Newly Cert Divers Trying to decide between S Caribb and W Caribb?

[WISara]

Hey all - BF and I just got certified at the beginning of Oct - he's done a couple of resort courses and I've only done the classes/open water dives for certification.

 

We are trying DESPERATELY to decide between 2 cruises:

 

RC Serenade from San juan and around southern caribbean 12/12

1:San Juan

2:St. Thomas

3:St. Maarten

4:Antigua

5:Barbados

6:Castries, St. Lucia

7:At Sea

8:San Juan

or

RC Radiance from 12/11

SUN:Miami, Florida

MON:At Sea

TUE:Labadee,

WED:Ocho Rios,

THU:Grand Cayman,

FRI:Cozumel,

SAT:At Sea

SUN:Miami, Florida

 

Both ships are the same size - have VERY similar reviews - so no help in deciding there.

But we want to be able to dive at least a couple times on the cruise and are trying to figure out if one itinerary would be better than the other for new divers? Any thoughts?

 

Thanks!! Sara

[zydecocruiser]

Depending on where you live, airfare to Miami vs San Juan might be a consideration. If the Southern itinerary had included Bonaire, I might have opted for that one.

 

On the other hand, Grand Cayman is currently CLOSED to cruise ships because of Hurrican Ivan damage, but is SUPPOSED to partially open next month for cruise ships. A number of dive shops are ready, once the tourists are allowed back in.

 

I haven't been (yet) to: Antigua, St Lucia, or Labadee.

[WISara]

zydeco - thanks for the reply!

 

We've got some FF miles that we were planning on using - So I am not using flight costs as a deciding factor. We are coming from Wisconsin (hence the screen name! :D ) so flying out of Ohare @ Chicago puts both pretty close price wise.

 

We were wondering about the hurricane's affect on this all -- some sites were saying Caymans would be open by Dec and some saying not until after Jan so we weren't sure what the real deal was! But even if it IS open what would the dive conditions be in that area.

 

I guess we are just REALLY excited to get some actual dives under our belts and are having a hard time choosing!!

[zydecocruiser]

December might be a little early to thaw out from the WI tundra, but...

 

Grand Cayman. That's the $64,000 question.

 

Caymans are a big IF these days, but I'm hoping to stop there Nov 11:D . By no means a sure thing. December would be a better bet but still not certain all cruise ships scheduled to stop will be allowed to stop. It will be many months before everything is back to normal, but if you can get in now, you can avoid the rush!

 

"Several dive operations and the Department of Environment have made assessment dives on many of the reefs and walls on all sides of Grand Cayman. The West, North and East sides of the island had no damage to report. The South coast of Grand Cayman experienced the full force of Ivan and signs of damage were reported in the depths of 0 to 30ft. On the wall and reefs 30-60ft showed no signs of damage to the reef structure but with some loss of sponge life. It is also noted that the South coast of Grand Cayman is the least visited diving area and only represents a fraction of the hundreds of moorings in the Cayman Islands. "

http://www.caymanislands.ky/tour_guide/news_details_pub.asp?id=923&site=ky

 

http://media.caymanislands.ky/news/details.asp?id=924&site=3

 

http://www.caymannetnews.com/2004/10/744/cruiseships.shtml

 

You might want to post questions under the individual ports of call forums to try to gather more opinions of the specific areas and recommendations and then decide.

[Hilary]

Why don't you just plan on doing both cruises in the next couple of years? ;-) Grand Cayman has great diving for new divers, as does St. Thomas and Antigua. Many feel that Cozumel is the best diving in the Caribbean, but others feel that it isn't a great place for newbies because of the currents.

 

If it were me, I'd choose the Southern itinerary because there are more choices of WHERE to dive than the Western. If you take the Western itinerary, you're going to be diving in GC and Cozumel because those are the only real choices you have. Also, because of the damage to GC, I'd avoid that as a port of call for a few more months. It isn't that the reefs have damage, its that your likelyhood of having the port time shortened or eliminated is higher than normal.

[w&k]

If you can get the flights to San Juan, use those Frequent Flyer miles! Just remember to fly in a day or two early, particularly as you're coming from the frozen north. (brrr...)

 

If you are going West, you absolutely must dive Cozumel, and add either Belize or Roatan.

 

Have a wonderful trip and awesome dives!

 

Wendy

 

ps Divers are usually happy to share their diving experience, expertise, and embarassing moments, particularly if there are beverages somewhere around.

[coulombic]

My vote for diving cruise itenerary = Carnival Valor

 

Belize

Roatan

Grand Cayman

Cozumel

 

All ports of call - enough said (well except make sure GC is up and running):)

[WISara]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

 

We have made the decision to go with the Southern Caribb Cruise - Both looked great - but we figured that we would be much more likely to take a regular vacation to the locations in the W Caribb than the ones in the Southern -- especially for diving specific activities - so Southern it is!!

 

Once we do this one we may just end up booking a Western for next year anyway!!

 

Can't wait!