Drying gear on Sea Princess

[scubadiver888]

I'm going to book my next cruise on the Sea Princess. This will be my first time on a Princess ship where I will bring all my dive gear.

 

In the past I have brought just my wetsuit. I know the showers for an inside cabin are just big enough to dry my wetsuit and regs. If I bring my BCD there will not be enough room for everything in the shower.

 

Anyone have recommendations? Should I get a room with a balcony? Do I really need a mini-suite with a tub? Should I just leave my BCD home and rent one? If I put the gear on the balcony to dry, can I leave it there overnight? How do I make sure it doesn't get blown overboard?

 

I'd really like to bring my own BCD as I'm trying to improve my bouyancy.

 

TIA

[Sailfish]

I'm going to book my next cruise on the Sea Princess. This will be my first time on a Princess ship where I will bring all my dive gear.

 

In the past I have brought just my wetsuit. I know the showers for an inside cabin are just big enough to dry my wetsuit and regs. If I bring my BCD there will not be enough room for everything in the shower.

 

Anyone have recommendations? Should I get a room with a balcony? Do I really need a mini-suite with a tub? Should I just leave my BCD home and rent one? If I put the gear on the balcony to dry, can I leave it there overnight? How do I make sure it doesn't get blown overboard?

 

I'd really like to bring my own BCD as I'm trying to improve my bouyancy.

 

TIA

 

Hi Tia:

 

I take a dive group on a cruise every year, so I think I can answer your questions - at least give you some feedback to think about! Others hopefully can give you more input also.

 

1. If I bring my BCD there will not be enough room for everything in the shower?

 

We get people in our scuba cruise groups with inside cabins all the time, so it's possible to have a ton of dive gear and manage it easily even if you end up in a small inside room.

 

First off, regardless of the type of room you get, store all your dive gear in the bag you intend to take off the ship when going diving. After unpacking, when you first get on the ship, repack your dive bag they way you plan to take it off the ship and store it under the bed in your stateroom until the night before you plan to dive. It should fit if it's a backpack or a mesh type bag. If it's really big, you may have a problem, but most warm water gear bags will fit. By keeping your luggage and dive gear under the bed, it will free up space in your already tiny room and keep expensive gear out of sight when your cabin steward and his or her helpers come to clean your room.

 

Wet gear, after you dives, can be dried outside while you enjoy a drink by the pool. In a cool stateroom, it's going to take longer for your grear to dry. If you plan to dive consecutive days like we do, it's important to dry out your gear and wetsuit between dives. If you have inside room, this is harder to do, but an hour or two out on the deck after diving ususally does the trick.

 

2. Should I get a room with a balcony? Do I really need a mini-suite with a tub? If I put the gear on the balcony to dry, can I leave it there overnight?

 

Most people in my dive groups as well as my husband and I get cabins with balconies - it's the best way to dry out dive gear between dives. After diving, we usually dump our wet gear on the balcony, and more often than not, it's dry by the evening. Unless it's realy windy, it's not usually a problem leaving dive gear out all night on the balcony, but we never leave it out there during the day, as ship maintenance staff often drop in (from the outside) to clean windows.

 

You should always plan to rinse your gear off following your dive in the dunk tank at dive shop before you head back to the ship or at the dive boat pier (where you will often find a fresh water hose). I suppose you can do so in the shower or in a tub back on the ship in your room, or in the shower by the pool on the deck, but it's simply easier to rinse it before you get back on the ship. A tub is good to have, I suppose, if you plan to rinse off your gear back in your cabin. I never do, though once I get home I soak all my gear in de-stink-ifying stuff before I store it away - something you can probably do on the ship if you have a tub a day or two before you head home. But most divers I know rinse off their gear before they get back to the ship.

 

Should I just leave my BCD home and rent one?

 

NO!! If you have your own gear, bring it! It's a pain, now that some airlines have cut back on the number of bags you can check-in, but renting crappy gear is no fun either, and poorly maintained dive equipment is downright unsafe. The problem is you can never be sure if what you rent is in good shape. I know others will disagree, but my dive gear comes first, clothes second! I have a small gear bag small enough to carry-on, that carries all my gear except my fins, which I pack away in my checked bag. I pack smart, but I always have been able to take my dive gear, formal clothes and whatever else I needed on my scuba cruises, and so can you!

