Hi all,
Im sorry for the delay in posting this. .
I took the Carnival Valor in Sep 09 from Miami to Grand Cayman, Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel then back to Miami. I havent cruised since I got certified about 3 years before. I chose this cruise because of the group I was going with, but mostly because of the dive destinations. I have never before used a cruise ships excursions. I reviewed Cruisecritic.com for others advice on excursions and set up my own customized. I always got a better excursion for less money than those going on the ships excursions. I realized on a Belize Canopy Tour, which took us a couple miles further up the river that the ships excursions are only as challenging as the weakest person.
So, I set off to do the same with my diving cruise excursions. This wasnt as easy as I thought. I sent many email inquires to dive shops in the four different locations, and was really surprised how few responses I got back. In many cases, I sent multiple requests that went unanswered.
I think many dive ops dont want anything to do with cruise divers, unless they have a contract with the cruise lines. I ended up sending PMs on this board to known dive ops, or their instructors who posted in the respective forums on ScubaBoard. I learned a lot from those forums.
I contracted with Danny Kupkowski at Off the Wall Divers in Grand Cayman for a 2-tank boat dive. When we arrived, we disembarked to walk to our prearranged pickup point in town. While waiting, we met other divers, some from our ship, who were also diving with Off the Wall Divers. We were met at the predetermined time from someone from Divers Down. He said Dannys boat had engine problems, and Danny had requested they fill in for him. He offered me the opportunity to call Danny and confirm the change, but since he had all our pertinent details he could have only gotten from Danny. We filled out the appropriate paperwork, got our weights and carried our gear out to the boat.
There were about 7-8 people on the boat; plenty of room. We were briefed that the first dive (Blacks Hole) would take us to a swim through at about 70 feet and the exit would be around 90 feet. I looked at my buddy (whom I had chatted with before the cruise, but never met (or dived with) before. I knew he was a fairly new diver. I gave an inquiring look to see if this plan was okay with him. He had relayed that he had few dives, and this was his first ocean dive to the crew. We all jumped in and started descending. I notice that my buddy was going slowly, and stuck with him. I though he might be having difficulty clearing. At around 20 feet he started going back up. I followed, and he said he didnt feel comfortable and wanted out. I could tell he was serious, so I made sure he got back on the boat, and returned back to the group. They had already started down the swim-thru. I noticed someone swimming back up the swim-thru against the other divers. I hadnt made it all the way down yet and when I saw him bolt for the surface, I was in a position to intercept him. I stopped him and told him to slow down. He shook his head. I wrote on my wrist slate that we will go up, SLOWLY. He wrote back that he wanted to continue diving, but not through the swim-thru. It had been briefed that those who didnt want to go through could dive over the swim-thru and meet the rest of the group where it dumped out on the bottom. We did that, and he did okay. The DM/Guide must have seen what I did, and asked me to buddy up with this guy. Shortly thereafter, it was time to begin the assent. There was one young lady who showed him she still had lots of air left and wanted to continue some more diving before ascending. The DM/Guide checked with me to see if I wanted to buddy with her for 15 more minutes. I agreed and that portion of the dive was wonderful and uneventful.
Our second dive was on Landing Craft Nicholson, and only about 60 ft deep. My buddy didnt want to dive, still a bit shaken up from the prospect of going 90 on his first ocean dive. I didnt want to force him (remember, I only met him two days before) but the DM/Guide assured him that is would be fine, and showed him he could see the landing craft and the bottom from the surface. Reluctantly, my buddy joined us and he had a ball. He got over his original apprehensions. It was a good dive and probably a good choice for a second dive for an unknown group of divers. I say that having never dove Grand Cayman before, but it was an easy dive with a solid bottom at about 60-ft.
I think I would have enjoyed the dives with this op more with a bit more experienced group of divers. I think the first dive (although I thought it great) was too aggressive for beginning divers, and divers for whom you dont know their abilities. But, I still think this was a better dive than what the ship offered.
