carnival glory

[metalmat]

hey guys.......... i will be going on a cruise in sept and can dive one day in either st thomas or st maarten unfortunetly the ship docks to late for a two tank in st thomas also my wife wants to try discover scuba on one of the days so i figured i'll do that in thomas dive two tanks in maarten can i get any feedback on the dive ops the cruise uses dive world in thomas dive safaries in maarten

 

[ronbeau]

hey guys.......... i will be going on a cruise in sept and can dive one day in either st Thomas or st maarten unfortunately the ship docks to late for a two tank in st Thomas also my wife wants to try discover scuba on one of the days so i figured I'll do that in Thomas dive two tanks in maarten can i get any feedback on the dive ops the cruise uses dive world in Thomas dive safaris in maarten

If Carnival is taking you to Coki Point in ST. Thomas be aware that this is actual a single tank shore dive where you have to fight your way out through the snorkelers to get to depth.

For the price Carnival charged me for the "Five Star certified 1 tank dive" I could have done a two-tank boat dive.

 

[dolphinfish]

I went on the Glory a couple years ago on the eastern carib. itinerary. Due to when we docked & when we left in Nassau, I found it necessary to book one of the ship's diving shore excursions. It wasn't bad. At the time, we were in St. Thomas all day so I went ahead & did some research & booked my own dive excursion. It was with Blue Island Divers. I was able to set it up via emails a few weeks before we arrived. They came & picked us up right where the ship was docked. We did two very nice dives. It was just our group of 4 & another diver we hooked up with from the cruise. I would highly recommend Blue Island Divers.

I have heard the diving in St. Maarten is not great so we opted to snorkel with some of our non-diving friends while there. Two good beaches to go to for easy, close snorkeling are Dawn Beach (which we went to about 10 years ago) & Little Bay Beach. Based on what I remember of Dawn beach, it was the better site. I've also heard dive/sea conditions can be quite rough at times in St. Maarten.

I think you would save $$ booking your own dive excursions but you are kind of at the mercy of the cruise schedule. You just won't be there at the right time for some of the dive ops.

 

[metalmat]

thanks dolphinfish i think i'm gonna go with blue island. i've been e mailing them back and forth for about a week now. the only problem is that for two tanks , the ship docks at 10 they leave at 9 .
we have a party of 6 going for a wedding I am cert but know one else is 3 of them might want the discover scuba and since one is my wife i may acccompany them and then do 2 tanks in st maarten