 

Good luck!!

[scubadiver888]

Hi Tia:

 

I take a dive group on a cruise every year, so I think I can answer your questions - at least give you some feedback to think about! Others hopefully can give you more input also.

 

1. If I bring my BCD there will not be enough room for everything in the shower?

 

We get people in our scuba cruise groups with inside cabins all the time, so it's possible to have a ton of dive gear and manage it easily even if you end up in a small inside room.

 

First off, regardless of the type of room you get, store all your dive gear in the bag you intend to take off the ship when going diving. After unpacking, when you first get on the ship, repack your dive bag they way you plan to take it off the ship and store it under the bed in your stateroom until the night before you plan to dive. It should fit if it's a backpack or a mesh type bag. If it's really big, you may have a problem, but most warm water gear bags will fit. By keeping your luggage and dive gear under the bed, it will free up space in your already tiny room and keep expensive gear out of sight when your cabin steward and his or her helpers come to clean your room.

 

Wet gear, after you dives, can be dried outside while you enjoy a drink by the pool. In a cool stateroom, it's going to take longer for your grear to dry. If you plan to dive consecutive days like we do, it's important to dry out your gear and wetsuit between dives. If you have inside room, this is harder to do, but an hour or two out on the deck after diving ususally does the trick.

 

2. Should I get a room with a balcony? Do I really need a mini-suite with a tub? If I put the gear on the balcony to dry, can I leave it there overnight?

 

Most people in my dive groups as well as my husband and I get cabins with balconies - it's the best way to dry out dive gear between dives. After diving, we usually dump our wet gear on the balcony, and more often than not, it's dry by the evening. Unless it's realy windy, it's not usually a problem leaving dive gear out all night on the balcony, but we never leave it out there during the day, as ship maintenance staff often drop in (from the outside) to clean windows.

 

You should always plan to rinse your gear off following your dive in the dunk tank at dive shop before you head back to the ship or at the dive boat pier (where you will often find a fresh water hose). I suppose you can do so in the shower or in a tub back on the ship in your room, or in the shower by the pool on the deck, but it's simply easier to rinse it before you get back on the ship. A tub is good to have, I suppose, if you plan to rinse off your gear back in your cabin. I never do, though once I get home I soak all my gear in de-stink-ifying stuff before I store it away - something you can probably do on the ship if you have a tub a day or two before you head home. But most divers I know rinse off their gear before they get back to the ship.

 

Should I just leave my BCD home and rent one?

 

NO!! If you have your own gear, bring it! It's a pain, now that some airlines have cut back on the number of bags you can check-in, but renting crappy gear is no fun either, and poorly maintained dive equipment is downright unsafe. The problem is you can never be sure if what you rent is in good shape. I know others will disagree, but my dive gear comes first, clothes second! I have a small gear bag small enough to carry-on, that carries all my gear except my fins, which I pack away in my checked bag. I pack smart, but I always have been able to take my dive gear, formal clothes and whatever else I needed on my scuba cruises, and so can you!

 

Good luck!!

 

Hi Suzi,

 

My name is actually Darrell. TIA is short for Thanks In Advance.

 

Talking to friends, here is what I have come up with. We are going to get a cabin with a balcony. I usually clean my gear at the dive shop but on my last cruise this was not always possible. Sometimes the dive operator would meet us at the pier with a boat and drop us off at the pier. The boat only had a small rinse bucket for cameras and masks. At one dive shop the rinse tank was wasn't very clean looking (they had a bucket behind the shop on the edge of a rain forest. I think the water was what dripped off the trees). Oddly enough, the worse rinse tank was the best dive.

 

I usually take my gear back to the ship and rinse it in the shower, evdn if I used the rinse tank at dive shop. Since there is a shower near the pool, I'll use that the rinse the gear off. I'll store the wetsuit and regs in the shower and tie the BCD on the balcony.