This dive was a special later trip to accommodate our cruise ship arrival time. We wouldnt have made Dannys regularly scheduled departures. We paid $99 US for this 2-tank dive which included transportation from the Hard Rock Café (where we were all told to meet), tanks and weights. I dont know if Divers Down would have scheduled this trip, and if so, what they would have charged. They filled in for Danny and no changes to the original agreement were made. Divers Down website shows only a charter option if you cant meet their earlier than most dive ops departure.
Even though I didnt get to dive with Danny at Off the Wall Divers, I would still dive with him again. He was the only one who responded to my email and subsequent questions and took the time to make a 2-tank trip fit our cruise schedule. I would not recommend Divers Down for inexperienced divers, or those who (mistakenly, IMHO) expect the DM/Guide to hold your hand all the time and make sure you keep yourself safe.
The next day we were at Roatan. My buddy and I (same buddy all week) had found some interesting and relatively inexpensive deals. After checking on the Roatan Forum here on ScubaBoard, I found that the offers were not dive shops, and no one knew with whom they contracted the diving portion. Anthonys Key was the ships contracted dive op, and, as such, would not take independent divers from the ship. I didnt want to use the ships excursion, so I checked around and again had difficulty getting anyone to respond to my email. Finally Coconut Tree Divers responded and were willing to get us on a 2-tank dive. The main problem is that the ship does not arrive early enough to get to the dive ops normally scheduled first dive departure. They charged us $25US per tank plus a $3US Marine Park Fee, for a total of $53US each. They also requested a $30 deposit through PayPal. They do not provide transportation from the port to their site. We hired a taxi for $15 each, round trip, plus tip. (Actually, all prices I am quoting are not including tips). We didnt have to pay the taxi until he returned us back to the ship. The dive op and taxi driver worked out when the latest departure from the dive shop could be, to get us back in sufficient time. That would mean that we could only do a one-tank dive. I indicated I was disappointed and that I had confirmed that there would be sufficient time for 2-tank dives. The checked with the location of their early morning, 2-tank, dive boat and decided to ferry us out to meet them for the second tank dive. Then we did a single afternoon dive too. The dive op was great, and we both had a good time. I will use this shop again. They are very easy going and easy to work with.
The third dive day was at Belize. Again, I checked on the Belize Forum here and found a couple of options. First, this is a tender port. I will take 15-20 minutes (once you get underway) to get to shore. Then, once there, you have to go to a dive op, and they will take you back, past the ship, out to the reef. You loose at least an hour doing this, and the reef is another 45-60 minutes further way. Note that the reef is not under the boat, or next to Belize City. Another option would be to tender to shore, taxi to the airport and take a small plane ride (20 minutes or so) to one of the Cays, where a dive op would pick you up, and then youd dive and then fly back (low altitude, ~500-ft) to Belize City, and then tender back to the ship. This is possible, but would be a rush and worry the whole day. So, we ultimately did what most recommended we used the ships excursion. Hugh Parkeys was the dive op. They picked you up right at the cruise ship, and took you to their Cay, where you filled out paperwork and got your equipment. We did two, short dives and returned to their cay again, to purchase lunch, drinks, or souvenirs. I felt they wanted to give you every opportunity to spend your money, even at the expense of bottom time. But, for a cruise ship dive, I still think this is your best choice.
The last day we were in Cozumel. Ive dove there before, but only with a package deal arranged by my LDS. I tried contacting local dive shops to procure a 2-tank dive, but that was harder than is should be. Again, most dive ops depart earlier than ship divers can make it. And most dont want to be bothered with scheduling another boat, unless you commit to charter it. In addition, we were not sure which pier we would arrive at, so we didnt know if we would incur taxi costs too. So, somewhat out of frustration, I acquiesced to the ships excursion. They used Sand Dollar, and I experienced for the first time a Cattle Boat dive. Their dive boats will not work with BP/Wings, unless you temporarily set the plate really high on the tank, so it can fit in its hole holder. If you dont watch it, the crew will try to force it and the wing into the hole (I saw one jumping on the tank trying to get it in). Im not sure if that damaged the wing or not. I let them know that I would set up my equipment myself. The first dive was Santa Rosa. There were 3 groups of 7-8 divers on the boat. I was in the first group, which was mostly beginning divers, because my buddy was a beginner. We ended the first dive at 30 minutes, if you dont count the assent, safety stop, and waiting to be picked up. On the second dive, my buddy was having problems descending. I went to check, to see if he had trapped air in his wetsuit or something, since he had no problems on the previous dive. We couldnt figure it out and our DM came up and immediately noted that my buddy had no weight pockets. I couldnt understand how that could happen, until I realized that the crew, when moving BCs to fresh tanks, take the weights out so the BCs arent as heavy (assumed integrated weights). They forgot to put his weights back in. It took about 10 minutes to sort this out, and get the boat back with crew holding his weight pockets. I had the feeling that this happens often. Unfortunately, these 10 minutes were subtracted from our 30 minute dive. We were then rushed back to the dock to unload, and when we looked back, walking down the dock, we saw a second group boarding the dive boat. They were able to cram 2 groups of 2-tank dives in where most of the other operators were unable or unwilling to attempt one 2-tank dive. I will never by choice dive again with Sand Dollar. They are the epitome of Cattle Boat divers. This was most disappointing diving. I would recommend further diligence in trying to arrange a dive op outside the ships excursion here.
