Cruise Ship Diver in Grand Cayman

[timetraveler]

Not too late for me, either. We're arriving in Grand Cayman on the Carnival Legend Tuesday of next week. Supposed to anchor at 7 AM and sail again at 4 PM. Can't predict how long it will take to tender off the ship.

 

[TxHockeyGuy]

I was on the Carnival Conquest doing the Galveston -> Jamaica -> Cayman -> Coz -> Galveston trip. I only dove in Cayman and it was with Don Fosters. It is definitely a cattle boat operation but at least when I went it wasn't overly so. I think a boat with only 6-8 divers would have been better but given how hard it is to time everything and the fact that you could be blown out so you don't even visit one of the ports, I booked through the cruise ship. It really wasn't bad and I'd do so again. As for tendering in, they give preference to whoever books through the ship to get off first, keep that in mind.

 

[timetraveler]

I agree TxHockeyGuy, I'd rather not dive with the ship's tour, but the convenience often makes it worthwhile. Unfortunately, the ship's "certified SCUBA" in Grand Cayman was sold out by the time we booked our cruise. So we're looking for another op who's dive we can coordinate with the ship's schedule.

 

[cowjazz]

I agree TxHockeyGuy, I'd rather not dive with the ship's tour, but the convenience often makes it worthwhile. Unfortunately, the ship's "certified SCUBA" in Grand Cayman was sold out by the time we booked our cruise. So we're looking for another op who's dive we can coordinate with the ship's schedule.

A quick suggestion.

If you book on your own, take a copy something to show you have a reservation to show the cruiseship staff you need an early tender.

When I booked dives on my own while on a Carnival Conquest, I showed them an email confirming my dive reservation with Seasports, and they let me on the first tender without a problem.

 

[SteveDiver]

Cozumel www.scubawithalison.com

Grand Caymen www.petermilburndivecayman.com

Jamaica www.sundiversnegril.com

These operations have small groups. Enjoy!

 

[SteveDiver]

A quick suggestion.

If you book on your own, take a copy something to show you have a reservation to show the cruiseship staff you need an early tender.

When I booked dives on my own while on a Carnival Conquest, I showed them an email confirming my dive reservation with Seasports, and they let me on the first tender without a problem.

True! I do the same; just approach the staff and show them your scheduled dive trip and they will get you a early tender. I always show up for the very first tender.

 

[HeavenLeigh]

Hey guys. We just got back from our cruise on Sunday. We went ahead and booked the cruise ship excursion. It was with Don Foster's. They seemed to be very organized. There were 16 divers and they took us down in 2 groups of 8. So, it wasn't too cattle boat-ish. But, I'm pretty sure we got a very green divemaster. We ran into another group of divers from another boat and they got mixed with us. Then a diver in our group freaked and bolted to the surface. It wasn't awful but not as good as I would have liked. I think next time we'll book on our own...perhaps even WITH Don Foster's but not through the cruise ship.

 

[Carib Diver]

I saw your thread and I am going on the same cruise in Sept. Cayman, Belize, Cozemel, Cosa Maya. Any recommedations for diving other than the cruise excursions would be great.

I never book the diving from the ship. I always pre-book and arrange to be picked up at the dock or I take a taxi to the diveshop. All to often the diving with the ships passengers are crowded and rushed. We dove in Belize and the people that booked with the ship were back three hours before us and paid more! they were not happy at all. They only had two dives and we got three dives in. Another reason that I book with other operators is to give them the business that they miss because of the contract that other diveshops have with the cruiseline. I would rather give smaller dive ops the money then to a larger one that has to split $$ with the cruiseline.

 

[timetraveler]

Welcome, Carib Diver!
The only port where I didn't take Carnival Legend's dive tour was Grand Cayman. The choice was a matter of logistics. If I had it to do again:

*Grand Cayman: I would again dive Eden Rocks independently.

*Belize: I'd still take the cruise ship dive tour. The cruise ships anchor a 20+ minute tender ride from the dock. It would have been a waste of time to take the tender to shore and then try to hook up with a dive op there, only to take a dive boat back out into sea. The ship's dive tour boat picked us up right at the cruise ship. We dove with Hugh Parkey's Belize Dive Connection. For a cruise ship dive tour, I thought this one was very good.

*Costa Maya - Our dive tour group was taken by bus to the "Dreamtime Divers" dive shop where their small boat was pulled up onto the beach. If you want to take this one, make sure to book well in advance because they only take 8 divers. The dive master and crew were excellent. We had 3 - 4 foot seas, but the dive was excellent.

*Cozumel - the ship's tour booked with Aqua World. I'd rather not dive with them again. If possible, try to hook up with another op in Cozumel. I recommend the one we dove with another time, Blue XT Sea Divers.

 

[Don Wray]

*Cozumel - the ship's tour booked with Aqua World. I'd rather not dive with them again.

I enjoyed Aqua World....3 dives and no pressure to hurry up