 

I completely understand the whole dive gear comes before clothes thing. On my last cruise (last week actually) I had my wife pack half my clothes in her bags because one bag was nothing but dive gear. :D

 

Thanks for letting me know about the shower by the pool and not to leave the stuff out on the balcony during the day.

[gmcrow]

I'm never sure about those rinse tanks. We rinse every piece of gear after every dive in the shower in our cabin. Balconies are great, but not necessary. Wring as much water out of things as possible. Lay BC's and the small items out on the floor on towels and hang wetsuits from open closet or bathroom doors with your pool/shore towels under them to catch the drips. The only thing we hang in the shower to dry are swim suits. Things dry very slowly in the shower. Crank up the A/C in your cabin before you leave for dinner. Though the air will be cool, it is VERY dehumidified and will dry things nicely. Upon return from dinner/entertainment I always move the swim suits out into the main area of the cabin to finish drying over night. You can prevent stinky booties by putting a drop of shampoo in each one as you rinse the gear in the shower.

 

Someone on this board recently posted a great idea for a soak-- bring along a large garbage bag. Put the wetsuits inside, add water in the shower and swish around. I'd save that for after the last dive so you aren't packing stinky suits. http://www.cruisedivers.blogspot.com

[scubadiver888]

I'm never sure about those rinse tanks. We rinse every piece of gear after every dive in the shower in our cabin. Balconies are great, but not necessary. Wring as much water out of things as possible. Lay BC's and the small items out on the floor on towels and hang wetsuits from open closet or bathroom doors with your pool/shore towels under them to catch the drips. The only thing we hang in the shower to dry are swim suits. Things dry very slowly in the shower. Crank up the A/C in your cabin before you leave for dinner. Though the air will be cool, it is VERY dehumidified and will dry things nicely. Upon return from dinner/entertainment I always move the swim suits out into the main area of the cabin to finish drying over night. You can prevent stinky booties by putting a drop of shampoo in each one as you rinse the gear in the shower.

 

Someone on this board recently posted a great idea for a soak-- bring along a large garbage bag. Put the wetsuits inside, add water in the shower and swish around. I'd save that for after the last dive so you aren't packing stinky suits. www.cruisedivers.blogspot.com

Thanks for the reply.

 

I saw the suggestion for using a garbage bag before my last cruise but when I got on the ship, the shower was large enough to fit two people so I just washed everything in the shower. I'm also going to bring some sink-the-stink. I used that when I got home and it worked great.

 

I actually dove 7 ports on my last cruise and found that the gear, left hanging in the shower, was dry by the next day. My routine was:

 

- get back to the ship and put everything in the shower

- fill the sink and put all the small stuff in there

- rinse out the wetsuit and hang it up

- rinse out the BCD, twice

- semi-inflate the BCD and leave it on the shower floor

- rinse off the regs

- hang the regs with the wetsuit

- rinse off the stuff in the sink

 

I usually got back to the ship by 1pm. By 8am the next day everything was dry. I cannot get away with leaving the stuff out in the room or turning up the air-conditioning. My wife is not a diver and does not like cold. Still, she plans these vacations so I can go diving. :)

 

 

Maybe the cabins on the Galaxy are drier then the Sea Princess (my next cruise). I'll keep your suggests in case they are needed.

 

Thanks again,

Darrell

[Sailfish]

You guys sound so organized! We often get back to our room after diving only to find that we are in a rush to eat, so we find all we have time to do is dump our wet gear and run.

 

We always find a dump tank either at the dive shop upon our return or more often than not, a hose by the dive boat pier. We don't dive with the ship, and although it would be great if we got dropped off by the dive boat at the ship's pier, that has never happened. Most dive boats do not have fresh water to rinse gear, but many have access to a fresh water hose at the dive boat pier, so that's what we use most of the time.

 

I do bring stuff to wash out my dive gear after the last dive, but short of rinsing out our stuff immediately after diving, we always seem to be in a hurry!

 

Thanks for the tips.

[BuzzF117]

Hi Tia:

 

I take a dive group on a cruise every year, so I think I can answer your questions - at least give you some feedback to think about! Others hopefully can give you more input also.

 

1. If I bring my BCD there will not be enough room for everything in the shower?

 

We get people in our scuba cruise groups with inside cabins all the time, so it's possible to have a ton of dive gear and manage it easily even if you end up in a small inside room.

