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#230
Caribbean Princess out of NY on July 11th?
Will - 2/10/2010 9:32 AM
Category: Travel
Replies: 2

Has anyone been on the Caribbean Princess out of NYC and done some diving at any of the sites? The stops are Grand Turk, San Juan PR, St. Thomas, and Bermuda (West End).

I’m looking at Blue Water Divers ( http://www.grandturkscuba.com )in Grand Turk, but I’m open to other suggestions. I may or may not have a dive buddy with me, depending on if he decides to go

Are the sites on Puerto Rico within reach of a cruise traveler? From what I’ve read the south is where the wall is located, and there’s very little on the northern coast where San Juan is, most divers have to head out east. Should I plan Puerto Rico as a stop I avoid diving at considering the limited time the ship is in each port?

As for St. Thomas, I know there’s a bit of wreck diving there. I’ve been looking at Blue Island Divers ( http://www.blueislanddivers.com/ ), does anyone have any recommendations of sites or operators?

I haven’t yet read much about diving in Bermuda, does anyone have any tips or locations I should look at? How about dive operators that operate out of the "West End"?

Thanks in advance!
#3091
divemaiden - 2/12/2010 5:56 AM


I dove P.R. east side. I didn’t think it was the best, so you probably might want to skip it.


On another note, I have dove with people off of cruise ships and they said, even though it’s pricier, it’s best to make diving/excursion arrangements through the ship instead of on your own. If you make arrangements through the cruise line, the ship will make sure you’re back on board before they depart. If you make arrangements on your own, then you’re on your own if you don’t get back in time. Which means, you’ll have to find someplace to stay the night and get a flight to the next port of call the next day, and the money for all that comes out of your pocket. (It’s just what I was told)
#230
Subscribed
Will - 2/12/2010 10:10 AM
I’ve heard the "you could be left behind" thing too. Admittedly it could be a danger since the boat could break down or some other unexpected delay could occur...I’m figuring if I go on an 8 hour stop and plan the first 4 for diving, that should leave me enough time for either touring the island or "running late" time.

I’ve heard and experienced too many horror stories with cruise boat dive excursions. Silt kickers and overbooked dive boats are the main things that have gotton to me in the past, has anyone here missed their return to the cruise line after planning in advance (i.e. leaving 2+ hours to get back on the boat)? Or is it a horror story the cruise line gives to get you on their tours?