mac66

Congrats,

Yeahhhhhhh... you'll pretty much want to dive every day once you've done it. At least when you start out you can't get enough particularly on a cruise if that's the only time you dive. Dive till you drop and then rest up on the sea days going back.😄

It's been sold out the last 2 times I've been there as well. I showed up at the dive shop first thing in the morning and asked to be on the waiting list in case someone didn't show up or canceled at that last minute. Unfortunately for me, everybody showed.

Kinda funny that we were in the Diamond lounge on our last cruise and there was a couple there who went on and on about suites. I thought, "man, these people must be pinnacles." Later in the cruise we saw them get off the elevator on deck 2 and followed them down the hallway. They had an interior a few cabins down from ours. Of course they still might have been pinnacles but then again, maybe not.

We did the a Serenade 7 nighter to Coz, Costa Maya, Belize and Roatan in early Feb. First time on a radiance class ship. Went with my 2 brothers & wives. We cruise often, them, not so much. 5 years for one of them, over 20 for the other. Everybody had a great time. Food was okay in MDR (6 out of 7 nights). Dinner time was 7 but the matre'de asked if we could come at 7:15. So we ended up eating around 7-7:30 each night. Had great service at that time. Did chops one night. I didn't really notice the wear and tear on the ship. I really enjoyed it being smaller and easier to get around on. Didn't do many of the shows, spent most of the time in the Crown & Castle bar. We are a little bit older than the OP and I'm beginning to enjoy the smaller ships more. The Oasis+ class ships are just too big and busy for us. I was actually surprised what a nice ship and cruise it was. We were on Celebrity 3 times last year (Covid make up cruises) and on the Freedom in Dec. The Serenade was no better or worse than those cruises in terms of food, service, shows, etc, etc. We did like sailing out of Tampa, pretty easy to get to from central Florida where we have access to my in-laws' house. We'll try and do more cruises out of Tampa whether it is RCL or Celebrity. I'd definitely sail on Serenade again if the itinerary was different (but not the world cruise, LOL)

I just want to add that when I did my referral dives I didn't find a dive operator on all three islands I went to who wouldn't do a referral. Everybody I talked to say "yes, we do referrals, come ahead". My experience since then has been that most dive ops will do just about anything to get your business. They've always been very accommodating. None of the referral dives took longer than a 2 tank dive except for the first one which was discovery dive for my kids which was very thorough and I sat through (and was very helpful). Normally it would have just been a skills check off with very little additional or further instruction. At least that's the way those operators did it. They expected me to know the stuff, they simply checked me on it with the understanding that I was a new diver. As I said, most dive ops are very accommodating. If you need more instruction they will do it as well. I understand what Harris is saying but in my experience doing referral dives wasn't very complicated. It's not rocket science.

Just a clarification.... When I did my first OW cert dives in Curacao I had arranged to do it with my kids' discovery dives. I sat through their discovery dives and did the same check offs. We then did a dive together. And then the second dive was a quick skills re-check and then a dive. We used Scubacao and did the Discovery Dive and my OW check offs at Tugboat beach. I think we started at about 9 am, but it was about 10:30 before we actually got into the water. We were back by 2 pm. In Aruba I was picked up at 9 probably back by 1 pm. If you can do a 2 tank morning dive in any port you can go your OW certs.

When I did my confined water class, the instructor filled out a skills check off form and gave it to me. That was in November. We had a cruise planned to the ABCs in early Feb the next year. I started calling around and asked dive ops if they would/do OW cert dives. Our first stop was in Curacao. The dive op said sure and we did basically what was a two tank dive with skills check offs. We then did a dive. Can back and rested and then did a quick skills check and another dive. I was the only "student". The instructor signed off the skills check on the form and gave it back to me. Next stop was Bonaire but we had some family stuff planned and didn't dive in Bonaire. Third stop was in Aruba where I had arranged my second OW dives. Again, it was pretty much the price of a two tank dive. The dive operator fit me in with 3 local divers for the skills check in about 30' of water on the first dive which was wreck debris site. We all apparently did pretty well because the second dive was on the Antilla wreck with no skills check. The instructor signed off and submitted my name to PADI and a couple weeks later I got my ID card in the mail. And just an FYI. I dived in Roatan in Dec '22. On the boat with us were advanced OW (AOW) divers, me and another OW diver and a couple who were doing their first OW cert dives. They were staying on the island and were doing their second OW dives the next day. In terms of timing the OW check off dives were pretty much the same as any other dives depending on whether the instructor goes back over the skills with your before doing the dive. My first OW dive, the instructor went back over the skills but that's probably because it had been three months since my confined water class. The second day OW was just checks. He asked us to do something, we did it and he moved on to the next skill. Maybe 10 mins to do the skills in shallow water and then we just dived.

