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My buddy, our wives and myself just returned from a Princess Cruise that went to Puerto
Rico, St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Grenada, Bonaire and Aruba.
First, let me say that the new 50-pound JetBlue baggage limit is a real PIA. I could have checked two bags with 100Lbs of stuff for free, but because I only brought one bag, which weighed 55 Lbs, and they hit me with a $20 charge.
The ship left from Puerto Rico, where we only had an overnight, so we didn't get to check out much of anything. We stayed at the Comfort Inn, which is a little worn, but was comfortable and the room was pretty clean (no bugs, but if I dropped food on the floor, the 3-second rule would definitely not apply). I’d stay there again for an overnight, and at $100/night compared to almost $400/night for the places on the beach, is a real bargain for the area.
St. Thomas is as beautiful as ever, however we didn’t do any diving and did some shopping with the wives (jewelry is apparently big-business there).
St. Kitts is beautiful, but again, we didn’t do any diving and took a ride around the island on a train previously used for sugar cane. They’re really trying to build their tourist business since the EU cut the sugar-cane subsidy.
I would have loved to dive in both locations, but it's good to have a happy wife, and an ignored wife is not a happy wife.
Now to the diving!
Grenada:
My buddy and I booked though the ship on Grenada, which turned out to be crappy diving and great training. I really enjoyed it, although I suspect I was in the minority.
Previously I had only booked through the ship when there wasn’t enough time in port to go on my own. I will probably now change that to “Never book through the ship”
The anonymous “New Waves” dive-op (no idea who it actually was) picked us up at the ship with a small boat, which had bench seats for somewhere around 16 people, and took us around the bay to a dive shop where they handed out weights and rental equipment to those who needed it.
I didn’t count how many divers were on the boat, but given its size, suspect it was at or over it’s maximum carrying capacity. After handing out the equipment, we got back on the boat and took off for the dive site. When we arrived at the site (probably a mile or two from the ship), the DM did a briefing and explained what we “might” see.
To make a long story short, the site is amazingly beat up and couldn’t have been any worse if they dragged an anchor through it twice a day for a month.
There was broken coral everywhere and very few fish, although the DM pointed out several lobsters, which doesn’t really impress me since I can see those at the grocery store. He did wiggle his finger in front of a green eel to get it to come out of its hole. I thought about warning him of the danger of doing this, but didn’t know the sign language for “Hi, my name is “Stumpy” and I’m a dumbass.”
Anyway, about 45 minutes later, we’re all back on the boat. We’re hanging out for the surface interval, and I noticed that the back of the boat was pretty low in the water. A few minutes after that, the DM pulled off an access panel and had his head inside the battery compartment/bilge messing with some wires. A little while later the water was really slopping over the stern and the bottom of the covers on the two outboards were at water-level.
It didn’t actually sink, but for my money, once the engine covers hit the water, it’s close enough.
DM says “Everybody back in the water, we need to lighten the boat”. Everybody does a back-roll. Someone on the boat tossed out a line, which everybody grabbed. DM stayed on the boat trying to fix the bilge pump.
One guy was yelling “I can’t breathe” I yelled back “Switch to your snorkel”, swam over, turned his air on and said “Your air was off, you’re all set now”. He said “The DM turned it on”. I said “apparently not” and “never trust anybody else to turn on your air”. It would be interesting to know if he takes control of his own air in the future.
Another larger boat came by (had previously held the “Discover SCUBA” divers) and we were told to board it. A woman said she couldn’t make it to the new boat so I towed her over. Didn’t even get a “thank-you” from either one.
We boarded the new boat, waited a little while, and were told it was time for the second dive. I decided to invoke my “Try not to be there when something bad happens” rule and thumbed the second dive.
After a while, the boat driver starts picking up divers from all over the area. “Discover SCUBA” and certified divers are popping up in various locations and we’re driving around doing pickups. This takes quite a while, which makes us late to get back to the ship. The “Discover SCUBA” people are coming up and complaining that their ears hurt. Two have nose-bleeds, one sliced up his arm on the coral. I mentioned that if they had learned to clear properly there shouldn’t be any pain, and generally there shouldn’t be any bleeding. Several people said “Really?” Decided to mind my own business.
