mac66

If you are drinking several pitchers of beer at one sitting it's no wonder you don't remember. 😆

Been on fair number of cruises and I'd have to say the Oasis class ships are over rated generally. I think one gets better food and service on the small ships.

When does the world cruise start? We are on the Serenade in early February.

Just off the Explorer. the DL was off of the Viking Crown. Very nice location on the starboard side with a outside deck overlooking the sports deck.

It seems to me JRs used to be free when it first started. Subsequently changed and started charging at some point. Was recently on the Explorer. JRs was pretty much empty every time we walked by. The burgers, fries and onion rings in WJ were very good. Don't see the point of paying for something that is included elsewhere.

Just an update. According to Blue Reef Divers you also have to buy the day pass at Mr. Sanchos. They are the on site dive shop. The all inclusive day pass is $60, a 2 tank dive is $110. But you need two divers. My wife and other family members are going to Mr. Sancho's for the day. It would be easier to go with them but I don't need an all day drink and eat day pass. The ship dive was only $98 but quickly sold out before I could book it. I could book it for $100 through the same vendor the ship uses, and maybe hitch (sneak a ride) a ride with the ship excursion.

Knowing that there is a fog issue you would think the ship and port authorities would figure out a way/procedure to deal with it more effectively. No excuse for what the OP went through. We are on the Serenade on the Feb 4 sailing. Hopefully we won't have to go through this kind of BS.

It seems to me that chat was free last year. We took a cruise in Dec '21 with our adult children and freely chatted through the app. This year we couldn't. So free chat is back.

As you probably read, I was just in the ABC. I was reluctant to dive in every port because my wife didn't dive. I was able to do shore dive in Bonaire (Dive friends) and Curacao (Scubacao). In both cases they let my wife come along to snorkel for a small fee. So bring her along and dive every day. I did the ship (RCL) dive in Aruba. They used Red Sail. My wife did a snorkel boat excursion through the ship (Red Sail, different boat of course) that went to the Antilla wreck. I saw her there (and she saw me) when we dived there. So it was like being with her. As for bringing equipment, it kind of depends on a couple things. Flying or driving. If I fly, I bring less, if driving I bring it all. The only thing I always bring is a full wet suit. I get cold so I always bring it. Last spring we had a balcony so I could wash it out in the shower and dry in on the balcony. This time we were in an inside and I dived 3 days in a row. I washed it out up at the pool showers and laid it out hung over a lounge chair on the upper deck in the sun and and wind each day. It usually dried (after wringing it out good) in 4-5 hours (dived in the morning, left it all afternoon). One day we didn't get back to the ship until 2 pm so I left it until we went to dinner. I did clamp it down with towel clamps and pinned a note on it with my cabin number on it. No one bothered it. If I had a regulator and mask I would bring them. You can get by using their BCD and fins. Though Red Sail fins are pretty cheap. There were 12 divers from the ship on the dive boat. Only one guy brought full gear. A couple others brought masks, fins, a couple brought their own regulators. Most used the shorty wetsuits that were provided.

We were on an 8 night cruise recently. My time 7:15 sitting, all in the MDR. 2 person table but close to other tables with the same waiters every night. 4 out of 8 nights service was pretty fast. Two nights about average and two nights pretty slow. The slow nights tend to be formal nights when just about everybody ate in the MDR . In our case the first formal night and last night was really slow. 2 of the fast nights were port days when people are out all day and tend to go to the buffet. Sea days could be fast or medium depending on how many show up to eat in the MDR.

If its wine it should be good to go. We've packed wine in our carry ons a couple times and then inadvertently checked them through. The wine always got through along with full water bottles. I don't think they look for liquids in checked baggage just weapons and banned electrical stuff. My brother always takes a bottle of Canadian club in his luggage. It has a rather distinctive shape and has never been found. YMMV

Yeah, the guide was pretty excited about the sea horses, was really talking it up to the other guides when we got in. I was kind of overwhelmed with the wall dive so I wasn't fully aware of the significance. I've been diving for 3 years, all on cruises. Got certified while cruising. Logged 6 dives on this trip and am now at 22. Hope to get 4-6 more on our February cruise. Not bad for someone who started diving at the age of 65.

Most dive boats use a drop of liquid dishwashing soap diluted in a spray bottle full of water. I carry an eye drops bottle with dish soap. Teenie-tiny drop on the lens, smear around then rinse with sea water. Thats what I use for diving and snorkeling if not available otherwise.

I also recommend open back fins so you can wear socks or booties with the fins for getting in/,out of the water from shore .

We used cheap "toy grade" snorkel gear for 30 years. We cruise 2 or 3 times a year. Always worked for us. My wife switched to a full face mask about 5 years ago. Made a big difference in her enjoyment level. She could never bite down on the snorkel very well and it hurt her mouth. The only reason I don't use a full face mask is because I scuba and freedive. So a pair of cheap travel fins and a good full face mask is what I recommend. My wife's mask is a Tribord easy breath, our snorkel fins are the short U.S. Divers Trek fins

3 of our last 4 cruises have been insides. Our last cruise was an ocean view but that's only because it was the same price as an inside. Frankly I would have been happier with an inside on a higher deck than an OV on deck 2.

Fyi...water (and other liquids) will definitely go through if sent through checked baggage on a ship.

Just checking my dive notes... In Bonaire we saw some huge fish which I thought at first were sharks. I motioned to the guide who told me later that they were tarpon. We also saw sea horses, eels, turtles and lion fish as well as the usual tropical fish. In Curacao we saw turtles, eels, lion fish and a school of squid who went by us real close. One of the other divers showed me pics of them mating. Apparently they are usually pretty skittish except when preoccupied. The reefs in Curacao seemed to be very healthy. In Aruba we saw turtles, eels, lobsters and huge schools of the fish. I did get immersed in a school of probably 2000 fish which was interesting. It was like being in a cloud. They seemed totally unconcerned with my presence. I did see a number of fish i never saw before. Guess I need a book or a card to id them so I can check them off.

