Dealing with gear on cruise

How do you all deal with cleaning and drying gear on a cruise ship? We will be diving on our upcoming cruise for the first time and plan on bringing all our own gear including wetsuit and BCs. Do people rinse gear in the shower (seems a pretty small area to work in)? Hang to dry in the closet? Seems impractical. Just wondering what you all do.

David

I try to wash my gear out at the dive shop as much as possible. Otherwise, it goes in the tub for soaking and then out on the balcony to dry.

Gotta ask where you are going and how much gear you think you might need to take, Why?

Personal gear 4sure but what else do you really need? The main concern will to to flush

and sand b4 you get back to the ship, consider wind when you put things to dry on your balcony.

do your homework and try to take minimal. We've rinsed gear at the shops only to find out most taxi drivers going "back to the ship" refuse if soaking wet. So, be careful. Also remember, if gear is wet it is heavier to pack coming home. Take minimal (wet suit...ewwww, can't wear "pee" rentals) and regulator (make sure it adapts to rental BCD's. Ask the dive operator what they use, how old, last serviced. Nothing ruins a dive more than ick rental equipment!

I take all my gear, why only take some? I've had all my own gear from the very first pool dive. I use a Zeagle Zena, which is great for traveling. My dive bag holds the gear, plus a lot of clothes and shoes. I always carry on my regulator, mask, wrist computer, and Ikelite camera case in my backpack. My fiancé always takes all his gear, too, with one suitcase dedicated to gear. It's well worth it. I even take two one-pound soft weights because I need them for trim and it's rare for a shop to have one-pounders.

Your cabin steward will get used to finding dive gear spread all over the head in your cabin drying. :D

We only do inside cabins, so balcony not an option. Carnival has a little clothesline that can be deployed in the shower - that's where my skin goes. BC dries in the bottom of the shower. Fins against a bulkhead. The rest of the smaller stuff I set on the counter on towels to dry out.

And yes, I rinse everything in the cabin, whether or not the dive shop had a rinse.

Let me add that if you do have a balcony to dry your gear be sure to pack a couple pcs

of para cord with snap clips on each end. Use the cord to thread thru all your gear and snap it to a fixed points on the balcony, it might save some gear from flying away in the breeze.

Your cabin steward will get used to finding dive gear spread all over the head in your cabin drying. :D

 

We only do inside cabins, so balcony not an option. Carnival has a little clothesline that can be deployed in the shower - that's where my skin goes. BC dries in the bottom of the shower. Fins against a bulkhead. The rest of the smaller stuff I set on the counter on towels to dry out.

 

And yes, I rinse everything in the cabin, whether or not the dive shop had a rinse.

Yep, what Mariner77 said....

:cool:

We have the luxury of living close to Galveston, so it's not a problem for us to pack the extra gear.

This year, though, we're planning on flying to FLL to do a "B2B" on the Liberty and Breeze. We will fly SWA to take advantage of their baggage policies.

We rinse in the shower and then leave the heavy stuff on the balcony to dry. Other stuff we hang to dry in the room wherever we can find the space. Never had a problem with 2 divers with full gear getting stuff rinsed and dried in a standard balcony cabin. Serious soak happens when we get home :)

We rinse in the shower and then leave the heavy stuff on the balcony to dry. Other stuff we hang to dry in the room wherever we can find the space. Never had a problem with 2 divers with full gear getting stuff rinsed and dried in a standard balcony cabin. Serious soak happens when we get home :)

Ditto

And I avoid the dunk tanks at all costs at most of the dive shops. A couple of beers and a two person team makes quick work of rinsing the gear back in the room.

Being short, I must take my own bcd. Wouldn't trust rental regulator or take a chance on small enough fins, so all gear goes with me. As I get older it is more of a hassle, but if I dive I want my gear. Yes, it is a mess to dry, but oh well. Anyone diving cozumel or caymans out of galveston on Mariner January 20th? sunseeker

We always take all of our gear & when we cruise on Princess we book a Caribe balcony because of it's double size to dry it all outside. I find bringing a large plastic trash bag handy when trying to rinse gear in a small shower and transferring it outside to dry. Cruising w/o my DH next week means I must rinse all of my own.:(

We've always had a balcony, so that's where my gear drys, but sometimes the shower is too small for good rinsing. The best shower for rinsing dive gear is up on deck by the pool. After the rinse, then just lay out the gear on one of the lounge chairs, have a drink and enjoy the view for a while.

We've always had a balcony, so that's where my gear drys, but sometimes the shower is too small for good rinsing. The best shower for rinsing dive gear is up on deck by the pool. After the rinse, then just lay out the gear on one of the lounge chairs, have a drink and enjoy the view for a while.

Now that's a GREAT idea!

:D

I take all of my gear and do the same as others rinse and clean in the shower. I also avoid those large dunk tanks at shops. I just have a thing with not using those. The only thing I don't take is a wet suit. Diving in cold water I only need a rash guard and I am good. Going from 30-40 degree water to almost 80 I can do 4 dives with out being cold. Something to think about if you dive cold water you maybe able to avoid carrying that....

I also take a soft sided cooler with me that I can fill with water in the room and soak camera gear, dive computer,regs. Packs really easy and works great.

best cruise dive facility I've experienced was WINDSTAR

they provided a special locker area for your gear with hanging racks for wetsuits and BC's and baskets for everything else with rinse stations .... a lot more fun then trying to hang in the shower or arrange on the balcony! Only gear that went back to the room for care were cameras.

I have been spoiled. One upgrade to a Grand Suite and I now need at least a Junior suite so I can soak my gear in the tub and hang it out all over the cabin

:D