The “trip leader” got on the radio and calls the bridge on the Cruise Ship to tell them we’re going to be late. There’s a little back-and-forth about how late, and the Trip Leader says “45 minutes”. Long pause and the guy on the bridge says “keep us informed”. No actual confirmation that they would wait.
For some reason, the boat driver motors off towards the dive shop in a different part of the harbor, almost gets there, then turns around and heads for the ship. We dock, everybody gets out, and we pick up our stuff (boat bag, hats/etc.) from the "SS Sinky" at the customs/security/shopping mall building.
One guy is freaking out because he can’t find his “Cozumel” t-shirt and says he’s not leaving until somebody gets him his shirt. Woman from the ship (some sort of officer) explains nicely several times that we don’t have time to send someone to find his shirt. Finally tells him that he can get on the ship if he wants, but that if he doesn’t we’ll leave without him. Guy eventually gets on the ship.
Anyway, I had a great time with a little live DiveCon practice, got to help a couple of people, and had a crappy dive on a dead reef. Buddy didn’t like the dive and didn’t have anybody to help, and didn’t have a good time.
Bonaire:
What can I say? I’m going back for at least a week in March.
It’s absolutely the best tropical diving I’ve seen anywhere, with more different fish that I’ve ever seen. The folks at “Bonaire Dive & Adventure” were wonderful. We did some shore dives that were absolutely amazing. The people in town are really friendly and I was completely crushed to have to leave. However the good news is that I’m going back in a little over a month (need to give a little advance notice at work).
If I could figure out how to make a living, I’d move there.
Aruba:
Hand-fed fruit to some lizards under a tree and did some snorkeling with the wife. She loved both, and I got to do a little relaxing. Nice quiet day.
Now We’re back home. I think I need to go up to the St. Lawrence this weekend and make sure there isn’t any salt left in my gear.
Terry
Rico, St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Grenada, Bonaire and Aruba.
First, let me say that the new 50-pound JetBlue baggage limit is a real PIA. I could have checked two bags with 100Lbs of stuff for free, but because I only brought one bag, which weighed 55 Lbs, and they hit me with a $20 charge.
The ship left from Puerto Rico, where we only had an overnight, so we didn't get to check out much of anything. We stayed at the Comfort Inn, which is a little worn, but was comfortable and the room was pretty clean (no bugs, but if I dropped food on the floor, the 3-second rule would definitely not apply). I’d stay there again for an overnight, and at $100/night compared to almost $400/night for the places on the beach, is a real bargain for the area.
St. Thomas is as beautiful as ever, however we didn’t do any diving and did some shopping with the wives (jewelry is apparently big-business there).
St. Kitts is beautiful, but again, we didn’t do any diving and took a ride around the island on a train previously used for sugar cane. They’re really trying to build their tourist business since the EU cut the sugar-cane subsidy.
I would have loved to dive in both locations, but it's good to have a happy wife, and an ignored wife is not a happy wife.
Now to the diving!
Grenada:
My buddy and I booked though the ship on Grenada, which turned out to be crappy diving and great training. I really enjoyed it, although I suspect I was in the minority.
Previously I had only booked through the ship when there wasn’t enough time in port to go on my own. I will probably now change that to “Never book through the ship”
The anonymous “New Waves” dive-op (no idea who it actually was) picked us up at the ship with a small boat, which had bench seats for somewhere around 16 people, and took us around the bay to a dive shop where they handed out weights and rental equipment to those who needed it.
I didn’t count how many divers were on the boat, but given its size, suspect it was at or over it’s maximum carrying capacity. After handing out the equipment, we got back on the boat and took off for the dive site. When we arrived at the site (probably a mile or two from the ship), the DM did a briefing and explained what we “might” see.
To make a long story short, the site is amazingly beat up and couldn’t have been any worse if they dragged an anchor through it twice a day for a month.
