Have any tips for a first time Blackbeard cruise??

[Katch]

Per my post above do yourself - and THE BOAT - a favor and do NOT bring a "dollar or two" extension cord from Harbor Freight. Splurge a little and pony up the $8 at Lowes for an honest-to-goodness 6-outlet surge protector.

Shop Utilitech 6-Outlet General Use Surge Protector (Auto-Off Safety) at Lowes.com

Ray,
Does the outlets near the bunks have that 3rd grounding slot (hole thingy)? I haven't been on their boat yet (4 days to go). From reading other posts, there are outlets at the cabins for charging items.

 

[RJP]

Ray,
Does the outlets near the bunks have that 3rd grounding slot (hole thingy)? I haven't been on their boat yet (4 days to go). From reading other posts, there are outlets at the cabins for charging items.

That I don't know. Email Kat.

 

[WarrenZ]

Your shears or the Wire cutters in your save a dive kit will take care of the ground on your powerstrip.

 

[Katch]

Your shears or the Wire cutters in your save a dive kit will take care of the ground on your powerstrip.

Not necessary...
I just got back from a Blackbeard's Cruise last week aboard the Sea Explorer. There are plenty of outlets and they have the third ground ports. My cabin (if you want to call it a cabin) had 4 outlets for the two single person bunks. There was no concern by the crew of too many items being charged or electricity being used by the passengers.

I'll add another post of recommended items to bring...

 

[jbowler]

I'm going on Jan 31, 2015. The very non-obvious prep-list is here:

Blackbeard's Cruises Liveaboard Equipment Checklist

The things that I count as important to notice are:

1) Rain-wear. They include "waterproof pants" in the list, I guess; my legs were waterproof last time I checked. The implication is that a fleece may be required.
2) Towels (plural); "we furnish the bedding but no towels". This always annoys me, having to bring a towel in baggage adds significantly to the weight. I guess we'll pack one, but I've often just purchased at the destination.
3) Night dive marker ("chemical light stick or suitable alternative, may be purchased on board".) I don't much like chem-sticks, they make me feel like a pre-teen, so I just carry a cheap marker light.

Their check-in email observes that suitcases can be checked at the dock, but everything I might leave in the suitcase seems to be required on the boat.

The list does not include "dry bag", but I will be packing a large backpack-style dry bag and everything we take on the boat (apart from our dive gear) will be inside it, including that damn towel. I actually take a couple of other dry bags as well; I pack a non-waterproofed kindle and a controller for an insulin pump and that stuff really benefits from dry-bag protection. Anyone with a non-waterproof cellphone, or an iPad, should think about the same thing.

On another thread I've seen people recommending all sorts of weird stuff, like clamps and surge protectors. I've got a powerful USB charger off Amazon and I'm trying to standardize on USB charging for everything. If that charger blows up I guess I have to borrow someone else's, I'm not packing either a surge protector or a portable generator.

My Canon PowerShot D30 (82ft) needs it's own charger (annoying) and my SeaLife light does too (very annoying), but apart from that everything is USB.

On a previous liveaboard I found that my dive watch only stores 12 dives; only afterward, when I tried to download all the dives and found the early ones had disappeared. These days I carry a USB OTG adapter and download dives to my cellphone and that's worked pretty well over several dive trips.

 

[KathyV]

1) Rain-wear. They include "waterproof pants" in the list, I guess; my legs were waterproof last time I checked. The implication is that a fleece may be required.
2) Towels (plural); "we furnish the bedding but no towels". This always annoys me, having to bring a towel in baggage adds significantly to the weight. I guess we'll pack one, but I've often just purchased at the destination...On another thread I've seen people recommending all sorts of weird stuff, like clamps and surge protectors...

I can't remember anything relevant to "water proof pants" but I suggest bringing more than one towel. That's a lot of dives over several days to manage with just one towel; you should bring at least 2 of them so that one can be drying while you use the other.

And bringing some clamps or clips (or handful of clothes pins) isn't a bad idea. I remember often being on the hunt for clothespins and an empty spot to dry clothes and towels; below are links to a couple of photos from google images showing that there is a demand for drying space.

I did a Blackbeard's cruise quite a while ago, we departed from Miami and cruised to the Bimini area and I remember that when the 3 Blackbeard's boats were tied up in Bimini; some passengers from my boat (Sea Explorer) snuck onto one of the other boats (Pirates Lady) to steal some of their clothespins! All in good fun, of course - they were returned! But clothespins were in big demand.

You won't need many clothes (and there isn't much storage room anyway) just some shorts and tee-shirts for the daytime excursions and something warmer for night, but we were on a BB's during October, not Jan/Feb. You do need swimsuits; I don't like sitting around in a wet suit so I take at least 2 of them on a liveaboard.

You might also want to bring some earplugs because you will be sleeping in a tight dormitory space, and if there is a loud snorer nearby - the earplugs may come in handy.

You'll have a lot of fun, enjoy!

http://www.alexinwanderland.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/img_92271.jpg
http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/ef/3c/92/blackbeard-cruise.jpg

 

[champ]

The sleeping areas are tight so you want to stay up on deck as much as possible between dives. Bring a bottle of suntan lotion on a carabiner (so you can attach it to one of the rails on the deck), a mug with a carabiner, a towel with cloths pins.

 

[KathyV]

You will have an opportunity to visit some islands in the Exumas during the cruise, as well as Nassau; so I suggest mosquito spray and Allegra anti-itch ointment, if you are bothered by mosquitoes.