western caribbean sea animals

[Vianky]

We will be going on our first cruise in July on the valor going to the western caribbean.

 

What are the chance of seeing some neat sea animals along the way? Dolphins, whales or sharks? Or do they kind of get out of the way when they feel a ship coming close to them?

 

I got a balcony room and I think it would be awesome to just sit back and try to find some but is this really something that would happen?

[JoeyGA]

Being so high up on the ship I think it would be doubtful. But when you stop at a port, yes you should see some sea life. If you're looking for that then take a tour dedicated to that. They have shark and stingray snorkling in Belize and Dolphin encounters almost everywhere.

[Angeleyes1382]

We will be going on our first cruise in July on the valor going to the western caribbean.

 

What are the chance of seeing some neat sea animals along the way? Dolphins, whales or sharks? Or do they kind of get out of the way when they feel a ship coming close to them?

 

I got a balcony room and I think it would be awesome to just sit back and try to find some but is this really something that would happen?

 

LOL, you might see Nemo touching the "butt". I'm not sure, but I think the ship might drive some of them away. Though I'd love to see a dolphin or some whales, I could live without seeing some sharks.

[stevethepirate]

If you watch the wake you can see flying fish shoot out every now and then.

[Scottohiocpa]

We've seen Dolphins playing in the wake, especially near Cozumel and Calica.

[boopie1026]

We saw the most gorgeous dolphins right next to the ship going from Grand Turk to the Bahamas- it was amazing- they followed the ship for awhile also-

[caribbean dreams]

If you watch the wake you can see flying fish shoot out every now and then.

 

If you have a porthole cabin, you can see the flying fish hit your window..

[aloha43]

We will be going on our first cruise in July on the valor going to the western caribbean.

 

What are the chance of seeing some neat sea animals along the way? Dolphins, whales or sharks? Or do they kind of get out of the way when they feel a ship coming close to them?

 

I got a balcony room and I think it would be awesome to just sit back and try to find some but is this really something that would happen?

 

I have to disagree with the comment that says that you wouldn't see much from a higher viewpoint.

 

The higher, the better for spotting sea life from your balcony.

 

We were on the 10th deck on both of our Caribbean cruises, and we saw LOTS of things.

 

We saw LOTS of flying fish, turtles and dolphins. You just have to be patient and spend some relaxing time watching the water.

 

The best place to look for the flying fish would be looking forward in the waves created by the ship. They come up out of the water, flying and bouncing off the water, and then they go back under.

 

Bring binoculars!! It is a must if you want to see them close up, but you will see things without them.

 

I haven't cruised the Western Caribbean yet, so I haven't had much of a chance to spot whale sharks. I sure hope I see them on my January western itinerary!

 

Have a blast! Just remember....you have to spend a bit of time staring out onto the water if you expect to see much. Patience is a virtue...and having a DH that spots things easy makes it much easier for me. :D

[dan40]

Dolphins do play in the ships wake, and they play near the bow but we cannot see them there. Flying fish are incredible. I have seen them come out of the water and fly what seems like half the length of the ship or more.

 

However, none schedule a showtime! So its just blind luck if you see anything at all.

[momjen]

We were on the Dream at the end of June. We had a balcony on Deck 9 port side midship. On the way into Cozumel, I spotted a couple of dolphins. Then, going into Roatan, a whole pod! There must have been 10-15 of them. My kids loved it. Being that far up we could see them underwater and jumping.

[CRJ700]

Dolphins do play in the ships wake, and they play near the bow but we cannot see them there. Flying fish are incredible. I have seen them come out of the water and fly what seems like half the length of the ship or more.

 

However, none schedule a showtime! So its just blind luck if you see anything at all.

 

 

Saw these guys from our midship balcony on the way back to Tampa.

 

 

Saw the flying fish also, took us a bit to figure out what they were.

[stefs111]

I have seen flying fish on just about all my cruises. Turtles too. I spend many hours a day on my balcony looking at the sea and looking for sea life. It was here, on CC, that I read a review about a woman that saw a shark. I had my doubts. But then, on my 13th cruise, at around midnite, I saw a shark !!!!!!

He was swimming about 3ft or so away from the ship, going in the same direction. The lights from the ship/deck were shining on the sea, and he was just under the surface with his fins sticking out. He was a bull shark or a mako shark, bigger than 10ft. HUGE.

His tail moved back and forth slowly, but must have been very powerful because he moved swiftly next to the ship, but the ship was moving faster, so even tho he was moving forward, he slowly got left behind. The giant ship didnt phase him at all. Thought he would swim off to the side to move away from it, but he didnt. I called for my husband to come out, he saw him also. Then, when he moved toward the back of the ship, someone else must have seen him, because we heard a spine chilling scream from someone.