 

First off, regardless of the type of room you get, store all your dive gear in the bag you intend to take off the ship when going diving. After unpacking, when you first get on the ship, repack your dive bag they way you plan to take it off the ship and store it under the bed in your stateroom until the night before you plan to dive. It should fit if it's a backpack or a mesh type bag. If it's really big, you may have a problem, but most warm water gear bags will fit. By keeping your luggage and dive gear under the bed, it will free up space in your already tiny room and keep expensive gear out of sight when your cabin steward and his or her helpers come to clean your room.

 

Wet gear, after you dives, can be dried outside while you enjoy a drink by the pool. In a cool stateroom, it's going to take longer for your grear to dry. If you plan to dive consecutive days like we do, it's important to dry out your gear and wetsuit between dives. If you have inside room, this is harder to do, but an hour or two out on the deck after diving ususally does the trick.

 

2. Should I get a room with a balcony? Do I really need a mini-suite with a tub? If I put the gear on the balcony to dry, can I leave it there overnight?

 

Most people in my dive groups as well as my husband and I get cabins with balconies - it's the best way to dry out dive gear between dives. After diving, we usually dump our wet gear on the balcony, and more often than not, it's dry by the evening. Unless it's realy windy, it's not usually a problem leaving dive gear out all night on the balcony, but we never leave it out there during the day, as ship maintenance staff often drop in (from the outside) to clean windows.

 

You should always plan to rinse your gear off following your dive in the dunk tank at dive shop before you head back to the ship or at the dive boat pier (where you will often find a fresh water hose). I suppose you can do so in the shower or in a tub back on the ship in your room, or in the shower by the pool on the deck, but it's simply easier to rinse it before you get back on the ship. A tub is good to have, I suppose, if you plan to rinse off your gear back in your cabin. I never do, though once I get home I soak all my gear in de-stink-ifying stuff before I store it away - something you can probably do on the ship if you have a tub a day or two before you head home. But most divers I know rinse off their gear before they get back to the ship.

 

Should I just leave my BCD home and rent one?

 

NO!! If you have your own gear, bring it! It's a pain, now that some airlines have cut back on the number of bags you can check-in, but renting crappy gear is no fun either, and poorly maintained dive equipment is downright unsafe. The problem is you can never be sure if what you rent is in good shape. I know others will disagree, but my dive gear comes first, clothes second! I have a small gear bag small enough to carry-on, that carries all my gear except my fins, which I pack away in my checked bag. I pack smart, but I always have been able to take my dive gear, formal clothes and whatever else I needed on my scuba cruises, and so can you!

 

Good luck!!

 

 

You will save more then the cost of the $25 extra bag charge just by brining your own gear and not using rental gear if you dive on multiple ports and your not gauranteed that your regs inflator hose will work with all BCD's for example Scuabpro uses a different connector

[jms2362]

Leave the BCD home, it is not a very good idea. I know several people including myself and husband and we would never do it.

[scubadiver888]

You guys sound so organized! We often get back to our room after diving only to find that we are in a rush to eat, so we find all we have time to do is dump our wet gear and run.

 

We always find a dump tank either at the dive shop upon our return or more often than not, a hose by the dive boat pier. We don't dive with the ship, and although it would be great if we got dropped off by the dive boat at the ship's pier, that has never happened. Most dive boats do not have fresh water to rinse gear, but many have access to a fresh water hose at the dive boat pier, so that's what we use most of the time.

 

I do bring stuff to wash out my dive gear after the last dive, but short of rinsing out our stuff immediately after diving, we always seem to be in a hurry!

 

Thanks for the tips.

I cannot speak for the other guys but I am DEFINITELY not organized. You are talking to a guy who forgot to bring his c-card.:o

 

When the ship books the dive, I have time to rinse the gear, take a long shower, change clothes, have lunch and do a little shopping. When I book the dive, I rinse my gear, I take a quick shower, miss lunch and rush through the dockside shopping.

 

I'd still like to book my own though. The ship dives are organized but I feel rushed at the end of the dive and don't find time to just chat.