What are the Pros & Cons to Cruise Ship Diving

[Oldbear]

:sblogo:

I had a post that got lost in the Database SNAFU; there was a portion of thread that asked about taking dive shore excursions while on a cruise. I believe that this subject might deserve its own thread…the Pros and Cons of booking a dive excursion while on a cruise ship. I still think there is a time and place that is makes the cruise ship diving optimal…especially if you are new to diving.

The SB member who asked the question is a recently OW certified and had some questions regarding cruise ship dive excursions. SHe has <10 dives and was booked on a cruise and thought that maybe diving while on the cruise might be a good idea. I agreed with her. Some of the SB replies were a little negative towards cruise ship dive excursions and this was a little confusing to her.

I would have to agree that the average SB reviews on Cruise ship excursions are very dismal. But let's put these into perspective. The divers who write these reviews, how many dives do they have (100+) and where have they dived before (worldwide)? Especially if they are commenting about Cozumel (which is some of the finest diving in the world) most SB members tend to have their favorites...like I have mine. Since cruise ship excursions tend to be on the more restrained and on the "less technical" side of recreational diving, many of these types of dives do not interest the more adventuresome SB diver.

When I did my first cruise dive excursion I had about 10 logged dives also. At that time for me the excursions dives were awesome; no logistical planning, transportations issues or anything but follow my tour guide in the morning. The dives were nice and appropriate for my skill level. Last summer, however, on a RC cruise in the Greek Isles, I did all of the leg work for a dive trip for my family (which included a newly certified diver with 4 logged dives at the time). I had to arrange our transportation to the dive operator which included: 1) tender from the ship to shore and only in after the shore excursion guests left first, a donkey ride up the side of the mountain, walking down a Greek village's streets to a meeting point, arrangements for the dive shop to pick us up in the village, and drive across the island to the dive operator's base of operation for equipment fitting prior to the dives themselves. I made sure that the diving was relatively easy for him, so I explored the different dive sites on-line beforehand and made a list of sites that I would object to (e.g. high current or depths greater than 60') if the dive operator suggested any of them. I solicited recommendations from people I knew who dived in Greece before. There were a few weeks of email inquiries with a lot of questions and answers with potential dive operators before I booked our dives. As it turned out we had a great time, the dives were perfect for him, yet still enjoyable for the rest of the family.

From "my" experience here is a list of Pros and Cons for booking a dive(s) trip thru a cruise ship:

Pros:

1. The cruise line makes all of the transportation arrangement to and from the ship.
2. If anything should happen and you cannot make it back to the ship by departure time...the ship will wait. This is like cheap travel insurance, otherwise you are responsible for all financial arrangements to the next port to rejoin the ship. I have only seen it happen twice and knock on wood it never happens to me.
3. Typically the cruise ships do a very good job of screening their shore excursion contractors for safety and reliability. These are done yearly and based on customer surveys not all contracts are renewed. If the dive operator has been with the cruise line(s) for years, they should be a pretty good business to do your diving with.
4. For newly certified divers, the dive sites seem to rank on the easier side of recreational diving.
5. If for some reason the excursion is cancelled refunds are easily obtained (e.g. weather, ship’s late arrival).
6. The dive profiles tend to be very conservative (good for newer divers).
7. The DMs seem to provide an overabundance of attention (good for newer divers).

Cons:

1. For more experienced divers the dives seem to be less dramatic.
2. The dive profiles tend to be very conservative (not so good for more experienced divers).
3. The DMs seem to provide an overabundance of attention (not so good for more experienced divers).
4. The price is often more than a self-booked dive trip; profit for both the cruise line and the dive operator
5. On popular diving locations (e.g. Cozumel) the dive operator often pushes the diver/DM ratios to the upper limits. I did not see this in other dive ports...only in Coz.

