Suggest a cruise please ...

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

From reading you guys it seems like getting off the ship in a timely manner and then getting back on it seems to be a critical issue. How long does it take to get off and how long does it take to get back on? Just curious that if I am expected to be at the dive shop at 8:30 am when should my attempts to get off the ship begin?

 

[luscioman]

You need to pick really where you want to dive Eastern or Western. Based on that you have to pick to go from Tampa (Belize etc..) or to Miami or Ft Lauderdale. I can tell you that I usually do 2 cruises a year and love to dive when I am a cruise. You just have to take time to plan it out. If you dive in Nassau Bahamas the cruise lines are back on with Stuart Cove so you know that will be a great dive. When you do your research and if you dive outside of the cruise be sure to email the dive shop and let them know you are coming in on a cruise ship. They will work with you.

 

[Altamira]

Getting back on the cruise ship on a tendered operation is generally not a problem, as long as you can get back to the tender dock on time to meet the ship's last tender back to the ship. Getting off the ship on a tender operation in a timely manner can be a big problem, if for example your cruise ship is scheduled to dock at 0800 and your independent dive op's boat leaves at 0830. First, the cruise ship gives priorty tendering to their own excursions and their frequent cruisers. Second, sometimes there are tender delays due to getting the tender boats set up, customs issues, or ship crew screw ups. For these reasons, and the fact that the ship's dive ops are very good in GC and Belize, I use the ship's dive excursions at those locations. If docked, and using an independent op, try to be first in line to get off the ship which means you have to go down to the disembarkation door early and wait for the ship to be cleared by customs to start the process. When you choose your cruise line and cruise, call the customer support line and try to find out what is the usual timing for getting off the ship at your various ports. For example, on some cruises, the ship's arrival time is the time they expect to pull up to the dock, with disembarkation time being 25-45 minutes later, and on other cruises, we actually disembarked the ship at or before the scheduled arrival time. Those issues can make a big difference when trying to connect to a dive op that leaves in close proximity to your ship's arrival time. If you book an independent dive op, another big gottcha can be the fact that some (NOT ALL) cruise ships stay on ship's time which is based on the home port time, and is not reset for local time at your ports. More than a few passengers have been left at the dock because the ship's time was not the same as the local time at the port, and the independent local dive ops/excursion vendors use local times. This time difference issue almost bit me in the butt at Roatan several years ago. If you use an independent dive op, make sure you are all on the same page as to when you will arrive and when you need to be back on board. Many on this board are not happy using ship's dive ops because they cost a little more (not always though), are not 6 pack dive boats, and want to dive they way they want to dive instead of diving with a group. The other side of that coin is whether you want to deal with the additional stress of worrying about getting to the dive op in time or losing your pre-paid dive expenses, getting back to the ship on time, and what it is going to cost you to fly your group to the next destination if the ship leaves without you. Final thought, if you decide to use an independent dive op, and the time in port is a little tight, take your passport with you.

 

[diver 85]

CS-e-mail/ or call(would be better) the dive shop you'll be using (way) ahead of time ---ie pay in advance etc etc etc--- & tell them your time needs-they will ALL be aware of your time problem---ie getting back to ship in time to 'set sail', those chopper rides are/get EXPENSIVE.......

2 outta 3 of the shops I used--even though they were ?thousands of miles away had numbers I could easily reach---& talk to someone..Think the only one was the shop in St Lucia but took care of everything( a couple weeks in advance) via the internet.....

 

[robint]

1. Cozumel.... but do NOT used the dive op from your ship. They will have tons of beginners and take you to a mediocre reef so those newbies don't destroy a good reef bouncing around. Dive with Aldora or one of the good independent ops. Diving there will blow you away... reefs and fishlife are incredible any time of year.
2. Roatan.... easy diving, definitely a notch below Cozumel.
3. Belize.... loooog boat rides out from the cruises ships, diving decent.
4. Grand Cayman.... we did 2 dives off a cruise ship in March and used the op from the ship as we came in to port late and no other options. Not bad, but not as good as I hear the diving can be there. It was just okay in our opinion. Worth doing, but don't rate it near the top of any list.

IF you decide to dive from a cruise ship:
Make SURE you are in port early early early! Boats go out early, so to get on a boat with real divers (not newbies) you want to be there early when they go out. Unless you can book a whole boat yourself, like 4-6 divers depending on destination, you need to go at their convenience, not yours.
If you go with the dive op from the ship... be prepared to spend an hour at their dive shop filling out paperwork and waiting for everyone to get fitted for gear (most people rent). Even if you bring your own gear, lots of time standing around before you dive. And don't expect to see the best reefs... they will take you close to dive shop and will limit dive times in order to get everyone back in time (because of so much time waiting at dive shop to start). It can be frustrating.

