I think that's about it.
The cruise ship will have any number of other advertisers that will also likely be brokers for land tours. That's the way the industry is, that's the way "new" cruise ship ports evolve.
If you look at the Cayman model, there are a few cruise ship focused dive operators that
advertise to the passengers. That's an unusual exception to the model.
This is done through a "day before"
Things to Do on Roatan flyer that features ads and "stories" that are paid advertisements for retail vendors and land tour opportunities. There are also
night before lecturettes on-board where shipboard presenters tell eager shoppers and adventurers "what's what" in the next port of call.
You've obviously done some advanced homework and research. You have found advanced copies of what the cruise ship line will be offering in their official guide. Remember, when they offer these excursions, one of the many dire warnings that they will intimate is that somehow the ship will wait for you if you are late in returning from one of these approved outings. Not likely to occur... both your being late or the ship not sailing. Suffice to say they schedule your return way in advance of the sailing.
Cruise Ship diving is kind of a step-child of what most on this Board experience and know best. Cruise Ship Divers are forever coming on line and asking for "the best dive sites" and such. Truth is, a cruise ship diver will be handled as an absolute unknown, and rightfully so. Many come to Roatan with the insatiable desire to dive the vaunted Mary's Place. Truth be known- any operator that takes a first-day-diver on that dive is violating an island-wide agreement. So- how much do you trust them from that point onwards. Mary's Place is really N.B.D., anyway.
Will, the guy who posted above (BayIslandDiver),
has seen it all in terms of cruise ship day diver availabilties and offerings. I hesitate to say that, because the last thing he or anyone on an Island needs is to hear broad questions about who/what/when/where- stuff that is smooshed all over this forum, the cruise ship forum, and every other related site on "the nets".
My best personal suggestion? Go with a dive op that shows you in good detail exactly what their dive boats and dive "shack" (not their
shop, per-se, but their dive operations room) looks like. It isn't much, but I have a lot of dive boats imaged here:
http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=3809
I appreciate your positive attitude about well intentioned but negative comments. When all we have to go on is a website, that isn't much. But if you look for critical details... at least show me the boat- I'm interested in that. In this particular case, all they pictured was the "boat used for snorkeling", which alludes that diving must be... elsewhere?
In the total scope of Cruise Ship day-dive options, I would say that this looks like the possibility of a good adventure... and how bad could it be? They look like they have a nice little restaurant and I'm sure they'll get you in the water just fine. It's just when you start looking at the very lightweight website (in terms of diving) combining it with the very strange reference to the weather- it does make you wonder.
Fortune favors the brave. Go for it.
(But like I said- post a report- that way there will be one!)
