Scuba Diver Certification

[themons]

We recently returned from a week long cruise. We were made aware of a situation during the cruise which may be of interest to people planning on doing the PADI Scuba Diver certification onboard the ship.

 

First off, the PADI scuba diver certification is not the same thing as the PADI open water certification. With scuba diver certification, you have to dive in the presence of an instructor, assistant instructor, or divemaster and you can only dive to 40 feet.

 

So, the previously openwater husband enrolled his spouse in the scuba diver course. She went through the required theory coursework and pool sessions. The two required dives were to be performed in Cozumel. However, on the day the ship was in Cozumel, the port was closed and all of the diving excursions were cancelled. These included the certified diver dives, the discover scuba dives, and the scuba diver certification dives. The wife was not able to complete the scuba diver certification as a result.

 

According to the husband, not only did his wife not get the certification, but that the cruise line would not refund any part of the course fee. So now, if the wife wants to get open water certified, she has to the remaining book work, the remaining pool skills, and all four required dives. In other words, the $400 was mostly wasted.

 

The lesson learned here is that if you want to dive, its a lot better get a complete open water certification, and to do it before you go on your cruise.

[The Flying Pirate]

There are a couple things to note. It is always better I think to be certified before you go, that way you can enjoy your diving rather than doing training dives on your vacation. If it isn't possible to get certified before you go, you can always do a referral, where you do all the pool and classroom work before you go and then just have to do the checkout dives at one stop on the cruise so you can enjoy being certified the rest of your trip.

[Mariner77]

There are a couple things to note. It is always better I think to be certified before you go, that way you can enjoy your diving rather than doing training dives on your vacation. If it isn't possible to get certified before you go, you can always do a referral, where you do all the pool and classroom work before you go and then just have to do the checkout dives at one stop on the cruise so you can enjoy being certified the rest of your trip.

 

It would be nearly impossible to do 4 OW dives in a one-day port call. A better idea would be to arrive early and schedule the OW dives with a PADI shop at your embarkation port for 2-3 days prior to the cruise.

 

The referral program is mostly so people who live in cold climates can do their open water dives in warm water. You do all the classroom & pool dives ahead of time, then only need to complete the OW dives at your destination, which theoretically should only take two days.

[Kryssa]

PADI doesn't allow more than 3 training dives a day I think...

[divinmule]

So sorry to hear about your wife's experience. Really doesn't seem very reasonable for them to not refund some of the fee since they could not complete the requirements for her to get this certification.

 

In the long run she will probalby be happier with a true open water certification so she won't have all the restrictions that come with the Scuba diver certification.

 

But I would probably try a bit more with the actual cruise company. Write a nice letter detailing the situation and how the excursion could not be completed due to no fault of hers. I bet you'll get some level of response...of course it may only be a credit towards a future cruise. But something is better than nothing.

[Middleager]

I don't believe the ship would charge $400 for PADI Scuba Diver certification, and then not refund anything when the port excusions including the 2 open water dives were cancelled. Something is missing from the story there.

 

 

Also, if the husband signed up the wife for the PADI Scuba Diver certification and thinks it's the same as the PADI Open Water certification is the same, then the husband doesn't know anything about scuba diving. Or he hasn't been diving for a very long time and doesn't know what's happening in PADI and/or the diving world. Sounds like he needs some refresher himself.

 

 

Now, even if the wife does complete the PADI Scuba Diver certification, she'll still have to take more classes/lessons, and still do two more open water dives. That itself would've been another couple of hundred dollars. So that part again should NOT be a surprise.

[R_Judy]

I had the same thing happen but they gave me a partial refund and then my next cruise I did the sea dives and only paid what they had refunded me. Please contact RCCL.