Looking for a deal on a cruise that offers dive excursion

[kyuthefearless]

I am considering a crusie although I am not a huge fan of cruising. I am thinking one of the advantages is you dont have to worry about loosing the no-fly period. And it can be a fairly cheap way to get to an exotic location. My husband and I are looking to go anytime from Jan-March 09.I would like to leave out of Florida. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[LowVizWiz]

Check out Carnival's Exotic Western Caribbean cruises. It's not the must plush cruise you'll ever take, but it does stop at some really good diving spots (Grand Cayman, Roatan, Belize & Cozumel) and you only have 2 really long sea days as opposed to 3 or more on Eastern Caribbean trips out of FL.

Also, they are really cheap right now... They are hurting!

I would also add that you're probably better off booking your own dive excursion in Grand Cayman & Cozumel and going with the ship's excursion in Belize and Roatan.

Dive safe.

 

[ronbeau]

Check out Carnival's Exotic Western Caribbean cruises. It's not the must plush cruise you'll ever take, but it does stop at some really good diving spots (Grand Cayman, Roatan, Belize & Cozumel) and you only have 2 really long sea days as opposed to 3 or more on Eastern Caribbean trips out of FL.

Also, they are really cheap right now... They are hurting!

I would also add that you're probably better off booking your own dive excursion in Grand Cayman & Cozumel and going with the ship's excursion in Belize and Roatan.

Dive safe.

What dive operators did you use in Grand Cayman and Cozumel?
How did you get from the ship to the dive operator and back to the ship?

The itinerary is shown below. We are looking at possibly going on July 5 though July 12, 2009.

DAY
PORT OF CALL
ARRIVE
DEPART

SUN
MIAMI, FL
4:00 PM

MON
FUN DAY AT SEA

TUE
GRAND CAYMAN, CAYMAN ISLANDS
7:00 AM
4:00 PM

WED
ISLA ROATAN
12:00 PM
7:00 PM

THU
BELIZE
8:00 AM
5:00 PM

FRI
COZUMEL, MEXICO
8:00 AM
5:00 PM

SAT
FUN DAY AT SEA

SUN
MIAMI, FL
8:00 AM
​

 

[Damselfish]

I am considering a crusie although I am not a huge fan of cruising. I am thinking one of the advantages is you dont have to worry about loosing the no-fly period. And it can be a fairly cheap way to get to an exotic location.

I don't think not having to worry about no-fly time is a point in favor of a cruise. You've got a no-fly period no matter how you got to the diving, it's just that on a cruise the ship is probably traveling the last day and you couldn't dive anyway. So it's really just a difference in how you spend your no-fly day. That, and you probably won't get in enough diving on a cruise to have as much of a no-fly period. If you're on land (or a liveaboard!) for the same length of time as the cruise, you will be able to get in a lot more (and usually better) dives than on any cruise. So while it may be a cheap way to get to a variety of places, from a diving viewpoint the average cost per dive is probably going to be pretty high.

So there may be other reasons to take a cruise, but not those.

(Let me guess, your husband wants to cruise and you are trying to find ways to convince yourself? )

 

[kyuthefearless]

You are so wrong!

 

[LowVizWiz]

What dive operators did you use in Grand Cayman and Cozumel?
How did you get from the ship to the dive operator and back to the ship?

The itinerary is shown below. We are looking at possibly going on July 5 though July 12, 2009.

In GC everyone boards a tender that drops you off on the island where you can find a variety of tours right from there. There are a couple of Dive Ops within walking distance from where you're dropped off. While others will pick you up right there and drop you back. Eden Rock rocks!
If you're planning on doing Stingray City, I would suggest to snorkel rather than diving the sand bar.

In Cozumel you are at the pier so you walk off the ship right into port, I used Dive with Martin which happens to be inside the port, a short distance from the ship. This is at International Port. (I think the Valor always docks there) you may be docked at Langosta or Puerta Maya depending on your ship. The difference is how far you have to walk with your gear and not having to leave the port and catch a cab to do your dives.

I imagine it's the same at the other two ports but cannot say for sure. I also imagine there are ops that would pick you up right outside the port but not having to clear security coming back with gear in hand was nice.

There was also plenty of time to check out the town after our 2 morning dives in Cozumel, in GC we didn't have much time after diving to check out the town.

Hope this helps!

Wiz

 

[Web Monkey]

Mod Post

I did a little cleaning and deleted the post from the travel agent, since it wasn't actually a travel agent, but just a click through to other travel sites.

I also whacked a few posts questioning why the link (now deleted) didn't work.

Terry

 

[KBParadiseTravel.com]

EXCUSE ME !! NOT A TRAVEL AGENT, JUST BECAUSE YOU CANT FIND MY WEB SITE.
you didn't look very hard did you.

 

[Web Monkey]

EXCUSE ME !! NOT A TRAVEL AGENT, JUST BECAUSE YOU CANT FIND MY WEB SITE.
you didn't look very hard did you.

Your website still doesn't exist.

KBParadiseTravel.com does an immediate redirect to kbparadisetravel.vacationmedia.net, which is nothing but links to other travel sites and sales pitches on how I can become a travel agent.

Terry

 

[KBParadiseTravel.com]

Terry,
Click on the link that says book travel and you are in the booking engine of KBParadiseTRavel. From here you can book any kind of travel you wish, air, hotel, cruises, rental cars, vacations of any type and style, European, Hawaiian, outdoor adventure travel, deals for group cruises shore excursions, China tours sporting and concert tickets, a Bridal Registry, singles travel, golf vacations, airport parking, trip insurance, passport assistance and so much more. My personal associations with various dive operations and worldwide resorts allows me to book directly for my clients should the request it. There are two sides to our business, that of travel marketing and that of travel booking. We can and do, assist others who want to get in to the travel business with all its perks, and assist our clients in booking their personal and cooperate travel.
Our contact information is on the web site, should you have any questions on how we can assist you.
Bob