Should I book the NCL excursion?

[aedwards92]

Taking an NCL cruise in December. St. Thomas is the only stop where they offer a diving excursion.
The benefit of booking through NCL is that if there's a problem it's on NCL to get us back to the ship.
The drawback is I'm assuming that they'll take you to where all the other ships go and it will be crowded and large groups.

Has anyone booked this excursion recently and have comments on if it was any good or not?

 

[tursiops]

St Thomas is not great diving. But you'll get wet. Go for ease-of-mind; ignore the crowds.
If you don't like crowds, what the hell are you doing on a cruise ship?

 

[Jaan]

Yea. The cruise ship dives are often shorter and more expensive. Further we’ve also had them canceled at the last minute if not enough participants. A few things to think about in nats write up here :

Is Going on a Cruise for Scuba Diving a Good Idea? Our Experience

Taking a cruise to sample different scuba diving destinations may seem like a good idea but is it really? Scuba cruise excursions pros & cons

freedomtourtravel.com

We spent a week on st Thomas at a resort but that is a bit far from the port.

Scuba Diving Vacation at Secret Harbour Beach Resort in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands

Scuba diving vacation in St. Thomas, USVI. Secret Harbour Beach Resort and Aqua Action Dive Center review. Scuba diving in US Virgin Islands.

freedomtourtravel.com

you might try and organize a private guide to pick you up if you can do it. The usual charters may not line up with your arrival in port.

Of course. Whatever you do, even if not ideal, getting wet and doing a dive is always fun .

Nat has some write ups about our St Thomas trip too on her site if you want to see more of what we saw (but again it was a ways from the port so doubt you’d make it out to secret harbor)

 

[aedwards92]

St Thomas is not great diving. But you'll get wet. Go for ease-of-mind; ignore the crowds.
If you don't like crowds, what the hell are you doing on a cruise ship?

mainly cuz the wife booked it

 

[aedwards92]

Yea. The cruise ship dives are often shorter and more expensive. Further we’ve also had them canceled at the last minute if not enough participants. A few things to think about in nats write up here :

Is Going on a Cruise for Scuba Diving a Good Idea? Our Experience

Taking a cruise to sample different scuba diving destinations may seem like a good idea but is it really? Scuba cruise excursions pros & cons

freedomtourtravel.com

We spent a week on st Thomas at a resort but that is a bit far from the port.

Scuba Diving Vacation at Secret Harbour Beach Resort in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands

Scuba diving vacation in St. Thomas, USVI. Secret Harbour Beach Resort and Aqua Action Dive Center review. Scuba diving in US Virgin Islands.

freedomtourtravel.com

you might try and organize a private guide to pick you up if you can do it. The usual charters may not line up with your arrival in port.

Of course. Whatever you do, even if not ideal, getting wet and doing a dive is always fun .

Nat has some write ups about our St Thomas trip too on her site if you want to see more of what we saw (but again it was a ways from the port so doubt you’d make it out to secret harbor)

Thanks for the links.
I'd be for booking our own, but one in our group really doesnt want to risk missing the ship.