Royal Caribbean Scuba Diving

[Shomari]

Hey,

The SeaTrek Dive shop on board offers scuba diving while on

the ship... And I called to ask and they do scuba trips at sea...

Why haven't I heard of anyone on here doing this? Has anyone

tried it? Any stories? Good or bad?

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/experience/html.do?exCode=611

Thanks!

[mygrace777]

I was interested in this too. I love to snorkel but want to do something more, as in diving but dont have the certificiate.

[Merion_Mom]

Hey,

The SeaTrek Dive shop on board offers scuba diving while on

the ship... And I called to ask and they do scuba trips at sea...

Why haven't I heard of anyone on here doing this? Has anyone

tried it? Any stories? Good or bad?

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/experience/html.do?exCode=611

Thanks!

 

Just look in the list of shore excursions for your cruise. If you are in the Caribbean, there will be lots of scuba diving excursions offered. My daughter has done them and has enjoyed all of them.

[JackieJ]

Just back from Adventure and did the diving. Unfortunately I ended up getting sick and didn't finish, but my husband did and loved it! The instructor was extremely patient and really tried to help me get through it but I just wasn't up to it.

 

Some things to be aware of . . .

 

It takes up a lot of time. We were given books to study on the first night and then went to a class the next day that lasted about 4 hours. The day of the pool exercises it took about 5 hours. It was supposed to be about 2.5 hours but not everyone was able to keep up. Since I didn't finish the pool, I didn't go out on the ocean dive, but that was also about a half day.

 

Another thing is that you will be "scuba" certified not "open water" certified, which means you will have to dive with a dive master and will be more expensive. You have to do more chapters in the PADI book and more dives to get open water certified. You may be able to do that on a longer cruise or back to back.

 

Overall, I think it was a really good experience. The price was very fair, especially compared to what the cost it where we live. I will give it another shot at some point and my husband is planning to get his open water cert asap.

 

Feel free tonlet me know if you have any specific questions.

[Shomari]

^^ Thank you so much for sharing that... I was kinda worried that I haven't heard

anyone speak of this before...

My friend and I did beginner scuba in Cacun last year, and we really just wanted to go

dive... I'm not at all interested in getting certified... I just want to dive with an instructor... Anyway... I'll see if that's

offered... But we have a bunch of things we wanna do on shore already... :rolleyes:

Edited March 20, 2011 by Shomari

[JackieJ]

^^ Thank you so much for sharing that... I was kinda worried that I haven't heard

anyone speak of this before...

My friend and I did beginner scuba in Cacun last year, and we really just wanted to go

dive... I'm not at all interested in getting certified... I just want to dive with an instructor... Anyway... I'll see if that's

offered... But we have a bunch of things we wanna do on shore already... :rolleyes:

 

Not sure what your options are if you don't have any sort of certification. The pool was all safety stuff. Booked a private dive in St. Croix and my husband had to show his PADI cert card. Since he wasn't open water certified, they wouldn't/couldn't let him go out without an instructor.

[SoCalCruzzing]

RCI offers a scuba experience dive, also know as a passport dive by PADI, on most of the shor excursion. This envolves 30-60 mins of basic skills instruction, then a dive to no more than 30' with either a Dive Master or an Instructor. This is a non certified dive and typically run approx $100-$130 depending on location. The other alternative you have is to start a certification course in the US and then book your final open water dives with one of the dive operators in the locations you are going to. This way all your skills and pool dives are out of the way and the final 2 open water dives consist of practicing them and an experience dive after each practice session. This is a very popular way to go. You can also do all your book work on line through PADI.

[Candleonwater]

I've been eyeing the diving course that they run in the the pool, with "real" dives at the ports. I would like to try something a little bit more exciting than snorkeling, but not sure about Snuba or things like that. Anyone with experience with learning to dive on the ship... would it be appropriate (or even available) for a 14 year old?

