Dive Excursions from a Cruise?

[Wick]

My fiance won a 7 day cruise to the Bahamas with ports at Freeport and Nassua (grand prize at a bridal show). I have never considered a cruise before because staying on the islands or live aboard provide alot more diving for a better diving price. Since this is free, I am definitely going, even if the diving is not plentiful.

Questions are:

Have anyone had experience diving from a Cruise excursion?

Is it worth taking a dive excursion ($200 p.p. for 2 tank dive + rentals if I don't want to lug all my gear for 1 day of diving)?

Is it better to just put the money I'd spend on an excursion towards a future trip several months later?

Thanks for your help, Right now I'm on the bubble on what to do

 

[SteveR1952]

Just saw this and thought I would throw in my $.02

I have been on a number of cruises and taken a ton of shore excursions including watersports ones. In my humble opinion...most were far from satisfactory. Most of my watersports activities were done as mass market activities:

*rush you in....rush you through...rush you out of the water and back on the bus.

*Think Cattle Car...many divers on the same boat with a few DMs whos job is to get you in a pack and "herd" you through the dive.

*Dive sites were close in to save boat travel time and fuel costs. Therefore, the sites were over used and of not so great quality.

*Gear condition varies by operator so beware.


Overall it was better than nothing and as long as you understand the dynamics of the shore operation (speed, masses of people, low cost operation, boat schedule, very few repeat customers, etc.) you will know what to expect or what not to expect.

For my money I would just enjoy the cruise and forget about diving unless it is a key part of what you both want to do. I would make a separate trip to do diving there so you can go to the various sites and take your time and enjoy them.

 

[The Chad]

Hey saw your post and based upon my exp. evertime I take a cruise I pretty much pass on any diving the cruise line offers/ their operators. It pays to do your homework and find out what dive shops are in port and who recommends them...SB is a good start. Book your dives outside of the cruise lines, you'll save some cash. have more fun and avoid the stampede...just know your disembark times and dive run times

 

[scubafan99]

Chad, thanks for the opinion, it pretty much matches with others I've been given. Now I need to decide if I should take a cruise or try to get a trade in CZM for my timeshare...

If we cruise, we only get a few chances to dive, maybe if we're lucky a 2 tank in each of 2 ports, with little chance of night diving. BUT, if the weather turns nasty we just give up on the dive vacation & do the "cruise stuff". We also get pretty good food & don't have to worry about the water, fruit, etc.

If we manage to make a trade for a condo in CZM, we get the chance to dive 2-3x a day for the week! YES! BUT, if the weather turns bad, the vacation is shot. Neither of us has much interest in poking around in shops, seeing ruins, etc. The only thing I thought of is I heard of diving in cenotes. Don't know anything about it yet but plan to check into it. As far as food, it's a crapshoot. We'd be having to pay for the all inclusive plan, so we'd eat there. (I hear the food varies a lot)

So, that's where we are. Cruise or Cozumel?

Thanks!

 

[ItsBruce]

I regularly dive while on cruises, especially the west coast of Baja California/Mexico. These are not the caliber of dive I get when I'm on a dive boat in Southern California. Our sites do not get as much traffic as a site in a Mexican resort or, for that matter, in many Hawaiian locations. And, yes, there are more once-a-year divers at the resorts than on SoCal dive boats. And, yes, the dives are a bit pricy. And, yes, the DMs do tend to herd you around. Nonetheless, I like diving while cruising and I like having someone intimately familiar with the site point out the really good stuff that I might otherwise miss and I like the warm water.

Could I save my money and do better dives at home. Probably. But, then I have the good fortune of being in SoCal and having ready access to the kelp forests of Catalina and the Channel Islands.

FWIW: I've got two cruises coming up in the next two months (sometimes life is good) and I'm planning on diving in at least 2 of the ports that each ship goes to. I'm undecided as to one port on one cruise and the third port on one of the cruises has no diving, whatsoever.

