Cruise Ship visit diving?

[Drew Sailbum]

On cruise ship dives:

Typically "with gear" option would include mask, fins, BCD, reg, tank, weight belt and weights. Often a wetsuit is NOT included in the "with gear" option. Check with your cruise line if you booked through them.

A typical "without gear" option will only include tank, weight belt and weights.

 

[Northerndiver1985]

My sussgestion to you is to cancel the cruise ship dive trip and book with a company on island. Divers Down offer a dedicated cruise ship boat which is tailor made for your needs and timeframe. They have a dock near their shop, which is the closest to the cruise ship terminal than any other dive op on Grand cayman, its a 3 - 5 minute walk along the water front to the dive shop. Great outfit with excellent service.

 

[TheCaptainRon]

Just got back from a Carnival cruise to Cozumel. Went with the ship excursion (Sand Dollar). Everything went well. The excursion with out equipment includes weights and tanks. If you don't want to carry your gear, the excursion with equipment includes everything but a wetsuit. Next time I will probably book with equipment but still take my own mask, wetsuit, and regs while using their BCD and fins (less to carry). The ship excursion was only about $5 more than booking own my own. We were able to leave directly from the cruise ship dock and when we were running a little behind, they even paid for a taxi to get us back to the ship on time following our second dive. Also most of the other operators do not include the marine park entrance cost in their fees, so you need to plan on a couple of dollars more for the park fee if you book on your own. Just made much more sense to me, and was cheaper, to book through the ship.