So, this is my experience on the Carnival Valor. I really did enjoy the trip, but caution that unless you are a die hard diver, trying to do all ports may not be what you call a vacation. We made special arrangements to have early seating, so we could still catch most shows and still get to bed at a reasonable time. We got up early on dive days, to get breakfast, and our gear re-packed after drying out overnight. Here, a balcony room would be helpful. My (dive) buddy and I were in different rooms, and the only divers in the room. Still, we took over the shower and other shared areas drying our wetsuits, booties, and BCs. I took mine to the freshwater shower on the Lido deck to rinse it out and laid it on a lounge chair to start drying immediately after returning.
FIY, I paid $525/person DO for an Ocean View room, exclusive of diving and tips. So, it was a quite reasonably priced vacation with a good amount of varied diving. If only one could stop off at a port for a week, and continue with next weeks ship. The cruise was cheaper than I could get to any port with the exception of Cozumel, my least favorite warm water dive destination.
Please let me know if you have any questions, and Ill try to answer. Sorry for the delay in posting
Im sorry for the delay in posting this. .
I took the Carnival Valor in Sep 09 from Miami to Grand Cayman, Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel then back to Miami. I havent cruised since I got certified about 3 years before. I chose this cruise because of the group I was going with, but mostly because of the dive destinations. I have never before used a cruise ships excursions. I reviewed Cruisecritic.com for others advice on excursions and set up my own customized. I always got a better excursion for less money than those going on the ships excursions. I realized on a Belize Canopy Tour, which took us a couple miles further up the river that the ships excursions are only as challenging as the weakest person.
So, I set off to do the same with my diving cruise excursions. This wasnt as easy as I thought. I sent many email inquires to dive shops in the four different locations, and was really surprised how few responses I got back. In many cases, I sent multiple requests that went unanswered.
I think many dive ops dont want anything to do with cruise divers, unless they have a contract with the cruise lines. I ended up sending PMs on this board to known dive ops, or their instructors who posted in the respective forums on ScubaBoard. I learned a lot from those forums.
I contracted with Danny Kupkowski at Off the Wall Divers in Grand Cayman for a 2-tank boat dive. When we arrived, we disembarked to walk to our prearranged pickup point in town. While waiting, we met other divers, some from our ship, who were also diving with Off the Wall Divers. We were met at the predetermined time from someone from Divers Down. He said Dannys boat had engine problems, and Danny had requested they fill in for him. He offered me the opportunity to call Danny and confirm the change, but since he had all our pertinent details he could have only gotten from Danny. We filled out the appropriate paperwork, got our weights and carried our gear out to the boat.
