Scuba Diving Boats

Caye Caulker Rasta Cruzer. A number of boats are available for scuba diving and snorkeling in the nearby coral reefs. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

western caribbean - smaller ship - scuba diving - advice!?

i'm thinking about taking a 6 or 7 night cruise to the western caribbean in oct or nov. i don't want to be with 20,000 other people, families with lots of kids, etc. i mainly want to scuba dive & eat but i don't want to be on one of those very, very small boats where diving is the only thing to do. i've never been on a cruise before.

does anyone have any advice on which cruise lines would be the best for this sort of thing?


To avoid being with "20,000 other people", go on a smaller ship and check the port schedules to see how many other ships [especially the larger ones] will be in port at the same time.

To avoid "families with lots of kids", don't cruise over any school vacations [some schools that start early have vacations in October, I hear] or in the summer or at holiday time. Also, longer cruises [10 days] will have fewer families and kids, but will then also have more older passengers.

Cruise on lines that are less "family friendly", e.g. Celebrity and HAL. I say that not because these lines don't have kids programs, but they don't have all the wacky activities that kids and "party hearty" types like and they are more traditional in tone, dress and decor.

Since you've never cruised before, you really should get a book on cruising from your library or bookstore, as there are many, many variables that you would need to consider and decide upon in order to make a final decision, such as type of cabin, length of cruise, size/age of ship, itinerary, etc, etc.

You can also get great info at CruiseCritic.com. Click on "Cruise Styles" to read about the different lines/ships and the type of passengers they appeal to [e.g. "Romantic", "Family", etc]. You can click on "Reviews" to read a pro comment about each ship and also "Member Reviews" of every ship out there. When you've done enough research to not be overwhelmed by more details, you should take a look at "Boards", where you'll find discussions on any and every aspect of cruising by experienced cruisers.

Good luck - hope you find just what you're looking for.

Scuba Diving U-352, German U-Boat.