? Re scuba requirements on Norwegian excursions

[njpln]

We are starting to book our excursions for our upcoming western Caribbean cruise and want to scuba..However one of the requirements is that you have dived  in the past year and can prove it.  

 

So so we have not dived in the past year but are certified and have dived many times over the years. Do they really ask for proof or documentation?

 

Appreciate any feed back.

 

thanks,

 

Norma

 

[esm54687]

8 minutes ago, njpln said:

We are starting to book our excursions for our upcoming western Caribbean cruise and want to scuba..However one of the requirements is that you have dived  in the past year and can prove it.  

 

So so we have not dived in the past year but are certified and have dived many times over the years. Do they really ask for proof or documentation?

 

Appreciate any feed back.

 

thanks,

 

Norma

 

They absolutely check dive log books and your certification card.   Any dive operation that does not check both should have their license to operate revoked..... as a PADI certified Divemaster, I will not dive or lead a tour if someone cannot provide this documentation for their safety, my safety, fellow divers safety and my liability. 

 

With that being said..... a log book is probably the easiest thing to forge dives but it does release the dive operator from any liability which is what they want. 

[azcruise]

41 minutes ago, njpln said:

We are starting to book our excursions for our upcoming western Caribbean cruise and want to scuba..However one of the requirements is that you have dived  in the past year and can prove it.  

 

 

 

When we have booked SCUBA through the cruise line, they have had us come to the excursion desk with our C-Cards and log book before we get our excursion tickets.  Once we meet with the dive shop, they always want both documents, as well.  We did have a time when we had not dived for 18 months, and the ship would not allow us to purchase the excursion.  We are both Rescue Divers with 250+ dives, we contacted a couple of dive shops on islands and arranged our own dives.  We keep our log books up to date, so we have good records.

[CruisingGator96]

I’ve been on 5 or 6 NCL cruises in as many years and go diving most of the times i’ve Sailed with NCL. Been diving over 20 years with hundreds of dives. I guess i’ve Had a different experience than the other two divers. They absolutely require your c card, will ask you when was your last dive and where and how many dives you have done but i’ve never needed a log book.  I stopped logging dives probably 19 years ago.  Never had a problem and I’ve dived all over the Caribbean.  Diving within one year is a standard request. If you haven’t any dive op will want you to take a refresher course.  If you’re planning on diving Cozumel i’d Use a private op.  Last time I dove in Cozumel they took us out near the cruise ship. Very disappointing.  

[Hotspring]

14 hours ago, njpln said:

We are starting to book our excursions for our upcoming western Caribbean cruise and want to scuba..However one of the requirements is that you have dived  in the past year and can prove it.  

 

So so we have not dived in the past year but are certified and have dived many times over the years. Do they really ask for proof or documentation?

 

Appreciate any feed back.

 

thanks,

 

Norma

 

Besides proof of a dive in the last year, watch out for the medical questions the waiver.    They really require you to provide a doctor's permission letter if you check any of the ailments (diabetes, high blood pressure, etc) or take any prescription medications.  In our experience PADI and most dive shops only require the doctor's permission slip  when we got our first C cards regardless of age.  Have no idea why NCL is so stringent before they give you your excursion tickets.    We ended up just claiming a mistake in filling out the form and forgetting to check our ailments when we filled it out again.   We think we are in excellent health, particularly with the meds and are at the Master Scuba Diver level.  Why would NCL want to work so hard to bar us from being on their dive  excursion without us having to manipulate the truth in our log books or waiver?

 

On the plus side, always have gotten great dive operators through NCL.

[pieshops]

Do not book diving with the ship.  There are always a ton of dive shops that for less money will take you on a boat that is not packed with 100 other divers packed in like cattle.  Google local dive shops, read the reviews.   We usually book a private boat for the 4 of us and then put something on the roll call of our cruise for anyone who wants to share.   Never been on a boat with more then 10 people and have never come close to paying what the ship charges. And have had a much much better experience