There were about 7-8 people on the boat; plenty of room. We were briefed that the first dive (Blacks Hole) would take us to a swim through at about 70 feet and the exit would be around 90 feet. I looked at my buddy (whom I had chatted with before the cruise, but never met (or dived with) before. I knew he was a fairly new diver. I gave an inquiring look to see if this plan was okay with him. He had relayed that he had few dives, and this was his first ocean dive to the crew. We all jumped in and started descending. I notice that my buddy was going slowly, and stuck with him. I though he might be having difficulty clearing. At around 20 feet he started going back up. I followed, and he said he didnt feel comfortable and wanted out. I could tell he was serious, so I made sure he got back on the boat, and returned back to the group. They had already started down the swim-thru. I noticed someone swimming back up the swim-thru against the other divers. I hadnt made it all the way down yet and when I saw him bolt for the surface, I was in a position to intercept him. I stopped him and told him to slow down. He shook his head. I wrote on my wrist slate that we will go up, SLOWLY. He wrote back that he wanted to continue diving, but not through the swim-thru. It had been briefed that those who didnt want to go through could dive over the swim-thru and meet the rest of the group where it dumped out on the bottom. We did that, and he did okay. The DM/Guide must have seen what I did, and asked me to buddy up with this guy. Shortly thereafter, it was time to begin the assent. There was one young lady who showed him she still had lots of air left and wanted to continue some more diving before ascending. The DM/Guide checked with me to see if I wanted to buddy with her for 15 more minutes. I agreed and that portion of the dive was wonderful and uneventful.
Our second dive was on Landing Craft Nicholson, and only about 60 ft deep. My buddy didnt want to dive, still a bit shaken up from the prospect of going 90 on his first ocean dive. I didnt want to force him (remember, I only met him two days before) but the DM/Guide assured him that is would be fine, and showed him he could see the landing craft and the bottom from the surface. Reluctantly, my buddy joined us and he had a ball. He got over his original apprehensions. It was a good dive and probably a good choice for a second dive for an unknown group of divers. I say that having never dove Grand Cayman before, but it was an easy dive with a solid bottom at about 60-ft.
I think I would have enjoyed the dives with this op more with a bit more experienced group of divers. I think the first dive (although I thought it great) was too aggressive for beginning divers, and divers for whom you dont know their abilities. But, I still think this was a better dive than what the ship offered.
This dive was a special later trip to accommodate our cruise ship arrival time. We wouldnt have made Dannys regularly scheduled departures. We paid $99 US for this 2-tank dive which included transportation from the Hard Rock Café (where we were all told to meet), tanks and weights. I dont know if Divers Down would have scheduled this trip, and if so, what they would have charged. They filled in for Danny and no changes to the original agreement were made. Divers Down website shows only a charter option if you cant meet their earlier than most dive ops departure.
Even though I didnt get to dive with Danny at Off the Wall Divers, I would still dive with him again. He was the only one who responded to my email and subsequent questions and took the time to make a 2-tank trip fit our cruise schedule. I would not recommend Divers Down for inexperienced divers, or those who (mistakenly, IMHO) expect the DM/Guide to hold your hand all the time and make sure you keep yourself safe.
The next day we were at Roatan. My buddy and I (same buddy all week) had found some interesting and relatively inexpensive deals. After checking on the Roatan Forum here on ScubaBoard, I found that the offers were not dive shops, and no one knew with whom they contracted the diving portion. Anthonys Key was the ships contracted dive op, and, as such, would not take independent divers from the ship. I didnt want to use the ships excursion, so I checked around and again had difficulty getting anyone to respond to my email. Finally Coconut Tree Divers responded and were willing to get us on a 2-tank dive. The main problem is that the ship does not arrive early enough to get to the dive ops normally scheduled first dive departure. They charged us $25US per tank plus a $3US Marine Park Fee, for a total of $53US each. They also requested a $30 deposit through PayPal. They do not provide transportation from the port to their site. We hired a taxi for $15 each, round trip, plus tip. (Actually, all prices I am quoting are not including tips). We didnt have to pay the taxi until he returned us back to the ship. The dive op and taxi driver worked out when the latest departure from the dive shop could be, to get us back in sufficient time. That would mean that we could only do a one-tank dive. I indicated I was disappointed and that I had confirmed that there would be sufficient time for 2-tank dives. The checked with the location of their early morning, 2-tank, dive boat and decided to ferry us out to meet them for the second tank dive. Then we did a single afternoon dive too. The dive op was great, and we both had a good time. I will use this shop again. They are very easy going and easy to work with.