 

[scubafan99]

Just saw this and thought I would throw in my $.02

I have been on a number of cruises and taken a ton of shore excursions including watersports ones. In my humble opinion...most were far from satisfactory. Most of my watersports activities were done as mass market activities:

*rush you in....rush you through...rush you out of the water and back on the bus.

*Think Cattle Car...many divers on the same boat with a few DMs whos job is to get you in a pack and "herd" you through the dive.

*Dive sites were close in to save boat travel time and fuel costs. Therefore, the sites were over used and of not so great quality.

*Gear condition varies by operator so beware.


Overall it was better than nothing and as long as you understand the dynamics of the shore operation (speed, masses of people, low cost operation, boat schedule, very few repeat customers, etc.) you will know what to expect or what not to expect.

For my money I would just enjoy the cruise and forget about diving unless it is a key part of what you both want to do. I would make a separate trip to do diving there so you can go to the various sites and take your time and enjoy them.

Steve, your point is a good one. Diving IS the biggest reason for this trip. As I said to Chad, the only reason we're considering the cruise is because the weather at this time of year being so Iffy...

IF we tried the cruise, we'd DEFINITELY avoid the official excursions. Do you think it'd be as bad if we picked our dive boat from the ones most liked here?

Thanks!

 

[Ladydee55]

My fiance won a 7 day cruise to the Bahamas with ports at Freeport and Nassua (grand prize at a bridal show). I have never considered a cruise before because staying on the islands or live aboard provide alot more diving for a better diving price. Since this is free, I am definitely going, even if the diving is not plentiful.

Questions are:

Have anyone had experience diving from a Cruise excursion?

Is it worth taking a dive excursion ($200 p.p. for 2 tank dive + rentals if I don't want to lug all my gear for 1 day of diving)?

Is it better to just put the money I'd spend on an excursion towards a future trip several months later?

Thanks for your help, Right now I'm on the bubble on what to do

I cruise at lest 2 times a year and do the best diving. But I do not do it with the Cruise ships. I sign up for Local dive shops they want you to dive with them. They know how important it is to get you from and back to your ship. But they also want you to totally enjoy the dive time. It is usually with a few people that are staying on the island. Also there might be a couple from cruise ships. Believe me dont miss out on those beautiful dives. If you need help to sign up for dive let me know.

 

[Bappelt]

I've also gone diving while on cruises and have done both excursions thru the ship and made my own arrangements. Certainly making your own arrangements makes for nicer diving and in my experience well worth it and a chance to dive somewhere I probable wouldn't otherwise get to.

The excursions thru the ship sometimes are necessary either for short port times, late arrival times, or various reasons. In those cases, it might not be the best but it is still diving and a chance to see something you might not see.

For example, I booked a dive excursion thru the ship for one port which ended up being a lucky thing. Because of some issue we arrived in port two hours later than we were scheduled. Since I booked thru the ship and I still got to dive, albeit only one tank. If I had booked independently, I would have missed diving all together. I did it through the ship because we were only in port for a short time and I was glad I did.

 

[diversteve]

For Nassau, your options are Stuart Cove's, the cruise operator who won't book outside the cruise line unless you pretend you're staying on the island - and walk over to the Hilton for pickup:

The exception to the above timetable is if you are traveling on Holland America, a Disney Cruise Lines, or a Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines ship. Stuart Cove's Aqua Adventures is contractually bound with HAL to provide diving, snorkeling and SUB experiences; with Disney for 2-tank dives: and with Royal Caribbean for 2-tank dives and SUB experiences to some of their ships when they visit Nassau. If your ship is one that we are contracted to provide services for, the cruise line has arranged for special charter times to make the excursion work. In this situation, you will have to book your excursion directly with the cruise line or once on board the ship. This will ensure the proper pick-ups and services are provided to you.

Or Bahama Divers who may leave too early in the morning for you to get there - sometimes there's a customs delay.

There's a third outfit - Paradise Dive Charters - not sure what their schedule is. That's pretty much all your options in Nassau.