Nautilus semi-submersible

[swysong77]

Has anyone tried this company?

 

Thinking of going this route rather than spending more on a "real" submarine (which I'd love to do, but funds are tight).

 

Any information would be great! :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

:)

 

It was okay - we don't recommend it to anyone. After a short ride out to the semi-submersible, they have you start to fill the sub at the front and pull down the seats in the middle so that every space is filled from the front of the sub to the back. There isn't any room to move around like on a regular sub. We have done both and really like the regular sub since we had a chance to get up and move around.

 

:)

[montgomeryfamily]

We have done the Nautilus Tour twice and thought it was great both times. Krazy Kruizers, this isn't the tour that you are thinking of--we did that tour that you are thinking of and we didn't like it either. The Nautilus isn't like that at all!

 

There are two types of excursions offered. One is just the tour on the boat where you view out the windows. The other tour combines the boat viewing with snorkeling. I know you can book the first tour as a shore excursion on the cruise ship. I'm not sure whether you can book the other excursion that way--you couldn't do it the first time we took the excursion and so we booked directly with the Nautilus. The second time we didn't even bother looking at the cruise ship offering--we just booked directly.

 

The Nautilus web site is http://www.nautilus.ky and there are some pictures there of the boat. The boat loads at the dock and the passengers board at the top where the Capt/crew area is, the bathrooms, and the dive platform. The passengers then walk down a circular staircase to a very large room with large picture windows all around. There are padded benches lined up in front of the windows, but the benches don't face the windows-- they extend straight from the windows because there is room for a table between each two benches. Apparently at night they have dinner cruises and have the tables there, but they told me they take them out in the day to make more room for passengers to walk around--they don't squeeze more benches into the space. So there was a lot of room between the benches. There is bottled ice water to drink.

 

When you first go out, you see lots of fish. They also go past a shipwreck. They go to a reef and anchor, (the reef they decide based on the weather). Both times we went to Cheeseburger Reef. They have a diver who goes out and feeds the fish. The diver goes in front of all the windows and there are huge numbers of various fish. We also saw large sea turtles and stingrays.

 

This is where they offer snorkling for anyone who wants to go. They furnish the equipment and also have a short training session for those who have never snorkled. There is a dive platform on top and a wide ladder which goes all the way into the water with several steps going into the water. They have a guide in the water and staff on top helping people in and out of the water and watching out. There is a fresh water shower for when you finish.

 

This is an ideal excursion for a group that has some that want to snorkel and some that only want to see underwater without getting wet. The people still on the boat can see the snorkers too--some people got some great pictures of others in their group.

 

The first time we went we had a mixed group like this and also had a disabled member of the party who wanted to snorkle. Rather than taking different tours or a snorkle boat where the non-swimmers of our group would just have to sit, we took this tour. The disabled person could not climb down the steps (although if you have someone who can walk, there is a rail around the steps and they do provide assistance--there were some elderly ladies using canes that went down the steps with no problem), so he stayed up top with the crew until we went to Cheeseburger Reef. Although he is a good swimmer/snorkler, he needs assistance getting into the water and back out. They helped him into the water and back out and also to use the fresh water shower. I had contacted Nautilis ahead of time and talked with their staff to find out if they could accommodate a disabled person in a wheelchair. They were very gracious and explained that he could not go downstairs, but they would be happy to have him go and ride with the crew up top and then provide him assistance in and out of the water. They did all of this and also brought him water to drink. They also took him to and from the dock in a private car while the main group of passengers took a van. (No extra charge for any of this!)

 

Booking either tour directly with Nautilus is cheaper than going through the cruise line. Right now they are offering an extra discount for making a booking reservation. They don't charge if the ship doesn't dock or if the ship is too late to make the excursion.

 

Have fun!

 

Kathy

[swysong77]

Kathy,

 

Thanks so much for your reply - I've emailed the people at Nautilus several times with time and location questions, but wanted to hear a first-hand account - All the details you addressed were exactly what I was curious about!

 

I think we'll go ahead and book with Nautilus (it's about $10-$15 cheaper than our cruise line). :)

 

Thanks again!

 

Stacey