Diving on Dawn Princess Western Carribean Adventurer
mattimus
My soon to be bride and I are both recently certified divers, and are booked
on the October 4th sailing of the western carribean adventurer cruise of the
Dawn Princess.
I have a couple of questions for the cruise / diving veterans out there.
Our itinerary stops at St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Ochos Rios, Grand Caymen,
and Cozumel.
They have dive excursions organized at each of the ports. I wouldn't mind
diving each of them but the Mrs may want to do some sightseeing as well.
From what I can tell the two "must dive" locations would be Grand Caymen and
Cozumel. I'm hoping others might be able to offer insights with respect to
the other locations.
Next question would be should we bother bringing our gear or not? Does
princess give you a discount if you have your own gear? I definitely intend
on bringing masks, snorkels and fins. I'd like to bring my own regs and
BCS...... but am not sure if it's allowed (I heard disney didn't allow it).
I'm also wondering about exposure protection. We dive 7mm suits sometimes
with a second 7mm layer (shorty/vest) over top.
Does anyone know what the water temperatures should be around that time of
year? Would we be ok in a shorty? Are hoods necessary? Gloves? Etc....
Thanks a bunch in advance,
Matt
Greg Mossman
news:X%QQc.46027$vO1.2...@nnrp1.uunet.ca...
> Next question would be should we bother bringing our gear or not? Does
> princess give you a discount if you have your own gear? I definitely
intend
> on bringing masks, snorkels and fins. I'd like to bring my own regs and
> BCS...... but am not sure if it's allowed (I heard disney didn't allow
it).
If Disney didn't allow them then they're probably not allowed on Cozumel. I
believe Disney recently purchased the Puta Langosta complex which owns the
entire part of Cozumel that's safe for cruise ship passengers. Something
about carelessly dropped regulators (like in the DIR 3 video) and suicide
clips dragged from BCs scratching up all the pretty white marble.
> I'm also wondering about exposure protection. We dive 7mm suits sometimes
> with a second 7mm layer (shorty/vest) over top.
That would be plenty for Cozumel though you'll want to bring a cover-up for
the wickedly cold surface intervals.
Jeff H
Matt,
Check the Princess website to see if they offer dives "with gear" and "w/o
gear". RCCL does theirs that way and normally the gear is an additional $10
per 2 tank dive.
I have never had a problem bringing my gear aboard RCCL ships, don't know
with Princess (I believe they would allow it). You can always ask them
though. It is allot of stuff to take for a couple diving days.
Water temps should be in the low 80's at a minimum . A 7mm would be
overkill. I tend to dive in a 0.5 mil full and am very comfortable. BTW, I'm
from Phoenix Arizona where we are wuss's when it comes to the cold:).
Jeff
Reef Fish
> > Next question would be should we bother bringing our gear or not?
I would, and did, for just one two-tank dive.
> > Does princess give you a discount if you have your own gear?
No. But why book with Princess? You can do much better booking
your own, if you do a little research on Cozumel diving.
> > We dive 7mm suits sometimes
> > with a second 7mm layer (shorty/vest) over top.
You'll be roasted and drown if you dive with that in Coz. :-)
> Matt,
>
> I have never had a problem bringing my gear aboard RCCL ships, don't know
> with Princess (I believe they would allow it).
Did both, last year and this March. Why would they NOT allow anyone to
bring their own gear?
> It is allot of stuff to take for a couple diving days.
Nah. Not at all. It's your LIFE support. I wouldn't leave it to
chance to some poorly maintained (or defective) rental equipment.
> Water temps should be in the low 80's at a minimum . A 7mm would be
> overkill. I tend to dive in a 0.5 mil full and am very comfortable. BTW, I'm
> from Phoenix Arizona where we are wuss's when it comes to the cold:).
>
> Jeff
A lycra skin will be fine if you have a little blubber around the waist.
I am a dedicated Warm Water Wimp, and I never dive in Coz with more than
1 mil, any time of the year -- and I've dived there every month of the
year, many times. :-)
-- Bob.
chilly
"Reef Fish" <Large_Nass...@Yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:8fb7380b.04080...@posting.google.com...
>
> > > We dive 7mm suits sometimes
> > > with a second 7mm layer (shorty/vest) over top.
>
> You'll be roasted and drown if you dive with that in Coz. :-)
I can see how they would get roasted, but I'm not sure how they could
possibly drown. Float all the way to Cancun maybe.
Joe English
If a operation did not allow me to use my own gear I would not dive with
them. I know of no discount for using your own.
Joe English
Reef Fish wrote:
> "Jeff H" <azj...@nospamcox.net> wrote in message news:<6KTQc.4122$Lj.2565@fed1read03>...
>
>>"mattimus" <matti...@yahoo.ca> wrote in message
>>news:X%QQc.46027$vO1.2...@nnrp1.uunet.ca...
>
>
>>>Next question would be should we bother bringing our gear or not?
>
>
> I would, and did, for just one two-tank dive.
>
>
>
>>>Does princess give you a discount if you have your own gear?
>
>
> No. But why book with Princess? You can do much better booking
> your own, if you do a little research on Cozumel diving.
>
Be careful of the difference in ship time and local time. You usually
have to do the morning dives especially at Cozumel - depending on your
itineary. If you dive thru the ship the boat won't leave without you.
Reef Fish
>
> Be careful of the difference in ship time and local time.
No difference. The ship keeps local time.
Passengers sometimes forget to set their watches according to the time
zone. I was on a dive boat once when three divers were late for their
cruiseship (which was leaving as our boat was heading back downtown).