I think of this moment alot, and was in awe if him. I am looking forward to searching for another encounter when I cruise in October.

By the way, I have seen small sharks while swimming here on the Florida beaches, I mean rite next to me. I am not scared because they are youths usually and their bites are just mistakes and are not usually that serious. People dont really realize how many sharks are around when they are swimming, but bites are very rare. Gotten stung by Man-O-War jelly fish, wasn't the end of the world, not as bad as I expected.

A manatee swam by my face while i was snorkling off a Gulf beach, now THAT scared me because it was huge and I didnt know it was a manatee until after It passed me. And they dont even bite !!!!! lol

[mittchelandsophie]

I've only seen whales in Maui, while sitting on my balcony (hotel) looking out on the water at Kanapali Beach. We were then out in a catamaran and saw them but by law in Hawaii the boats have to stay a certain # of feet away from the whales. I also swam with the sea turtles in Hawaii and I have to say it was AMAZING! They were enormous and everywhere. The water in Hawaii is very different than in the Caribbean it's a darker blue but still clear.

I have never seen anything from my balconies on my cruises.

[jetskier]

I have seen flying fish on numerous cruises. On the Holiday in 2007 on the first seaday while my nephew was getting ready for the sync. swimming (pool games), they just happened to be filming the group when a large pod of dolphins started jumping out of the water. They were able to capture this on film and include it on the DVD they sell to passengers of the week's sailing plus it was shown on the film clips all week.

 

Dave

[navybaby1113]

We saw dolpins a couple times on our Dream cruise. Still never seen a flying fish though.

[tef43]

On a snorkeling excursion in Belize, the small boat that took us from the ship to the barrier island was "escorted" by a few dolphins. Way cool.

[dan40]

When I had my boat it was docked at a marina up a little inlet off the Inter-coastal. We would relax on the fantail and have a cocktail or 2. Just about 100 feet across the water was a little cove where mullet would hang out arount 4PM. A pod of dolphins would come in a little after 4 and hit the school of mullet. It was a shocking revelation to see what "Flipper" does in the wild. The water would boil and chunks and pieces of mullet would go flying all over. The dolphins tore into those mullet like piranha in the Amazon.

Dolphins are cute, and intelligent, but when they're hungry and there is fish around, Flipper got no table manners!:D

[Fergus]

At many of the Caribbean ports, the water is so shallow at the piers that you can look down and see fish right there near the ship!

[lillian marie]

We've often seen dolphins which is truly an amazing experience. I hope you get to see them too.

[imluvncruzn]

We saw dolphins playing by the ship in San Juan in January right at the dock. I've also seen dolphins at the dock in Belize and we saw them again in March as we left the Port of Miami. I saw my first shark from my balcony on the lido deck on the way back from Cozumel heading toward Miami in March. My husband saw it as well. It was really quite amazing. We always see the flying fish. At first I thought they were bugs or tiny birds!

[cb at sea]

The only "sea life" we've ever seen is flying fish. I've seen dolphins off the coast of Va. Beach every single day....it's their normal route. Whales in Hawaii, sharks in the Chesapeake Bay, where we swim!!! (Hammerheads, mostly).

 

Do not expect to see much at sea....it just doesn't happen.

[MacBrokefoot]

I have seen dolphins and flying fish. The flying fish are easy to see once you realize it is not your eyes playing tricks on you. :p

 

One of the reason I chose a Cove Balcony on my next cruise is that I hope being closer to the water I might be able to catch some great wildlife pics. I am planning to dangle a small child (Donated by Camp Carnival) over the side near the water to see if I can tempt a shark to show its man-eating face. :eek:

[dan40]

I have seen dolphins and flying fish. The flying fish are easy to see once you realize it is not your eyes playing tricks on you. :p

 

One of the reason I chose a Cove Balcony on my next cruise is that I hope being closer to the water I might be able to catch some great wildlife pics. I am planning to dangle a small child (Donated by Camp Carnival) over the side near the water to see if I can tempt a shark to show its man-eating face. :eek:

 

 

Doin' an MJ?

[3Hearts]

His tail moved back and forth slowly, but must have been very powerful because he moved swiftly next to the ship, but the ship was moving faster, so even tho he was moving forward, he slowly got left behind. The giant ship didnt phase him at all. Thought he would swim off to the side to move away from it, but he didnt. I called for my husband to come out, he saw him also. Then, when he moved toward the back of the ship, someone else must have seen him, because we heard a spine chilling scream from someone.

l

 

 

 

HAHA..sounds like a dime store novel..( I'm thinking balcony club)

[Upandadam]

When in a balcony room, we have never NOT seen flying fish and dolphins. We've also at times seem turtles, whale pods and once saw a Marlin(?) chase down and finally catch a flying fish. Also various other fish under the water. Polaroids help.