Divers-do you rent or bring your own gear?

[HeyKoolaid]

We are sailing the Fantasy and want to dive. Our kids are old enough to get certified, so we will now be four divers. Does anyone have experience with bringing your own scuba gear onto the ship? Is it too much stuff to drag on the ship, or is it worth it to have your own gear? Your thoughts on this are appreciated.

 

[bobyetman]

Per the DCL FAQ, the tanks themselves are not allowed on-board, so you definetely can't bring those:

http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/faqs/prohibited-items/prohibited-items/

I know a lot of folks bring their own masks/fins for snorkeling at Castaway Cay, so you might want to bring those.

 

[mmouse37]

We are sailing the Fantasy and want to dive. Our kids are old enough to get certified, so we will now be four divers. Does anyone have experience with bringing your own scuba gear onto the ship? Is it too much stuff to drag on the ship, or is it worth it to have your own gear? Your thoughts on this are appreciated.

Scuba gear is not allowed to be brought onboard so if you wanted to dive, best to rent equipment in the port you wanted to dive in. If you research the ports the you are visiting you will be able to find dive excursions through vendors and can arrange dives/equipment through them.

Not sure if DCL offers their own dive excursions through them but you can check the list of excursions and see if the DCL offers them.

Even if you were able to bring your own equipment onboard there would be very little room in the cabins to store the equipment.

MJ

 

[rabidmarmot]

I usually just bring my mask, snorkel, and regulator/computer. The rest of my gear is too bulky to store in the stateroom. Plus you have think about what to do with all those wet BCs and wetsuits for the rest of your cruise. Also remember that no dive knives are allowed, not even the little ones

 

[WVURunner]

We have done dives both through Disney and arranged privately. If you have a junior diver, you will need to arrange a private dive as you have to be 14 and not a junior diver to dive through Disney. We just bring our mask, fins and snorkel. Everything else is just to hard to travel with and store in such a small space.
ETA: I may be wrong, it might be 12 for Disney, our junior diver is 10 so we will be doing private for a bit.

 

[ChloroFiend]

We are sailing the Fantasy and want to dive. Our kids are old enough to get certified, so we will now be four divers. Does anyone have experience with bringing your own scuba gear onto the ship? Is it too much stuff to drag on the ship, or is it worth it to have your own gear? Your thoughts on this are appreciated.

DW and I are pretty new divers, so we don't have BCs, regs, or wet suits yet. We did bring fins, boots, masks, snorkels, and our computers along. Personally, I like having my own kit...if we had the rest of our gear, we'd have brought it with. Most of the people in our 2 dive excursions (Cozumel and Grand Cayman) did bring full sets of gear. They seemed to be primarily either adult couples or with one small kid, so space wasn't as big of a concern.

Now...4 full sets of dive gear, that could get a bit cramped. Might be difficult to fit all that in the room and still have space for people. We kept our stuff on the veranda most of the time, both to let it air out and to not take up room in the stateroom.

Not sure when/where you're looking to go, but we didn't need wetsuits for either dive in SEP. I'd check out the local dive reports for the month you'll be there to see if you'll want exposure protection. Boardies and a long sleeve rashguard were plenty for me.

Scuba gear is not allowed to be brought onboard so if you wanted to dive, best to rent equipment in the port you wanted to dive in. If you research the ports the you are visiting you will be able to find dive excursions through vendors and can arrange dives/equipment through them.

That's quite incorrect. Aside from tanks and dive knifes, scuba gear is most certainly allowed on-board.

 

[mmouse37]

DW and I are pretty new divers, so we don't have BCs, regs, or wet suits yet. We did bring fins, boots, masks, snorkels, and our computers along. Personally, I like having my own kit...if we had the rest of our gear, we'd have brought it with. Most of the people in our 2 dive excursions (Cozumel and Grand Cayman) did bring full sets of gear. They seemed to be primarily either adult couples or with one small kid, so space wasn't as big of a concern.

Now...4 full sets of dive gear, that could get a bit cramped. Might be difficult to fit all that in the room and still have space for people. We kept our stuff on the veranda most of the time, both to let it air out and to not take up room in the stateroom.

Not sure when/where you're looking to go, but we didn't need wetsuits for either dive in SEP. I'd check out the local dive reports for the month you'll be there to see if you'll want exposure protection. Boardies and a long sleeve rashguard were plenty for me.



That's quite incorrect. Aside from tanks and dive knifes, scuba gear is most certainly allowed on-board.

I was not referring to masks, fins, snorkels, etc. (I have brought my own before) but tanks/knives, etc. as listed in the prohibited items list posted earlier. I specifically said SCUBA in my other response as that is how it is listed in the prohibited items list from the DCL website which I have posted below:

In order to maintain a safe and secure environment for our Guests and crew, the following are examples of items that Guests are not allowed to bring on board. These and other similar items will be confiscated upon being found

"SCUBA equipment (i.e., tanks, spears guns /slings, dive knives, pry bar, and underwater scooter

Bolding is mine....I was not incorrect in my previous response.

Snorkel gear is definitely allowed.

MJ

 

[truck1]

We are sailing the Fantasy and want to dive. Our kids are old enough to get certified, so we will now be four divers. Does anyone have experience with bringing your own scuba gear onto the ship? Is it too much stuff to drag on the ship, or is it worth it to have your own gear? Your thoughts on this are appreciated.

Working in a dive shop I can tell you there are 4 schools of thought. 1 if you rent you don't know what you are renting until you are there and you won't know the main on that gear. 2 if you bring your own, you know it fits and is comfortable etc and you know it works. 3 what kind of room do you have? Do you have a balcony where you can place it out of the way or do you do you have an inside room with little spare space? 4. Are you flying in or driving? Will you have to pay extra for the extra bag or is it no big deal ? Those are the 4 questions that you need to answer for yourself. For me and my family we live in the state drive to the port and we all have our own gear. It lives on the verandah until we need it. I know the service history and most important it all fits and is comfortable.

