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BOB...Breathing Observation Bubble

tenbylin

By tenbylin,
in Royal Caribbean International

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tenbylin

tenbylin

Posted
Posted

Hi. Has anyone ever done the BOB in St. Thomas. I have a few questions about the excusion, and any info from cc would be greatly appreciated.

 

1. did anyone ever have a helmet that didn't work?

2. How deep do you go?

3. How long do you stay down?

4. Do you have a guide or are you on your own?

5. Is it scary?

6. Is it worth it.

 

Any info would be great......and any reviews or pictures would be nice

 

 

Thanks,

Linda:p

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Aliann

Aliann

Posted
Posted
Hi. Has anyone ever done the BOB in St. Thomas. I have a few questions about the excusion, and any info from cc would be greatly appreciated.

 

1. did anyone ever have a helmet that didn't work?

2. How deep do you go?

3. How long do you stay down?

4. Do you have a guide or are you on your own?

5. Is it scary?

6. Is it worth it.

 

Any info would be great......and any reviews or pictures would be nice

 

 

Thanks,

Linda:p

 

1. No helmet's, it's a scooter thing, all one piece

2. You don't go very deep, a bouy is attached to the scooter that floats on the water

3. I can't remember exactly, probably about 30 minutes?

4. You have a guide you follow and there are severel people with you to make sure you don't hit any coral and stay on track etc.

5. Not scary at all

6. Well worth it. Someone that was with us said it was the coolest thing they'd ever done. I would have too, but I'm somewhat an adventurer - skydiving etc. so I'd be hard pressed to pinpoint the 'coolest' thing I'd ever done.

 

You'll have a great time, an experience you'll remember.

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bplazo

bplazo

Posted
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It was a nice experience. I do not care to much about getting in the water and at first I was hesitant. I had a problem with steering the thin it never went the way I wanted it to (I always had this problem with bumper cars at amusements parks). My daughter had a problem with her ears so they had her scooter stay closer to the top.

 

Overall though, I wouldnt have missed it.

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fozzyfoz

fozzyfoz

Posted
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We did it - we loved it - we are planning on doing it again Dec '06.

 

My only complaint was that the scooters are slow (I think they said they go about 3mph). Would love if they went a little faster to cover more ground.

 

Each group (of 6-8 BOBs) goes down with a scuba diver who keeps everyone together and checks to see if everyone is ok (thumbs up/thumbs down). Getting into the BOB is weird because you expect water to be in the helmet so everyone naturally holds their breath before they relax and realise they can breath). Then when they pressurize (sp?) you as you go down (about 8-10 feet from the surface, which stays at that depth for the duration of the BOBing) it feels a little weird as your ears pressurize, similar to being on an airplane.

 

When one group of BOBers are in the water the remaining people on the boat can swim, snorkel (equipment provided and included in cost), layout so you're not just sitting around bored. Drinks/snacks provided after the BOB.

 

I highly recommend it and we cant wait to do it again. At $99pp it was well worth it. Only thing that would make it better would be slightly faster BOBs and a longer time BOBing (and if it was offered in many other ports - they told us only 8 places worldwide do it).

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bobbie0253

bobbie0253

Posted
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We did it a couple of years ago on our first cruise.

 

It was fun. :) We LOVED it at the time, but now that we are a little more experienced at snorkeling and cruising we feel it is a waste of money. There is soooo much we could do with $100 pp. Okay I am cheap! :)

 

That said..... you are on the BOB for around 20 minutes. I got really cold (I am always cold) and it hurt my thumb to press the button all the time to make it move. I also get motion sickness very easily and the magnification from the bubble combined with the movement made me dizzy.

 

The BOB was easy to get into and to opperate. A child could do it. The guides are very professional and will not let you get too close to the reefs. You will see some awesome coral and fish.

 

You will need to make your ears "pop" while descending. I suggest chewing gum. I didn't have any so I just moved my jaw instead.

 

At the time we had such a great time we wrote a glowing review and left a great tip for the crew on the BOB. I would not book it again though, I would snorkel instead :)

 

Bobbie

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nerak

nerak

Posted
Posted
This sounds like a great thing to do, however, I tend to get claustrophobic and worry that I might have an anxiety attack!! Anyone feel the same way?

