Dolphinaris - Pictures?

[GreySkies]

Has anyone done the Dolphin Trainer excursion from NCL? Does this include any pictures with it?

 

Thanks,

[rvsullivan]

We've done a couple of those dolphin "trainer" type excursions. None of them ever include pictures/videos as it is a huge revenue generator for the tours.

[CruiseLover824]

Which Dolphinaris are you asking about? I have been to the one in Cozumel. I did not do the trainer excursion, but we did the swim and ride through Carnival. We were all mixed in with other cruiselines at Dolphinaris. The photos were very expensive! One picture was like $30. Our group had 12 people in with the dolphin, and luckily, all of us were on the same ship. We bought the photo/dvd package and split the cost. You would have to trust the others in your group to do this. The other people actually had a laptop onboard, and just copied the photos/dvd right when we got back! This package was $350!!!!

 

This was the BEST cruise excursion I have ever done. Ask me any specific questions you may have if you are talking about Cozumel.

 

Wendy

[jules316]

What kind of beach facilities do they have at Dolphinaris? Is there snorkeling, restaurants, bathrooms? Anything for kids to do before or after? Thanks

[deb63]

We did the dolphin trainer program via NCL in Cozumel. We had booked it as a surprise for our twin daughters 8th birthday. It was the highlight of our cruise.

 

We went in November 2011 (Thanksgiving week). It cost more than the other dolphin excursions. . but while we saw some groups with as much as 20 people to one dolphin. . there were only 7 of us. We had a wonderful guide there - Tomas. He was very interesting, even kept our daughters' attentions.

 

I did a report for some friends of mine when we got back - I'll try to copy/paste it and see how it goes.

 

When we exited the ship we made our way down to the dock - and there were signs held up for the various excursions. Now the one we booked was suppose to be a small group - so I was kind of disappointed when I saw they were passing out colored wrist bands to coordinate who was on which dolphin excursion. There were a bunch of green, blues & yellows - so I thought that meant we would be in a large group. When the man looked at our tickets he said "oh, you get the special bracelets" and he pulled a different color out of a bag on his hip.

 

They then told us to line up in 2 rows and they led all of us across a shopping mall - quickly - to waiting taxi's. We were put in, and the driver zoomed off.

 

When we got to Dolphinaris, we were back with the large group. . and then split up by wristband color. There were only 7 in our group. Our instructor, Tomas, introduced himself and then led us to put our stuff in lockers, get towels, got us Instructor shirts to wear, etc. He said the shirts were important as it let staff know we were allowed in areas the other visitors were not. Now, we were not allowed to bring cameras.

 

We were then led to the class room. First he showed chart explaining the differences between the variety of dolphins. Something I never knew - is an Orca is really a dolphin, not a whale. The placement of their fins/blow hole & their teeth classify them as dolphins. We also got to watch a video of a baby dolphin being born. Then we learned hand signals for working with the dolphins. After that - he asked for volunteers to act out the hand signals. The M&MS volunteered first. . .so I went out in the hall with Mickie, while Maddie learned how to get Mickie to do what she wanted with no words. . .then we came back in. . .I have to say, it was more fun that it probably sounds. We all took turns doing this.

 

After the class work we went outside to get the fish ready for the dolphins. Tomas was pretty funny with kids. He showed the girls how to squeeze the fish to make their eyes bug out. . ..and then he took squid and stuffed fish inside of them to make them look like aliens. Imagine a man & two children making squid aliens dance around. . .yup, I wanted a camera. Sigh.

 

Anyhow, they all sorted good fish from bad. If any skin on the fish was broken - they were tossed into a pile for the stingrays. Seems that can form bacteria, which is harmful for the dolphins.

 

After we got the food ready - we went to an area and were assigned a dolphin to work with. We took turns doing the hand signals we had learned to get them to sing, twirl, jump, swim fast, clap, etc. and then would reward them with a fish. Here are some of the pics they took of us getting them to jump.

The dolphin was very smart. After a bit she got tired of doing tricks. . .Tomas said she knows when the fish is running low - so he had to let her touch the cooler with her nose to "weigh" it, so she'd know there were still fish in there. . .then she went back to working with us.