The third dive day was at Belize. Again, I checked on the Belize Forum here and found a couple of options. First, this is a tender port. I will take 15-20 minutes (once you get underway) to get to shore. Then, once there, you have to go to a dive op, and they will take you back, past the ship, out to the reef. You loose at least an hour doing this, and the reef is another 45-60 minutes further way. Note that the reef is not under the boat, or next to Belize City. Another option would be to tender to shore, taxi to the airport and take a small plane ride (20 minutes or so) to one of the Cays, where a dive op would pick you up, and then youd dive and then fly back (low altitude, ~500-ft) to Belize City, and then tender back to the ship. This is possible, but would be a rush and worry the whole day. So, we ultimately did what most recommended we used the ships excursion. Hugh Parkeys was the dive op. They picked you up right at the cruise ship, and took you to their Cay, where you filled out paperwork and got your equipment. We did two, short dives and returned to their cay again, to purchase lunch, drinks, or souvenirs. I felt they wanted to give you every opportunity to spend your money, even at the expense of bottom time. But, for a cruise ship dive, I still think this is your best choice.
The last day we were in Cozumel. Ive dove there before, but only with a package deal arranged by my LDS. I tried contacting local dive shops to procure a 2-tank dive, but that was harder than is should be. Again, most dive ops depart earlier than ship divers can make it. And most dont want to be bothered with scheduling another boat, unless you commit to charter it. In addition, we were not sure which pier we would arrive at, so we didnt know if we would incur taxi costs too. So, somewhat out of frustration, I acquiesced to the ships excursion. They used Sand Dollar, and I experienced for the first time a Cattle Boat dive. Their dive boats will not work with BP/Wings, unless you temporarily set the plate really high on the tank, so it can fit in its hole holder. If you dont watch it, the crew will try to force it and the wing into the hole (I saw one jumping on the tank trying to get it in). Im not sure if that damaged the wing or not. I let them know that I would set up my equipment myself. The first dive was Santa Rosa. There were 3 groups of 7-8 divers on the boat. I was in the first group, which was mostly beginning divers, because my buddy was a beginner. We ended the first dive at 30 minutes, if you dont count the assent, safety stop, and waiting to be picked up. On the second dive, my buddy was having problems descending. I went to check, to see if he had trapped air in his wetsuit or something, since he had no problems on the previous dive. We couldnt figure it out and our DM came up and immediately noted that my buddy had no weight pockets. I couldnt understand how that could happen, until I realized that the crew, when moving BCs to fresh tanks, take the weights out so the BCs arent as heavy (assumed integrated weights). They forgot to put his weights back in. It took about 10 minutes to sort this out, and get the boat back with crew holding his weight pockets. I had the feeling that this happens often. Unfortunately, these 10 minutes were subtracted from our 30 minute dive. We were then rushed back to the dock to unload, and when we looked back, walking down the dock, we saw a second group boarding the dive boat. They were able to cram 2 groups of 2-tank dives in where most of the other operators were unable or unwilling to attempt one 2-tank dive. I will never by choice dive again with Sand Dollar. They are the epitome of Cattle Boat divers. This was most disappointing diving. I would recommend further diligence in trying to arrange a dive op outside the ships excursion here.
So, this is my experience on the Carnival Valor. I really did enjoy the trip, but caution that unless you are a die hard diver, trying to do all ports may not be what you call a vacation. We made special arrangements to have early seating, so we could still catch most shows and still get to bed at a reasonable time. We got up early on dive days, to get breakfast, and our gear re-packed after drying out overnight. Here, a balcony room would be helpful. My (dive) buddy and I were in different rooms, and the only divers in the room. Still, we took over the shower and other shared areas drying our wetsuits, booties, and BCs. I took mine to the freshwater shower on the Lido deck to rinse it out and laid it on a lounge chair to start drying immediately after returning.
FIY, I paid $525/person DO for an Ocean View room, exclusive of diving and tips. So, it was a quite reasonably priced vacation with a good amount of varied diving. If only one could stop off at a port for a week, and continue with next weeks ship. The cruise was cheaper than I could get to any port with the exception of Cozumel, my least favorite warm water dive destination.
Please let me know if you have any questions, and Ill try to answer. Sorry for the delay in posting
