the dive boat by 8:45 and back in time for lunch!

It's been a long time since I dove Key West, but Capt's Corner used to have daily trips departing at 9:30 AM.
Also, depending on the day of the week and the number of people in your group other ops could provide you with a charter departure that fits your needs.

Finally, be aware that a lot of the morning trips in Key West are to the wreck of the Vandenberg and given your experience may not be the best choice.

Call them up and see what they say.

 

[Adam Grose]

I am SO gonna steal that line from you!!!

we do the same...

i am not a cruise ship diver i am a diver that cruises.....

 

[jimw]

I just saw a 10 day Holland America cruise to Bonaire, Aruba, Curacao, plus more for $399. leaving Ft Liquordale Nov 24th. It IS tempting, but we've been on 2 in recent weeks...........saw it on Discount Cruises, Last Minute Cruises, Cruise, Cruise Line, Cruise Vacation

 

[buck3647]

http://youtu.be/dmslN9LPOic December 4, 2014 we took the Nordam out of Ft Lauderdale to St Thomas, St Lucia, St Martin, Barbados, St Kitts and Martinique we spotted Pink Sea Horses at St Lucia
Will be seeking a new cruise dive for Feb or March seeking warm waters

 

[patrickusaf08]

I have had the same thing happen to me using RCI for dive excursions. Cancelled due to lack of participation so now I book through private groups and go diving.

 

[cbm32]

I am leaving on Dec 22nd for 11 days on the Norwegian Jewel. Planning on diving at least St Kitts, St Lucia, and Curacao. Anyone else happen to be on this cruise???

Or does anyone have suggestions of who to use as a dive op in those ports?

 

[buck3647]

We just came back from 11 DAyer on Noordam we used Dive Fair Helen at St Lucia and Dive St Kitts both picked us up at the port Curacao is different. As I remember here you hire a guide to do a shore dive or is that Aruba? Never mind the islands start blending together My wife is the dive log guru ck us out at PortaBote, Sun-Mar composting toilets Stay Wet

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[Milly]

i completely agree with you. i take my gear on all cruises and get off and dive in every port. it's a bit of a hassle as i'm alone and never seem to be able to connect with other divers on the same trip before hand.

my next sailing is 13 day carnival Sunshine, 21 february 20-sixteen. dominica, barbados, martinique, san maarten, , trinidad-tobago, st kitts, st thomas and grenada. some places i've never dived.

do you usually dive with the ship excursion? or do you go your own way?

 

[cbm32]

I ended up diving St Kitts, St Lucia, and Aruba.

I wasn't impressed at all with any of the diving, but the process of diving from a cruise ship was relatively painless.

I booked with shops independent of the cruise ship excursions. That saves a good bit of money, but I still found two of the three stops to be more expensive than I am used to paying for a two tank dive.

I think it would have been a bit more enjoyable if I had been with some other folks from the ship to dive each stop together, but I will probably try it again. I think it is a decent way of experiencing a snapshot of multiple dive destinations without spending a fortune on getting from island to island and dealing with catching planes and checking bags multiple times. If I find a destination that the diving really sticks out I can then go back and spend more time there doing land based diving.

I have some thoughts on how to make this more enjoyable and affordable. I will be exploring those and if they pan out I will post back here.

 

[Milly]

"St Kitts, St Lucia, and Aruba. I wasn't impressed at all with any of the diving."

can you be more specific? what was it in particular that you didn't like about these three (six?) dives??