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#1683
 Ship shore excursions for diving question
Raider - 1/22/2015 5:24 PM
Category: Travel
Replies: 5
I have taken a couple of shore excursions off ships to go diving in Roatan, and on both occasions things happened that made me question whether the resort we were using sent out the best guides and divers to escort us. On one, at no point did our guide ever check back to see if everyone was following him, and he didn’t notice that one member had to surface because he was running low on air. On another, I went below 1,000 pounds and was trying to tell a guide I needed to find the anchor line to make a safety stop. His response was almost "calm down," and he was acting like my request was an inconvenience. He eventually pointed me to the anchor line.
I have seen other divers talk about problems on their shore excursion dives while on a cruise, and I was wondering whether the places that offer them do send out their best people to escort the divers around. Does anyone here know of people who’ve had trouble dealing with resorts while doing shore excursion dives?
#20460
LatitudeAdjustment - 1/23/2015 5:43 AM
I’ve always arranged my own because the crui$e line charge$ you more and the diveboats they use tend to think cruise ship passengers only dive once a year so they take you to trashed reefs so those vacation divers with bad buoyancy skills don’t trash their good reefs.
#297
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elliselectric - 1/27/2015 1:33 PM
Those dive operations don’t provide redundant air supply (pony bottle) either and the cruise ship won’t allow you to bring small pony on board.
#20460
LatitudeAdjustment - 1/28/2015 11:16 AM
From elliselectric: Those dive operations don’t provide redundant air supply (pony bottle) either and the cruise ship won’t allow you to bring small pony on board.

What cruise line was that? Holland never questioned my gear and when the Greek version of TSA took my knife Holland’s security handed it right back saying "He’s a diver and needs it!".

The only issue I have had traveling with the pony was at LAX when they had me remove the valve which was only in loose, they would prefer you tape the tank and box the valve to protect the dip tube.
#297
Subscribed
elliselectric - 1/28/2015 11:54 AM
LatitudeAdjustment it’s Carnival Cruise, they said no cruise lines permit any dive tanks.
#297
Subscribed
elliselectric - 1/28/2015 6:37 PM
response from carnival cruise
Thank you for contacting us. We appreciate the opportunity to be of assistance.
I’m sorry to inform you that I’m not able to give out that information. I was given this advisory though.

In order to maintain a safe and secure environment, Carnival prohibits bringing certain items onboard. Additionally, we reserve the right to confiscate (and destroy) any articles that in our discretion are considered dangerous or pose a risk or inconvenience to the safety and security of the ship, or our guests, and no compensation will be provided.

The other cruise lines do not permit them either.

Thank you for choosing Carnival.