There was broken coral everywhere and very few fish, although the DM pointed out several lobsters, which doesn’t really impress me since I can see those at the grocery store. He did wiggle his finger in front of a green eel to get it to come out of its hole. I thought about warning him of the danger of doing this, but didn’t know the sign language for “Hi, my name is “Stumpy” and I’m a dumbass.”
Anyway, about 45 minutes later, we’re all back on the boat. We’re hanging out for the surface interval, and I noticed that the back of the boat was pretty low in the water. A few minutes after that, the DM pulled off an access panel and had his head inside the battery compartment/bilge messing with some wires. A little while later the water was really slopping over the stern and the bottom of the covers on the two outboards were at water-level.
It didn’t actually sink, but for my money, once the engine covers hit the water, it’s close enough.
DM says “Everybody back in the water, we need to lighten the boat”. Everybody does a back-roll. Someone on the boat tossed out a line, which everybody grabbed. DM stayed on the boat trying to fix the bilge pump.
One guy was yelling “I can’t breathe” I yelled back “Switch to your snorkel”, swam over, turned his air on and said “Your air was off, you’re all set now”. He said “The DM turned it on”. I said “apparently not” and “never trust anybody else to turn on your air”. It would be interesting to know if he takes control of his own air in the future.
Another larger boat came by (had previously held the “Discover SCUBA” divers) and we were told to board it. A woman said she couldn’t make it to the new boat so I towed her over. Didn’t even get a “thank-you” from either one.
We boarded the new boat, waited a little while, and were told it was time for the second dive. I decided to invoke my “Try not to be there when something bad happens” rule and thumbed the second dive.
After a while, the boat driver starts picking up divers from all over the area. “Discover SCUBA” and certified divers are popping up in various locations and we’re driving around doing pickups. This takes quite a while, which makes us late to get back to the ship. The “Discover SCUBA” people are coming up and complaining that their ears hurt. Two have nose-bleeds, one sliced up his arm on the coral. I mentioned that if they had learned to clear properly there shouldn’t be any pain, and generally there shouldn’t be any bleeding. Several people said “Really?” Decided to mind my own business.
The “trip leader” got on the radio and calls the bridge on the Cruise Ship to tell them we’re going to be late. There’s a little back-and-forth about how late, and the Trip Leader says “45 minutes”. Long pause and the guy on the bridge says “keep us informed”. No actual confirmation that they would wait.
For some reason, the boat driver motors off towards the dive shop in a different part of the harbor, almost gets there, then turns around and heads for the ship. We dock, everybody gets out, and we pick up our stuff (boat bag, hats/etc.) from the "SS Sinky" at the customs/security/shopping mall building.
One guy is freaking out because he can’t find his “Cozumel” t-shirt and says he’s not leaving until somebody gets him his shirt. Woman from the ship (some sort of officer) explains nicely several times that we don’t have time to send someone to find his shirt. Finally tells him that he can get on the ship if he wants, but that if he doesn’t we’ll leave without him. Guy eventually gets on the ship.
Anyway, I had a great time with a little live DiveCon practice, got to help a couple of people, and had a crappy dive on a dead reef. Buddy didn’t like the dive and didn’t have anybody to help, and didn’t have a good time.
Bonaire:
What can I say? I’m going back for at least a week in March.
It’s absolutely the best tropical diving I’ve seen anywhere, with more different fish that I’ve ever seen. The folks at “Bonaire Dive & Adventure” were wonderful. We did some shore dives that were absolutely amazing. The people in town are really friendly and I was completely crushed to have to leave. However the good news is that I’m going back in a little over a month (need to give a little advance notice at work).
If I could figure out how to make a living, I’d move there.
Aruba:
Hand-fed fruit to some lizards under a tree and did some snorkeling with the wife. She loved both, and I got to do a little relaxing. Nice quiet day.
Now We’re back home. I think I need to go up to the St. Lawrence this weekend and make sure there isn’t any salt left in my gear.
Terry
