Operators to book with on cruise??

[diversteve]

On St. Thomas, I've heard that some of the cruise lines book their dives at Coki Beach. If yours is I'd consider other options since it's a pretty marginal site (nice beach though) Also probably a 1/2 hr. ride each way via cab/shuttle bus.

Blue Island Divers or Admiralty Dive Center can pick you up by boat at the cruiseship dock in C.A. as you get off the ship. PM Scuba Laura here, she owns Admiralty.

There's also Chris Sawyers, but they're in Red Hook, which is a 20 min. ride each way.

 

[jaybombs25]

For St Lucia the best dive op is Dive Fair Helen by far it is way cheaper to book through the shop than through the boat. any questions jus pm me and ill put you in touch

 

[deepstops]

great idea! ill have to remember that when it gets closer to the cruise.

One thing to note is they close the shore excursion bookings via the web 10 days prior to departure. (I'm not sure why but they do)

Have fun and enjoy the cruise.

 

[Mescubamom]

Hi, We have been on two cruises and dove through the ship and had a great time. the only problem we have come up against was a couple of times it was more like a cattle boat. In Grenada the DM refused to help one of the divers gear and other divers helped out so at least that person could dive. The boat was so small you literally could not move around. No where to store anything. One stop was in St. Kitts the ship did not provide for a dive so I went out on my own and worked with the dive shop and they were very willing to make sure we had a great dive and we were back in plenty of time. If booking on your own be sure the op you work with are very well aware of the time frame and where you are docking or tendering. I definetly have to agree that there is alot of stress taken off when booking with the ship but I would rather dive then to land things. When we book land trips usually it has been places we dove while on a ship. If we like the diving we go back for a week or so. Good Luck. We leave on a Southern cruise in Nov. Can't wait. Have a good time.
Alice

 

[Scuba Laura]

Booking thru your cruise ship, you will be on a dive with 30+ other divers. Just how much do you think you will see if you are the 22nd diver? Plus the cattleboats go to the same site day after day, which means those sites are so over-dove and damaged. This has a positive side to it for the private operators. The sites we use are in better shape and our dive groups are smaller and usually the only ones on the dive site.

We've actually thought about contracting with one cruise line, but found out that none of them will deal with us unless they get 50% of our booking. That's alot of money and the only way to make money would be to cattleboat and charge higher prices.

Remember, your private dive operations deal with cruise ship passengers everyday. They have it down to a system. IF there is a problem (ie boat breaks down) there is always a back-up plan to get you back on your ship. At least our shop has a plan.

I received this email recently from a cruise ship passenger who dove with us this month, might give you some more insight to your original question:



Last week at this time, 1/18/07, I was diving in the clear warm waters off St Thomas. Today I am back home and the outside temperature will not get above freezing.
My sister in-law, Cheryl, set this dive up for us and she was a little nervous that things might not work out for us. From the moment we were met at the pier by your dive boat until the time we were dropped off to get back on board our cruise ship everything worked out great. Making this my best dive ever.
The boat was clean and well organized, the crew was friendly and professional. The scuba gear was new and well maintained. And we were able to dive as a small group friends.
I kind of felt sorry for all those from our ship that went out on the 'cattle boat' for their scuba adventure. I've been there and done that. Even charter dives have not always gone as well they could. But I could not ask for anything better about this dive. Next time I have the opportunity to dive in St Thomas I will be going out with Admiralty Dive Center. And I will recommend you to anybody that plans on diving there. Thanks to you and your staff for a wonderful time.

Dennis, Murray Utah.

 

[deepstops]

Booking thru your cruise ship, you will be on a dive with 30+ other divers. Just how much do you think you will see if you are the 22nd diver? Plus the cattleboats go to the same site day after day, which means those sites are so over-dove and damaged. This has a positive side to it for the private operators. The sites we use are in better shape and our dive groups are smaller and usually the only ones on the dive site.

Of course you're going to slam booking with the ship because you don't contract with the cruise lines. :no

I've done over a dozen cruises with RCCL (30+ dives!) and largest number of divers I've ever been put on a boat with was 14 in Nassau (and that was total from two different ships). In Aruba in December 2004, I dove the Antilla/Pedernales with two other passengers and the DM. In my experience, there just aren't THAT many cruise passengers booking dives.

Maybe things are different there in St. Thomas but considering I've dove around the world from Guam, Truk, Southern Cal, Cabo, and from NJ to Brazil, I think I know the difference between a good dive location and one that's not.