Diving with a cruise

[KatieMac]

Dumb question. For those of you who have done diving excursions from a cruise, do you carry you gear in a bag or just pack it all in your BCD? What else, besides my gear, should I remember to bring? Thinking C-card, credit card, dry clothes. Anything I am missing? What about cleaning/drying gear on the ship?

 

[northernone]

Dumb question. For those of you who have done diving excursions from a cruise, do you carry you gear in a bag or just pack it all in your BCD? What else, besides my gear, should I remember to bring? Thinking C-card, credit card, dry clothes. Anything I am missing? What about cleaning/drying gear on the ship?

I'm not an experienced cruiser but here are some thoughts and things I've picked up.

I always like a snack and water after a dive. A bag works well, less risk of dropping something. Cash for tips would be appreciated by the crew. A timing device set to cruise ship time (whatever that may be) and an alarm with plenty of margin to avoid missing the boat is nice for peace of mind.

Confirm with the dive shop if they require anything unusual. Will you be renting some equipment?

 

[KatieMac]

Will you be renting some equipment?

No, I have all my own equipment. Totally forgot about cash for tips too.

 

[tcpip95]

We bring everything except tanks and weights. We bought luggage specifically for our dive gear with rollers- can't tell you how much better that made my life!

In nearly all cases I booked the dives outside of the cruise line - you never knew who you were going to get stuck with. I was able to get recommendations from here on SB and have always had great dives. The downside to booking it outside the cruise line is if you're late getting back to the ship for whatever reason you may miss the boat. The ONE TIME that we booked through the ship, we were late getting back - fortunately there were a number of ships crew diving with us, and we were able to use the dive boat as a tender, and they took us directly to the ship!

Take a credit card, your ID card, your dive card, and some cash in a plastic Baggie and stick it in your BCD pocket. We rinse all our gear in the shower, then drape it over the chairs on the balcony to dry.

 

[Jayfarmlaw]

RESEARCH THE CRUISELINE DIVEOP!!! Big boats, lots of divers, small tanks, very very used rental equipment (not an issue for you....but the guy next to you at 80 feet that panics and swims to you with eyes the size of dinner plates....maybe) herded like cattle....not fun. Our first dive trip was from a cruise. Yes the cruise diveop is convenient, and they will tell you you won't be left if there is a delay....but there may be better options out there.

We look for small fast boats, no more than 6 divers per DM, big tanks, snacks and water at SI, etc.

Depending on the cruiseline, you may have to get 4000 -5000 people through one door, or possibly on to tender boats to get to shore. I guess there may be a secret password that could get you off the boat faster...but we never found out what it was.

If your cruising to a popular dive local, there will more than likely be a dive op that deals with cruisers regularly...if not daily. Good communication is key. This site may have a forum for that location(Cozumel, Roatan,Belize, etc) so more than likely the question has already been asked...numerous times. Search is your friend here. I'm not necessarily a fan of TripAdvisor, but it's another source of information in tourist locations. SB will get you started, email several ops if you want options beyond the cruiseline, and then make your choice. Other than the factors we look for in any diveop, whichever one is most convenient to the cruise dock would play heavily in my choice.

I prefer a rolling bag for gear, a backpack would be fine but we always had to wait on stairs to get off the boat. I'm getting old.

Have fun, safe travels....eat EVERYTHING on the ship for me!!

Jay

 

[Altamira]

Lots of cruise dive experience here, so I will give you some suggestions that might be helpful.
1. Make absolutely sure you know the difference between ship's time and local/dive op time. Call at least 2-3 different cruise line customer service folks and compare what they tell you. Most cruise lines set the ship time to match local time, but not all of them do that. If you book with an off ship dive op, you need to insure your arrival and departure times are actually compatible with the dive op's schedule.
2. Cash and credit card have been mentioned. You will also need to carry a photo ID in addition to your ship card at some ports. I also carry a photocopy of my passport and any applicable visas.
3. A dry towel, and lightweight windbreaker can be very helpful in keeping warm on the boat ride back to the dock if it is windy and/or chilly.
4. If diving with an off ship vendor, carry your cellphone in a dry box with the cruise line's local agent saved to your contact list, just in case you are going to be late getting back. If they know you are enroute, they might, and might is the operative word, hold the ship departure for you.
5. I have all kinds of gear bags bought over the years to lug my stuff from the ship to the dive op, but what I have found works best for me is this:
Wetsuit threaded and tied through the tank bands; wear the dive boots or inserted in fin pockets; fins and mask clipped to bcd chest D rings; wear the bcd on/off the ship; regs, computer, etc carried in a mesh bag; towel, cell phone, camera, nylon pullover, and maybe dry clothes (if I am not going right back to ship) in a dry bag.
6. Hopefully the dive op will have rinse tanks, or at least a hose, to rinse my gear before going back to the ship. Usually I will rinse my wetsuit on me, don my bcd with everything clipped on as before, and then just wear it back to the ship to help it dry. Just be prepared for the dumbass comments like "Been diving huh?"
7. At some ports, Grand Cayman for example, you will tender to shore via the ship's lifeboats or contract tenders. If you are not using the ship's dive op excursion, the ship's excursions have priority for those tenders, so you might strongly consider using the ship's excursion in those situations, especially if the time in port is a bit short. If you get in a time bind, and using an off ship vendor, you can also head down to the ship's exit points and sweet talk the coordinators into letting you on one of the tenders. I have never seen them not be able to squeeze a couple extra people on the tenders, but no guarantees there.
8. When diving we usually book a balcony cabin, but if not you can rinse your gear at the pool, and use a lounger, if you can find one, to dry your gear, but recommend camping out with it. Even when in an oceanview or interior cabin, we have rinsed gear in the shower/tub and hung to dry in the bathroom.
9. Regardless of what some people on SB might say, don't be afraid to use the ship's dive op in certain ports, especially in Roatan, Costa Maya, Grand Cayman, and even Coz. Yes, they might be a little more expensive, but some of that extra expense is transportation to/from, and just enjoying the dives without having to worry about getting back to the ship in time is a very attractive feature. When you compute the cost of diving with the ship compared to using off ship dive ops, also look at your options and costs of trying to rejoin the ship if it departs without you. If travelling with non-diving family, make sure they all know what your game plan will be if you miss the boat departure.
I can truthfully say I have never had bad or unsafe dives with any ship or off-ship dive op. Yes, with some ops you might get another 10-15 minutes of dive with the usual AL80, but in the grand scheme of things, it is all good.
Have fun

