Nekton - StCroix - Puerto Rico

[robint]

The battery mount was temporarily fixed with super glue on the Pilot (worked great) and then soldered when I got home. The replacement gear set from Light&Motion arrived today and I will be installing it shortly.

In addition to the rolling bag carry on with all the UW photo equipment, my wife and I carry on a large backpack that contains our notebook computer, regulators, dive computers, and misc computer parts. In addition I carry on a Lowepro Micro Trekker 100 which contains my Canon 50D, EF-S 10-22 lens, EF 24-105L f4 IS, and EF 100-400L. So there's not much room on my lap. I assumed that the stuff in the UW photo gear rolling bag was fairly safe as it's made several overseas trips with no previous issues (even once when I had to check it :shocked2: ).

we travel with our housings in a Pelican case (checked) and the actual camera and camcorder in a smaller camera bag (carryon) and another backpack with regs and laptop (carryon). Between the 2 of us it is still alot of gear but we haven't had too much problems doing it. Now that Ron has moved up to Dslr, with twice as much stuff, it is going to be interesting packing next trip! :shocked2:

glad to hear you got everything fixed!

robin

 

[Onewolf]

Here's a link to the full trip report I posted in the "Caribbean" forum...

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/gr...eport-nekton-pilot-st-croix-april-4-11-a.html

 

[SouthSideScubaSteve]

I also didn't like being anchored off the city every night (govt rule).

Just curious, does having to anchor off of Fredricksted create any issues with getting in more than one dive each morning, or create some other issue??

I'm asking becasue they just added a couple of special St Croix cruises (4 & 6 night) for September and it may be to good an offer for me to resist!!

 

[Shasta_man]

Not sure if this will help or hurt.

It didn't cause any issue with getting the dives because we just moved up and down that same short stretch of coast all week except one day when weather was good enough to get round to the North side. Being used to Pacific Island liveaboards, I like to anchor in different spots at night to get to see different islands and I go diving to get away from the city. The other problem was that I was there on New Years and every day they had an outdoor concert, with full bass, on the waterfront from 9 PM until 3 AM+. No exaggeration. The wall in our room literally was vibrating from the bass until past 3 AM. Every (&%(*% night. That was a bit much even for New Years and made for little sleep.

It's just a question of where I want to spend my 3 grand. I had fun and saw some neat stuff but my money will be better spent elsewhere next time.

 

[SouthSideScubaSteve]

.... every day they had an outdoor concert, with full bass, on the waterfront from 9 PM until 3 AM+. No exaggeration. The wall in our room literally was vibrating from the bass until past 3 AM.

Shasta - thanks for the repsonse; of course, it raised a couple more questions... If you don't mind:

1) do they dock each night, our just pull into the harbor close enough that noise was an issue?

2) on the day they "dock" in Frederiksted, is that for the whole day or just part of it (i.e. morning or afternoon)?

I'm guess I'm trying to gauge how much diving in could get in on the new 6-day itinerary ...

Thanks again!!

 

[Brodydog]

2) on the day they "dock" in Frederiksted, is that for the whole day or just part of it (i.e. morning or afternoon)?

I was wondering the same thing. We just booked the 6 day trip South Side. Maybe we'll see you there.

And can anyone tell me if if they will let you dive the entire day on the last day of diving. With Explorer Ventures they only allow 2 morning dives on the last day of diving. I'm trying to figure out when to book my outgoing flight.

 

[cappyjon431]

I was wondering the same thing. We just booked the 6 day trip South Side. Maybe we'll see you there.

And can anyone tell me if if they will let you dive the entire day on the last day of diving. With Explorer Ventures they only allow 2 morning dives on the last day of diving. I'm trying to figure out when to book my outgoing flight.

I have not worked on the boat in five years (and have never done the St. Croix itinerary), but company policy used to be "an observed 24 hour rule." Essentially that meant that the dive deck was open all the way through the night dive on the last dive day for those who were not flying out the day everyone disembarks.

You might consider calling Nekton's office (ask for Kat or Karen, 1-800-UW WORLD) and see if that policy is still in effect.

 

[Brodydog]

Thanks Cappyjon. I will call and ask for Karen or Kat. Karen is the one I booked the trip with and she seemed very informative. But the person I originally spoke to and directed all my question to did not seem as sure of her answers.

I saw on a different thread that you had recommended cabins 10, 14, and 15 on the Pilot. Do you know if the cabins are numbered and set up the same way on the Rorqual? I asked for a lower center cabin when I booked. Both boats look to have the same set up on the website, but the cabins are not numbered. We are a married couple traveling so would prefer a queen instead of two singles.

 

[5166narda]

We did the St Croix trip in May and they said we could dive all day on the last day of diving. While they said we could, the dive deck was cleared and closed well before we did our last dive. (No rinse buckets, made us feel quite unwelcome for the last dive as they were attempting to close up). Just be persisentent and you can dive.

 

[cappyjon431]

Thanks Cappyjon. I will call and ask for Karen or Kat. Karen is the one I booked the trip with and she seemed very informative. But the person I originally spoke to and directed all my question to did not seem as sure of her answers.

I saw on a different thread that you had recommended cabins 10, 14, and 15 on the Pilot. Do you know if the cabins are numbered and set up the same way on the Rorqual? I asked for a lower center cabin when I booked. Both boats look to have the same set up on the website, but the cabins are not numbered. We are a married couple traveling so would prefer a queen instead of two singles.

I don't remember the cabin number layout on the Rorqual (I lived on the Pilot for more than eight years, but only did one or two charters on the Rorqual), but as long as you pick lower center cabins, you should be OK. With very few exceptions, the large majority of the cabins are designed to be set up with either single OR queensize beds.