Dolphin Excursion Question????

[hotshot99]

We are going to Mexico soon on the Sapphire. Thinking about the "Swim with the Dolphin Excursion" Has anyone experienced it and is it worth doing in the Mexican Riveria.

 

Thanks for the help.....

[ScooterTrash]

Actually I have the same question but for Isla Marguerita, any info would be appreciated...

 

 

Thanks,

 

ScooterTrash...

[Irishjayne]

We were on the Sapphire last November. We did the Swim with Dolphins II In PV. That is where you actually get in the water and swim with them and than they take you for a ride around the pool. It was awesome. An experience of a lifetime. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I bought the video and the pictures.

[cruzbabe]

My DS did it in Cozumel and he lvoed it. It is indeed an experience of a lifetime. Take plenty of pix or video it.

[skisto]

O have friends who also did it in PV and said it was awesome....I'm on the Dawn in Sept., and it's high on my list.:)

Jane

[cpayne]

We did the Swim with Dolphins program several years ago, but in Orlando at Discovery Cove (owned by Sea World). It is definitely something worth doing.

 

Last week we were in Cozumel at Chankanaab Park for the Swim with the Sea Lions program and watched in on the Swim with the Dolphins program. While it looked like a good time, the program did not seem to compare to Discovery Cove. Discovery Cove appears to offer a much better program than the similar ones in the various ports of calls. It's part of the Sea World "reputation". If you think you'd ever get to Orlando, I would wait to do it there. Otherwise, I would say don't miss it!

[cherylandtk]

I agree with Cpayne, the level of satisfaction with the experience has a lot to do with the quality of the operation--and that varies a lot with different ports. A fellow cruiser last summer on the Golden was very unhappy with the Princess tour dolphin operation in Antigua..if I can find the link I will edit this post, but you might also look under the Mexicn Riviera port threads to find comments on the operation in PV.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=44816

[kryos]

I agree with Cpayne, the level of satisfaction with the experience has a lot to do with the quality of the operation--and that varies a lot with different ports.

I just did this excursion a couple of weeks ago in Honolulu. I think I paid something like $150 for it through Princess.

 

While I certainly enjoyed myself, and was very glad I did it, I would not do it again. The reason is that there are simply too many people grouped together with one trainer and one dolphin. We had about ten people and by the time we all got a chance to take a dolphin ride (by holding onto the dolphin's fins), and get a dolphin kiss, along with petting the dolphin and a few other minor interactions, the hour was over. I don't feel the price was worth it. For what I spent, I would have expected to have more time with these delightful creatures and to have learned a bit more about how they are trained and taken care of.

 

Like I said, I was not dissatisfied with the experience, but I just don't think it was worth what I paid to do it.

 

Also, every group (and there were about four) had a videographer and photographer assigned. They even pulled our van driver into service for this task. The photos and videos were then offered for sale at greatly inflated prices. I think the video was about $49 (which I did not buy). I did get a couple of photos of my dolphin kiss (since I don't know that I will ever get to do this again), and I think for two photos I spent something like $35.

 

Then, the photos were taking a long time to be processed at the dolphin park. People didn't want to get on the bus until they could view and possibly purchase their photos. But, not to worry ... for the chance to make those big bucks, the bus drivers/guides just waited for their groups and left late. :)

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[land lover]

there is something about "swim with the dophins" in many places you swim with dolpins that are not native to the area, ask where the mammals come from....I find it to commerical...travel to a location that you can see/swim with them in the wild do you really have to touch them....We were on Maui a few years ago snorkling and in came a whole pod(40) of spinners We were quite far from shore but for over an hour they dashed in the water all around us spinning and jumping, you could here them making noises under water yes they were close enough to touch but we didn't ....and guess what I had my H20 camera with me ...Now this is what I call a once in a life time experience.......

[Genessa]

we did the swimming with the dolphins through Princess at Isla Margarita in April.

It was a thrill, a once in a lifetime experience, but while I would probably do it again, I wouldn't do it again at Isla margarita, not because of the dolphins, but because of the operators.

 

It was a long bus ride to get to the water park (about 45 minutes - we were informed about that when we booked it). Unlike other tours we've done through Princess, the driver did not give us any commentary at all. He spoke very little English, which is probably why he didn't speak.

 

The park is in the midst of a long abandoned stadium area, reminded me of the south Bronx in the '80s. When we got off the bus we were instructed to sit on picnic benches and told if we wanted to take pictures with a seal that we could, if we paid $5 per person to take the pictures with our own cameras.

 

We were also told that anyone wearing any sun block had to take a shower before going in the water. Not a problem, but the tour description had said to "wear adequate sun protection". My friend, who isn't supposed to have sun exposure, wasn't allowed to keep his tee shirt on in the water. We were also told that we had to remove all jewelry and they taped over everyone's rings if you couldn't get your ring off. According to the video tape they showed us, there were supposed to be lockers that you could put your belongings in, but they were not pointed out to us, so I was happy that I had thought ahead of time and hadn't worn any earrings or other jewelry.

