Scuba Cert. off of cruise liner

[Docker]

I just booked a Cruise on Royal Caribbean. Going to get certified but dont know if it makes a differance to do PADI or SDI. both are givin in my town.
any insight would be greatly appeciated. thank you.

 

[mselenaous]

:wavey:
Hey Docker,
Welcome to Scubaboard.

The more you read here on ScubaBoard, the more you will find out that it's not about the agency (PADI or SDI) but about the quality and experience of the instructor.

You live in FL where you can't throw a stick without hitting an scuba instructor. Here is a good thread on finding excellent instruction:
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ne...ng/287780-how-find-excellent-scuba-class.html

This forum has loads of helpful information to consider: New Divers and Those Considering Diving

And finally, I recommend you read this:
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ad...opulsion-trim-buoyancy-class.html#post6815957

Not all instructors teach the same way, even for the same agencies. Agency standards are minimums. A good instructor will work hard to produce a good diver above and beyond those minimums.

Good luck on your certification course. Once you are certified, do check out the Florida Forum to meet lots of local dive buddies and ScubaBoard events.

If you are ever in the Keys, let me know!

 

[toddthecat]

This has been discussed a trillion times here. Long story short, if you plan on continuing your education back home with a local dive shop then my suggestion is to go in and talk to the instructors before you leave. The agency is only a part of the whole thing. A good instructor is going to be what makes the most difference. Each agency has minimum standards. You want to find the instructor who you like that is also knowledgeable. Cruise your local dive shops and see if you can find one you like, then select that agency's certification on the boat. Unfortunately you won't have the opportunity to meet your instructor before the cruise and have a nice long talk with them.

I'm not going to suggest one agency over the other, simply one instructor over the other. If you don't plan on doing anything past your initial certification then it doesn't matter too much as both cards are recognized around the world. PADI has an e-Learning option you can do before you go so you can knock out coursework before you leave. Not sure if SSI has that yet or not...

 

[flots am]

I just booked a Cruise on Royal Caribbean. Going to get certified but dont know if it makes a differance to do PADI or SDI. both are givin in my town.
any insight would be greatly appeciated. thank you.

If you're talking about getting certified on the cruise you won't have a choice. The cruise line uses whoever it is that they use.

If you're getting certified before the cruise, you can use this to find a good class.

flots.

 

[iluvtheocean]

also if doing ON the cruise - then won't get the greatest instruction anyways due to time constraints.. certify before the cruise. depending on where in florida you are, you can get get good recommendations on specific shops/instructors on the board. me be able to do all the instruction before hand and do the checkout dives on the cruise as an option.

 

[uncfnp]

What part of Florida are you looking at?

 

[Docker]

thanks for the resposes, I am going to do the classes and some more dives here in the gulf and Fla springs before I go, I've asked around and and the intructor that seems to be the most recomended, teaches SDI so I want to go with him. Just didnt know if the cruise line had a preferance in what cert. a person has.

---------- Post added July 16th, 2013 at 02:16 PM ----------

I'm in Crystal River. about an our and half north of Tampa.

 

[flots am]

Just didnt know if the cruise line had a preferance in what cert. a person has.

They absolutely don't care.

If you have a c-card that looks even remotely legitimate and can show a logged dive within the last year, they'll take you.

flots