Using non-curise dive operators?

[Scubadiver08]

Greetings,

 

I've been reading the threads regarding using non-cruise ship operators. My husband and I are going on the Tahitian Princess in March. We have been a bit concerned about using a non-cruise operator because of quality issues and concerned about being left by the ship. I'm seeing that people actually recommend other dive operators over the cruise excurisions in some cases. Any suggestions?

[Pilot70D]

Over the last six years we've been diving extensively while traveling on cruise ships. Out of all the dive excursions we've done only two have been through a cruise line. On all others we made our own arrangements.

 

Now for the two we did through a ship one was superb while the other one was barely OK. We have never experienced anything but really great diving with all of the excursions we booked privately.

 

In each case for the private excursions I did a lot of research here and on other boards until I was as certain as I could be that I had selected a really good operator. I then contacted the dive operator and made all the arrangements including transportation to and from the dive shop. I also researched the dive sites in and around the island we were visiting. I usually request specific dive locations rather than going wherever the operator wanted to go. Naturally if the dive operator suggested other sites with better diving then I take that suggestion into account.

 

In all the years and in all the ports we have never ever even come close to missing the ship's departure. I do take care to inform the dive operator of which ship we will be arriving on and what our hours in port are scheduled to be. This makes the operator aware of our scheduled departure time and helps them in assessing the feasibility of my requested dive sites.

 

I hope all of this is helpful. Enjoy that next dive no matter how you book it.

[gmcrow]

We actually have come close to missing the ship, so you can't rule that out entirely. But we agree that research is your best option when possible. If you can't get enough info on a specific port, then by all means go with the ship's excurions. We often have limited time to do the research before last minute trips and have used a combination of ship's excursions and self bookings-- both of which have offered successes and failures over a 10 year period. Some of our best dives EVER have been on ship's excursions, so don't be afraid to go that route in some instances. Be sure to post your reviews here when you get back. Have fun! http://www.cruisedivers.blogspot.com

[scubadiver888]

Greetings,

 

I've been reading the threads regarding using non-cruise ship operators. My husband and I are going on the Tahitian Princess in March. We have been a bit concerned about using a non-cruise operator because of quality issues and concerned about being left by the ship. I'm seeing that people actually recommend other dive operators over the cruise excurisions in some cases. Any suggestions?

 

Scubadiver08,

 

I hate you... just kidding. You are going on the cruise I wanted to do. I'm already booked up this year and was planning on going to Tahiti next year but Princess will be moving the Tahitian Princess next year. :(

 

The cruise excursions have to give a cut to the cruise ship. If you book privately the price is often a little cheaper or the operator give you more. Additionally, the cruise ships want fairly large operations because they often have 30 or more people wanting to go diving. The smaller operators aren't even considered by cruise lines like Princess. The smaller operators will give a more personalized service however.

 

Additionally, the people who have the confidence to book privately tend to be more mature/experienced. Less chance of idiots kicking your regulator out of your mouth (I've had that happen more than once on a cattle run).

 

The down side is that if something goes wrong and you miss the ship, you are out of luck. If you go with a cruise shore excursion and something goes wrong, the ship will wait for you.

 

Case in point, someone once posted to me that they took a cab to the dive shop and had a great dive. When they went to get a cab back to the ship there was none to be found. The dive operator called for a cab to pick them up but it never showed up. They didn't miss the ship but they had to walk back.

 

If you do your research and get recommendations from people who have been there the only concern is missing the ship.

 

I'm not sure about the Tahitian Princess but I'm now looking at other cruise lines in the Tahiti area. The one package I found has the ship setting anchor away from shore and using zodiac boats to bring people to shore. You want to check and see if the Tahitian Princess is tendered (not at a dock) or docked. If it is docked, getting back to the ship shouldn't be too hard to plan. If it is tendered, you need to make sure you can get a ride back to the ship, either by the dive operator or by Princess.

 

Darrell

[booth22]

I'd say it depends on the port, or time in port more specifically. We have always used private ops, cheaper, less crowded (for the most part) and willing to cater to our dive profiles a bit more. Worst case, you get stuck in paradise :)

[DiveCruiser]

We have used Non ops for 11 years with no problem. Watch the ports you tender in!!

Bob

[techdiver]

Used Dive Rarotonga, used shorex in Raiatea (night dive was great), used shorex in Bora Bora 1st day (night dive not good) and TOPDive 2nd day (good boat), used TOPDive in Moorea, and I think Pacific Blue in Huahine.

[techdiver]

I think I used Pacific Blue in Huahine, used Dive Rarotonga there, TOPDive in Moorea and 2nd day in Bora Bora, shorex 1st day in Bora Bora (night dive not great) and Raitea (night dive was great). Sorry for double post, 1st try shown as failure to load.

[Officer Tigger]

I'm the only one in my group that wants to dive on our upcoming trip. For that reason I wanted to make my own arrangements with a private company. Also I am new to diving and want to stay away from the large groups.

Can anyone recommend some dive shops in the Georgetown area of Grand Cayman. That is our first stop and I wanted to get the dive out of the way and spend the rest of the trip with my non-diving wife.

 

Or if better diving is to be had in Roatan, Belize, or Cozumel please let me know.

[budaman]

You'll love the diving on the Tahiti cruise......as long as your not afraid of sharks. We encountered them on all the dives except Rarotonga.

 

Most of the times outside dives are booked because of $ & number of divers on the ship excursions. With the Tahitian Princess, that is not necessarily the case. All the dive ops had cost very close to the ship excursion except in Rarotonga....booking yourself will be about half the cost. Actually, I don't remember if the ship offered dives there. They also did not offer dives on Huahine & we didn't feel comfortable with any of the ops we researched, so we rented a motor boat & jst cruised the lagoon & stopped when we wanted to & snorkeled. We used Top Dive on Bora Bora & Moorea. We purchased the 10 dive pkg & did 3 dives on Bora & 2 on Moorea each.It is a very good operation. Saved us about $150 over booking through the ship. They also have shops on Tahiti & Rangiroa that you can use the pkg with. On Raiatea, the ship uses Hemisphere Sub & they wouldn't let us book independently because of that.....they were excellent also. There were only 12 divers ffrom the ship & we went out on two boats with 6 divers each.

 

Have fun! Wish we were going back sooner than August.

 

Mike

 

http://gallery.mac.com/csealove#gallery

[techdiver]

Checked my saved e-mail correspondence and it was Pacific Blue in Huahine. I was picked up ashore, and the only diver. They do use steel tanks so your weighting will be different. If TP is still using Hemispere in Raiatea, you have to do the night dive. It's a walk off the end of the dock to an old wooden shipwreck, the Nordby, in about 80' of water. There was so much more to see there than on the night dive in Bora Bora. The variety of tanks in use in Polynesia is astounding, from regular old aluminum to "uncompensated aluminum" to steel. The variety of dive boats in use is also astounding. The fastest and cleanest was from TOPDive in Bora Bora.