[MedicKen]

Many have mentioned that it is probably better to get all your classroom and pool work while at home and arrange for your open water dives while you are cruising. To accomplish that, look in listings for PADI (Professional Association of Dive Instructors) for a dive shop near you and talk with them. The problem is getting your open water dives in, you need to make 4, for certification. If a port is cancelled or the weather isn't with you, you lost out. Also look at the Scuba/Snorkel thread for advice too.

[Bluefox]

or SSI. SCUBA Schools International. I was just certified. It took one week. Its totally worth it. I wouldn't want to waste that much time on a cruise studying. I also think it benefits YOU as a diver, because honestly- a lot can happen to you while diving and you need to know how to react and be properly trained IMO. I think it does nothing but harm you to rush through all of the safety instructions. Dive SAFE and have fun!

[Cruzin-K]

Hopefully this will work. I'm trying to link to my review of scuba class on the Navigator, but I am using a cell phone. Anyway, I have a thread called Getting Scuba Diver Cert on board, on the scuba and snorkeling board. Post number 4 is my report. It was a seperate thread but mods combined it with my original question so it's not obvious that there is a review. http://Http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1359828

[pinkie1]

What a great thread!!!

I have always wanted to dive and was thinking about doing the scuba without certification. But, after reading these posts I'm thinking about doing the pool and safety stuff at home and doing the dives while on the cruise and get open water cert. I'm hoping to do them on our B2B next year.

 

Question though. If you get an open water certification do you need to be recertified every few years? or once you're certified you're done for life?

[sspolone]

My wife and I dove at St Thomas on the Freedom of the seas. It was nice and very convenient. To answer the question above. You certify once but most reputable dive shops recommend that you dive at least once a year or you will need to have a refresher course. They usually offer them in the pool or at an all inclusive resort. Diving is nice as you see more types of fish and you right on them. We often will feed them something like a bagel from the ship and they often will eat right out of your hands. Nice experience.

[Florida Fan]

My husband and I did a scuba excursion in the southern Caribbean, Aruba I think. I'm glad I did it, because now I have at least that experience. However I don't think it's the best way to approach scuba diving. On our excursion, the introductory part in a swimming pool ashore was done very quickly. When it was time to dive off the ship, a good portion of the participants--almost half--either were too nervous to get into the water or went in and came right back out. I recommend a slower approach with a smaller group, perhaps the on-board lessons or pre-cruise lessons. I'm glad I had the experience, but frankly I don't think I'll do it again.

[Clarea]

My husband and I did a scuba excursion in the southern Caribbean, Aruba I think. I'm glad I did it, because now I have at least that experience. However I don't think it's the best way to approach scuba diving. On our excursion, the introductory part in a swimming pool ashore was done very quickly. When it was time to dive off the ship, a good portion of the participants--almost half--either were too nervous to get into the water or went in and came right back out. I recommend a slower approach with a smaller group, perhaps the on-board lessons or pre-cruise lessons. I'm glad I had the experience, but frankly I don't think I'll do it again.

I had a similar experience many years ago on a cruise, and I agree, it would have been a better experience for me had I took it slower wth pre-cruise sessions.

[BillOh]

I've been eyeing the diving course that they run in the the pool, with "real" dives at the ports. I would like to try something a little bit more exciting than snorkeling, but not sure about Snuba or things like that. Anyone with experience with learning to dive on the ship... would it be appropriate (or even available) for a 14 year old?

 

It is available for 14 year olds. If you really wanted to do it on a ship, I would make it an Oasis class ship where you can at least get in a pool that is 16ft deep. If I was going to do on a ship and it was the Oasis class I might do it on an itinerary I have already been to and has several Sea days.

 

I did a LEARN TO SCUBA excursion with Royal in St Thomas and loved it, but got my certification back home.

[pete1681]

Go to your local dive shop,get certified before your cruise, then you can go on some great Caribbean dives. And you'll be helping a local shop and have somewhere to go for dive trips,gear,etc.