 

[kmarks]

One important thing to consider is that you'll need to remove any "tools" from your dive bag. Most cruise lines will confiscate about 80% of your tool kit, including picks, wrenches, and screwdrivers. You might get it back at the end of the trip, might not.

@Altamira must cruise in much colder places than I do, because I think I would have passed out wearing my wet suit walking around Cozumel or Honduras in September. Actually, I might have passed out wearing it in the water on those trips. Most cruise ships have saltwater pools, so I wouldn't rinse my gear in the pool. Drying it on the lounger right next to you will work, though, if you don't have a balcony. If you do leave it unattended on a balcony, secure it somehow because it will be windy.

Many ops in many places will happily work with cruisers and even arrange their boat schedule to make sure you get back in time. Nobody wants to end up on Yelp as the op that stranded a cruiser, so unless the boat sinks or your cab has a flat, you're probably going to make it back on time. I've only been a cruise ship diver once, diving in Cozumel and Roatan. Cozumel was great because I booked with my usual op, not the ship, and she made sure to take good care of me. Roatan sucked. I had to book with AKR through Carnival because they won't take cruisers unless they book through the ship.I learned that day why cruise ship divers have a bad reputation; for most of them, it's well deserved. I'm not saying I'm the best diver out there, but the rest of the boat sure made me look like it. And the dive masters treated us like crap. We surfaced as a group at a set time (40 minutes, I think), which isn't uncommon, but I'm used to somebody who lets me dive my tank/NDL, so I surfaced with over 1500 psi on both dives and wasn't happy about wasting half a tank.

Bring your ID, C-card, any advanced cards you want to bring (like nitrox, but you probably won't need it), credit card and cash, a cell phone if it works where you are, and I wouldn't go without my passport.

I've been on a lot of cruises and one thing that's conserved across lines is that the cabins are tiny and the bathrooms barely have enough room to turn around, so washing gear isn't easy. Just be prepared for that.

 

[Saniflush]

Oh and look into what the cruise line will allow concerning a dive knife if you travel with one. We were on Norwegian and they were trying to take all of them no matter what size they were. Someone either on here or elsewhere had alerted me that by their own handbook allowed blades that were <4" in length. When they tried to take mine, I was prepared to quote them line and verse of their own handbook and to the captain if need be. After trying to get mine after the first two stops they gave up on the other three and just tried to get everybody elses.

 

[KatieMac]

In nearly all cases I booked the dives outside of the cruise line - you never knew who you were going to get stuck with.

Booked 3 of the 4 locations through the cruise line ... only booked Roatan directly.

Big boats, lots of divers, small tanks, very very used rental equipment (not an issue for you....but the guy next to you at 80 feet that panics and swims to you with eyes the size of dinner plates....maybe) herded like cattle....not fun.

So far, I have found 2 other divers on the ship - which would make t total. The excursions are far from "sold out" so keeping my fingers crossed that this is the case but I doubt it

I have all kinds of gear bags bought over the years to lug my stuff from the ship to the dive op, but what I have found works best for me is this:

What do you do with your gear in the few hours before going back to the ship? I'm not sure about the schedule in Belize/Cozumel, but in Roatan/Cayman there are a few hours to spare.

tools

and

dive knife

I'm too new to have tools. Just the basics - fins, mask, exposure protection, BCD, regs and a whistle.

I have been able to find the names of the dive ops for 2 of the 3 locations.
Grand Cayman - Cayman Diving
Belize - a new one apparently Aqua Scuba and the reviews are not great. Does anybody have experience with Aqua Scuba?
Cozumel - I can't find the name. Does anybody know which diveop carnival works with there?

 

[Altamira]

I only wear my wetsuit back to the ship if it is a short walk and not hot, a rarity in the Caribbean, so most of the time I carry it back to the ship threaded through the tank bands. Yes, many ships have salt water pools, but all have fresh water showers right next to the pool. I have never had a wrench confiscated on any cruise ship, but can't speak to picks/screwdrivers, and have replaced carrying a dive knife with a top of the line EMT shears.
As others have said, if you carry a knife on board, it will likely be confiscated, but you can get it back before you dive and return it after you dive, but that entails a PITA waiting for them to retrieve your knife.

One other thing, if you are trying to get off the ship quickly to meet a dive op, don't wait for the announcement that the ship has been cleared by customs/immigration. Get as close to the departure point as you can as early as feasible and realistic. We generally plan to get there @ 45 minutes before the time we expect the ship to be cleared.