 

[Arcadie]

Cruise diving isn't bad at all. Many on here claim not to dive with the boat sponsored operators. There are plusses a minuses to this...

Pro's:
- If your late, its up to the cruise to fly you back.
- You know exactly what you are going to get.
- Points spent count towards your card level (if you cruise a lot this can be a great thing.)

Cons:
- They are more streamlined, structured in the experience. little leeway.
- you often dive the exact same spot every cruise (if you go on them more than once from same cruise line/same port).
- They need to make sure you are back at the port at a certain time, if they miss out, they will lose their lucrative deals with the cruise lines so your probably not going to go to that more remote part of the reef.
- They are a tad more pricey because the cruise ship is getting a cut.

The part about cruising with newer divers isn't all that true. While it is true there are a lot of new divers on the cruise , its also true that there are a lot of newer divers staying at the hotels at this location so your really going to be with a mix of people no matter what for the most part. This is more common in vacation spots like cozumel and less so at more dive specific spots like bonaire.

Notes:
Getting off the ship can some times be tough, I have never waited more than 30 minutes, and thats if I am early, an hour after your docked there is no line. Getting back on is much faster generally because people are coming back sporadically, unlike getting off the ship everyone wants off all at once.

Any excursion time is generally 15-30 off from the actual time on purpose, people like to be late/last minute. so if your have to meet at 9:30 on the dock, you wont be actually leaving until 9:45-10. That does not mean take your time if you are late, just don't get too over stressed if your 5/10 minutes late.

Getting back to the ship in most ports is really easy. Generally they give you a half hour from the time you need to be back. So when they say be back on the ship at 4:30 at the latest, if something happens and your not back until 4:55 your ok. 5:05, not so much.

If you are going to have a lot of "at sea" days on your cruise, opt for a larger ship, they have more free things to do. The smaller ones are more limited and by the end we usually end up entertaining ourselves by getting fat and trying to strike it rich in the casino (which as it turns out can make you the opposite of rich).


Also if you cruise out of Florida: Tampa international and Miami international airports are pretty close to the docks. Orlando on the other hand can be a bit of a drive to port canaveral so make sure your flight gets in well before the ship leaves if flying into orlando.

 

[melscocoa]

My main issue I have experienced diving and cruising, is book outside of the cruise ship. I love going on cruises and since my husband doesn't dive, it's the best vacation for the both of us. I have booked dives on cruises that have been canceled as soon as I get on the cruise due to the lack of participants. I found Re-positioning cruises rarely have a large number of divers. (3 to 4 people need to usually book, or the cruise line will cancel the tour)

If you travel on NCL they do a cruise to Bermuda that docks in one port for a couple days. This would give you plenty of time to do several dives and see the Island. I enjoyed my Bermuda dives!

 

[gr8jab]

If you have the means, you could book a small private boat. If you were late tendering, your boat would wait for you.

 

[LowVizWiz]

I have been on dives from a cruise ship using both the ships excursion and booking my own trips in Cozumel, Roatan, Belize, Gran Cayman, St Thomas, Turk and Caicos & The Bahamas. I have also been diving in those same locations on my own and my take is that it really depends on your expectations.

The largest group I have ever encountered from a cruise op was in Roatan, but it was managed very well by AKR. I never felt crowded and they even conducted a buoyancy test on each diver at the dock. Looking back that probably helped them sift those who would be needing lots of help. The dives were not much different than what you would do on a first day at a dive resort.

The worse experience was in Grand Turk. It was a small group from the ship and it felt disorganized from the beginning. Didn't know where to go and when we finally figured it out it was a long walk from the ship to a remote dock carrying my scuba and camera gear. The boat was small but adequate for the size of the group and the dives were much, much better than walking through the local tourist traps.

As someone else mentioned, if you're diving in a tourist location you will be diving with beginners no matter who you go with. If you enjoy diving like I do, the only bad dive is the one you can't complete. So it's all about your expectations.

Pick your ports and ask for recommendations for local ops. then compare. One size doesn't fit all!

 

[DEEPLOU]

Reading thru the posts, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Roatan and Belize have been mentioned often. This is most often the itinerary for the western Caribbean. There may be some deviation based on cruise line and embarking port.
One of the things that people don't think about when comparing ship excursion to private booking is transportation from ship to dive op.
In GC, they pick me up righ across the street from the tender port. In Roatan, in the past used ship excursion, but next week using Barefoot and they say its $20 to them (that comes to $40 round trip ).
Did one in Grand Bahama and it was $40 one way!

Aside from expense, if you do the ship excursion, you meet other divers from all over who are on the ship. Doing privately you barely meet the other divers on the boat.

Bottom line is what do you want.



Doing Carnival Glory next week (Thanksgiving week ) and March 27.

If anyone doing those give me a yell.

deeplou@aol.com