Cruising to St Thomas & St Maarten Next week

[harleyxx]

Thanks.
I did the eye level test in my pool, so I was figuring about 4 extra lbs for salt water.
Good idea about wading out in the Ocean to test it out. Duh! Why didn't I think of that. Thanks PePaw. Sometimes you need someone else to point out the obvious.

I was worried about getting on the Boat and then not having the opportunity to fine tune my weights. I read a thread about Dive Boat etiquette and the last thing I want to do is fiddle around with weights at the last minute.

 

[ScubaDivaDivemaster]

Take your own. It will fit you and you'll know where everything is, you won't always get the correct size when you have to relie on rental availability and you don't know when it was serviced last. It's well worth the extra luggage to be comfortable and SAFE, because you know who's taking care of your gear! And do you really want to put your mouth on that regulator after someone else has? I've seen people vomit in rental regs...I'm not gonna put that in my mouth!

Ewwwww!

Have a great trip, look forward to reading your trip report!

 

[harleyxx]

Take your own. SNIP I've seen people vomit in rental regs...I'm not gonna put that in my mouth!

Ewwwww!

Well that convinced me!!! Ewwww is Right!!

 

[Meister481]

I dove in St. Maarten last year while cruising with Royal Caribbean (Adventure of the Seas). The equipment was awesome, I had a newer Titan LX and a cobra computer, a decent BC and all of it was very well taken care of. That being said, I use my own gear. Always.

A hint on your weighting: Use the pool on the boat if you need to, I saw a few people doing that.

 

[djanni]

I am going on a cruise next week to St. Thomas & St. Maarten with Royal Carribean.
What can I expect from the Dive excursions available?

I am trying to decide if I should bring my gear or use theirs. They offer the option of packages with equipment & Without Equipment. If I use their equipment am I going to end up with crappy gear?

Is it worth the effort to bring my own?
If anyone has experienced the dive packages available from this cruise line I would greatly appreciate your opinions, advise.....ect. There is not much info available from their web site.

Since this will be my first saltwater dive I am looking forward to seeing some reefs.

Being these are your first saltwater dives you'll probably like St. Martin but St. Thomas is quite a bit better.

If you have a full day at St. Martin a trip over to Saba, for a couple of dives will knock your booties off. Saba has beautiful diving - truly high-end.

Boat or plane and you can do it in about 8 hours including the dives. Maybe less... It's been a while. It's about $50 per person for the boat ride which takes about an hour as I recall.

 

[Barracuda2]

Thanks. I am going on the Mariner of the Seas. I think that is a Voyager class ship.
I am bringing my wetsuit. it is a combination 3-5 Mil. I hope it won't be too warm.
I will definately check out the dive shops for my next trip. the rest of my group want to use the excursions provided by the cruise line this time.

We were on that same boat the last week in Oct. When we hit both St. Thomas and St. Martin, we headed for the car rentals (about $80 for the day). We beat the all the other tourists by at least 2 hrs. to Busby's Beach on St. Thomas ($.75 Carib beer after 11:00) and Coki Beach on St. Martin. We had our pick of the lounges and umbrellas. If you get there too late, you're laying in the sand. If you bring your own gear, tanks and weights are available on Coki. Busby's Beach is more of a snorkeling beach. Coki also has some good snorkeling near the outcropings just to the right (facing the water) of the beach. I wish I could tell you the name of a little roadside cafe in the French part of St. Martin's. The food was out of sight and only the locals were there. We had to have the waiter translate the menu to us in broken English. When they brought the food to us it was presented like a 5 star restaurant and tasted fabulous but was only about $10 12 bucks a dinner. That's the advantage of going on your own. Have a great trip.

 

[harleyxx]

I waited too long to book any excursions online through Royal Caribbean.
So I emailed Dive Safaris in St. Maarten last night and asked them if they can help us out. They offer a 2 tank dive, one reef & one wreck, for $93.00. They are a 5 min walk from where the ship docks. Now for St. Thomas.

The three other divers in our group are leaving all up to me to make the arrangements.
I hope I can pull it all together

 

[harleyxx]

Well I guess I am diving in St. Maarten but spending the day shopping & sightseeing with my wife on St. Thomas. I guess the next step is to encourage her to get certified and make our vacations "Dive vacations!"

She has convinced herself that she would panic underwater even though she has never tried it. Seriously though, I won't pressure her to do it if she doesn't want to.
BUt man it would be cool if she was gung ho for diving.

 

[Scuba Do]

Hope you enjoy the trip. I'm cruising to St. Thomas next month. I would love to hear how your experience went (I have the same problem - wife who refuses to get certified and thinks one trip to the depths is more than enough for me). Good luck.

 

[nineeightysix]

I've got that one solved, my father-in-law is an ex-commercial (oil rig) and resuce (Sheriffs dept) diver...built-in dive buddy! We mostly vacation together.

A suggestion, when you get onboard, check with the excursions desk -- I'll bet they can add you to the St. Thomas dive. They have a hard time turning down $ at RCL.


Cheers