Diving while on a cruise ship

[Kohanbash]

I have been on some ships where Royal Caribbean actually does scuba training in their main pool, which is probably all of 5' deep. I think they were primarily doing the course work for their Discover Scuba excursions offered at several of the ports. But hey, if a person can maintain neutral buoyancy in 5' of water.....!

On most ships I think they do it in the normal pool as you said. On the Oasis class ships they do it in the Aqua Theater which is about 18ft deep max (Depth is adjustable by changing the floor height).

I am half surprised Royal Caribbean has not created a distinctive specialty for Cruise Ship Diving...

 

[NAM001]

Im surprised that this conversation has gone on regarding he literal diving on cruise ships. My sarcastic comment was more referring to the topic should have been diving in cruise ship ports of call.

 

[Diver below 83]

You may also want to check into diving in half moon cay if you are stopping there. On my cruise in oct with Royal on Mariner of the seas we stopped at cococay which is royals private island. They did have diving. I did it, It was a shore dive but they took us out in jet skis from the shore.

In dec I dove in st marteen again with royal while on symphony of the seas but that was a 2 tank boat dive. I leave at the end of this month again with Royal on independence of the seas. This will be my 30th cruise since 2001 with Royal. I’ll be doing the 2 tank drift dive in Cozumel. Every dive experience has been fantastic.

I agree with everyone else that you can for sure get a better price by shopping on your own, but typically the ships excursions guarantee that they won’t leave you behind should something go wrong and you get back late. That’s not going to happen with a outside vendor.

 

[Snoweman]

Others will probably disagree, but I would make the Stingray City dive a must while in GCM. Yes..., you are only down about 12 to 14 feet, but these creatures are so amazing and so very tame. Anything more than a half hour gets a little repetitive, but it is well worth it. I would try to get two morning wall dives in, have lunch, and then do Stingray City. Even the sandbar experience (not diving) is awesome in its own way.

 

[JPipes]

It's inception diving- diving in a pool in a boat in an ocean. It's winter and we are all looking forward to warmer days.

As a note about the dinner- I went with my Dad recently who was on a cruise 25-30 years ago to formal dinner night. Not what he remembered. We played along, mind you we are a couple blue collar guys as well, dressed the part and had a blast. The better half enjoyed dressing up. A scene from the Sopranos did come to mind as there is a wide interpretation of the rules on Carnival.

The timer is ticking until my trip in April on the big boat, GC and Cozumel are booked.

""

 

[lowlysubaruguy]

[QUOTE="Diver below 83.
(You may also want to check into diving in half moon cay if you are stopping there. On my cruise in oct with Royal on Mariner of the seas we stopped at cococay which is royals private island. They did have diving. I did it, It was a shore dive but they took us out in jet skis from the shore.)


Diving at Half Moon Cay wasnt an option. However we did walk as far as one could before snorkeling and it was a good snorkel if you went quite a ways. I think we were snorkeling for over 2 hours. Theres a couple of sunken boats and quite a few small sections of reef on that end. I saw a large grouper heading into one of the sections of the wreck. Could have done one tank at this spot for sure. We actually could have jumped off the boat and snorkeled to shore easier than tendering and walking to where we finally stopped probably would not be allowed.

We dove from Edens Rock in Grand Cayman which was really intersting dive it was very close to the boat dock and I dont know if they billed us wrong but weights and one tank for three was $24 total with a locker great deal. We only did one tank because we wanted to see a little of town but two tanks could be done quickly if you get off the boat ASAP we were being lazy or the word lethargic from all the food is probably more correct.

We also did two tank boat dive arranged by the ship at Cozumel which was really good diving I can forsee us spending a week there. The diving was great but id prefer not to be on a boat with 21 divers trying to get into rental gear. The boat stopped and picked up divers from two other places we were fisrt on last off wasted at least two hours of our limited time doing that and again dealing with that many divers getting into rental gear is another something id pay extra to avoid. So my advice is to book a boat that offers smaller groups. They were available but I didnt pre book any dives because i was sick just prior to making this trip and unsure if Id even be able to dive.

The cruise ship ( Holland Americas newest ship New Amsterdam if it matters) Was really nice its a smaller cruise ship doesnt have that many cool things but it was a good fit for us and probably anyone 50 or older. The food was impressive and the staff treated us like royalty 24/7. Was our first cruise. I asked my wife at the end of the week if she would stay another week if possible and it was without hesitation a yes. Im sure we will do more cruises in the future. I think my next cruise would be the South Pacific and two weeks or more given the amount of at sea days there will be.

 

[lowlysubaruguy]

Now that Im back from my cruise and dealing with snow and cold feet feet. Not cold feet but COLD feet. I can give my views on diving from a cruise ship.

We carried our gear. Three of us.

We dove Cozumel from the shore at Edens Rock just a couple blocks from where the ship docked. We only did one tank dive because our stay was short and we had other things we wanted to do. The dive was good. I think there rates for renting weights tank and a locker was either wrong or very affordable three tanks weights and a locker was $24 I think they missed something so I left a tip to cover it. Nice dive but two dives here was probably not necc. Still a good dive

In Cozumel I booked through the boat to make sure we got picked up and back. I reaffirmed how little I like being on a dive boat with 20 or more divers especially ones with min experience and rental gear. The boat stopped to pick up three other groups of divers we were the first on and last off. Ate up a lot of time that would could have spent doing other things and it was a mess. However we broke up in groups of 5 to 6 with a dive master in each group. The diving was great if not better. I will go back to Cozumel but will book smaller boat dives. What we found when we got off the ship was no less than 4 or 5 dive shops with people at the dock ready to get you on a boat. While booking with the ship came with some guarantees we would make it back in time it was double the cost and I doubt any better than the guys at the port with signs. We missed any opportunities to see Cozumel because of all the time wasted picking up all the passengers from other piers and getting everyone into gear and on a boat instead of before the boat left.

As far as dragging gear for three dives I dont know if it was that big of a deal. It was a pain getting on and off the ship but we never had to drag it that far after doing so. We had our gear any way but it could have been left in Florida at a friends and diving your own gear always is better. If I was 65 I might have preferred to carry a mask and computer and rented gear.

As far as the cruise it was our first cruise. I would have never thought it would have been so enjoyable. Im a rent a house a van or truck and see the sites kind of guy do what ever i want kind of vacationer. But we really had a good time. Were already talking about another cruise. And for a fact I came back to snow and 18 degrees last night. I am suffering from post partem depression. But I should be happy Ive had 4 weeks off in the last two months, Yes my feet are cold but winter will end the sun will come out and soon it will be June here in the NW and ill be happy for a while.

 

[Altamira]

@lowlysubaruguy. After years of carrying my dive gear in mesh backpacks/rolling duffels, etc., off/on the ship at dive ports, I finally wised up and ditched those in favor of wearing the gear. In short: I wear my swimsuit, rash guard, dive socks and boots; thread my wetsuit through the bcd tank straps; clip my fins and mask w/snorkel to the bcd chest rings and wear the bcd off/on the ship. I carry my regs/computers, camera, mask defog, money, CC and ID cards, towel, etc., in a smallish nylon bag that I can hold or throw over a shoulder. I am 73, and find it easier to carry my gear this way, especially on return leg with wet gear, and don't have to deal with a dive bag on the boat. The only problem is dealing with the inevitable question "Been diving, huh?"