Best big cruise ship itineraries for diving?

[The Blue Whale]

I read the last 9 pages of threads and didn't see this discussion, so figured it was time to bring it up.

This is not about a dive live aboards, but a discussion on the huge cruise ships. Let's face it, a good travel value is on a cruise ship. You board the ship, hang up your clothes in the closet, have choices of OK to great food all the while your hotel moves around and you wake up in a new exotic port each day.

I'll be the first to argue that if you are a real dive enthusiast, you'll not chose to be on a ship and able to do two dives per day. When I want to really dive, I like doing 4-6 dives for 5-6 days in a row... and nothing other than a live aboard can offer this much diving.

BUT BUT BUT, what about those families with divers who want to make 6-8 dives in a week and see different islands each day.
What's your favorite cruise itinerary? Eastern Caribbean-Western Caribbean-Bahamas
Are they interesting enough to keep both the divers and non-divers in your family happy?
After we get some discussion going here, I'll share some of my favorites.
Do you feel the cruise lines are not really interested in serving the 'hard core' diver?

 

[treywilly]

I feel what you are talking about, I would love to go on vacation and get my dives in as well as have family fun. The cruises are the only way to enjoy different locations to dive and have lots of things to keep the family occupied while i go and get wet!!! And the fact that you get a taste of different Islands is really nice. I did see a cruise out of PR that hit 7 Islands, but you would have to do so much leg work to hook up with dive operations, or you can always go through the cruise-line and pay out the nose!!! If anyone has dove from cruises, which ones are the best to go on, because I'm interested as well????

 

[Scubagolf]

Hands down, the Paul Gauguin in French Polynesia.

 

[diversteve]

I read the last 9 pages of threads and didn't see this discussion, so figured it was time to bring it up.

there's a forum for that...

Cruises, Liveaboards and Charter Boats - ScubaBoard

 

[Doc]

I read the last 9 pages of threads and didn't see this discussion, so figured it was time to bring it up.

... in a new exotic port each day.... if you are a real dive enthusiast, you'll not chose to be on a ship and able to do two dives per day..... and see different islands each day.... Eastern Caribbean-Western Caribbean-Bahamas ....Do you feel the cruise lines are not really interested in serving the 'hard core' diver?

This, as DiverSteve alludes, has been tossed about once or twice before, but your positioning of the question overlooks the elephant in the living room.

They are extremely interested in attracting "the hard core diver" (or any other group), but they can not.

Cruise ships of the Caribbean do not go to "exotic ports". Real "dive enthusiasts" might indeed just do only two dives in a day, but they're not going to do them in the "exotic ports" that cruise ships frequent... at least not the ones that have port facilities currently to serve them. Quantity is not the actual meter.

Once an island is developed enough to accept a cruise ship, it's scratched off of the exotic list, even by Caribbean 2010 standards... there's very little exotic left, and finding what is attractive diving with the nexus of cruise ship access- it just isn't happening, it can't~ commercial development kaboshes that.

Thus, when a "dive enthusiast" (hard core or not) gets on a cruise ship in the Caribbean, he is either delusional or doing so to assuage his family. It is his family that wants to "see different islands each day", a true dive enthusiast can be thrilled with the same good reef every day for a week.

Dean, you're returning to CoCoView in July and then also to UNEXSO in August. Even though Roatan has already begun suffering the effects of cruise ship visits, it still will give you a great "before and after" comparison.

It isn't "the variety".

 

[The Blue Whale]

RoatanMan, you are correct for sure. I'm sometimes saddened when I visit the islands today and compare them to my dive trips of 40 years ago. My first trip to Anthony's Key was in 1976 and I don't think we saw another dive boat during the entire week. Of course, with our dive shops in Ft. Lauderdale and Pompano, we did many trips over to Freeport and Bimini so we've seen the impact on the popularity of those locations.
My thread, although possibly misplaced, was to get a discussion going on the popular itineraries. I agree that the only way for a real dive experience is going to be either a liveaboard or resort. The cruise ship schedules will never allow for more than a 'taste' of the diving at a port. Plus, the point is that sometimes the ships will dock or tender off an island that is close to fantastic diving but too far to allow divers to experience it. One example is St. Martin where the diving is not so good while just one island over on Saba the diving is exceptional.

