Royal Caribbean Cruise Diving??

[kjunheart]

Hi everyone! Happy Valentine's Day!

I am looking for advice/opinions. I am taking my father, who is a non-diver, on a cruise with (Royal Caribbean) the week of March 9th. The cruise is going to Labadee, Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman & Cozumel. While I probably won't bother diving the first two because I have heard it isn't worth it, I definitely want to dive Grand Cayman & Cozumel. I have my AOW & Nitrox certifications but am still a very new diver (only 20 dives so far - all dives 50-90 feet here in Florida). Would you recommend sticking with the cruise line "shore excursions" or do you think I should find a local dive operator? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

 

[Natasha]

Hi!

#1 When I was on a Royal Caribbean cruise I dove with the operator the ship picked.
I had no problems, and enjoyed that the instructor from the ship also went along.
The price may be a tad more then you could find on your own.
It sounds like you don't have a buddy.
If this is true, you can tell them at the shore excursion desk when you sign up for your dives, and they can have a divemaster buddy for you, that you can pay, before you get there.
Unless you want them to try to pair you up.


#2 If you do want to set your dives up by yourself this can also be done without too much trouble. You just must make sure the dive op knows you're from the ship, and can guarentee you they will return you in time.

Or step 3# ..
You can shore dive in both Cayman and Cozumel, and set this up yourself, which should guarentee you will make the ship.


PS. If you miss the ship, get your camera out. You'll get a great shot as they sail away.

 

[richhagelin]

I've done it both ways (with the ship's operater and setting up my own). For a relatively new diver like you , think the advantages of booking it through the ship outweigh the advantages of booking it yourself.

Advantages of booking through the ship: you will not miss the ship when it sails (no matter what the indepdndent operator may tell you, he/she has no control over the ship's schedule while the ship-sponsored operation does); If the ship doesn't get into port or its too rough for the tenders, you get your money back; possibility of meeting some people on the ship who are divers also; dive experience will probably (for a relatively new diver) be as good as the independent operator.

In my mind, the most significant advantage of using the ship's operator is not having to worry about getting back in time (my wife likes it even more than I do since she is the non-diver waiting for me to get back to the ship at the end of the dive)

Rich

 

[Irishdiver]

Hi Kjunheart - good choice of cruise line!

My girlfriend and I dived Cozumel on a Royal Caribbean cruise three years ago. We booked the dives through the dive shop on board, as I think most people did. It was just a one-day stop-off, though we had time for sight-seeing as well as diving.

Unlike Natasha, I can't say that the ship's instructor came along but we had no problems and would probably recommend doing it this way. At least you will always have a come-back through the cruise line if there is a problem or you are unsatisfied with the dive operator. And, as the other posters say, you won't spend your dive worrying that you will get back to port just in time to see the ship disappear over the horizon.

Our first dive was a reef dive - brilliant stuff with fantastic swim-throughs - but the second dive was much flatter, slightly disappointing, and a little rushed. The maximum depth was probably around 30 metres, so shouldn't be a problem for you. We'd probably give the operator seven out of ten. Sorry, can't remember their names at this stage.

As for the others, we only put into Grand Cayman to off load a medical casualty (head injury on the ship's ice rink) but we snorkelled the reefs off Labadee (fantastic!) and spent our day on shore in Ocho Rios on a tour. If you and your father are interested, ask for Stanley Winter at the taxi rank just outside passport control - 'The only wintah in Jamaicah!' as he likes to tell the tourists - we found him to be a font of local knowledge. Great source of info on local bird and plant life. Air conditioned bus and price was very reasonable too (we paired with another couple to share the cost). But beware: you'll be introduced to his uncles, aunts, sisters, and cousins who are selling souvenirs during the trip! And at the end of the tour, you'll be brought to a bar owned by another relative for a bottle of Red Stripe to slake your thirst. Not bad at all (remember to buy Stanley one too!)

We did the climbing up the waterfall thing, too, (I think that was outside Ocho Rios) and I'm afraid we still have the video to prove it. But it was good fun and well worth the cost.

That cruise was one of the best holidays we've had and we've been threatening ever since to go back for more. Enjoy. And don't eat too much, or the dive operator won't have a wet suit to fit! ut:

 

[astrl]

I am taking a RC cruise at the end of March to Key West, Cozumel and Belize City. Can't wait! I've scheduled the cruise line dives in each port just to save me the trouble of arranging my own. I would hate to get left by the boat...

I'm taking my own equipment... not b/c of the price but b/c I like mine better!

Hope you have a good trip!

astrl

 

[Tanstaafl]

We took a Nassau/Key West cruise two years ago and I did one of each. There was not a lot of difference from my point of view. Have fun.

 

[kjunheart]

Thank you everyone for your input. I think I will stick with the cruise dive operator in Cozumel. Not sure about Grand Cayman. I was PM'd by an operator there and might check it out.

Astrl, have a great time on your cruise and let me know how it went!

 

[Tractor Tom]

When we were cruising last month in the Southern Caribbean. I scheduled the first island dive (St. Maarten, Celebrity Summit was the ship) with the ship and at 4:00 the day before we docked, the tours desk called me and told me the dive was cancled because I was the only diver who signed up. So I called the dive shop from the ship (BOY was that expensive) and told them I was coming anyway. About that time, the tour desk called me back and told me the dive was back on, as they found two other divers (ships crew) who wanted to go. As it turned out, they had processed a credit for the cost of the dive and it worked out to a little more than the cost of the call to the dive shop. Anyway, of the six dives on the three islands I dove, I liked that dive operator the LEAST. It wasn't their boat, or their equipment was any different, it was kind of an "attitude" thing that I didn' t much care for.

The other two islands, Barbados and St. Thomas, I set up dives with shops there that were well reviewed on Rodales web site. I enjoyed them both a great deal.

St. Thomas was the best, and I had been warned away from the Celebrity sponsored dive operator there. I watched about 50 people climb onto a huge pontoon boat at the pier for their dive trip, as the 25' dive boat I was meeting orbited off shore a bit, waiting their chance to come and pick me up. I talked to a couple who took the ship sponsored dive, and they said they did two dives in 25' of water, about 25 minutes each. We had much better diving than that, and made a wreck dive on the navy barges for the first dive. St. Thomas was my favorite dives of the trip, and again, it was an 'attitude' thing with Aitch and the crew at Blue Island Divers.

Good luck with your dives. Remember that any day diving (especially in warm water) is a GOOD day...

 

[Ariestravelr]

Hello, I am new to these boards but have been a diver for two years now.. AOW/Nitrox. My husband and I love to cruise and we also love to dive. We cruise with Royal Caribbean every year- sometimes 3 a year. We always try to fit in a dive or two. The western caribbean itinerary is great. The Voyager class ships have a refresher diving and even the resort courses so new comers to diving will be able to dive. We have dove with Eagle Ray Divers in Cozumel. They have their own website. We decided to find a smaller dive operator and found them to be a delite! We contacted ERD and sent in the proper info prior to our cruise and kept in contact through E-mails. Their boats are small - we didn't care we only had 4 divers! That was our first drift dive and our DM (Arturo) was very safety conscious. It was fun diving with him- he was a marine biologist. The diving was not rushed and we all took our time. Check our their website. That was 2 great dives.. Palancar Reef and Santa Rosa Wall.