 

When we were done with the hand signals, we were led to another section to snorkle. The M&Ms had never snorkled before, Mickie didn't care for it - but Maddie took to it well. Maddie followed Tomas around. . and thankfully he was very accomodating to her. He would point things out, etc. We saw all sorts of tropical fish - it's a shame we were not allowed cameras.

 

After snorkleing we were take to a break area and offered a drink. John got he & I each a margarita. But they were extremely tart - so he drank both of them. Tomas got the girls virgin daiquiries. They liked them a lot.

 

After our break it was time to swim with the dolphins. We first posed for pictures

Maddie

 

Seems my report had too many pics. . . .so will continue on the next post.

[deb63]

Mickie was scared - so John stuck close to her.

We then swam with the dolphin. John skipped this part. He got out of the water - you can't take hats into the pool, and his head was burning.

 

We had to swim out to the middle of the pool, then put our hands a certain way - when the dolphin came close she would turn onto her back so we could grab her fins. In my family, I went first. . .

 

[deb63]

I then swam back out with Maddie. . .. . and waited with her.

Maddie

I stayed out in the pool, and waited as Mickie swam out. . .she started to chicken out (the dolphin has teeth), when the dolphin came and she went for it.

We then stood in a row and the dolphin swam by so we could pet her. . .

I'd say this was the best part of our trip. The M&Ms were over the moon.

 

After this we all went and got cleaned up for lunch. They served fajitas, etc. It was interesting to me as one couple was from Germany and had no idea what it was or how to eat it. I forget about culture differences, so love these reminders. Lunch was good. After lunch we took a test. . .thankfully they never scored it. Once we turned in our test we were each given a Dolphin Trainer certificate.

 

 

FYI - with the trainer program there were some pics included. I think it was 2 each, and they were pre-picked by them (the ones of us getting the dolphin to jump). But we had to buy any other pics we wanted, and they were costly. I saw this as a once in a lifetime experience, so was a soft sell - bought all our pics + the DVD. But it is such a wonderful memory to all of us.

 

Anyhow, I hope this wasn't too much. I thought it would be easier to copy/paste, but didn't realize there were photo limits.

[Sauer-kraut]

Thanks for posting your pictures!

Gosh I wish my niece was more into going on trips with Auntie, there is so much I'd love to do with her.

[auntierobin]

We are doing this next week in Cozumel and were wondering what all the pics and the dvd cost. Like you this is a once in a lifetime event, and I know we will buy the package. Do you need to have cash for this?

 

Do their lockers have locks or should you bring your own, just wondering where to stash the armored car it will probably take to pay for the pics.

 

Great review!

[deb63]

We are doing this next week in Cozumel and were wondering what all the pics and the dvd cost. Like you this is a once in a lifetime event, and I know we will buy the package. Do you need to have cash for this?

 

Do their lockers have locks or should you bring your own, just wondering where to stash the armored car it will probably take to pay for the pics.

 

Great review!

 

For the pics they will give you different packages/prices you can pick from. I initially picked quite a few pics (trying to keep it under $300), when they told me for $35 more I could have all of them - so I did that. I left with all pics + the DVD for $325.00. I did use a credit card.

 

Your guide will take you to a spot where you get the shirt, towel, a coupon for the two free pics each, and a key for the lockers. The key is on something you can wear around your neck - although you had to remove it when you got in the water with the dolphins. Every pool of water you stopped at (for snorkeling or to work with dolphins) they had palapas where the seating area raised so you could store things in there - they didn't lock, but they were within eye sight - so you could store the towels/locker key/hats, etc in there.

[deb63]

We are doing this next week in Cozumel and were wondering what all the pics and the dvd cost. Like you this is a once in a lifetime event, and I know we will buy the package. Do you need to have cash for this?

 

Do their lockers have locks or should you bring your own, just wondering where to stash the armored car it will probably take to pay for the pics.

 

Great review!

 

p.s. Enjoy it. My DDs are still talking about this one. And I hope you get Tomas, he really had a fun personality that added to our time there.