Cruise ship has its place, but it is definitely not for everyone. If you do decide to book your own dive excursion(s) I suggest the following:

• Know what time your ship is scheduled to arrive in port as that not all dive operators can accommodate late arriving ships. I am taking a family cruise next September to Alaska and was going to book a dive in Ketchikan, AK. The dive operator is a 7 time winner of the Princess Cruises Shore Excursion of the Year Award. But with the time of day our ship arrives the tide will not be conducive for diving, so we will be snorkeling the tidal pools (this was verified with the dive operator).
• Seek recommendations for all potential dive operators you wish to do business with (just as you are doing on SB now J )
• Find out if they can pick you up at the ship and bring you back at least 1-2 hours before final boarding (which is about 1hr to 30 minutes before scheduled departure).
• And find out how flexible is the dive operator if the ship arrives late and if there is not enough time to dive will they offer you a refund.

Well that is my 2¢… what is yours?


Happy Bubbles,

~Oldbear~
:colours:

 

[Fishspearit]

I don't have any complaints with the cruise ship diving I've done, and always booked through the cruise ship. You've just got to accept it for what it is: You're going to be on a well worn trail, lined up and herded onto cattle boats in the most commonly dove locations of that port. But then, you aren't on a dive vacation, you're on a cruise and happen to get to go diving while on it. I was once able to dive Cayman, Cozumel, Belize, and Roatan all in the same week which I could never have done any other way. If you want a dive vacation, book a dive vacation. If you find yourself going on a cruise ship (usually because a spouse or relative likes them) then by all means take advantage of it and go diving.

 

[unlvcrjchick]

Thanks for re-posting this! I was in shock to find that all my posts and our conversation had been deleted but at least now I know why.

---------- Post added December 27th, 2012 at 01:44 PM ----------

How many people tend to go on a dive excursion? Everyone keeps saying it's a cattle boat so I'm trying to determine if it will be too many people for me to feel comfortable: if the group is too big, I tend to think it is more dangerous.

I don't have any complaints with the cruise ship diving I've done, and always booked through the cruise ship. You've just got to accept it for what it is: You're going to be on a well worn trail, lined up and herded onto cattle boats in the most commonly dove locations of that port. But then, you aren't on a dive vacation, you're on a cruise and happen to get to go diving while on it. I was once able to dive Cayman, Cozumel, Belize, and Roatan all in the same week which I could never have done any other way. If you want a dive vacation, book a dive vacation. If you find yourself going on a cruise ship (usually because a spouse or relative likes them) then by all means take advantage of it and go diving.

 

[Oldbear]

...How many people tend to go on a dive excursion? Everyone keeps saying it's a cattle boat so I'm trying to determine if it will be too many people for me to feel comfortable: if the group is too big, I tend to think it is more dangerous.

Sherry,

I think it all depends on the location that you are diving. I have booked dive excusions that my daughter and I were the only divers who went. And while I have always did dive vacations to Coz, I could imagine that that destination could be crowded.

Now let's look at just what crowded means...

If you are used to a Rubber Inflatable Dive Boat in the south Pacific that normally carries no more than 8 divers, a custom dive boat in Coz that carries 18-24 would be crowded, but compared to the super large dive boats in Thailand or the Great Barrier Reef that carry 50+ divers at a time, then that 18-24 passenger boat is relatively small. More divers does not automatically make it more dangerous; the vast majority of dive operators are SAFE operators. I would say that the unsafe dive operator is the exception to the rule, and thus gets all of the attention. Like Fishspearit said quite well, you are going on a Cruise that has diving...so logistically they have to plan accordingly...and that might mean a larger dive boat...with more Divemasters for guides. So yes there might be more divers in the water at any given time, that absolutely does not mean that you will not have a good time. Since this will be your first ocean dive, you will be more focused on the many wonderful flora and fauna that you will probably not notice the other divers as much.

Enjoy your trip...it will be wonderful.

~Oldbear~

 

[unlvcrjchick]

I have a quick question about tipping: how much is appropriate for either the dives offered through the cruise or the independent shops? I have booked two dives through the cruise line and two through independent dive shops. While I initially said I would not book independently given my newbie status, I just couldn't believe the cruise line only offered two diving excursions, which does not make much sense because we are going to 5 islands. I just did not want to pass up diving in Barbados and St. Lucia, although I will be skipping Antigua (I've read that the diving there is not really memorable); the only two dives through the cruise are in St. Maarten and St. Croix.