bruce-r

If your expectations are that Uvas is close to what it was pre-wilma, you might be disappointed.

 

If you value your time and want the better possibility of good snorkeling, I'd recommend going to Playa Palancar and doing a snorkel trip from there. From first hand reports I've read, shore snorkeling is very disappointing, but boat snorkeling is better, especially the farther south you go. Palancar reef is near the south end of the island and right off shore from Playa Palancar (makes sense doesn't it) so the boat ride will be short. You might want to hang out at the beach club a little after snorkeling. It should be nice and quiet.

....in order to travel between two US ports (SF, San Diego) on a foreign vessel (Princess), you would need to stop at a "distant foreign port." None of the Mexican ports of call will meet this requirement. So, I believe you'll have to continue through to your embarkation port for a roundtrip that only requires stopping at a "foreign port" -- satisfied by any of your Mexican ports.

I'm afraid that this isn't completely accurate. It is the Jones Act that requires cruise ships to be US flagged if they depart/return to a US port. Getting a ship US flagged is expensive, so the cruise lines don't do it. The Jones Act also allows a cruise ship to depart and return to a US port if the ship makes at least ONE call in a non-US port.It doesn't matter if the foreign port is 20 miles away or 200 miles away, it just has to be a non-US country. That is why cruises that depart from Seattle and cruise Alaska have a port call at either Victoria for a couple of hours in the late evening or some other Canadian port. NCL got a special waiver in order to cruise just the Hawaiian Islands by promising to have the majority of the ships crew be American.

 

This is a little off track of the original question, but it is more accurate.

 

The answer as so many have already said is yes you can get off a cruise at a different port. In fact I know of several people who have used a short carnival cruise to make a on way trip to Cozumel and take a huge amount of luggage with them. It was less expensive than flying and shipping the stuff.

If you have a chance to do a cenote trip, do it. The Mexican cost along that part of the Caribbean is the only place you can do a cenote dive whereas you can do a reef dive just about any where.

 

Here is a start for you.

Not for St. Maarten, stick to a beach trip for that island.

 

For St. Thomas, I like http://www.cokidive.com and I'll be you will too.

Picture of my wife on the Explorer of the Seas promenade.

 

http://community.webshots.com/myphotos?action=showPhoto&albumID=377643862&photoID=377664223&security=rDLlhG

Sorry, it wouldn't work for me :(

OK, I'll just have to contribute here. I know that the OP was asking about women's clothing, but she doesn't specifically say women only. So..... here I am in my formal clothes:

 

 

The "R" in my member name is for Robertson. That is my Clan's tartan in my kilt.

Has anyone ever done scuba diving with Celebrity? We are on the Summit to the Mexican Riveria and are considering diving with the ships excursion in Puerta Vallarta. I just received my open water cert. and the price of Celebrity's excursion is almost the same as a private trip. We always do something on our own, as opposed to the ships excursion, but thought that for convenience, this might be OK. Since this will be my first dive since certification, I don't want to end up with a lot of really experienced divers or with a DM who is inattentive.

Normally, I try to make my own arrangements too, but if the ship's dive excursion is about the same price and you are a beginner, I think it would be a good choice. It seems like most cruise dive excursions are geared toward the beginning or once a year diver so you shouldn't have to worry about ending up with a lot of advanced divers (which really wouldn't be a bad thing at all) Having a backup plan would be a good idea in case the excursion is canceled.

Good idea Bruce. Thanks for the email address. Wasn't intending to "do business" on the board; I thought others might be interested as well. Didn't realize this wasn't proper "board etiquette". In any case, I'll follow up directly via email.

 

jim

You are probably right others might be interested in the answers.. Laura is pretty good at answering questions without coming across like she is promoting her business. Answering question = good, self promotion = not good.

 

If you do end up going out the Sanddollar, I hope you will take a moment to share your experience with us.

 

You're going to love diving in Cozumel, if you haven't already been there.

jtonra, now that you know it is http://www.sanddollarsports.com that provides the RCI dive excursions, why don't you email Laura directly at infosds@sanddollarsports.com with your questions. I'm sure that you will get a much faster answer that way.

 

I don't think that she really wants to conduct business over the message board, for which I commend her.

 

Have a great time diving in Cozumel

I don't know who they use in Cozumel, but in Grand Cayman they use Redsail:

 

http://www.redsailcayman.com/gc_cruise.html

 

Good luck

The diving in Curacao was very good, considerably better than Aruba. I was on a Royal Caribbean cruise, but since I usually recommend to others to make their own dive arrangements, that is what I did. I went with Caribbean Sea Sports. They are based at the Marriot, not that that matters. I would recommend them to other cruisers. Nice people, nice boat, and less expensive than the ship's excursion.

 

I liked the diving in Curacao enough to want to go back there for a week of diving.