We have done it both ways, on our own and by booking through the ship- both have their pluses and minuses. One plus to booking through the ship is when you are tendering (such as in Belize or Cancun) some dive ops pick up right at the ship, very nice. Also, once my husband forgot his C card :shocked2: and the ship (Carnival) worked through the internet to get a copy of his card info (an advantage of a PADI cert for him) and we were really impressed with the service they gave us.Diving on a cruise does take some planning, unless you book all your dives through the cruise line, which for more experienced divers, is not recommended.
Diving while on a cruise does not take the place of actually visiting a dive destination for a week or more; but it is a good way to sample many different dive destinations. For some who travel with non-divers, a cruise is a good choice.
Agreed, we think of cruises as the "sampler platter" of vacations. You get to visit a place first to see if you want to spend your hard earned vacation dollar on a week there. It has helped us make better decisions regarding our fly-in vacations. We have traveled with around 20 family members and at most 6-8 of us dive, so it is nice to have so many fun port activities for the non-divers to enjoy.
Cleaning and storing gear is the most difficult part of a diving cruise. We will definitely get a balcony on our next one, as your gear is kinda stinky in those little staterooms by the end of a week, no matter how well you rinse it in that teeny shower. :snorkel2: