PADI certification on Royal Caribbean?

[24940]

I would never recommend a cruise cert, for several reasons:

Academic work on vacation? No thanks

Pool work is conducted in a pool about 5' deep. Good luck developing ANY grasp of buoyancy control

Checkouts are from a cattle boat

It's not a full certification

I can't speak to the quality of instruction, but I can't imagine it being very complete. I know my OW class consists of about 24 hours in class and pool and I consider that barely adequate. Anything less is a compromise and would still be an unwelcome intrusion on my vacation.

Value is just not there when compared to a full OW course.

Local instructors are a great resource AFTER certification. I dive with former students and they all have my number in case they should have ANY questions or concerns.

Certification can be stressful. Vacations should reduce stress, not induce it. Get certified before and ENJOY your vacation. No studying, no stressing, proper instruction, fair value........ It's a no brainer, once you are informed.

 

[vicdiver656]

I would be a little careful. They may have good instructors, but when I did a discovery dive in the Dominican Republic, their instructors were very sketchy. Now if you were to go to Maui, you'd be way better off! Your choice, though

 

[bauerbach]

well I really appreciate the input. it looks like Ill go with the YMCA course since its better in every way. if it were the same thing, 250$ and 2 days sounded great. but yeah, thats a day of fun diving I could be doing instead.

 

[colieolie]

If you want the most up-to-date and correct info, I would just call Royal Caribbean. But honestly I would take a class before you go on your cruise. Personally I would hate to waste time doing a class on the ship...that's time you could spend doing the other million things Royal Caribbean has to offer on their ships! Enjoy your vacation...doing class work and taking tests isn't exactly my idea of a vacation!

 

[hammerhead45]

go back with the YMCA or maybe NAUI and get a full cert.

 

[Rhone Man]

It would be nice to finish your cert before you get on the boat, if only because you are going to have opportunities to dive local sites pretty much every where that Royal Caribbean pulls in, and you would have to miss out on the first few if you hadn't completed the OW check out by then.

I am not going to start on the YMCA vs PADI debate (that debate has been flogged to death on other threads), but a PADI certification is perfectly valid and universally recognised.

 

[DBailey]

but yeah, thats a day of fun diving I could be doing instead.

That is how I try to get my students to get certified (ie check-out dives locally). Why spend two days of vacation/spring break/honeymoon showing someone you can do mask skills and a fin pivot?

 

[diver 85]

I'd do some more checking--something doesn't sound quite right......(isn't it still a minimum of 4 check out dives for OW C Cards).....and(you know what everyone says about "seems too good to be true").........good luck.....

 

[mark99]

I would decide based your time frame rather than the supposed "quality" of the instruction. If you were going on the cruise next week, I'd say do the course on the cruise for sure. As far as the quality, you are going to get a basic PADI course. It's just a course in how to dive, and believe me you'll have a lot to learn after that regardless of the course you take. Now you say you aren't going until September, so I would say why not get certified now, get some experience locally over the summer, and sign up for the cruise sponsored open water dive excursions during the trip.

And as far as "the cruise is for vacation" and "you'll miss out on the million other wonderful things Royal Carribean has to offer"- think twice about that. I'd choose scuba study and practice over Bingo and Trivia Challenge. There's only so many times you can walk up and back on the Royal Promenade before you go crazy. And believe me I know what I'm talking about- I just got back Saturday from a transatlantic cruise on the Voyager.

 

[vicdiver656]

well I really appreciate the input. it looks like Ill go with the YMCA course since its better in every way. if it were the same thing, 250$ and 2 days sounded great. but yeah, thats a day of fun diving I could be doing instead.

I just did a little researching on Royal Carribbean Cruise Lines' website, and it says that their scuba course does certify you for Open Water. Still, I would go with a course that has more OW dives.