Helmet Diving - Underwater cameras

[Linda the Book Lover]

oops - I posted this in roll call but it could not be dleted so here it is again:

 

I would like to know if in Bermuda the water is clear enough and there is enough light to take photos without a flash. We used an underwater camera before snorkeling but now with the depth equation, I wonder if I will still get the same clarity of picture. I am torn between a Kodak disposable that goes to 50 feet and the SeaLife SharkDiver SL301 Underwater Pre-loaded Camera with a flash. We decided to go with the ship's Peppercorn excursion and wondered if they made a deal about using underwater flash. Help!!

 

<LI>Tropicale ~ 5/93 <LI> Norwegian Wind ~ Hawaii ~ 4/4/03 <LI>Norwegian Majesty ~ Bermuda~ 5/30/04 <LI>

Until we sail on the Norwegian Majesty to Bermuda!

 

[kt1]

With helmet diving you only go about 10 feet underwater. There is plenty of light available at the depth, so no flash is needed.

 

We went helmet diving in Bermuda a few years ago and we have the photographs hanging in our dining room.

 

Don't ask the dive guide how the camera works underwater, he'll point to the button and say "press this". Just a little diver humor.

 

kt1

[debjo]

For Linda the Book Lover...

We, too, are doing the Peppercorn Helmet Dive in Bermuda on our 5/23 cruise. Too bad we'll be disembarking when you are embarking, so I won't be able to tell you how the Helmet Dive was. Guess we'll just have to compare notes when you get back.

 

Have a great cruise!

Debjo

 

  Until the NORWEGIAN DAWN 2004 (Can't Hardly Wait But Still Wishing I Was Going On The NORWAY Instead!)

 

 NORWEGIAN MAJESTY 2004 Bermuda Bound Again!

 

QE2-Bermuda 2003

PACIFIC PRINCESS-Bermuda 2002

REGAL EMPRESS-New England/Canada 2001

 

[Linda the Book Lover]

I am really excited about this excursion...it is all I keep talking about. I am driving my poor DH crazy

 

<LI>Tropicale ~ 5/93 <LI> Norwegian Wind ~ Hawaii ~ 4/4/03 <LI>Norwegian Majesty ~ Bermuda~ 5/30/04 <LI>

Until we sail on the Norwegian Majesty to Bermuda!

 

[Linda the Book Lover]

Good little joke and thanks for the information....it is taking forever for our cruise to begin!

 

<LI>Tropicale ~ 5/93 <LI> Norwegian Wind ~ Hawaii ~ 4/4/03 <LI>Norwegian Majesty ~ Bermuda~ 5/30/04 <LI>

Until we sail on the Norwegian Majesty to Bermuda!

[RonP1201]

My son and I did helmet diving with Pepercorns competition and had a ball. Great experience, you will love it. We are on the Majesty on June 13, and will use pepercorn this year just to compare. I dont have the info at my hands to give you the name and phone number you can either call or email. If you want it you can Email me at RonP1201@excite.com and I will send it to you. Its a fun experience.

[pathubia]

We got great pictures with our fugi throw away cameras. We went on Hartleys Undersea adventure. Greg took our cameras and took lots of pix of us with the fish.

 

Patty

 

NCL Majesty 04

NCL Majesty 02

 

[Sandycruise]

Hi! Definitely bring your own underwater cameras and shoot the whole roll. It is worth the price of film and development and you'll be amazed at the things the fish in the picture that you did not notice when you were shooting. Another reason to take alot of shots is that Stormin Norman (a big friendly fish) likes to swim right in front of your face, and you may need a few shots or you will look like you have a fish head.

We made a CHristmas card with one of our pictures.

 

I have to put my vote in for Hartley's helmet dive. He is very generous with taking pictures and he know how to push Stormin Norman away so you can get a shot of your face. Greg is the most awesome person. Kind of like Dr.Doolittle in a wet suit. He had an assistant named Kwame who was just great. I Don't know about Peppercorns to compare it.

 

http://www.hartleybermuda.com/

 

This is the site for info. We booked on our own before hand and saved $40 per person. You can take a bus or a cab right to the dive site for a few bucks. We also had a less crowded dive than the ship excursion people.

 

If you contact Greg, tell him Sandy from NJ says "Hi"

 

Sandy

Carn. Jubilee, Nov 13,2000

NCL Sea, July 22,2001

Cel Zenith Oct 19, 2002

Carn. Pride Aug 27, 2003

NCL Dawn, Oct. 31, 2004 (find us at the roll call!)

