My DH would prefer scuba diving but he enjoyed doing this with DS.
OMG!
Ds had wanted to do this for years and we finally did in Nov.
It was so awesome. They didn't weigh any kids but my ds was the youngest there. It was less than 2 mos before his 12th bday. He weighs about 100 lbs so maybe they might question the weight if a child has a lean/petite build.
The helmet is somewhat heavy but once you're under water, it's more buoyant. It gave me a bit of claustrophobia when they 1st put it on (while standing on the ladder off the back of the boat, chest deep in water)
I had to ask him to quick pull it off. No one else had this so I think it's just me.. lol!
Let me clarify this by saying that I would not have chosen this for myself. Ds had wanted it so badly since 2004, our 1st cruise, and dh designated me to go w/ him. I was really just doing it for ds and of course he couldn't go alone. He's wanted to be a scuba diver since he was 3.
You go down the ladder, 30' down, one person at a time, with a scuba diver staying right with you as you descend, and a guide already on the ocean floor with the group and another stays on the boat. Your ears pop as you go down; similar to flying on a plane except that you are in total control of how fast you want to go down.
It was a bit scary but once I got down it was so AWESOME!!!! I can't even describe how totally cool it was. If you know the Magic School Bus cartoon, I felt like we were shrunken down with Ms. Frizzle and put inside a huge aquaruim. We could feed fish and more which I don't want to give away the whole thing.
I can tell you the video was like $76 and it was so neat I bought it. (Good thing dh wasn't there for that part!) They do accept credit cards and it's shipped to your home after editing. It arrived in a few weeks.
This was the highlight of our trip. As I said, I would not have chosen this but once I did it, I was so glad I did.
ps. They did have us fill out a medical questionaire asking if you have asthma, high bp, ear problems, surgical history, etc. Ds has very mild asthma and I have chronic sinus problems. They said it was ok as long as I didn't have surgery or most importanly, open heart surgery in the past.
OMG!
Ds had wanted to do this for years and we finally did in Nov.
It was so awesome. They didn't weigh any kids but my ds was the youngest there. It was less than 2 mos before his 12th bday. He weighs about 100 lbs so maybe they might question the weight if a child has a lean/petite build.
The helmet is somewhat heavy but once you're under water, it's more buoyant. It gave me a bit of claustrophobia when they 1st put it on (while standing on the ladder off the back of the boat, chest deep in water)
I had to ask him to quick pull it off. No one else had this so I think it's just me.. lol!
Let me clarify this by saying that I would not have chosen this for myself. Ds had wanted it so badly since 2004, our 1st cruise, and dh designated me to go w/ him. I was really just doing it for ds and of course he couldn't go alone. He's wanted to be a scuba diver since he was 3.
You go down the ladder, 30' down, one person at a time, with a scuba diver staying right with you as you descend, and a guide already on the ocean floor with the group and another stays on the boat. Your ears pop as you go down; similar to flying on a plane except that you are in total control of how fast you want to go down.
It was a bit scary but once I got down it was so AWESOME!!!! I can't even describe how totally cool it was. If you know the Magic School Bus cartoon, I felt like we were shrunken down with Ms. Frizzle and put inside a huge aquaruim. We could feed fish and more which I don't want to give away the whole thing.
I can tell you the video was like $76 and it was so neat I bought it. (Good thing dh wasn't there for that part!) They do accept credit cards and it's shipped to your home after editing. It arrived in a few weeks.
This was the highlight of our trip. As I said, I would not have chosen this but once I did it, I was so glad I did.
ps. They did have us fill out a medical questionaire asking if you have asthma, high bp, ear problems, surgical history, etc. Ds has very mild asthma and I have chronic sinus problems. They said it was ok as long as I didn't have surgery or most importanly, open heart surgery in the past.
Do you know if they opened your son's chest completely? I know some procedures on the heart are not wide open. I would definitely ask your cardiologist. Did your doc ever mention any diving limits? I know when my little ds had tubes in his ears, they said not to let him swim more than like 8 ft. I forget now the exact measurement... He was only 2.5 then and would cry over 2 drops of water on his face so I knew it wouldn't matter if the limit was 6", it wouldn't happen. lol! 
I know it has the name of the company on it. Perhaps you could email them and ask what specific medical condition would make them deny a guest. It's bad enough to not be able to do an excursion but worse if you paid for it and get there and then discover you can't do it. 
It wasn't cheap and my kid's disappointment would break my heart. 
I found the video! 
I'm not sure. No one in our group was denied.
Your helmet is attached by hose to regular atmospheric air, not oxygen. The issue is the depth and pressure on your body. I can say it was much easier than the pain in my ears I get when flying. By real SCUBA diving standards, 30' isn't very deep.
Between ds and I, we ended up checking "yes" for so many medical issues and they kind of blew it all off. (High BP, sinus problems, asthma) Apparently others checked yes and there was some confusion, then they announced that it was ok as a long as we didn't have open surgery to the chest. I guess that could be lung too, not just cardiac. Truthfully since it didn't apply to us, I didn't question any further.
We 1st discovered this type of excursion in Coz on a Carnival cruise. Ds12 was only 7 and still wanted to do it. They required a doc's note for asthmatics so if you are considering doing this with your son someday, I would bring a note from your cardiologist saying it's ok. (This was not our reason for not doing it then. We were with my parents and opted to do something we could all do together. Five cruises later, I'm comfortable with going our separate ways when necessary.)
Honestly, I can't find my video now.
I will keep looking when I get a chance. (I'm just returning to work after my own sinus surgery and dh is away in Boston for a funeral.) I'll let you know as soon as I find it.
Yes, all cruise lines add in some profit for themselves too. The only benefit to booking thru the ship is that if the excursion runs late or gets delayed somehow, the ship will wait for you. If you're on your own, then you're REALLY on your own.We cruise in August and booked the Coral World sea lion swim. I'm really excited. I think it's weird that Disney will take you on an excursion to Coral World, but doesn't actually mention all of the cool things available at Coral World. On our first cruise I learned about the Disney markup for booking at Atlantis and decided I wouldn't book excursions through them that I didn't need to.
