Cruisin' Video Clips #8 - Swim With the Dolphins, Xcaret

[chesterh]

Our eighth in a series of Cruisin’ Video selections is entitled Swim With the Dolphins. My wife, Kris, realized a life-long dream and swam with the dolphins at Xcaret in Mexico.

 

Kris did struggle with the idea of taking this excursion. Many of these operations are inhumane (perhaps they all are, as some will say), but her research on the program at Xcaret revealed it to be among the best. She does not regret the experience. No lectures, please...

 

Here is a link to the video:

 

Swim With the Dolphins (Windows Media 9, 3:30, 10 MB, Stereo sound)

 

 

 

Other videos in this series (so far):

 

1) Leaving San Juan at Night

 

2) Young Men in Black (Teens in Tuxes)

 

3) Sailing Under the Baltimore Bridges

 

4) A Little Levity (Excessive Happiness)

 

5) Lamanai and the New River Safari

 

6) Snorkeling and Swimming With the Stingrays

 

7) Irish Coffee On Fire

 

All the best,

chesterh

[cruiselovers]

Chester...Your videos are the best...I've enjoyed them all and since we sailed on the Galaxy out of Baltimore, these bring back great memories...Thanks for sharing and keep them coming...you do great work!

[salt_salt_salt]

Great stuff! Just the tthe set of Flipper!

[PianoGirl]

fanstastic vids! - thanks for sharing so much :) :)

[chesterh]

Thanks cruiselovers, saltx3 and PianoGirl. I have a lot of fun making these videos (although it is a lot of work), and it is nice to know that they are enjoyed.

 

All the best,

chesterh

[mzplatinum24]

Oh my God that video was SO AWESOME!!! My boyfriend and I are going on our first cruise together in September to the Bahamas and were just discussing choosing the dolphin encounter or the swim w/dolphins...My first impressions of the beginning of your video was "We're definitely doing the encounter (paying only $85) b/c it looks after a little while it may get boring a dolphin constantly kissing you and you petting it." But when I saw the ending and they actually push you off like that, I could only think "WOW...it may be worth paying the $165"..I do have 2 questions though...Is that the only "riding" you do w/the dolphins? What kind of other activities do you get to do? and the video you made I noticed online it says they charge you $50 for a DVD of everything (total scam if you ask me) did you make that on your own or did you purchase that with them? B/c I can easily bring my video camera also but of course it may get wet in the water and they'll will be no third party to record for us??

Thanks once again, really great video...nice music too

[chesterh]

Thanks, mz… The riding shown in the video is the extent of it--one turn per person--but it was a huge surprise to my wife. She'll never forget it. The other segments included the overhead jump, the free swim and an introductory session that included the kissing. We did purchase the video produced by the operators, but most of the video is from my camera. I took some shots from the purchased video (notably, the underwater shots), combined it with my footage, and put it to music (I used the same process to do the stingray video). I suppose if you don’t have a friend along to record with your camera, you’ll be limited to buying the DVD. It’s better than nothing…

 

Do be aware that this dolphin program was at Xcaret in Mexico, and may bear no resemblance to what you’ll experience in the Bahamas. You’d do well to find some reports on the exact excursion that you’ll be using. The dolphin swim in the video was priced at $99, but then again, it was three years ago.

 

Have a blast!

 

chesterh

[PianoGirl]

Thanks cruiselovers, saltx3 and PianoGirl. I have a lot of fun making these videos (although it is a lot of work), and it is nice to know that they are enjoyed.

 

All the best,

chesterh

not only enjoyed, but calmed my mom's fears as well!

chester, - i noticed your other post about dolphin swims and your vid. i've swam with dolphins 5-6 times at various islands = and yes they can vary as to the interaction they allow. and even though in Bermuda, the group was asked to leave the lagoon as the dolphins had become too playful, it was worth every penny for the experience.

[Wennfred]

Awesome video, I like to know what Software you are using to put it all together. Thanks.. Fred :) Is this the Dolphin Encounter in P.V. ?

[chesterh]

Fred - I use Adobe Premiere for editing, and sometimes Adobe After Effects for compositing (evident in the map animations in the Belize video). Adobe is now offering a de-featured version of Premiere (called Premiere Elements) aimed at consumers, for $99. I have tried all the popular editing programs, and found most of them to be troublesome. Premiere has been a solid performer, and the consumer version seems to have enough bells and whistles to keep you busy for years...

 

To make the web-viewable video file, I convert the output from Premiere using Windows Media Encoder, a free program available on the Microsoft website.

 

chesterh

[newyoricancruiser]

what was the exact name of the excursion and was this excursion done in cozumel, mexico? There are a few so I am really not sure, if you can advise that would be great. Cruising 8/28/05.

[chesterh]

The ship docked at Cozumel, and the excursion was simply called "Xcaret". Xcaret is billed as an "Eco Theme Park", and it is a very nice place indeed (see www.xcaret.com).

 

Xcaret is on the mainland, and traveling from the island of Cozumel involves a 45-minute ferry ride followed by a 20-minute bus ride.

 

The dolphin program was not included (or otherwise offered) in the ship's excursion. Although it is an integral part of the Xcaret park and is featured on their website, reservations must be made with a separate company on a different website.

 

The dolphin program is called "Swim With Dolphins". Information and reservations at www.viadelphi.com

 

chesterh

[newyoricancruiser]

Have you ever done the excursion with RCC called the Dolphin Swim Experience for 145.00, do you think its more or less the same as the one you did or just in two different places.

[chesterh]

newyoricancruiser, the program at Xcaret is the only one we've done. You didn't say where RCC's excursion was - if it is at Xcaret in Mexico, I'd bet it was the same. If it is elsewhere, I would bet it's different - in which case I'd post the question on the "Port board" for the relevant port.

 

Leaving tomorrow for the next cruise - see y'all later...

 

All the best,

chesterh