PADI Scuba Diver Course-On Ship

[PompeySailor]

Has anyone ever taken the PADI scuba diver course on any ship.

Interested to know cost, duration and any age limits.

And any other useful information with the package

Thanks.

[Ourusualbeach]

Has anyone ever taken the PADI scuba diver course on any ship.

Interested to know cost, duration and any age limits.

And any other useful information with the package

Thanks.

 

I can't remember all the specifics but we looked into this for our DD 12 and rejected the idea.

 

It is not a full certification and if you wanted to get fully certified you would need to find a dive shop that would give you credit for what you took. Not many that would do that do you would have to repeat stuff and basically pay twice.

 

Course was a couple of early mornings on ship plus study time. Did not want to do that on vacation. We are actually going to get DD certified this summer.

 

Age limit is 12 and up I believe as my DD could have done it last year.

 

There are beginner dives ( depth of about 25 feet) that 12 and up can go on. DD and DW (who is certified) did this last year on the Liberty and had a great time. Good introduction to scuba.

 

We just felt a little more comfortable having our DD get fully certified at a land based shop that specializes in certification.

 

One word of caution is that most standard medical policies exclude scuba diving as a covered peril.

[PompeySailor]

I can't remember all the specifics but we looked into this for our DD 12 and rejected the idea.

 

It is not a full certification and if you wanted to get fully certified you would need to find a dive shop that would give you credit for what you took. Not many that would do that do you would have to repeat stuff and basically pay twice.

 

Course was a couple of early mornings on ship plus study time. Did not want to do that on vacation. We are actually going to get DD certified this summer.

 

Age limit is 12 and up I believe as my DD could have done it last year.

 

There are beginner dives ( depth of about 25 feet) that 12 and up can go on. DD and DW (who is certified) did this last year on the Liberty and had a great time. Good introduction to scuba.

 

We just felt a little more comfortable having our DD get fully certified at a land based shop that specializes in certification.

 

One word of caution is that most standard medical policies exclude scuba diving as a covered peril.

 

 

Thanks Ken

Our DD is also 12, will certainly heed your advice and look into a land based company where we can get her certified prior to cruise.

Interesting on the medical as well. Always good to know

Appreciated.

[Clarea]

My wife took the course on Allure. She was surprised at how much time it took away from the cruise. Like Ken said, there were early mornings on the ship, and study time, and an early morning excursion in St. Maarten.

[KirkNC]

I think you are better off getting the real thing.

[PompeySailor]

Thanks Kirk & Bob..

[dutchclogs]

Hi OT but can I ask if you are originally from Portsmouth (UK)?

 

We may have a connection:cool:

[PompeySailor]

Hi OT but can I ask if you are originally from Portsmouth (UK)?

 

We may have a connection:cool:

 

dutchclogs, you would be correct, and I have worked in the Netherlands, and have friends in Amsterdam.

[dutchclogs]

dutchclogs, you would be correct, and I have worked in the Netherlands, and have friends in Amsterdam.

 

Hi Graham,

 

Sorry I did not follow up. I also come from Portsmouth and have family still living there. I thought there might be a naval connection but realise now probably not:o -- still always great to meet people. Coincidentally, I was also interested to read about the PADI qualification. My elder son once did an introductory session at Center Parcs and also beginner dive in Spain when he was 16-17, where they said he had a natural talent but to date we have not followed up. I do know a couple of people here in Holland who dive locally but the temps are not very enticing! I'd agree though to get certified on land. Hope you have a great time on Oasis

 

Gill aka dutchclogs

[PompeySailor]

Hi Graham,

 

Sorry I did not follow up. I also come from Portsmouth and have family still living there. I thought there might be a naval connection but realise now probably not:o -- still always great to meet people. Coincidentally, I was also interested to read about the PADI qualification. My elder son once did an introductory session at Center Parcs and also beginner dive in Spain when he was 16-17, where they said he had a natural talent but to date we have not followed up. I do know a couple of people here in Holland who dive locally but the temps are not very enticing! I'd agree though to get certified on land. Hope you have a great time on Oasis

 

Gill aka dutchclogs

 

Funny!! You know my name:confused:. Ex Army not Navy, but some family that were in Navy.