Sandy and Len, Mom and Dad, BahamaMomma, DJ and family

http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=5023051067&m=7733089657

[Linda the Book Lover]

I have my cameras and I am ready to take pictures of the fish..now if I can only make the calendar go quicker! Each person made me more excited to do this helmet dive....I bet you can't guess what thing I talk about most at work

 

<LI>Tropicale ~ 5/93 <LI> Norwegian Wind ~ Hawaii ~ 4/4/03 <LI>Norwegian Majesty ~ Bermuda~ 5/30/04 <LI>

Until we sail on the Norwegian Majesty to Bermuda!

[debjo]

For Linda the Book Lover...

Your excitement about the Helmet Dive is certainly contagious! We, too, are looking forward to this "new" way to be part of the world under the sea. You and I will have many notes to compare after both of our trips the next two-three weeks.

 

I can't remember if you've mentioned this before, but...HAVE YOU EVER GONE SNORKELING??? My husband and I tried this on our first cruise to Bermuda...he was quite hesitant-mostly because he is NOT a good swimmer (for that matter neither am I). Well, he was instantly "hooked" and we've gone snorkeling on every one of our cruises since. It is a "MUST DO" excursion. With your excitement about the Helmet Dive...snorkeling could be the next best thing!

 

Debjo

 

  Until the NORWEGIAN DAWN 2004 (Can't Hardly Wait But Still Wishing I Was Going On The NORWAY Instead!)

 

 NORWEGIAN MAJESTY 2004 Bermuda Bound Again!

 

QE2-Bermuda 2003

PACIFIC PRINCESS-Bermuda 2002

REGAL EMPRESS-New England/Canada 2001

 

[Linda the Book Lover]

Debjo,

 

We signed up for a rum punch snorkel trip. I keep wondering if we are going to have to swim to the island which is part of the trip or if they will put a plank down and you get wet up to your knees and you can snorkel from the beach. The description was not very clear. We went on a great snorkel trip in Hawaii and saw tons of whales. Somehow I think the helmet dive will be hard to beat though!

 

<LI>Tropicale ~ 5/93 <LI> Norwegian Wind ~ Hawaii ~ 4/4/03 <LI>Norwegian Majesty ~ Bermuda~ 5/30/04 <LI>

Until we sail on the Norwegian Majesty to Bermuda!

 

[debjo]

For Linda the Book Lover...

We're signed up for the Captain's Select Snorkel. We've never done the "snorkel" that you've signed up for...so I can't help you out there. I'm interested in seeing how different my snorkel pictures will be from the helmet dive pictures. We just went and purchased a "water safe" at a local dive shop and also got a fish identification card & book for Bermuda & the Caribbean. Now we can finally identify the fish in all the other "snorkel" pictures that we took...that's what my DH is working on now.

 

I've spent the day packing and am all set to "GO" now ...tomorrow will be all the last minute stuff with the cats and horses along with cleaning the house.

 

Our weather forecast for Boston this weekend and St. Georges for Tue, Wed, Thurs. next week doesn't look good. Scattered showers, rain, and thunderstorms for all of our days "on land". Pray we get some good weather...I'd hate for all our excursions to be cancelled!

 

Debjo (a bit discouraged with the weather report)

 

  Until the NORWEGIAN DAWN 2004 (Can't Hardly Wait But Still Wishing I Was Going On The NORWAY Instead!)

 

 NORWEGIAN MAJESTY 2004 Bermuda Bound Again!

 

QE2-Bermuda 2003

PACIFIC PRINCESS-Bermuda 2002

REGAL EMPRESS-New England/Canada 2001

 

[Linda the Book Lover]

Debjo...the weather will be fine, we all know how often the weather reports are incorrect. Right now in my area it is supposed to be a storm outside and it is around 78 degrees and sunny!

 

Just in case I don't have a chance to wish a good time...have a great time and we will compare notes when we both return. I am planning on dancing with the Gombeys in my light up flip flops!

 

<LI>Tropicale ~ 5/93 <LI> Norwegian Wind ~ Hawaii ~ 4/4/03 <LI>Norwegian Majesty ~ Bermuda~ 5/30/04 <LI>

Until we sail on the Norwegian Majesty to Bermuda!

