Bringing Dive Equipment on Cruise Ship

[Wendy]

When I went on Royal Caribbean this past November I checked 2 bags, one full of clothes, the other full of dive gear. I had my canister light in my carry on, no problem there, they pulled me to the side, i told him what it was, he said it looked like a bomb, they let me go thru.

I was traveling alone, but my 2 friends traveling together, checked their clothes, and one of them carried on all the dive gear for both of them located in one huge bag, since it was 2 of them the other one could carry on the normal carry on stuff.

The rooms on RC weren't all that small I didn't think, but this was my first cruise and I didn't have a problem with space in my cabin.

 

[smw]

They won't stow your bag out side of your cabin. However, I found plenty of room for my gear, etc. on Norwegian over Xmas. I, too, just threw all my gear in the shower and rinsed it, then draped it over everything to dry after an initial "drip" in the shower. I completely forgot that my dive knife was in my BC pocket. No one said a thing about it - even as we came on and off ship for diving. (My dive knife isn't pointed in the end.) The only problem I've had diving from cruise ships is the short amount of time in port. If you dive on the ship excursions it is $$, but you don't have to worry about the ship leaving without you.

Have a great trip!
SMW

 

[scubaranger]

I'll be going on a cruise on may 22 I've gone to many cruise but this will be my first that I dive. last year I went to Dominican Republic by plane. I totally forgot that I left my dive knife in my BC pocket. I didn't have a problem with that they didn't notice that but they notice the soft weights for my integrated BC( I"M a new diver so I was worried about not diving due to I didn't have or it would not be provided for me soft weight. live and learn)well all that lead triggered a check with some special paper.
next time I travel and dive I'm leaving my dive knife and the weights. I'll just use hard weight provided by the dive shop.

 

[CuriousMe]

When I fly to my contracts or on vessel transfer, I always put my regs (including comp), camera in it's housing (minus the o-ring) and dive lights (fragile and heavy) in my carry on. My BC, mask and fins (and assorted other bits and bobs, all come out of my mesh knapsack that I use to tote it around and it all gets mixed up in my two suitcases. The mesh knapsack gets tossed into the bag as well, so I can tote my gear to the dive boat

I don't bring my knives on the ship at all anymore. Even knowing the Chief Security and working it out with him so that I could go on and off with the knife....there was always a new guard that had signed on or something to the effect and I was holding up the line going on or off (they search crew members leaving the ship as well as coming back on) while they figured out if I could take the knife with me or not. So, now I just use snips. Entanglement isn't generally an issue, but I figure the snips would help me out on the off chance.

Peace,
Cathie

 

[Paul556]

I am going on a cuise with Carinval in August. In the list I got from them they said no tanks. Does anyone know if that rule would apply to a pony bottle too? Also, what is the problem with tanks? Are they just worried that it may not contain air, or do they not like the size of the tanks?

 

[DWJ]

I am going on a cuise with Carinval in August. In the list I got from them they said no tanks. Does anyone know if that rule would apply to a pony bottle too? Also, what is the problem with tanks? Are they just worried that it may not contain air, or do they not like the size of the tanks?

Yes, any bottle that contains compressed gas would be included in the prohabition. You should'nt need a pony anyway. If your using the cruise ships excursions then they are going to take you to pretty tame locations.

I did a disney cruise in Feb. The dive knife was ok but they did (the cruise line) take my latherman multi-tool out of my dive bag. Gave it back at the end. Actually I forgot I had it with me.

Dave

 

[Martini]

I was on the GRand Princess about three weeks ago. I dove in both GRand Caymen and Cozumel. My wife and I flew to Ft. Lauderdale. We checked our bc's, fins, and wetsuits. We carried on Camera's and regulators without a problem. I checked out the rental gear while on board. We cruise alot and I was thinking of renting bc's the next time and they have Scubra Pro rentlal gear that was in good condition. Have fun on the ship and diving.

 

[Furner]

How were the Caymen and Cosumel dives? What ones did you do? I am doing the Coral Princess Panama cruise in December, and I am hoping to do 1 or 2 dives.

 

[bryan.mallin]

My wife and I went on a Carnival Cruise on March. We reluctantly checked in 2 bags with computers, BC's and regulators. STUPIDLY, I forgot that I had put a good amount of cash in one of the bags. Everything made it safely to the room, although it was waiting in the hallway for us to get there.
Don't know much about the knife issue. I had a pocket knife with me that I gave up the first day. They returned it on the last day.
I carried my digital camera with no problems.
Also, our room was small, but our two rolling dive bags, two suitcases, small carryon and backpack fit comfortably. Like FLL Diver, we rinsed/dried everything in the shower.

 

[razor]

Good news first

I went with Celebrity and had no problem with equipment and I even accidently brought my dive knife in my luggage. They did not catch me but they did say they would confiscate any knives when boarding and hand them out when you go on the excursion. Dive equipment for two people did make the room very crowded.

Diving in Jamaica was OK, vis was great but no fish.
Diving in Grand Caymen was the best dive I have ever been on. Ask to dive the Oro Verde shipwreck.
Diving in Coz Mexico Palancar was awesome.
Diving in Keywest sucked bigtime! The cruise ship picked the west dive shop I have ever seen. They lumped us in with snorkelers and we dove a beat up reef with a max depth of 26 feet. There was an algae bloom and viz was around 30ft. The dive crew sucked. The reef sucked. The viz sucked. All in all the worst dive I have ever been on