 

[TSandM]

I agree with the recommendation for the Paul Gauguin. Although the diving wasn't all fabulous, it was all reasonable and some of it (Rangiroa!) was fantastic. The scenery was gorgeous and the boat itself and the amenities and activities offered ought to keep anybody's family happy.

Of course, there is a downside . . . it's one downright expensive trip.

 

[Doc]

My first trip to Anthony's Key was in 1976...

I hope you took lots of pix. Post them somewhere.

Cruise ship diving in the Caribbean, that's what you were asking? (Hate to pull TS&M and ScubaGolf back from dreamland, but...)

If you could, as a tour operator, arrange to have a premium, turn-key dive experience awaiting a disembarking cruise-ship passenger at every stop in his cruise itinerary, there you would have a marketable commodity.

To know that you could step-off your luxury liner and merely look for "the man with the scuba sign", knowing that the rest of your day would be a catered affair, that would be quite a draw.

Possible problems become apparent immediately.... getting all the pax off and collected in a timely manner would be the first big hurdle, but making sure you had enough minimum sign-ups for your special off-ship tour package to make it worthwhile for your selected charter dive-op. Most of these guys are going to want 6>12 minimum in a group. I'm not talking about mixing in the advanced cruise ship divers in with an existing group. That would just be hurting the dive-op's existing clients, and that would be the mark of a less-than correct partner in such a franchise venture. It would have to be all or nothing.

You would have to enlist just such motivated and reliable dive operators who understood that they were getting paid appropriately for premium service.

And then there's the big item: how to assure the dive operator that the cruise-ship divers you supply in his special charter were "ready to go" and capable of handling these "more desirable" dive sites, versus the simpler dives offered to the common cattle.

Would they have all of their gear? I suppose you could make that a requirement. Would they know dead-nuts exactly how much lead? Really? 45+ minutes can otherwise be wasted by fussing about with that detail alone, not even considering rentals of BC or wetsuit which would make the whole thing a non-starter.

If you sent along on the cruise a company escort DM, that would ease the flow fine, but how is that workable financially?

It's been tried before, and for obvious supply-chain reliability reasons, it has fallen apart every time.

 

[The Blue Whale]

Good questions that challenge all dive operators. Any effort for a 'connoisseur' dive experience would meet tough resistance from the cruise lines. NCL made an effort to promote diving on their cruises and evidently realized that it's not the profit center they first expected.

There's a 14 day itinerary out of Ft Lauderdale that includes; St. Thomas, Antigua, St. Lucia, Barbados, Grenada, Tobago, Aruba, and Curacao. Except for being real close to some known fantastic diving destinations (the part I don't like at all), I'm convinced that there is probably a few good dive operators at each of these ports. Of course, I understand the major concerns that come with pre-arranging 8 different operators (for both the diver and the operator). For some reason, this itinerary seemed interesting when you consider the cruise cost at less than $2000 and eight ports with reasonably good dive sites.

I don't believe the average diver fits the profile of the average cruiser... except maybe when comparing the bar bill.

 

[Tandoorii]

Interesting discussion from the vantage point of a diver (150+) and a cruiser(33). Cruising since 1991 but diving just since 2005, I can say that I've done both sign -up options: Signed up with the ship excursion and arranged ahead with email. All successful and enjoyable. While a liveaboard is great and optimal, I really enjoy coming back to other activities after a 2 tank in the morning. Time for a quick shower (no shave) ship board lunch and off to explore the land portion of the port, or just hit the beach.

No doubt the boat ride to the dive site cant be more too much more than an hour lest the ship goes without you. But a fast boat can get far away from the cruise crowd influence in an hour; not all cruise stops are major tourist stops.

I'm leaving in October for a 7 island cruise out of SJU and will dive 6 of them. Several I've dived before. BTW, I'll be on a liveaboard in two weeks, diving for a week somewhere in January and likely cruising again in February. I get Medicare in October and saw my first seahorse on my first saltwater dive while on a cruise ship.

Dive on...but dont forget to check out the buffet on your way down the gangplank