Which cruise gives you the most diving?

[Life-Is-Good-Diver]

From Miami to Grand Cayman, Roatan, Belize and Coz.
As stated by others you can-not always get a charter to coincide with your boat docking so we booked all our dives with NCL

NCL?

 

[MSilvia]

Norwegian Cruise Lines. A great way to dive if you don't mind paying twice the going rate, diving off cattle boats with divers of questionable skill, not having anywhere to rinse or dry your gear, and not being allowed to have a dive knife.

Personally, I booked my own dives in Cozumel when I went on NCL, and had a MUCH better time than I did on the excursions I booked onboard.

 

[Life-Is-Good-Diver]

Norwegian Cruise Lines. A great way to dive if you don't mind paying twice the going rate, diving off cattle boats with divers of questionable skill, not having anywhere to rinse or dry your gear, and not being allowed to have a dive knife.

Personally, I booked my own dives in Cozumel when I went on NCL, and had a MUCH better time than I did on the excursions I booked onboard.

what the heck is NCL ? LOL, thats 2 in a row that suggested them, and i dont know what that means

 

[cdiver2]

what the heck is NCL ? LOL, thats 2 in a row that suggested them, and i dont know what that means

Norwegian cruise line

 

[ngray]

So I opted out of the Ship Trip on my Carnival (5-day, belize/key west out of miami) my experience was this this:

I got to the end of our hallway to the stairs, and before me was a line of people slowwwwly moving forward, down two flights of stairs, and out to the tender area. We didn't start real early, but it's not like we rolled out of bed late, either. It ended up putting us on the mainland about an hour and a half after the listed shore times in the brochure.

Anyway, by the time we got to the loading deck (or whatever european-sounding name it was), we discovered that all the guests on ship tours had left an *hour* ago. Apparently, they get priority loading in the morning, and in belize, that matters. There's no diving right by the ship, you've got to take a long boat ride to hit the reefs.

I would do the ships tours. You'll pay more, and can be less picky about who you do business with (read, less competition for my doallar, more kickbacks to the ship), but you get more time in the water. You've already paid thousands to get on the boat. Pay the $50 premium to be wet longer.

One other tip, get late seating at dinners. Gives you time to get out of your sweaty gear and get a shower before dinner starts. You can always go the cafeteria-style places if you're starving.

 

[Life-Is-Good-Diver]

So I opted out of the Ship Trip on my Carnival (5-day, belize/key west out of miami) my experience was this this:

I got to the end of our hallway to the stairs, and before me was a line of people slowwwwly moving forward, down two flights of stairs, and out to the tender area. We didn't start real early, but it's not like we rolled out of bed late, either. It ended up putting us on the mainland about an hour and a half after the listed shore times in the brochure.

Anyway, by the time we got to the loading deck (or whatever european-sounding name it was), we discovered that all the guests on ship tours had left an *hour* ago. Apparently, they get priority loading in the morning, and in belize, that matters. There's no diving right by the ship, you've got to take a long boat ride to hit the reefs.

I would do the ships tours. You'll pay more, and can be less picky about who you do business with (read, less competition for my doallar, more kickbacks to the ship), but you get more time in the water. You've already paid thousands to get on the boat. Pay the $50 premium to be wet longer.

One other tip, get late seating at dinners. Gives you time to get out of your sweaty gear and get a shower before dinner starts. You can always go the cafeteria-style places if you're starving.

Thanks, well said, i'll keep that in mind, cant wait to bring my 5 meg OLY 5060 either Been shooting some great underwater shots with it, and loving it, looks like we will be doing a cruise maybe in 2 months, i'll keep you posted, thanks!

 

[MSilvia]

LOL, thats 2 in a row that suggested them, and i dont know what that means

Don't get me wrong... I didn't mean to recommend them. I was trying to answer your "NCL?" question.

 

[cdiver2]

Don't get me wrong... I didn't mean to recommend them. I was trying to answer your "NCL?" question.

was to recommend them

 

[ShakaZulu]

http://www.blackbeard-cruises.com/

 

[Scuba Duffer]

If you want a big cruise ship, then go BIG!! Enjoy the cruise and add the diving as a "side".

I have been on Norwegian, Royal Carribean and Celebrity. All these operators basically have the same diving. I will echo the previous comments of not having anything cancelled, even when we were the only ones booked. NCL and RCI both have pretty good dive staff on board, but once you get off the boat and into the hands of the operator, that becomes mute!

Celerbrity is by far the best in terms of "high end" of the 3 above. RCI not far behind and NCL a long way behind the other 2. Princess is on par with RCI but not quite Celebrity. Carnival is good, but again not in the same league as any of these.

Celebrity is jokingly refered to as "cruising with the infirm" - a MUCH older crowd. Very classy cruise line but most of thier patrons are 60+.

RCI - fantastic middle of the road cruise line. Extremely varied age groups on board. IMHO, the most impresive ships sailing the ocean. The new voyager class ships are nothing short of stunning.

All things considered, Royal Carribean - Western Carribean - The Ship = Explorer Of The Seas. Leaves Miami, Grand Cayman, Belize, Costa Maya and Cozumel.

On of the nicest ships afloat (was the biggest until they launched the Queen Mary II this year) and some of the worlds top dive spots!!!