Cruise Ship Diving - Hit or Miss Situation

[diveprn]

Diveprn ,

I dived Grand Cayman only out of the Caymans. I ended up diving Spanish Anchor and another spot called Round Rock.

Nothing was wrong with Red Sail at all. They are a great dive business , just the spots we went to were hit thats all

Hi,
I asked because the East side was supposed to be the best after the storm. I am planning to go there in November.
Thanks,Valerie

 

[Danny D]

I think I was on the west side and I did hear when I was there that the other side (east side) was supposed to be the better of the two.

 

[MSilvia]

re: Belize, I read that because it's a tender port, you are best to go through Cruise line.

That's what we chose to do, and for exactly that reason. The dive op we used no longer does business with NCL as a result of our trip.

Your suggesting I can call them direct, and not through Cruise, then when they pick up the Cruise ship passengers that went through cruise ship, pick me up??

I'm suggesting that calling ahead and making your own arrangements is a good strategy in general, but I'm not at all sure that you would be able to book yourself on exactly the same excursions the cruise ship has reserved, whether tendered or not. My guess is that it wouldn't be allowed.

What I would do instead is see if there is a good dive op that would be willing to pick you up at the disembarkation point and return you in time for the departure. It's a tricky place logistically though, so you might find the excursion dive is your best bet.

The wife practically tore me a new one.

You can't argue with diplomacy.

 

[tonykoles]

Yikes, talk about bumming you out before you go on a cruise. I'm taking my family during NH Winter vaca on Norweigan Sun out of Miami on Western Carib cruise. We're making stops in Gr. Cayman, Roatan, Belize and Coz. That would suck having to have to miss a port if some person had to be evacuated!

I'm planning on doing some diving. Beliz, hooked up with Cruises operator (Hugh Parkey) and in Coz, going on my own based on Matt's recommendation. Papa Hoggs.
Will probably do discover scuba with my 11 year old in Roatan and Snuba with my 8 and 11 year old in Grand Cayman. So looking forward to it.

We cruised on Norwegian Sun in January 2005.
Grand Cayman was cancelled due to high winds. We felt that 3 days at sea was very painful especially for active people. The ship is dominated by 50+ 60+ crowd. Our joke was that it caters especially to people with metabolic syndrome (prediabetes, diabetes, high cholesterol, abdominal obesity). It seemed that about 50% percent of guys and "girls" looked 10 months pregnant without obviously being pregnant. The food was designed to promote and expand this appearance. The main buffet areas The Garden Cafe (The Trough) and Great Outdoors Cafe (Feedlot) are definitely the weakest link in the whole operation. This seems to be repeated in most reviews. Usual problems were exacerbated during our cruise due to poor weather. The tarp roof over Outdoors cafe leaked as it had visible holes and did not cover all surface. Most people stayed crammed indoor. At the same time they have a lot of unused space in so called "specialty restaurants" which require 15$ pp payment. They are only opened for dinner anyway but space is excluded from general use. We never ate there and instead had a few meals off ship to support local economies. Overall taste of food in buffet area is aimed at lowest common acceptable denominator, perfect for people who equal taste with the amount of food. The dining in Seven Seas and Four Seasons Restaurants had better presentation but taste of the food was definitely unmemorable. We liked the menu on "Presidents' Night". Few dishes were inedible like orange duck, which must have been spoiled before cooking.
The best meal during the cruise happened for us in Cozumel where we had a grilled seafood platter at Casa del Mar Hotel.
Evening shows were quite good. Solid B class in the positive sense. Unfortunately they filled up quick and it was difficult to get a seat if coming just before the show.
There is really not much more entertainment during the day especially for active people. The gym is very small and basic considering the number of passengers. Dance lessons were very crowded and it was hard to learn much.
Pool area is dominated by beer bucket carrying crowd. It is also partially outdoor but screened on sides and smoke from cigarettes is very annoying here for nonsmokers. Water in pools was at 78 degrees and during the cold days (most of the trip) only hot tubs were packed to the max. I wish they kept it warmer but I guess that does not make them extra money like selling alcohol, so why bother.
Crew was rather unhappy and rather unfriendly (comparing to our Celebrity/Galaxy experience). There were some exceptions but not very many.
In general it is perfect place for an average cruiser who wants to gain 7-8 pounds on a weeklong trip.
Embarkation was quite well organized but getting off the boat was really painful, but it really cannot be any different considering numbers of passengers involved.
NEVER take their bus from the port to airport. They try pack it full and it took forever. Both ways they were bumping people off the bus because they let too many on and there was not enough seats. Subsequently their bags had to be unloaded. It took forever. It is particularly bad if you go from the port because the bus stops at different terminals and driver has to dig out luggage and then put some bags back. It takes forever again. The crew supervising the loading was exceptionally RUDE. The price of taxi for 2 people is very comparable and one can always share it with another passenger.
Ports - Grand Cayman was cancelled - very disappointing. They never announced it ahead of time so we packed for diving excursion, got to the meeting place, sat there for 30 min. to find out that we are not going.
Honduras we took a diving trip from Las Rocas resort where we had the second best meal - fried shrimp and a diving trip. Owner Pasquale from Naples Italy brought us from the port and back. Still half price comparing to the cruise based excursion. Unfortunately diving was not the best. Poor visibility due to recent rains and the reefs are very over fished.
Belize - Another diving trip. They use Peter Hughes Connection. They packed over twenty divers on the boat. They put the tanks behind the benches and told us to assemble the equipment right away. That way there was no place to sit and it was very crowded for a 80min. ride each way. But ... the dive masters were a lot of fun and friendly. Overall it was a pleasant trip.
In Cozumel we did it on our own. We took taxi from Punta Langosta Pier to International Pier. We use Dive with Martin every time we are in Cozumel. We love his no-nonsense attitude. Fast small boats, great dive masters, free gear if you need it. He also offers free shore dives from his dive shop. Our conclusion was that diving was superior in Cozumel even to Belize. Do not mention Honduras. We wished we had never gone cruising and just stayed at Casa del Mar as last time.