Agreed always great to meet new people, ex DLR by any chance;)

You have a good day!

[scorpluvsdolphins]

I would Purchase DAN insurance when you sign up to take the class. I chose the expensive policy ($75 a year). Family DAN coverage is very reasonable.

I also have travel insurance that I pay for yearly (only $200) AND DAN insurance.

To get the travel insurance I buy, you must have medical insurance through work or Medicare.

DAN insurance covers you with any water related accidents, not just scuba diving.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

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[Cruiser8576]

I haven't looked into it in awhile but a few years ago I was going to do it. I learned that it does take quite a bit of time from the cruise and decided against it. One thought I had was to do the classroom and pool at home and do the open water dives with the ship ending with a certification. That was a possibility at the time, don't know if it still is. Other's told me to do the open water at home too (in New England), becuase if the divemaster in the Caribbean knows you dive in New England they will have no problem with you in the Caribbean....

 

I ended up doing a 'discover scuba' excursion in Cozumel. On that excursion they give you some instruction on the boat ride out (about 15 mintues), strap a tank and vest on you and take you down to about 30feet. Talk about christening under fire.... I had a bit of a problem and almost quit early but the divemaster convinced me to stay down and I was eventually fine. I did have a problem with clearing my ears though and had wicked blocked ears the next day. I've decided to stick with snorkeling.....

[BillOh]

My wife took the course on Allure. She was surprised at how much time it took away from the cruise. Like Ken said, there were early mornings on the ship, and study time, and an early morning excursion in St. Maarten.

 

In a barely related way, Allure does have a refresher course for certified divers who haven't dove in awhile. If she hasn't done it before, I would get certified locally and take the refresher on board just for teh experience. I think I paid $56 and it was 2 hours of actual diving. It was fun being in the Aquatheater pool.

[Clarea]

In a barely related way, Allure does have a refresher course for certified divers who haven't dove in awhile. If she hasn't done it before, I would get certified locally and take the refresher on board just for teh experience. I think I paid $56 and it was 2 hours of actual diving. It was fun being in the Aquatheater pool.

Thanks for this info. My wife has also taked with the SeaTrek people on other ships, and they offered to do a custom excursion off the ship to upgrade her certification.

[BillOh]

Me in the Aquatheater pool

 

[PompeySailor]

I would Purchase DAN insurance when you sign up to take the class. I chose the expensive policy ($75 a year). Family DAN coverage is very reasonable.

I also have travel insurance that I pay for yearly (only $200) AND DAN insurance.

To get the travel insurance I buy, you must have medical insurance through work or Medicare.

DAN insurance covers you with any water related accidents, not just scuba diving.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

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Thanks for the advice on the insurance, we will definitely be getting DAN coverage..

Appreciated .

Just going out in the pool to try out the new snorkel and fins and underwater camera. DD is so excited about all the diving.. And me :)

[PompeySailor]

In a barely related way, Allure does have a refresher course for certified divers who haven't dove in awhile. If she hasn't done it before, I would get certified locally and take the refresher on board just for teh experience. I think I paid $56 and it was 2 hours of actual diving. It was fun being in the Aquatheater pool.

 

Thanks Bill

Looks like you had it all to yourself as well, nice!

With alls advice we have found a dive center near us, with the 3 stage certification, knowledge, in pool and then open water $349 each.

A good investment, which we should of done years ago, to be honest.

Appreciated All for the great advice

Happy Days!

[trnsfrguy]

In a barely related way, Allure does have a refresher course for certified divers who haven't dove in awhile. If she hasn't done it before, I would get certified locally and take the refresher on board just for teh experience. I think I paid $56 and it was 2 hours of actual diving. It was fun being in the Aquatheater pool.

 

Thanks for the info !