 

 

WE were told to just leave our things under a pavillion (including our cameras - even waterproof cameras were not allowed). They brought us on a cement bridge to put on mildewy smelling life jackets and told to jump in the water, stay against the wall and keep our legs pointed down.

 

The water was not warm and it was deep, we could have been warned about both, but weren't.

 

the dolphins came in and swam around us and we were encouraged to pet them. We danced with the dolphins, one by one, and then we were given a dolphin ride by the two dolphins together, holding the base of their fins.

The dolphins were amazing and the trainer seemed to really care for them, but he had no people skills. If he saw someone making a mistake (which often happened because of language problems) he would yell in Spanish and then one of the guides (two guides in water and trainer on the "wall) would repeat their instructions to us. We were told we were going to have one more experience with the dolphins and then the trainer started yelling again and then we were told to wave good-bye to the dolphins.

 

A video was sold, I think it was about $30. My friends and I bought one (on a cd) and shared it. One woman, who was paying by credit card, ended up holding up the bus, because they took her credit card and left the counter area and didn't come back with it until the bus driver went out and started talking to the operators. We made it back to the ship about 5 minutes before our scheduled departure time.

 

Of all the interactive tours I have ever done, it was the most confusing and unorganized I have ever seen, but swimming with the dolphins was terrific.

[rapsodyme]

We swam with the dolphins in PV 2 years ago and it was wonderful.

 

5 people to 2 dolphins and at least 45 min. in the water with them. It was worth every penny we paid. Bus picked us up and took us, we were given instructions on where and how to touch them. Every group had a trainer and

he took pictures,buy an underwater disposable. We also bought the viedo as

I figured it was a once in a lifetime thing.

 

The dolphin encounter is not as good as the swim as its about 20 or more people to 2 dolphins and you just get in the water up to your waist.

 

Let me know if you have any more questions, hope this helps

 

Happy crusing

 

Rapsodyme

[bdwyer]

We did the "swim with the dolphins" experience 2 years ago in Cozemel on a Princess cruise. It is a magnificent feeling to interact in these animals in their environment, and very safe (I was afraid at first, but they won me over in about 2 minutes!) It is still one of our top 10 life experiences! Be sure you book the actual swim with dolphins not just the dolphin adventure or something of the sort which is cheaper but all you get to do is touch the dolphins like at Sea World.

[sunprincess]

We are going to Mexico soon on the Sapphire. Thinking about the "Swim with the Dolphin Excursion" Has anyone experienced it and is it worth doing in the Mexican Riveria.

 

Thanks for the help.....

 

I have friends who did the swim with the dolphins and raved about it. They highly recommend it :)

[lois1112]

I also did the swim with the dolphins in PV. I would do it again in a heartbeat. My parents also did this on a later trip, on my recomedation and loved it.

As a previous poster said, it was a small group (ours was 4) with 2dolphins and a trainer, and it was about 45 minutes long. Do not mix this up with "the dolphin experience" where you see the dolphins, but do not get in the water with them.

[Cruisin'40]

We were on the Diamond in January, my girls did the "Trainer for a Day" excursion in PV, it was very expensive but well worth the money. It included a Sea Lion encounter, and they went in the tank with the mother and baby dolphins. It was about twice the price of the swim program but in addition to including the swim, it was twice as long and had many extras. I did watch them do the swim, it looked similar to the program we went on in Cozumel a few years ago. The dolphin excursions are our favorite "cruise memories", well worth the money.

If you are going to do this, I think you get more bang for your buck by investing in either the trainer or swim program, in watching the "encounters" they seemed a little anticlimactic(sp).

[cruiserabbit]

Two years ago a friend and I were on the Grand and took the water taxi from Cozumel over to the mainland to a eco-tourism park called "Xcaret." They had a terrifc dolphin swim program. We swam for about thirty minutes with four dolphins - there were about eight people allowed in the group. It was extraordinary. We also did tricks with them, which I would have gladly skipped for more petting time. Thirty minutes was just enough to make me sorry it was over! With the trick time, we spent about 50 minutes in the water with the dolphins. They were not in a tank, they were in an enclosure that was closed off to the sea by woven rope - very nice. The whole place was nice and offered lots to do besides the dolphin swim.

I'd do it again in a New York minute - particularly at Xcaret.

[Seirra]

We are going to Mexico soon on the Sapphire. Thinking about the "Swim with the Dolphin Excursion" Has anyone experienced it and is it worth doing in the Mexican Riveria.

 

Thanks for the help.....

Swimming with the dolphins is a must do experience. My daughter and I took part in Puerto Vallarta Mexico and it was simply amazing. As well as getting to pet and interact with them one on one for about an hour, they took each of us for a ride by letting us hold on to their fins while they swam at mock speed around the enclosure. It was an experience that I will never forget. Don't pass it up!

[hotshot99]

Thanks for all your help. You have all convinced me to go for it. I can't wait...

[DJT]

I did the dolphin encounter in Cozumel...dream of a lifetime and it didn't disappoint...spectacular and would do it again and again!