 

[Capt_BJ]

Working in a dive shop I can tell you there are 4 schools of thought. 1 if you rent you don't know what you are renting until you are there and you won't know the main on that gear. 2 if you bring your own, you know it fits and is comfortable etc and you know it works. 3 what kind of room do you have? Do you have a balcony where you can place it out of the way or do you do you have an inside room with little spare space? 4. Are you flying in or driving? Will you have to pay extra for the extra bag or is it no big deal ? Those are the 4 questions that you need to answer for yourself. For me and my family we live in the state drive to the port and we all have our own gear. It lives on the verandah until we need it. I know the service history and most important it all fits and is comfortable.

decent set of questions ...

I'd back up and ask 'do you have equipment for all 4?' If no, I'd not be buying anything special for this trip except maybe a mask.

When I was a new diver and living in Florida and diving an average of every other weekend, owning equipment made sense. Diving once or twice a year it does not.

When I was a new diver, having gear I was very familiar with was comforting. dd is newly certified and diving often, we bought her a complete rig (at this time she dives 4 times a day 6 days a week)

Now having many hundreds of dives I've dove with a bunch of different types of gear and feel very comfortable with just about anything. (I learned on 2 hose single stage regulators). I have m/f/s boots and farmer johns. I'll rent BC and Regs. If I was gonna computer dive regularly I'd buy one of those as there is too much variation 'tween to get maximum use out of most rentals.

If you are flying 4 sets of gear are gonna cost you for extra luggage, I can't see a way around that based on recent experience (flights to Cayman and Roatan)

Rental gear condition can be an issue - but if diving Cayman I'd not worry. My recent rentals at Sunset House on GC were all Scuba-Pro or Sub-Gear and in great shape. Cayman is probably the high bar in this regard but the stuff I've rented in Coz the last few years has consistently been good too. Beyond that . . .

When prioritizing what to carry: I always carry my own mask. To me, that is the most fit critical item. Next snorkel and fins (boots if you need them) cuz with this I can snorkel on my own. Then regs, due to comfort issues and germ phobia and last the BC (too bulky, even a travel BC). Unless the trip is a dedicated dive trip, I don't carry my FJ's

 

[ludari]

We are sailing the Fantasy and want to dive. Our kids are old enough to get certified, so we will now be four divers. Does anyone have experience with bringing your own scuba gear onto the ship? Is it too much stuff to drag on the ship, or is it worth it to have your own gear? Your thoughts on this are appreciated.

When I sailed on the Fantasy I did a diving excursion at every port (Grand Cayman, Cozumel and Costa Maya) and the only scuba gear I brought with me was my masks, snorkel, rash guard and dive computer. The port adventure companies that DCL coordinates with has decent equipment. I think brining all your gear is too much and you can save the luggage space for other items. Not to mention all the airline travel restrictions with weight you definitely do not need to add to it. If you only do one dive during your cruise I would recommend Grand Cayman they definitely had the best stuff to see and the dive company was excellent.

Have a great trip.

 

[karmacats]

We are sailing the Fantasy and want to dive. Our kids are old enough to get certified, so we will now be four divers. Does anyone have experience with bringing your own scuba gear onto the ship? Is it too much stuff to drag on the ship, or is it worth it to have your own gear? Your thoughts on this are appreciated.

DH goes diving on every cruise we go on (our upcoming Dream cruise will be our 7th, I think), plus any time we take a non-cruise vacation somewhere dive-worthy. He always brings mask, snorkel, and dive computer, and that's it. The other stuff is just too bulky to schlep on vacation. He's never had a problem with the rental equipment anywhere. From your signature it looks like you've been on the Dream, so you know how small the staterooms are - I can't imagine having four sets of diving gear in there, especially once you fold out the couch so the kids can sleep. Even the balconies are not that big, and I imagine would get crowded with four bags of equipment out there. I'd rent it from the tour operators to save yourself the hassle and crowding.

 

[HeyKoolaid]

Many thanks to all who responded. You confirmed my inclination to bring the basics and rent the rest. I couldn't see how we could fit all four bags of gear in our tiny stateroom, and I would be too nervous to leave all our gear out on the balcony. Anyway, I need all the space I can get for my Disney purchases. :rotfl2

 

[JnDRader]

We bring masks and nothing else. We usually only dive once or twice a year on vacation so it just doesn't make sense to purchase our own gear. I would like my own fins though. Maybe in time for the Eastern next May .

We've never dove with bad rental gear. We always test our gear immediately upon receiving it. Any issues are resolved quickly that way. I think only once or twice was there an issue like the fins not fitting well. BC and regulators have always been in good shape.

 

[Rogillio]

I brought mask, fins and snorkle and rented the rest. I regretted bringing the fins becuase they take up a lot of room! Also recommend bringing an underwater camera.

 

[wiigirl]

I usually rent....I just dont want to haul all that stuff.

 

[truck1]

Many thanks to all who responded. You confirmed my inclination to bring the basics and rent the rest. I couldn't see how we could fit all four bags of gear in our tiny stateroom, and I would be too nervous to leave all our gear out on the balcony. Anyway, I need all the space I can get for my Disney purchases. :rotfl2

Honestly its no big deal leaving gear in the balcony. There's a couple of advantages. First if its wet I'll drip dry out there and not affect anything else. Second the balconies are all high and have plexiglass so unless up really try your gear is not going anywhere. I have a big roller bag that fits all of our gear and sits nicely in a corner though I usually lay it down in case it falls.