Dolphin Discovery - booking directly online

[mommyto2kids]

Dolphin Discovery has apparently signed a non compete clause with a number of the cruise lines, including the one that I am sailing on (Disney). What I understand this to mean is that they will not sell tickets to people sailing with those companies and insist that they book directly with the cruise line.

 

The problem that I have with this is that DCL wants $104 more for the excursion (for my family of 4) than the company does for the exact same excursion. There is no transportation and no worry about the ship leaving without us (my usual reasons for booking directly with the cruise ship) b/c the excursion is located directly at the port.

 

I have read a few threads (primarily about the one located in Cozumel) where people will just book and say that they are staying at a local hotel and have reported that the staff don't really care where you come from and just not to advertise with ship towels etc.

 

I'm not sure how I feel about this, also not sure if this would would work in Costa Maya which is primarily a ship port and not a stand alone destination.

 

I am looking for some thoughts and opinions. I don't know if I am prepared to pay DCL $104 extra to have a staff member walk me 100 metres so I am leaning towards either booking with the company directly or not booking at all.

 

Thanks

[sparkinator]

I wrestled with that as well when we were in Costa Maya in 2011. I went with the ship because when filling out the online form, it wouldn't let me book when I entered the ship that I was cruising on. The only silver lining, was with NCL (after talking directly with the excursion dept), they let me take my 2 kids so I didn't have to have an adult for each kid that dolphin discovery was requiring. That helped my feelings a bit and actually saved 10 dollars over the final price.

 

Ours was only like 30 bucks above the dolphin discovery price though, not the 109 your dealing with. That's blatantly gouging in my book.:mad:

 

This year, we went with Chankanaab park in Cozumel and booked online. They had a special and it was only 50 dollars for each swimmer and it was MUCH better than Costa Maya. If you port in Cozumel, I would definitely consider hitting the beach in Costa and simming with dolphins in Coz. Chankanaab is fueding with some of the cruise lines as well, but they really have no idea which cruise line your on, so they are easier to deal with.

[mitsugirly]

I have never been to the one in Costa Maya, but can vouch for the one in Cozumel. There are a lot of happy people on here that go to the one at Chankanaab. I agree with the above poster, if your ship goes to Cozumel, I would do the swim there. The price of the swim also includes your admission to Chankanaab (which is a national park) and it is beautiful, big, and has a lot to see and do there (not to mention excellent snorkeling).

 

However, if you decide to do the swim at Costa Maya, I would check the port and see if there is a NCL ship there that day and say you are on it. That seems to work in Cozumel with people trying to book online. :)