Royal Caribbean offers full PADI certification as an FYI. They also do DSD and Reactivate
Thanks, glad to hear that! After I read your post, I Googled and found
a page talking about it. From that page:
"How does the program work?
Guests will receive first-rate training and certification, with a mixture of online lessons, practice sessions in the ship’s pool, and finally, four open-water dives. The PADI eLearning™ online course and the PADI Touch™ mobile app are designed to let you study scuba theory pre-cruise, so, as Mario says, your trip will be “all about the fun of scuba diving.”
The best part? The four open-water dives will take place in two ports of call—in either the Caribbean or South America—letting you hone your skills in exciting environments."
I got certified back before the e-learning courses. Is PADI's e-learning portion available without paying, or does one have to pay first (just wondering how that works when booking the course as a ship excursion)? I clicked through to
R.C.'s excursion page on it; roughly $600 (plus you are to bring a mask and snorkel, which can be purchased onboard).
Given the original poster's age, it's possible he may have health issues by now, so there's something to be aware of. When you show up to take a scuba training course (or for that matter, in many cases to go on a dive boat), there's generally a medical waiver. If you check 'Yes' to anything, they often require a Physician's statement certifying you okay to dive/take the course (not exact terminology on my part). From that page "• A signed letter of authorization from a medical doctor to dive will be needed if any part of the waiver form is completed with a yes."
I don't know whether the ship's Infirmary Physicians are apt to do those or not. Maybe you got to age 63 without hypertension or any other conditions, or for whatever reason will check 'no' to everything, but be aware of this.