 

[tonykoles]

re: Belize, I read that because it's a tender port, you are best to go through Cruise line. (Only let folks off first that have excursions through cruise co..) I believe they use Hugh Parkey. Your suggesting I can call them direct, and not through Cruise, then when they pick up the Cruise ship passengers that went through cruise ship, pick me up?? Let me know if that will work and save me a few $$$


Also, I'm only doing the cruise thing as last time I did a resort thing with Family,(bonaire) The wife practically tore me a new one. I got 22 dives in. After that, she said no more. So the cruise was my idea. I can be with family unit but not dive all time and still get a "little" diving in...

In Belize one has to go with cruise organised dive. The tendering is long and the price of the individual trips is about the same. Just save yourself the hassle.
In Cozumel - I recommend Dive with Martin. In Honduras we went through Las Rocas resort - website. Very good service but diving was very unimpressive. It could be due to recent rain and poor visibility. There were hardly any fish comparing to Cozumel. In general it is better to go with the cruise line in tendering ports. Other ports just walk off the pier and find a dive shop

 

[johlar]

In Belize one has to go with cruise organised dive. The tendering is long and the price of the individual trips is about the same. Just save yourself the hassle.
In Cozumel - I recommend Dive with Martin. In Honduras we went through Las Rocas resort - website. Very good service but diving was very unimpressive. It could be due to recent rain and poor visibility. There were hardly any fish comparing to Cozumel. In general it is better to go with the cruise line in tendering ports. Other ports just walk off the pier and find a dive shop

My wife and i just came back from a Royal Caribbean cruise that we'd scheduled a 2 tank dive on St. Thomas. It was a little pricey at $90. for each person. Dive site s were great with the first dive on a reef, maximum depth of 80ft, with tons of fish and great looking coral. The 2nd dive was a wreck at around 60 feet.

My only real issue, besides the price, was how hurried we were to get the 2 dives completed so the dive operator could get back for another group of divers. Our surface interval was only long enough to change tanks.

We love to cruise but next time I'm going to try a private dive operator.