[dpostman]

Go to your local dive shop,get certified before your cruise, then you can go on some great Caribbean dives. And you'll be helping a local shop and have somewhere to go for dive trips,gear,etc.

 

Holy! Old post resurrection batman!!! ;p March 2011...

 

 

I agree with this. Also, I'm not sure what the certification pricing is around your parts but it was less than half the cost here locally, and spread out over several week. I also think that building a relationship with your local dive shop will be very helpful. I don't plan on diving very much locally, and got certified especially to dive when vacationing/cruising in the south but still like to have the access to local knowledge.

 

 

dp

[butterfly529]

Is there a way to find out which ships offer the scuba in the pool class? On Enchantment in October and was just wondering if the smaller ships offer.

 

TIA :)

[Clarea]

Is there a way to find out which ships offer the scuba in the pool class? On Enchantment in October and was just wondering if the smaller ships offer.

 

TIA :)

Oasis class for sure because they have the deep Aquatheater pool. Haven't seen it offered on other ships.

[BillOh]

Oasis class for sure because they have the deep Aquatheater pool. Haven't seen it offered on other ships.

 

 

I think I saw it offered on Freedom, but I am really questioning my sanity today. The reason I think I saw it on Freedom is I stopped by the shop and bought a new snorkle tube, I had forgotten mine and was doing a shore dive in Grand Caymen and I heard the guy explain the intro class to a customer.

[Clarea]

I think I saw it offered on Freedom, but I am really questioning my sanity today. The reason I think I saw it on Freedom is I stopped by the shop and bought a new snorkle tube, I had forgotten mine and was doing a shore dive in Grand Caymen and I heard the guy explain the intro class to a customer.

I would not be surprised if they did offer it on other ships. I've just never seen a bunch of people with scuba equipment in a ship pool, other than on Oasis and Allure. However, if they do it at 5am, I would not have seen it.:)

[dpostman]

Oasis class for sure because they have the deep Aquatheater pool. Haven't seen it offered on other ships.

 

I'm sure they were doing it on Anthem last March cause I seen it listed in our cruise planner. I also heard the guys in the on board Scuba Shop mention that they had a small group for the classes. I did notice a group of 4 with the instructor sitting on the benches in front of the shop and the instructor was giving an equipment assembly demo as I walked by, but when we went out on Coco Cay for our scuba excursion, I only seen one diver with the instructor. I understood that they went out again in Nassau to complete the open water dives to complete the certification.

 

dp

[rukkian]

I actually did the discover scuba in February in St Marten from JOTS. I loved it, my wife freaked out and got back on the boat. I actually liked it enough, I came back with the intention of getting certified before our next cruise locally. I then realized they actually offer the full open water course on Oasis class ships. You do the book learning ahead of time (before you go), and then once onboard, they quiz you to make sure you know what you were supposed to learn and then you do the pool dives (5 I believe) and open water dives (4) at 2 different ports during the cruise.

 

This whole thing is offered on our cruise on Allure in March, but now my 2 boys (14, 16) and even my wife want to try it when we go, so I am doing another discover scuba in Cozumel and a pool dive on the ship, both booked through the shore excursions with OBC. Looking at the price, it was not much more (less than $100) difference from my local shop for the full open water cert, and you get to do your dives in the carribbean, which is better than some dirty lake in the Midwest.

 

The discover to me was a great way to try it out, enough so that I am doing it again. My wife freaked out before she even put her head under water, while we were practicing skills in floating in the ocean.

[dpostman]

... and you get to do your dives in the carribbean, which is better than some dirty lake in the Midwest.

 

I have to agree with you on that... Doing the open dives in the Caribbean would be a nice option as a new diver. The water in Birchy Head, Nova-Scotia where we did our open water dives is crystal clear... but the water temp was 47°F :eek: in the middle of June.

 

dp