And..."confined water" can be shallow water in the ocean. I saw a guy do his refresher while I did my discover dive training at Eden Rock in Grand Cayman. The same training. I was certified in 2019, last dive was in Dec 2019. I didn't dive again until Dec '21. I did my refresher in Roatan with my kids who did their discovery dive training. Training and skills checks were the same. I could probably have lied and skipped the refresher as it was just two years but I was fairly new diver and the refresher brought me back up to speed. Another suggestion is if the OP kept a dive log and maybe wrote his ID number in it or not. He might be able to talk his way through. On my last cruise, all three dive ops asked me if I was certified but only 2 asked to see my card or asked for my ID#. I had forgotten my card for the 3rd day's dives. I just told them I have dived the previous 2 days with the other named dive ops. They took my word for it. On one other occasion I forgot my card but had my dive log/notebook with my ID# written it it. I think I read the PADI no longer gives out ID cards. Everything is done online with your ID#.

Look at Scubacao in Curacao. Have used them 3 times. Always a good time. It used to be a 2 man shop but they built it up and sold it since the last time we dived with them in 2019. New owners got things running well. We were impressed last Dec when we dived with them. I've used Happy Divers in Aruba but Jeffery couldn't fit me in last December so I booked through the ship (RC). They use Red Sail Sports which is located just a short walk down the pier. It was a cattle boat operation but we dived on the Antilla and Perdanales wrecks which is what Jeffery took us to 3 years ago. BTW, we dived with Dive Friends in Bonaire. Had the guide all to ourselves. Best reef dives in the ABCs.

I will reiterate in just few words what has already been said. If the OP has his original Certification card he just needs a refresher class. I've seen them done in less than an hour or two. If the OP no longer has his cert card he needs to take at least the OW class again. A suggestion might be do the confined water part in a pool at home and the OW referral dives on a cruise in warm water. That's what I did. I only dive in warm water on cruises.

Pretty much stay in interiors all the time now. We don't spend much time in our cabin, usually up on deck to see the ocean. We've done plenty of balconies but I still prefer interiors. Our last two cruises were in Ocean View cabins which we got for the price of an interior. I still prefer interiors. No sense spending more if you're not going to use it. I sleep better in an interior as well. Lower price of interior cabins means more cruises.

Bottles (particularly plastics ones) in checked luggage won't show up on the xray machines which are primarily looking for weapons and banned electrical devices.

Was on the Serenade in Feb. The parking lot for the ship is right across the street from the dock. Pretty easy to walk. Also prepay and then just drive out at the end.

LOL at the pickleball whiners and complainers. Boo hoo! Tip: avoid the area where they're playing pickleball if it hurts your sensitive ears.

I looked at doing it on a RCL ship, it's offered on Oasis class ships but couldn't swing it. Finally did the class/confined water part at home (in a pool in Nov) and the OW part on a cruise in Curcao and Aruba. OW dives are two a day, a day (or two) apart. Doing the OW part at a different dive shop is called a referral dive. Just about every dive operation in the Caribbean (or Florida for that matter) will do referral dives. If you want to do warm water OW dives. Just need to contact them in advance and set it up. You take your paperwork from your class/confined water part to your OW dives and have them sign off on the requirements.

The lowest stock price was $22/share in 2020. The highest was $133. Average is $66. 200 shares would have been between $4400 & $13200 minimum. To recoup that you would have had to have done between 44 and 132 cruises between then and now. Congratulations.

Every ship I've been on welcomes newbies. Usually there is someone (not a crew member) coordinating the games. Walk up, tell them you're new and they will fit you in, including giving you some instructions on how to play. Pickelball is people friendly.

We bought stock last summer @ $33/share basically just to get OBC. Even though it would take 33 cruises to break even. Used it twice since. A month ago it was $74/share. Debated selling it and decide not to but then figured out that I could have made $4100 on the deal. That's 41 cruises it would take to recoup @ $100 a cruise. Even today @ $63/share that's 30 cruises it would take to recoup. So the stock OBC is cool but not that much of a deal strategically. As it stands I have an order in to sell if it goes back up over $70 and a buy if it gets into the $40s.

$70? Yeah....no. The best way to learn pickelball is just show up. Pickelballers are usually more than eager to share the game with newbies.Takes 5 minutes to learn the rules. A few volleys will help your figure it out. Then just play.

Royal Caribbean (RCL) Upgraded to Buy: Here's What You Should Know https://finance.yahoo.com/news/royal-caribbean-rcl-upgraded-buy-160004360.html

Was on Explorer in Dec. They have paddles/balls. Times are posted

One thing I've found with cruise ship divers is that many off a cruise are a single divers. I've never had a problem being matched up with a buddy, some tighter, some looser. Pretty much learn to go with the flow.

Or try one of the smaller Royal ships. Not too many kids, nice and intimate surroundings. Nice bars etc. We really enjoyed the Serenade in early Feb, though we enjoyed the Explorer in early Dec as well.

We bring wine every time. Sometimes we have a beverage package, sometimes not, Never, ever been charged a corkage fee.