HowDidIGetIntoThis?
Contributor
- Messages
- 146
- Reaction score
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I recently booked dives with Admiralty after reading favourable reviews on a couple of websites. They responded promptly to my queries and indicated that dealing with cruise ship divers was a standard part of their business. This was my first trip on a cruise ship and I took everything at face value.
Our ship arrived 30 minutes behind schedule and I hustled out to the designated meeting site at the windmill ("you can't miss it"). After waiting an hour I called Admiralty to find out what was going on. Laura told me they had waited an hour and half and gave up before the ship arrived in port. She said Royal Caribbean has a terrible record for arriving off-schedule and they were considering refusing to book any more divers off the Oasis or Allure. Needless to say, I was not happy that my only day to dive on this trip had been a bust.
Later that day, I was cooling my heels on the dock and got a chance to talk about this experience with the Port Agent and one of the ship's security people. As the conversation evolved, they got onto the topic of ship's time vs. local time. It seems that some cruise lines, Royal Caribbean included, do not change their clocks to match local time as they stop at different ports while other cruise lines do change their clocks.
While I accept responsibility for not knowing that I was talking about ship's time instead of local time when I first contacted Admiralty I am astounded that a business, on a small island, that deals constantly with tourists would be unaware of this potential source of confusion of a one hour time difference. To be unaware of the regular arrival time (scheduled months in advance) of the largest cruise ship in the world indicates to me that Admiralty really does not have its act together when it comes to dealing with cruise ship divers. If they understood the ship's schedule there is no way they'd have waited 1.5 hours for a ship that was exactly a half hour late.
Admiralty may run a great show for divers who are able to stay in close contact with the shop if they are staying on the island. If, like me, you have to make arrangements days or weeks before you leave home, and then won't have access to a cell phone or email while in transit, Admiralty may be a risky choice.
Our ship arrived 30 minutes behind schedule and I hustled out to the designated meeting site at the windmill ("you can't miss it"). After waiting an hour I called Admiralty to find out what was going on. Laura told me they had waited an hour and half and gave up before the ship arrived in port. She said Royal Caribbean has a terrible record for arriving off-schedule and they were considering refusing to book any more divers off the Oasis or Allure. Needless to say, I was not happy that my only day to dive on this trip had been a bust.
Later that day, I was cooling my heels on the dock and got a chance to talk about this experience with the Port Agent and one of the ship's security people. As the conversation evolved, they got onto the topic of ship's time vs. local time. It seems that some cruise lines, Royal Caribbean included, do not change their clocks to match local time as they stop at different ports while other cruise lines do change their clocks.
While I accept responsibility for not knowing that I was talking about ship's time instead of local time when I first contacted Admiralty I am astounded that a business, on a small island, that deals constantly with tourists would be unaware of this potential source of confusion of a one hour time difference. To be unaware of the regular arrival time (scheduled months in advance) of the largest cruise ship in the world indicates to me that Admiralty really does not have its act together when it comes to dealing with cruise ship divers. If they understood the ship's schedule there is no way they'd have waited 1.5 hours for a ship that was exactly a half hour late.
Admiralty may run a great show for divers who are able to stay in close contact with the shop if they are staying on the island. If, like me, you have to make arrangements days or weeks before you leave home, and then won't have access to a cell phone or email while in transit, Admiralty may be a risky choice.