 

[debjo]

For Linda the Book Lover...

And, I in turn, wish you a BON VOYAGE now (since I probably won't be back on the computer until you're happily on your way to Bermuda! Sure do wish we were cruising at the same time...I think we'd end up having a lot of fun (although I don't have any light-up flip flops!)

 

Until we all return (with lots of stories and big smiles on our faces from having a wonderful vacation!)

Debjo

 

  Until the NORWEGIAN DAWN 2004 (Can't Hardly Wait But Still Wishing I Was Going On The NORWAY Instead!)

 

 NORWEGIAN MAJESTY 2004 Bermuda Bound Again!

 

QE2-Bermuda 2003

PACIFIC PRINCESS-Bermuda 2002

REGAL EMPRESS-New England/Canada 2001

 

[debjo]

For Linda the Book Lover...

Now that you've returned from your, hopefully marvelous cruise, please let me know what you thought about the HELMET DIVE experience!

 

Sadly, we had to cancel our HELMET DIVE excursion and "missed" our CAPTAIN'S SELECT SNORKEL excursion. Fortunately, we did get some snorkel time in, on our own, at Tobacco Bay. It was awesome!

 

I know we'll go back to Bermuda again, so we'll have an opportunity to go HELMET DIVING again. In the meantime, I'll just have to experience it vicariously through you and await a future cruise to Bermuda.

 

Hope you had a great trip...and better weather than we did!

 

Debjo

 

  Until the NORWEGIAN DAWN 2004 (Can't Hardly Wait But Still Wishing I Was Going On The NORWAY Instead!)

 

 NORWEGIAN MAJESTY 2004 Bermuda Bound Again!

 

QE2-Bermuda 2003

PACIFIC PRINCESS-Bermuda 2002

REGAL EMPRESS-New England/Canada 2001

 

[Linda the Book Lover]

In a nutshell the helmet diving was awesome! The DH and I had a great time and I would definitely do it again. It was a little scary at first because I kept wondering if the helmet would fill up with water as there is some water in the helmet. BUT it didn’t and there were so many fish! I likened it to “the birds†surrounding the person in that movie because when he gives you the food to feed the fish they come running to you.

 

Peppercorn he did take photos of you with your own camera and he was fun to be with. There is a cute dog that reminded me of an ugly dog the kids had when they were young. We had to picture of him too! You are taken to the dive boat on a utility boat and you get the safety instruction etc and off you go.

 

We ate dinner with a gentleman that did it in Bahamas and said it was more expensive but he loved it.

 

If you want to send your email I will attach a few photos of the DH and me. All you will see is the teeth from our smiles, it was super!

 

We had great weather and it only rained one night after 10:30 after we returned to the ship. We also did a snorkel trip to Turtle Island and had a blast!

 

What a great cruise! The downside…it ended..and the 4 hour jet lag!

 

<LI>Tropicale ~ 5/93 <LI> Norwegian Wind ~ Hawaii ~ 4/4/03 <LI>Norwegian Majesty ~ Bermuda~ 5/30/04 <LI>

Until we sail on the Norwegian Majesty to Bermuda!

 

[debjo]

For Linda the Book Lover...

Thanks so much for your wonderful description of the Helmet Dive. It sounds like we'll definitely have to look into it again on our next trip (not yet scheduled) to Bermuda.

 

Please email the pictures...I'd love to see them (and of course your big smiles)! debbiejo@a-znet.com

 

Glad to hear you had a great trip and the weather didn't present any problems for you either.

 

Debjo

 

  Until the NORWEGIAN DAWN 2004 (Can't Hardly Wait But Still Wishing I Was Going On The NORWAY Instead!)

 

 NORWEGIAN MAJESTY 2004 Bermuda Bound Again!

 

QE2-Bermuda 2003

PACIFIC PRINCESS-Bermuda 2002

REGAL EMPRESS-New England/Canada 2001

 

[Big Al B.]

Makes me want to do Bermuda again just for the dive . We scheduled once, but it was cancelled due to winds making the water murky, we re-scheduled for the next day - same result. Glad yours went well.

 

Statendam-Alaska '97, Veendam-NE/Canada '98, RCCL-Bermuda, '99, Am. Queen, 2000, NCL Sky-Caribbean '03, NCL Dawn - Bahamas '03

 

NCL Sun Panama Canal