Star Princess Western carribean Cruise (January)

[Ronniemu]

On January 29, I will be boarding the Star Princess (Western Carribean Cruise) to The Grand Caymans and Cozumel. I am new to diving and had made only 7 dives. I decided to go on the dives offered by Princess Cruises. Can you offer any information about these dives? Also what can I expect in regard to air temperatures and water temperatures? Would a 2 mil shorty be okay or does most divers wear a full protection suit? Thanks for any advice that you could offer, Regards, Ronnie

 

[ItsBruce]

Didn't you have a similar thread a short time back? Whatever.

Is that 2 mil or 2mm? 2 mil is about the thickness of a plastic bag. 2mm is about the thickness of a thin wetsuit. Again, whatever.

A 2mm shorty should be adequate. I dove Grand Cayman in April without a wetsuit and Cozumel in August, again without a wetsuit. And, in any event the dive operator will have wetsuits if they are necessary.

 

[Web Monkey]

No need to be snotty about it. The guy was just asking what to wear.

I would suspect that everybody else knew that he was using "mil" as an abbreviation for millimeter.

Terry

Didn't you have a similar thread a short time back? Whatever.

Is that 2 mil or 2mm? 2 mil is about the thickness of a plastic bag. 2mm is about the thickness of a thin wetsuit. Again, whatever.

 

[Web Monkey]

"Cold" is a personal thing.

I usually wear a 3 mil full wetsuit, and am certainly not too warm, however what you wear will depend at least partially on how easily you feel cold and what you own.

If you don't own anything yet, I'd suggest a full suit, probably 2 or 3 mil.

If you want to rent something, you might want to rent it locally and bring it with you so you can take your time and get the right size. The dive shops are usually pretty busy once the ships dock.

Terry

On January 29, I will be boarding the Star Princess (Western Carribean Cruise) to The Grand Caymans and Cozumel. I am new to diving and had made only 7 dives. I decided to go on the dives offered by Princess Cruises. Can you offer any information about these dives? Also what can I expect in regard to air temperatures and water temperatures? Would a 2 mil shorty be okay or does most divers wear a full protection suit? Thanks for any advice that you could offer, Regards, Ronnie

 

[ItsBruce]

Sorry if the tone sounded snotty. I didn't mean it that way.

 

[diveborg]

Can you offer any information about these dives?

The dive operators the ship's contract with to run the excursions will most likely us large boats, take a good number of divers, and conduct follow the leader dives with a predetermined bottom time. They will break up large groups of divers so there should be one guide for at most 6 divers.

Also what can I expect in regard to air temperatures and water temperatures?

Air temps in the low 80 to mid 80's in the afternoon. Partly cloudy, slight chance of a brief shower. Water temps have been a little cool this year. I'd expect 77f +/- a degree.

Would a 2 mil shorty be okay?

For me the answer is DEFINITELY not. Everyone's perception of cold is different. What is way too cold for me in a shorty, might be fine for others. I'm going to Cozumel in December and I just ordered a new 5mm wetsuit (from www.scubatoys.com) for this trip. Last year I wore a 3mm full suit and was cool on most dives and cold at the end of several, even with a hood. I have never been too warm diving in a wetsuit.

It seems to me that most of the other divers on the boats with me wore full suits as well.

Now, I'd like to ask you a question and please don't take this the wrong way as I am just curious. Why did you post your question in this, the General Travel & Vacation Discussions section instead of the Charter Boats, Cruises & Liveaboards section ?

 

[Ronniemu]

I am sorry that there was some confusion with mil and m.m., in my post. Some of my questions or postings aren't up to par, being a new diver; however, I do try and am aware that there is a plenty for me to learn. I am pleased that some of the veterans here were able to answer my questions and clarify it to others. Everybody advice is appreciated. When I leave for my cruise I will take my shorty as originally planned, but will now include my 5mm full wetsuit. Also, I did send a previously message about this cruise, but to my knowledge, it was for getting advice on the scuba excursing and if I had enough experience to sign up for them.


Thanks to everyone who was willing to spend some their time, helping me enjoy what I love doing the most. Happy Holidays!


Ronnie

 

[morayp]

As you are diving with the cruise ship's contracted dive operator, your dives will probably be pretty well regimented. Given that you do not have a lot of dives, this may be a good thing. After all, you are still getting your feet wet, and may need a little supervision. This is not a bad thing. We have all gone thru it.
On a future cruise, when you have more bottom time, you would probably do well to make your own dive arrangements. On the plus side, using the ship's operator means the ship PROBABLY wont leave without you if there is a delay getting back.

 

[AXL72]

Hi,

Just went on a cruise on Carnival (Jamaica/Grand Caymen/Cozumel) from Nov 27, through Dec 4. No diving was offered by the cruise for Jamaica, but I bought the diving excursions for Grand Caymen and Cozumel. I was comfortable without a wetsuit in both places, but most everyone on the boat wore a wetsuit (not sure of the thickness, as you can imagine how awkward that would be for me asking). I have always dove Cozumel (August, November, and November/December) without a wetsuit, but I have not dove there in January to know if the water gets colder.

Although everyone, including me, will tell you that the cruise ship excursions are pricey, the extra cost of booking the excursions through the cruise ship, versus going on your own, is just cheap insurance to get you back on the ship before it leaves you behind and you find yourself paying a high priced airfare to get you to the next port to get back on the ship and back to your luggage.

My oppinion of Grand Caymen was extreme safety, with strict adherance to diving well within the limits of the dive tables with a factor of safety of adding a 10 ft minimum depth allowance for planning the "no decompression" bottom time, even at divesites that have a shallower bottom.

Grand Caymen cruise ship pricing was competitive compared to going on your own, but still slightly more expensive than going on your own. Cozumel cruise ship pricing was more expensive by a factor of almost 2 compared to what you might pay if you went on your own without any time limits. However, the time you get into any of these ports of call do not correspond with the regularly scheduled dive departure times that the dive shops run their business on (morning or afternoon), which means you have a high chance of missing the boat when it sails into the sunset.

Hope this helps.

 

[billeelou]

Email me with your comments after you get back