Mercracing
Registered
Feb ‘24 I think we’re diving at Routan and Cozumel off the Sky Princess.
What's you next cruise?
- Thread starter Clemson
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We did an 11 nighter last spring in the southern Caribbean ...7 islands (not the ABCs, I dived 5 of them. Then we went to the ABC in Dec, I dived all three. I then dived in Costa Maya, Cozumel and Roatan in Feb.
Our next booked cruise is an 11 nighter to the Panama Canal then to the ABCs next January. I dived the ABCs three times maybe just one, maybe two this time. I promised my wife (who's pretty much a dive widow on cruises) that I would do something with her on at least one of the islands. That cruise was booked a while ago before cruises prices jumped. Don't have anything else booked this year or any more next year.
Our next booked cruise is an 11 nighter to the Panama Canal then to the ABCs next January. I dived the ABCs three times maybe just one, maybe two this time. I promised my wife (who's pretty much a dive widow on cruises) that I would do something with her on at least one of the islands. That cruise was booked a while ago before cruises prices jumped. Don't have anything else booked this year or any more next year.
BigDaddyGlad
Contributor
Heh... "dive widow on cruises" is a fantastic term. My wife has been very vocal about that, so the last cruise we did -- 10 Night Ultimate Southern Caribbean to St. Martin, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Barbados, Antigua -- I promised her I wouldn't dive. I missed out on some great dive spots, I'm sure, but you know what they say:
Happy Wife, Happy Life!
Prices have indeed jumped dramatically. I don't have anything booked for 2024, and I don't suspect we'll be cruising next year unless things come down quite a bit.
Since cruises are the only time I dive I have to be selective. Most of the time, we've been to the islands before so it's not a big deal with my wife if I dive. We've been to Cozumel/Costa Maya etc. a bunch of times and pretty much done everything there is to do there. We'd not been to those southern islands before and I didn't know if/when we'd be going back. Wife was not thrilled but understood.
The Panama canal is a bucket list cruise and even though it was more expensive we got a lot of perks and on board credit (which is refundable) to make it palatable. And... is likely the only cruise we do next year so I need to dive at least once.
We usually do two cruises a year. One between Thanksgiving and Christmas i.e early December and one in late Jan/early Feb. Those are probably the cheapest times of the year to cruise.
OP
Clemson
Registered
I agree with you! I dove Costa Maya once when my wife wanted to the beach with the rest of our group. I ended up using who Doctor Dive and thought it was great. Healthy reefs and lots of fish. We are going out with Gypsea on upcoming cruise! Glad to hear the feedback on them. It's my wife's birthday that day; so I want it be nice.
Was just in Costa Maya in Feb. The family went to Jaime's Blue Reef resort and I dived with Pepe Dive which is in the same building and next door to Gypsea.
The sea was really rough that day. Pepe's said it was too rough to go out. I walked up and down the street checking with other dive shops and no one was going out. Finally the DM from Pepe's came and found me and said they would take me out if I wanted to risk it. I was the only diver. I'd been trying to dive in CM for a couple years but something always came up so I said yes. It was really rough but the boat crew did a good job and it wasn't near as bad as some dive boats I've been on in other places in calmer seas.
The dive was just me and the DM who was a 25 year old female. Strong current but a great couple of dives.
It did take them awhile to find us when we surfaced in the high seas.
One mistake I made was not having my surface marker bouy with me. The DM had hers but when she was down in the trough of the wave I was on top and could see the boat 100 yards away but they couldn't see me. Two markers would have been better to have. I packed it but forgot to bring it off the cruise ship. I did have a pretty bright flashlight with me that has a strobe function. That might have helped as well but I never thought about it while bobbing up and down in the 10 foot waves.
I'm going on a Royal Caribbean 7-night cruise on Oasis, stopping at Port Canaveral, Cococay, and Nassau. I've booked the 1-tank dive at Cococay, doesn't seem like there's anywhere to dive in Port Canaveral that work's with a cruise (can't drive to Alexander Springs or any of the other places), and our port times don't work with Stuart's Cove in Nassau. I'm looking for 3 more people in Nassau to try and book a charter with SC (I've cross posted on Cruise Critic plus this SB cruise forum).
scubaboard.com
Nassau September 7th - need additional divers
I'm looking for any additional divers interested in diving with Stuart's Cove in Nassau, Bahamas on September 7th. I'll be there with 2 others on a Royal Caribbean cruise. We're in port from 8am - 5pm, which is too late in the morning for SCs 2-tank morning dives and leaves too early for SCs...
No dives through the ship in Nassau?
Nearly impossible to book a private dive in Nassau. I booked my dive through the ship to Stuarts Cove and they had to hold the ship because we were late getting back due to traffic.
Sadly, no diving through the ship. When I looked at SCs website a couple of months ago, they listed cruise lines they partnered with (Royal Caribbean wasn't one of them) and had in all caps what time your cruise ship to be to be in port to dive with them. Now they don't list any mention of cruise ship diving at all.
I had a dive in Nassau booked through Royal Caribbean in October 2021, but that was cancelled by RC about 1 month prior to the cruise. When I asked onboard, I was told that since the restart, none of the cruise operators were able to meet Royal's insurance requirements. I've taken a few cruises since then and booked dives through Royal, but they've always been cancelled by Royal at least a month or two prior to the sailing. Even if I book a cruise through the ship, I always book a back up private op.
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