Star Princess Cruise (Western Carribean)

[Ronniemu]

During the beginning of February I will be going on 7 day cruise to the Western Carribean aboard the Star Princess. Two of the ports that are will be visiting are Cozumel and the Grand Cayman. I am a new diver and have just recently been certified. Including my open water dives for certification I have only made about seven dives. There are some excursions for diving that I want to make. In Cozumel they have a two tank dives and both are drift dives. One, a maximum depth of 70 feet and the other a shallow reef dive. At the Grand Cayman there is a certified reef dive (on this dive they say for the experienced diver). The only thing they request for all dives is a open water C-card. No advanced courses are needed.

My questions are:

1) What is a drift dive?

2) If anyone is familiar with these dives, would these dives be within my experience?

3) If you made these dives before, can you give me some information about them?


The dives are given by "New Waves".


Thanks, Ronnie

 

[diveborg]

My questions are:

1) What is a drift dive?

A drift dive takes place any time there is current where you dive. The point is to just drift along with the current and see the sights.

2) If anyone is familiar with these dives, would these dives be within my experience?

If you go with the ship's excursions, you will be fine. They gear the dives on these excursions at a beginner level diver.

The dives are given by "New Waves".

Actually, the dives offered by all the cruise lines are conducted by independent operators at each island that have been contracted by the cruise lines to conduct the excursions for them.

In Cozumel, the dive operator is usually http://www.sanddollarsports.net/
I'm not sure who the operator in Grand Cayman is for Princess, but for Royal Caribbean, X, and Disney, the operator is Redsail.

 

[BurBunny]

Diveborg is, of course, right on with his information, but wanted to add to it a bit.

Often there will be a second dive offering in Grand Cayman which won't have quite as deep a first dive. Go ahead and book the one listed now (since Princess doesn't penalize you for cancelling once onboard), but when you board the ship, ask the excursion office.

I highly encourage you to let the dive master know you're new when you board the dive boat. They'll give you a bit more attention, making sure you're comfortable. Remember your training - don't dive beyond your ability just because everyone else does. While these are guided dives, if you feel uncomfortable, do NOT hesitate to go to a shallower depth. Your brain is your most important piece of equipment - don't check it at the door

In drift diving, what's most important is your buoyancy and "going with the flow". Don't try to fight the current - just go with it. I'd not recommend a new diver take a camera at least on the first dive in Cozumel. If you have one, decide after your first dive if you want it for the second.

Have a wonderful time! These are two terrific ports!

 

[cleung]

I have been on cruise ships and did dive but always booked ahead with local operators rather than with the cruise ships because their tours are much more expensive. For Grand Cayman, there's a nice and easy shore dive just 5 minutes from the cruise ship port (see my article on Eden Rocks in my website). They also have boat dives too. For Cozumel, I used Scuba Safari and they are easy drift dives for cruise ship passengers because of time restrictions. In drift diving, there's a mild current and the entire group follows a divemaster. The dive boat also follows the group. These dives are not that hard and there's a divemaster in front and one in the back of the group just to make sure everybody's together. Both Eden Rocks and Scuba Safari have websites and they see a lot of cruise ship divers.

 

[ItsBruce]

I've done both dives to which you refer. Both are within your skill level if your skills are average for a diver with 7 ow dives. Pay attention to your gauges!!!

I like booking with the ship because you are protected if the ship is late arriving in port. And, it won't leave without you. Also, the cruise lines have pre-screened the dive operators. And, you will get to learn who else on the cruise is a diver - which makes the social side of the cruise more fun.

I always bring my own mask, fins, snorkel, booties and regulator on a cruise. I sometimes bring my BCD. However, I've always found "rental" BCDs to be pretty good. In Grand Cayman, the operator did not provide wet suits, and I'd have liked just a bit more warmth than the water provided. So, if you have a shorty, bring it. DO NOT BRING A DIVE KNIFE. You will have trouble getting it back on the ship after the dive.

I often wash and dry my gear on deck after the dive. There will be fresh water showers on deck by the pool and you can hang gear from the chairs.

BTW: Is this your first cruisee? If so, let me know and I'll give you some tips that will make it more fun. (E.g. if something looks good on the menu, order it even if it means you will have multiple entrees. And, on "lobster night" order 2 to start with.)

 

[SStrecker]

I often wash and dry my gear on deck after the dive. There will be fresh water showers on deck by the pool and you can hang gear from the chairs.

Princess must just love seeing wetsuits drying out on deck and in the cabin. :11: I would not ask them about it. You will not like their answer.

 

[ItsBruce]

Wetsuits dry in a very short time when left on a chair in the warm weather. And, the crew will usually just ask about the dive. (I've thought about putting up a dive flag, too

 

[diveborg]

Princess must just love seeing wetsuits drying out on deck and in the cabin. :11: I would not ask them about it. You will not like their answer.

I've done the rinse on deck thing. I usually just let the gear hang for a little, until most of the dripping had stopped. It takes about 2 beers.

It is often easier to get forgiveness than permission.

 

[DiveMaven]

I have to agree with the recommendation to book with the ship in this case. Not only are you a new diver who is unsure of how it all works, but the ports you listed may be unreliable. Anytime you have to tender into a port, the timing is notoriously unreliable. You may have a 7am arrival time at a port, but for one reason or another the tenders aren't able to start ferrying people until 8am. If you have an 8am privately booked dive boat, you're in serious trouble. Also, some cruiselines use their first tenders of the day for their early excursion folks and don't allow general boarding until a little later, I don't know if this is the case with Princess.

Last, Grand Cayman has rough seas often enough to cancel themselves and not allow ships to tender in. Although it's likely you'll have no problems, it does happen often enough that everyone with GC as a port of call should be aware of it and not be surprised if they miss that stop.

Since both GC and Cozumel are tendering ports, you're far better safe than sorry and book through the cruiseline for your dives IMO.

 

[diveborg]

Here is a little something I wrote about the Pro's and Con's of diving with the ship's excursion As you can imagine, the "right" choice isn't the same for everyone.

Diveme, you're right. Scubatoys DOES rock.