I submitted stock info in September for cruises the end of November and one in February. Both obc credits showed up on my account in 5 days from submission .

Yup, the Pedernales was the wreck. And...Dive Friends is sort of conglomeration of dive shops and locations around Bonaire. They have a shop a short walk across from the Port terminal. We signed the waivers there and were then taken to the dive sites. Nice facilities/operations in both places we were taken. They let my wife come along to snorkel since I was they only diver. Both the dive sites in Curacao were off public beaches so no facilities. One of the guys at our dinner table booked a boat dive through VIP or buddy dive in Bonaire, not sure which. He was the only cruise ship diver in his group of resort divers. He said he was pretty much ignored the whole time and had to find his way back to the ship on his own. He wasn't very happy.

Just got back from my ABC island cruise. Dived three days in a row. I dived in Bonaire with Dive friends. Had a guide all to myself which was nice. Two shore dives. First dive was at Yellow House Reef. Second dive was The Cliffs which is a vertical wall dive which was very cool. Saw lots of critters. Squid, tarpon, moray eels etc. Paid around $150 with equipment, taxes and marine park pass. Picked up and dropped off at ship. Next day dived in Curacao with Scubacao. 5 divers all together, I was the only one from the ship. Both shore dives. Dived at Double Reef and Fisherman's Wharf. Amazing reefs in both places. The guide was very attentive and I highly recommend Scubacao. Cost was $125 with equipment including pickup and drop off. Day 3 was in Aruba. Booked a boat dive through the ship. RCL uses Red Sail Sports as their vendor. 12 divers, split into two groups. Dived the Antilla wreck the first dive. I had dived on her 3 years ago and I was surprised how much she deteriorated in that time. Second dive was Bertinelie, or something like that, which was a wreck/ debris site. Decent dives booked through the ship was $119 with full gear. The dive boat was a short walk up the pier from the cruise ship.

When I dived in Roatan last year off a ship. I dived with a family that had been in Roatan all week and Mom, Dad, son and daughter all got certified in the first couple of days and then dived the rest of the week. They were on day 4 or 5. That seemed like a good way to do it. If I'd had someone (aka spouse) to dive with I would have considered doing that. Seems like it would be a good vacation. I've run into that kind of thing before... people who went to an island to learn to dive and then dived every day while there. When we went to the ABCs on a cruise in 2019 my adult kids were with us. All three did a discovery dive first and then dived with me on the second dive. That was really fun. They still talk about it. It's funny, we typically cruise twice a year usually between Thanksgiving and Christmas and late Jan/early Feb. That's when cruise fares are typically the cheapest. Don't really care what the itinerary is as long as it gets us out of cold weather (Live in Michigan). Lately we've been looking at the cheapest fares with an itinerary to where I've not dived before or have dived before but liked it. This upcoming cruise was dirt cheap in an inside and is an 8 day to the the ABCs. I've dived in Aruba and Curacao but not Bonaire before so why the heck not. Our Feb cruise goes to Cozumel, Costa Maya, Belize and Roatan. Been to Coz and CM a bunch of times but never dived there. Had a really good dive in Roatan before so why not again? Belize is kind of hard to dive off a ship, or so I've been told. So going to try to do either Coz or Costa Maya and Roatan.

Our RCL cruise to the ABCs at the end of this month has one ship dive excursion in Aruba. It also happens to be the the cheapest I could find. No dives offered in Bonaire or Curacao so I booked private dives.

I've been on a lot of cruises and decided that I wanted to try diving on some of the islands. I had never dived before but we were going to Grand Cayman so I booked a Discovery dive through Eden Rock dive shop a short walk from the dock. It was a lot of fun and pretty easy. So I went home (I live in the north) and started looking for dive shops to do my pool certification whereas I intended to do my open water dives on a cruise. Did the pool work in Nov of 2018 and went on a cruise in Feb of 2019 to the ABC islands where I arranged to do my open water tests in Aruba and Curacao. I was 66 at the time. I did another cruise that year and did a two tank dive. Then covid hit. Was able to do another cruise in Dec of 2021, made up from 2020, and dived on that cruise. Did two make up cruises this year, one in Feb, one in March. Dived one 2 tank dive in St. Martin in Feb and then 2/2 tank dives in St. Croix & St. Kitts in March. Not counting my OW test dives I've done 10 dives, all on cruises. All of my dives have been guided and my wife doesn't dive so I'm hooked up with other solo divers. I've dived through the ship and have booked private dive shops on my own. Which ever way is easiest and cheapest. I've found that either way they are pretty used to working with new, inexperienced divers. I've been looked after pretty well and I've not had a bad dive. I don't own any equipment but a full wet suit (i get cold in a shorty) and don't intend to ever dive in my home state or anywhere but on a cruise. I'm happy to not make it more complicated than it needs to be. It's not a lifestyle with me, simply a recreational activity. Frankly if I never dive again I would be happy to have done it. Having said that, it is something I enjoy doing. I'm going back to the ABCs the end of this month and have booked dives on Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao. Going on another cruise in Feb to Cozumel, Costa Maya, Roatan and Belize. Going to dive in Coz and Roatan. Been to most of the islands in the Caribbean at one time or another so seeing them from under water is a new experience. So my advice to the OP is to start by doing a discovery dive or two and see if you and/or your wife like it then go from there.

Can you get real beer with that deal?