Date dove: 12/06
Booked through ship? Yes
Operator: Unknown, this is one of the few times we were so rushed that we did not get complete info from the operator, but the shop was walking distance from the pier.
Air Temp: 80° F
Water Temp: 78° F
Vis: 35-40 ft.
Depth: 42 ft. first dive, 57 ft. second dive
Return factor? We have heard of people who have had good dive experiences diving here, but our dives and dealings with the operator weren't great. We saw nothing to make us want to return to the island to stay, but would consider cruise itineraries with a stop here.
Information about the island: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Thomas%2C_U.S._Virgin_Islands
We were there on Voyager last December, but only for a short day. If your ship visits a non-US port before stopping here, everyone must clear US Customs on board before they start letting passengers off. That further shortened our stop. If we had a longer stay we would have tried an individual booking. As it was, we were boarding the ship as the all aboard horn sounded.
We have serious complaints about the operator. They were unorganized, took snorkelers along, which delayed the gear outfitting in the shop, as well as both dives. The boat was the worst kind of cattle boat. We rented BC's, and in their attempt to appear organized, they had set up gear on the tanks before we got on the boat, but they simply had them sorted by size. As we boarded the boat they said, "Small BC's are here, mediums here, large here." When we attempted to move a tank with a small BC near a larger on so that we could sit together, the crew jumped on us and said "Sit where your size is." When I complained, I was pretty much told to sit down and shut up. Can you say cattle boat?
All of that might have been forgiven if the diving had been worthwhile. The first dive was on a construction rubble pile with practically no marine life. The dive master swam at full speed the entire dive, I guess so that we wouldn't have time to notice the lack of fish and coral. The second dive was done without moving the boat, we just exited the opposite side and dove a wreck. It was at least better than the first dive. There were actually fish, but the dive was short. We were the last ones back aboard but had plenty of air left.
St. Thomas, Royal Caribbean
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I believe I just dove with the same operation. I had a few complaints as well. My main complaint was the fact that my ticket and the RC staff said this was a 'certified divers only' trip when in reality the certified divers were greatly outnumbered by the discovery divers and snorklers. Also, I had all of my own gear and was still forced to walk to the dive shop with the others that needed gear. As the shop is close to the pier we had to walk and for one with full gear it was pretty heavy to lug around.
Once aboard and headed to the dive site, we discovered that 2 people were left behind and we had to turn around to get them (don't worry they have means of making sure they don't leave you behind after the dive!).
The dive site was ok. It was a 2 tank dive at the same site. First was a reef dive and the second a wreck. I was disappointed with the length of the dive. Had I known the length of the dives beforehand I would not have signed up. The dives were each only ~ 40 min and I was the last one back on the boat. I am used to 60-70 min dives. I came up with well over 1/2 tank of air remaining after each dive.
Despite all of this, the dives were not too bad. There was the usual marine life on the first dive and on the wreck a swim through, a turtle and a shark. The dive master was pretty good but very on top of you which I was not used to.
This was my first cruise dive excursion and it is much different than the efficient and diver only operations that I am used to. All in all I would say it was ok. The operation itself could definitely be improved greatly but the important part is that they were safe and got us back in time! Happy diving!
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