I'll be cruising on the Allure in October and am the only diver in the group I'm traveling with. I can "get wet" without changing our excursion plans.

[RWBELKNAP]

I just returned from a week on Freedom where I got my Open Water Certification for $499. I attended class on Monday afternoon, pool-dived on Wednesday, did three open water dives in Grand Caymen down to 53 feet on Thursday, did a pool dive and 40 foot dive in Cozumel on Friday, finished up my classwork Friday afternoon and took the final test on Saturday. It does take a fair amount of time, but I think it is comparable to taking the course at a dive center and then having to travel to some other location to do your open water dives. I was able to participate in a tour in Jamaica and had time to shop in Cozumel. The ship/dive shops provide all equipment to include wet suit except snorkel, mask, and fins which you will probably want to buy yourself.

Edited July 3, 2014 by RWBELKNAP

[Cruisewombat]

I did the PADI scuba course last year on Adventure. I had read the book beforehand, otherwise expect some reading of the first 3 chapters in the book the first days.

We were only 3 people on the course and spend one afternoon in a classroom, walking through the theory and then the written test.

 

The next day we spend all morning in the pool doing excercises. I think it was from 07-10 am.

When in Curacau we went to a diver resort for the two open Water dives and was back on the ship like 2pm, leaving time for a small stroll before the ship sailed again.

 

Some weeks after I came home, the PADI certification Card arrived and I was now a PADI scuba diver. I'm currently doing the last part to get the open Water certification and contacted a PADI center. There were no problems in accepting the scuba certification and I'm joing one of the normal open Water courses, just participating in 2 out of 4 days to a reduced Price, so on sunday I'll get my final certification.

 

To sum up, you're "loosing" 2 days on the cruise doing this. The open Water trip is as good as a normal day on the Beach, so you're Down to one afternoon in the classroom and the time you spend reading the text book the first few days onboard. I think it's worth investing the time.

[chadbeck]

I would Purchase DAN insurance when you sign up to take the class. I chose the expensive policy ($75 a year). Family DAN coverage is very reasonable.

I also have travel insurance that I pay for yearly (only $200) AND DAN insurance.

To get the travel insurance I buy, you must have medical insurance through work or Medicare.

DAN insurance covers you with any water related accidents, not just scuba diving.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

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If you're planning on getting a cert. then this is must follow advice. Any diver should be carrying dive insurance. If something should happen it will be really, really, expensive with out insurance. Some of the places that ships stop can be remote when it comes to proper care for dive accidents and evacuation could be needed.

[Legalgal]

I would highly recommend getting certified at home before the cruise. It really does take time away from your precious vacation and it's not a full certification anyway.

 

Have fun!

[lovecrusing4life]

My husband and I began our dive adventures with a "Discover Scuba" excursion on Freedom of the Seas in Grand Cayman. On this excursion, we did some course work, pool dive and then swam out in the ocean to dive max 30-35 feet. This excursion sealed the deal for us. We fell in LOVE with scuba diving. We got home and got open water certified which has now turned into advanced open water certified. All of our vacations since then have been based around scuba diving. We slowed down on cruising and have based our vacations on destinations (mostly all Caribbean). But, I have been dying to go on the Allure of the Seas and we sail her in a little over 2 weeks. Unfortunately, we are only diving once in Nassau on this cruise. But, this time the cruise is our destination! I also highly recommended DAN insurance to anyone that scuba dives!

 

 

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[Caribbeansunrise]

As a by the way - DAN has family coverage for non-divers. They also provide repatriation if you are at least 25 miles from home and the reason doesn't need to be dive related. I'm not affiliated with DAN but I am a PADI Divemaster.

[PompeySailor]

Thanks all for the excellent advice.

DD now has her snorkel fins and mask all ready being used, underwater camera.

We have all the PADI paperwork filled out, and a dive center ready to go to end of July.

Will be getting the DAN coverage for DD and I, as DW will not be diving also

 

Thanks again

Happy Days!