St. Thomas SCUBA through NCL question...

[Lovex4]

I posted this last week on the Ports of Call Board for St. Thomas but have had no response so hopefull I may find an answer here...

 

Our family will be on the Norwegian Getaway in May and my son and I have booked the two tank SCUBA dive through NCL. My wife and daughter would prefer to go with us on the catamaran and just not dive. Does anyone know if this is possible?

 

I called NCL and they told me I would have to wait until I board the ship and would need to ask at the excursion desk. Our alternative would be to let my wife and daughter book another excursion but we do not want to wait that late and take a chance on an excursion being full. If someone knew the dive operator perhaps I could contact them directly and ask if they take ride alongs.

 

Thanks for any help.

[dalgirl]

When DH dove with NCL in St. Thomas there were no "spectators" on the boat, only other divers and it was at capacity since diving is very popular in St. Thomas. If the dive is not full I would think that the company they hire may charge something. You can always follow up with the excursion desk - when we board he always has to check in them to get all of his forms, dive card, etc. verified.

 

When he dives I always do something else - another excursion, shopping, the beach, the spa, etc. I can guarantee that your wife and daughter will have a better time doing something else than bouncing around on a dive boat waiting for you guys to come back up from diving:D There should be plenty of things for them to sign up for once on board as all the spots are not given out over the internet before sailing.

[sr71pav]

Perhaps it would be worthwhile to look into a dive shop outside of the cruise line. I was just there in January (Royal Caribbean, but it doesn't matter), and DW and I booked with Blue Island Divers. She was just getting over a sinus infection, so no diving, but that wasn't a problem at all. I forget exactly what they charged, but it was $15-25 for her to go snorkelling while I was diving. The nice this was that there were only myself and 2 other divers, so no stress diving. They picked us up right by the dock, so it was really easy to do. Just offering an alternative, if you're interested.

[garycarla]

If you book direct with someone, you will then be able to talk DIRECT with people that can give you a correct answer. Even is NCL says okay... maybe, maybe, maybe not.

[Nudibranch]

I dove St. Thomas through NCL in November 2012. There were divers from different cruise ships in port; just two of us were from NCL. The dive shop was busy and no one onboard was there just for the ride. Non-divers many not find this relaxing and may be in the way. I liked that several times they kept account of divers by name, not counting numbers only, so that there would be no "Open Water" experiences.

[pieshops]

we never ever never, dive with the NCL excursions. The one time we tried it, it was a cattle call. We always find a local dive shop and dive with them. Generally there are only about 8 of us on the boat, less sometimes and there is generally a dive master for every 6 or so people so you get a much more personalized experience. We generally ask for a dive site that will not be crowded with the cruise passengers also, there are so many sites that is usually not a problem.

 

Check out yelp also for good shops

[Lovex4]

Good info, thanks. I have a few more questions for anyone who can help...

 

I spent years diving all over the Caribbean but my newly certified son wants to go while on the cruise. I thougth it better to book through NCL so I wouldn't have to worry about getting back to the ship on time.

 

For those of you have booked through NCL, how was the dive experience? Was the dive boat crowded (which seems to be the major complaint)? Was it so full that it was an unpleasant experience?

 

For those who booked privately; were there any issues with timing (getting back to the port)? Were both dives in the morning? Did you have time to do anything else while in port? Was the boat crowded or comfortable?

 

Any other tips or advice would be appreciated?

[sr71pav]

We had no concerns about missing the boat. The group we used even references cruise passengers specifically on their site. Because the pick up and drop off location was at the end of the pier, just outside security, everything was a breeze. The dives were over early enough that we were back on the ship for a about 3 hours before we realized my sunglasses had been left behind. There was even enough time to grab a cab to their shop without feeling pressed for time.

 

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[Nudibranch]

I don't get an opportunity to plan dive trips often (as I do other trips) and was glad to be able to book dives while on my cruise. I liked the dive shop NCL used in St. Thomas for certified divers, even though the group was a good size from other cruise ships. They paid attention to detail and safety. Everyone was friendly. They broke us up into smaller groups to dive and there was a sufficient ratio of dive masters/instructors to divers and we were buddied up with other divers with similar experience. They were also people from the other ships doing discover scuba, from the dive boat, and they were attended to by an instructor. However, family members who went on NCL's discover scuba excursion went with a dive operator that started them out from the beach and I was thankful for that. Overall, I found it to be a pleasant experience and had no complaints and my family had an awesome experience on their first dive trip.

[pieshops]

Like I said in my previous post we had a bad experience our first time diving with NCL. Way to many people on the boat, way to many people with each dive master and not enough bottom time, we had to all come up when the first person got low on air.

 

We have gone diving probably 20 times on our cruises and have never had an issue making it back to the boat. We book our dives first thing in the day and generally they take about 4 hours or so so we are back well before the ship leaves and with going first thing if something were to happen it gives plenty of time for backup.

 

Of for say the ship arrives at 8, we were diving by 9 and back to the ship by one with plenty of time to do other stuff. Plus in the morning generally the winds are less and the water less choppy.

 

One last thing. If you do not have DAN insurance get it, you can get a family plan for like 100 dollars. Most insurances don't cover dive accidents. My cousins who is a very experienced diver got bent on the back side of Molokini and had to get airlifted to Honolulu and spent 3 days in the chamber. The insurance covered everything including the chamber, flight and the changes to their flights home. It is a very good thing to get if you don't already.

[dalgirl]

DH has never had a problem with NCL. It was always a full dive, you do have to meet up, get equipment,etc. But it was not a cattle call - everyone involved was a professional and gave good service. There were a few times when time was tight coming back that he was glad it was through NCL. It is just easy having them arrange transport, etc. One time he actually left his dive card at home and NCL got his confirmation of certification and called our cabin the same day to say all was confirmed and no worries. He never does the beginning scuba dive excursion, he sticks with the experienced dive excursions only.

 

That may work best for the OP with his family.

 

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[orangegrove]

Over Christmas we were on the Sun and my husband and son(15yo) decided to take the excursion through NCL. (we rarely book through cruise line) They chose to dive in St. Lucia. I know it's not St. Thomas but just so you have an idea of other ports. No cattle call. There were maybe 8-10 divers and they picked up by dive boat at the ship and returned them there. There would have been no room for observers. This was a regular dive boat, nothing huge. I enjoyed my morning on the ship free of people! :D I was actually able to see them return to the pier from my balcony. My husband and son brought their own skins, booties, mask, snorkel, and fins. They had a blast and he would not hesitate to book through NCL again. We did just get off the Epic but they chose not to scuba this time. We had family cruising with us this trip and they have never cruised before so we spent time with them. :)