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A 367 % price increase on shore excursions ?


scubacruiserx2
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4 hours ago, crystalspin said:

The colors are so vivid, I thought it was a painting not a photo, until I saw the full size!

 

When we dive the colors become muted the deep we go . Because I used an strobe ( under water flash ) it brought the color back . In the video I had no light so the colors are muted 

 

 

 

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46 minutes ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

When we dive the colors become muted the deep we go . Because I used an strobe ( under water flash ) it brought the color back . In the video I had no light so the colors are muted 

 

Sorry for hi-jacking your thread, but I checked out your youtube video channel. VERY COOL!

I thought you might like to see mine as well. I have two. This one is devoted mostly to vacations and cruises: 

https://www.youtube.com/user/existentialtraveler

This one is for diving:

https://www.youtube.com/user/DiveVisionPhotos?feature=mhee

Also, I am sorry you have received such shabby treatment from both HAL and the tour operator. In March, We are going to be on the Oosterdam for 28 days, cruising  to Hawaii and the French Polynesian Islands...we are mulling over booking ONE very overpriced tour through HAL, basically because the tour operator is NOT offering the tour ON THAT ONE DAY  we are in Lahaina. It MIGHT be because it is a Sunday, but, hmmmmmm...

We have encountered this same thing in the Caribbean.

 

 

 

 

Edited by existentialtraveler
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No worries about the hi-jacking as it's usually me hi-jacking my own thread . Because the topic of SCUBA ( the other half of cruiserx2 ) has been raised , I would like to relate what we considered a business model and success story . Cozumel is our favorite place to dive and we have stayed there many times and booked many cruise there to dive . We first dove with Dive Paradise on a cruise there in 1998 . We're very experienced divers and we prefer diving more advanced sites with other more experienced divers . On the cruise tours diving tours it seemed like we always functioned as extra dive masters taking care of people were very nervous or inexperienced so they didn't get injured . That did limit taking photos or just relaxing and enjoying our dive . Dive paradise had a great program matching skills levels and bring extra dive masters to those who needed them ( You could hire a private DM as a buddy for $20 ) . The Owner of Dive Paradise , Rene "Apple" Applegate put together a class operation with great dive masters that we consider friends , captains and a large fleet of boats for different groups and needs - all at a good price . She reward loyalty with reduced prices . She had been approached by a number of cruise lines who wanted to hire her but she refused the almighty dollar and stayed loyal to her people . Unfortunately she passed away in 2017 and her way of doing business went along with her .

https://diveparadise.com/remembering-apple/

 

When we went on a cruise on the Carnival Tropicale they had no provider for diving in Belize a photographer / shore excursion / diver employee of Carnival asked us who we were using . We had successfully dove with Hugh Parkey in the past and I made a mistake of telling him about Hugh . The next trip that we went to Belize on a cruise Hugh was now their man and we could no longer dive with Hugh from a cruise ship without buying the cruise ship's inflated prices . The quality of the experience had dropped rapidly going from a couple of fast boats to a much slower cattle boat . We stopped going to Belize on cruise ships and started staying more in Cozumel looking forward to Sundays when there was no crowds and cruise ships in port .

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1 hour ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

No worries about the hi-jacking as it's usually me hi-jacking my own thread . Because the topic of SCUBA ( the other half of cruiserx2 ) has been raised , I would like to relate what we considered a business model and success story . Cozumel is our favorite place to dive and we have stayed there many times and booked many cruise there to dive . We first dove with Dive Paradise on a cruise there in 1998 . We're very experienced divers and we prefer diving more advanced sites with other more experienced divers . On the cruise tours diving tours it seemed like we always functioned as extra dive masters taking care of people were very nervous or inexperienced so they didn't get injured . That did limit taking photos or just relaxing and enjoying our dive . Dive paradise had a great program matching skills levels and bring extra dive masters to those who needed them ( You could hire a private DM as a buddy for $20 ) . The Owner of Dive Paradise , Rene "Apple" Applegate put together a class operation with great dive masters that we consider friends , captains and a large fleet of boats for different groups and needs - all at a good price . She reward loyalty with reduced prices . She had been approached by a number of cruise lines who wanted to hire her but she refused the almighty dollar and stayed loyal to her people . Unfortunately she passed away in 2017 and her way of doing business went along with her .

https://diveparadise.com/remembering-apple/

 

When we went on a cruise on the Carnival Tropicale they had no provider for diving in Belize a photographer / shore excursion / diver employee of Carnival asked us who we were using . We had successfully dove with Hugh Parkey in the past and I made a mistake of telling him about Hugh . The next trip that we went to Belize on a cruise Hugh was now their man and we could no longer dive with Hugh from a cruise ship without buying the cruise ship's inflated prices . The quality of the experience had dropped rapidly going from a couple of fast boats to a much slower cattle boat . We stopped going to Belize on cruise ships and started staying more in Cozumel looking forward to Sundays when there was no crowds and cruise ships in port .

I love Cozumel. I have been diving there since the early 80's.We rent condos on San Francisco beach for weeks at a time. I have been hearing that,  recently,  dive access on several reefs has been restricted. Have you heard about this as well?

Edited by existentialtraveler
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57 minutes ago, existentialtraveler said:

I love Cozumel. I have been diving there since the early 80's.We rent condos on San Francisco beach for weeks at a time. I have been hearing that,  recently,  dive access on several reefs has been restricted. Have you heard about this as well?

 

Yes , we heard that there was some reef disease on the hard corals and that South of Palancar was shut down for a couple of months . https://xray-mag.com/content/coral-disease-triggers-partial-closure-cozumel-marine-park

We haven't been there since March as we've been doing some long and costly cruises and a couple more this year in April and August . We like the still photos that are turned into a video , how is that done ?

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1 hour ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

Yes , we heard that there was some reef disease on the hard corals and that South of Palancar was shut down for a couple of months . https://xray-mag.com/content/coral-disease-triggers-partial-closure-cozumel-marine-park

We haven't been there since March as we've been doing some long and costly cruises and a couple more this year in April and August . We like the still photos that are turned into a video , how is that done ?

We have not been back to Cozumel since August, and probably won't be back until August or September, 2020. We have trips planned to Curacao, Cayman Brac, Bonaire and Key largo, as well as a 4 week cruise on the Oosterdam in March and either the Brilliance of the Seas or the Grandeur of the Seas in October. I hope the Cozumel reefs are open for diving in August.

Even though I have recently been experimenting with video, I have always preferred still photos. I use a program called Photo to Movie. It is not very expensive and is a very easy program to learn. I have found that the hardest part of any video is the music!

Edited by existentialtraveler
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