No problem. The captain radioed the pilot boat, and it took the three
divers to the cruiseship which already left dock.
> You usually
> have to do the morning dives especially at Cozumel - depending on your
> itineary. If you dive thru the ship the boat won't leave without you.
BOTH you and your dive shop have to be very clueless to be late for the
ship's departure. When I dive in Cozumel, the captain of the diveboat
delivers me to the cruiseship pier (sometimes with a little bribe to the
cruiseship guards at the pier).
No taxi ride from the dive pier. No long walk on the cruiseship pier.
Gain at least an hour this way, if the cruiseship is docked at the
Punta Maya, and the dive shop pickup/dropoff is at the Aldora Pier
downtown.
-- Bob.
Joe English
Reef Fish wrote:
> Joe English <jeng...@accessusn.net> wrote in message news:<pbmdnT0J3ZA...@accessus.net>...
>
>>Be careful of the difference in ship time and local time.
>
>
> No difference. The ship keeps local time.
>
Actually on every cruise I have been on local time is Miami time and
when you get to Coz there is one hour difference. If you do the
afternoon dive in Coz - you are fucked!
Charles
<jeng...@accessusn.net> wrote:
> Actually on every cruise I have been on local time is Miami time and
> when you get to Coz there is one hour difference. If you do the
> afternoon dive in Coz -
There is no one correct answer. Some ships I have been on changed the
time to local time while others stayed on the local time in Florida.
--
Charles
RTCReferee
Actually, I think there is one correct answer, and it's the one you just gave.
Reef Fish
> Reef Fish wrote:
> > Joe English <jeng...@accessusn.net> wrote in message news:<pbmdnT0J3ZA...@accessus.net>...
> >
> >>Be careful of the difference in ship time and local time.
> >
> >
> > No difference. The ship keeps local time.
> >
> Actually on every cruise I have been on local time is Miami time and
> when you get to Coz there is one hour difference.
Jos, the subject is about the PRINCESS cruise line.
Have you EVER been on a Princess cruise?
Of all the Princess cruises I have ever been on, whether it's the
Caribbean, or Alaska, or Tahiti, Marquesas, Samoa, or Cook Islands,
on each and every port, the ship time was ALWAYS the local time.
-- Bob.
Joe English
Reef Fish wrote:
> Joe English <jeng...@accessusn.net> wrote in message news:<QcKdndLgqNQ...@accessus.net>...
>
>>Reef Fish wrote:
>>
>>>Joe English <jeng...@accessusn.net> wrote in message news:<pbmdnT0J3ZA...@accessus.net>...
>>>
>>>
>>>>Be careful of the difference in ship time and local time.
>>>
>>>
>>>No difference. The ship keeps local time.
>>>
>>
>>Actually on every cruise I have been on local time is Miami time and
>>when you get to Coz there is one hour difference.
>
>
>
> Jos, the subject is about the PRINCESS cruise line.
>
> Have you EVER been on a Princess cruise?
>
>
> Of all the Princess cruises I have ever been on, whether it's the
> Caribbean, or Alaska, or Tahiti, Marquesas, Samoa, or Cook Islands,
> on each and every port, the ship time was ALWAYS the local time.
>
> -- Bob.
How do they do that - We use daylight savings most the islands stay on
Eastern Standard. Do they reset the time on board or was the travel
during non daylight saving times?
Reef Fish
> Reef Fish wrote:
>
> > Of all the Princess cruises I have ever been on, whether it's the
> > Caribbean, or Alaska, or Tahiti, Marquesas, Samoa, or Cook Islands,
> > on each and every port, the ship time was ALWAYS the local time.
>
> How do they do that - We use daylight savings most the islands stay on
> Eastern Standard. Do they reset the time on board or was the travel
> during non daylight saving times?
Very easily.
Here's an actualy example, on the ship's patter the day before its
arrival to Juneau, Alaska (caps theirs <g>):
DURING THE NIGHT BETWEEN FRIDAY (11 June) AND
SATURDAY (12th June) AT 2:00 AM, SHIP'S CLOCKS
WILL BE SET FORWARD 60 MINUTES (1 HOUR).
Similar changes are made on other days, and announcements are made
several times on the intercom for those who are sober.
The same is true on the Polynesian Islands.
That having said, I do need to make a correction about Cozumel!
I did find that Cozumel is an EXCEPTION to the Princess rule above.
This was the announcement on the Cozumel patter:
PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT DURING OUR MEXICAN PORTS OF
CALL, WE WILL BE KEEPING SHIPS TIME. PLEASE DISREGARD
ANY CLOCKS ASHORE, AS THESE WILL BE ON A CENTRAL,
STANDARD TIME ZONE SHIPS TIME IS ONE HOUR AHEAD OF
THE LOCAL TIME, PLEASE USE SHIPS TIME WHEN ASHORE.
But the bottom line stands that whether you book your dive with the
ship or with a shop yourself, there is plenty of time for a two-tank
dive as long as your don't get confused on the departure time of
the SHIP, which is on the same clock/watch you've been using in
this case.
-- Bob.
Joe English
> But the bottom line stands that whether you book your dive with the
> ship or with a shop yourself, there is plenty of time for a two-tank
> dive as long as your don't get confused on the departure time of
> the SHIP, which is on the same clock/watch you've been using in
> this case.
>
> -- Bob.
So it seems we were arguing the same thing. The problem you explain was
the same I encountered in Coz - I scheduled an afternoon dive - which
would have left me very close to departure time, because I didn't figure
the difference in ship and local time.
Thanks Bob