 

YES! At first. I got on the thing so easily, then off, then on, then.....get the picture? When I got on, it wasn't the fear of breathing, it was the problem of seeing things through the bubble half under water, half above. It distorted things and messed with me. They said they had never seen anyone get on the scooter so easy...I could just pop right under and into place. Finally they just took me under as soon as I got on....before I could get off again. Immediately I was fine when everything was being viewed under the water. Was it worth it? YES, once.

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KelJ

KelJ

Posted
Posted

We did the BOBs in December in St. Thomas and loved it!! We are a family four. Our boys were 10 and 13 at the time. The minimum age is 10. Our 10 year old became afraid and declined to do the BOBs. The rest of us did them, and it was so great!

All four of us loved the snorkeling too, which is what you can do while other guests are riding the BOBs. The snorkeling equipment is included in the price. Everyone has a colored bracelet, and they call your color when it's your turn to BOB. You are underwater for about 20 minutes. I agree about the thumb hurting -- I kept alternating thumbs!

Be sure to take underwater disposable cameras. They sell them on the excursion boat for $20 a piece, but we bought the same ones at Walmart for $9 a piece. While you're doing the BOBs, the crew will gather your group together underwater and take pictures of your group with your cameras. They seem to sprinkle some fish food so that there are lots of fish around you in your pictures too. And one of the crew even picked up a sea urchin type of thing and put it in my son's hand to hold.

They provide light snacks (Lance crackers and cookies and Capri Sun drinks) and there is a bathroom too. Also, there are two open showers to clean yourself off with if you wish. We bought each of the kids a really cute tshirt too. I think they were $20 each. The crew was not pushy at all about selling them.

I would say the entire excursion took about 3 to 3.5 hours from the time we left the pier, well worth the $99 per person in my opinion. The crew was so nice and helpful, and funny too. Also, there will be a tipping jar as you leave, and we left them a well-deserved tip (Flagger, you can ignore that part of my post).

Also, don't forget the sunscreen!

We did the 8:00 a.m. excursion. Then we went back on the ship and changed, grabbed lunch in the Windjammer and then got back off the ship and shopped all afternoon.

If you decide to do this excursion, I feel that you won't regret it. Have fun, whatever you decide!

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truffles2

truffles2

Posted
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One of my favorite excursions...we have done it twice and would do it again. No problems. Be sure and take an underwater camera and cash to tip the crew--who are great! We didnt take any $ the first time (just didn't think about it)...and there are also t shirts for sale. You can buy a camera on board but they are quite a bit more than say, Walmart .

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negc

negc

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One of my favorite excursions...we have done it twice and would do it again. No problems. Be sure and take an underwater camera and cash to tip the crew--who are great! We didnt take any $ the first time (just didn't think about it)...and there are also t shirts for sale. You can buy a camera on board but they are quite a bit more than say, Walmart .

 

There is limited capacity for this excursion so book as early as you can so you aren't left out. I don't know if they allow cruise passengers to book independently rather than through the ship but you might want to check. I balked at first at paying $20 for the underwater camera (still wish I had brought my own) but finally realized that I would probably regret not having a souvenir of this unique excursion. Everyone who sees my photos remarks on them and the local photo processor posted the photo in their store as the photo of the month and gave me a large copy.:)

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truffles2

truffles2

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The "leader" told me that if you book outside the cruise line (IF there is room) the price is the same. They have some sort of guarantee from the cruise lines to keep them full--no problem there as it is always full.

I agree about the pictures underwater...ours were great. The "guide" with the pony tail is the best photographer. I would post a picture if I could figure out how to get it small enough:rolleyes:

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tenbylin

tenbylin

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Hey Everyone, Thanks for all the info....i know i'm sold. I just have to sell my sister and her family.....we are sailing Aug 12th, i checked the excursions and saw that the 8:30 was open....wish me luck in trying to sell my sister.....thanks again, it seems that everyone enjoyed it...if anyone has any pictures i would love to see them....Linda:p

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fozzyfoz

fozzyfoz

Posted
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Dumb question, but would I be ok with my contacts in?

 

DH wears contacts and they had him close his eyes and they guided his head under the helmet part. No problems at all.

 

The crew seems well trained and prepared for any issues with the passangers. There was a woman on board who didnt know how to swim and they helped her into the water and held her and helped her get on the BOB - she wasnt scared of the water, just couldnt swim to get on the scooter herself. After she was finished she said it was the best thing she'd ever done.

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