Dolphin swim adventure

[ogopogo]

I was debating on doing the dolphin swim when we get to Tortola - has anyone done this excursion??? Is it worth the money?? do you get good dolphin time in??? I don't mind spending the money if it's worth it - any advice at this point is good advice!!!!

Thanks:confused:

[hillbilly cruiser]

We did this in June 2005, had a great time. You are in a group of maybe 10 and you go into the water and stand on a ledge about waist deep. They take turns with everyone doing the same thing. They have the dolphin swim by several times and you rub their belly as they go by, then you swim out into the pool and the dolphin goes aroun you and you grab their fin and they pull you back to the ledge. You get to shake they fin and give them a kiss, all which is caught on film and CD. Pricey but nice quality. Thought it was worth the money for us.

[ogopogo]

Thank you sooo much!!!

Very Helpful. I think we'll definitely be doing it.

[megansdad1]

i booked this excersion in september. Any ideas how much the phots/videos are?

[skylar64]

Spoke to someone today that was just on the Norwegian Dawn and did the dolphin thing with her husband, 5 year old and 8 year old. Said it was ok. Son did not want to continue, so therefore one parent had to get out. Said it was very expensive for them with it all. You definately feel torn about buying video, dvd, pictures and spend extra money. She thought that she heard someone say that you could book this direct through a website of the actual place and that it was considerably cheaper per person. Remember, This is all hearsay, not my personal experience.....but thought that I should share in that you asked the question and this all just came up today. Good luck.

[soccerfamily4]

We are booked on the 4/16 Dawn sailing and booked the dolphin swim inTortola but I booked it through the place itself and not through the cruise line. It was a lot less expensive and they give you more options as far as level of participation than what's offer by the cruise line. I have young kids and you have to be 8yrs. plus to do the swim. They have other options of just being in the water with the dolphins and not actually having to swim with them. Apparently it's only a 5 minute taxi ride from the pier. Hope this helps!:)

[sarahruth23]

I just returned from doing the dolphin swim and we had a GREAT time! We were with Carnival and booked through the cruise line - we didn't think about booking it from the company, so I couldn't tell you about that.

 

We did the "swim" rather than the "encounter". It seemed like the people who did the "encounter" got more time in the water with the dolphins, although they didn't get as much one on one time. They did more things like make it do tricks, whereas we each got to give and get a kiss, shake it's flippers, and ride it's belly. You pose as you do each activity and the photos and videos came out great!

 

The CD was $50 and I think each picture was $10 (although it may possibly have been $20 - I confess to quickly losing count of how much money I was spending!) Another neat thing that they had in the gift shop that we bought was a t-shirt with each specific dolphin on it. So, I got a t-shirt that says, "I swam with Maggie" with a picture of my dolphin on it. That was neat!

 

The facility is very close to the pier - they had buses running back and forth all the time. I don't remember if they checked to see that I had purchased the excursion from them before letting me on the bus.

 

It's definitely a lot of money for a little bit of time with a dolphin, but it was worth it to me. I had a great time and I have some excellent pictures!

[momofmab]

We'll be there on 4/18 (NCL SUN) and also booked through the website. MUCH cheaper, more options and they will let you bring younger children (with a paying adult) where NCL does not. Also, if for some reason your ship skips Tortola, they'll give you a full refund.

[Iamseasick]

We just got back and we booked through the website. We did the "swim" with our 5-8 yr old and it was great. You can get a cab there with no problem. If you do the swim, the video is only $35, as opposed to $50 for the "encounter." I saw people with very young children trying to do the "encounter" and the kids got scared. It involves swimming out (with a life jacket on), waiting for the dolphin, and grabbing its fins to take a ride. Great fun if you can swim well, but a little scary for a young child. I was glad we did the less intensive swim.

[BeachMusic]

Just back from Dawn 4/16. Friends went for "swim" with 12y/o son. Through ship, cost was almost $500 for three. They reported being dissapointed with the encounter. Said time in water with dolphins was about 20 minutes. Thier son said it was just not what he expected. They did say "it was all about the pictures and videos " pushed on them afterwards, which they did not purchase. (too expensive) Maybe booking direct is the better bet and find out exactly how much water time you actually get with these wonderful creatures. My encounter consisted of seeing wild dolphins play in the wake of the Dawn as we cruised home. Now that was worth the price of admission!

[KevinsCruising]

Does anyone know the name of the place or website to look it to see what it costs to do the dolphin encounter on your own?

 

Thanks,

Kevin

[palmtre2]

The site you are looking for is DolphinDiscovery.com.

 

We'll be in Tortola next year but our port time is 8am to 1pm, which doesn't give you a lot of time for anything. I was wondering if we booked the 11am would we make it back to the ship by 12:30??? The website says the swim adventure is about 45 minutes but I'm not sure how far it is from the port...can anyone who has done this shed some light????

[Iamseasick]

Palm--No. That is cutting it too close. However, they might have earlier times available. I would consider a minimum of 2 hours for the dolphins and another 30-45 mins to get back to the ship. It won't take that long if all goes as planned, but that would be enough to build in a little buffer if it doesn't go as planned.

 

It's a nice experience, but IMO, it is not worth being rushed and certainly not worth being afraid that you will miss the ship. If time is a factor, I would pay more and schedule it through the ship. That way you know the ship won't leave without you.

 

Good luck.

[momofmab]

I agree with the comment about it being all about buying the pictures and video. We booked through the website (much cheaper) and easily got a cab there (5 minute ride), but got MAJOR attitude from one of the girls that worked there when I asked her to call us a cab back to the ship without our having seen the pictures and video first (I never buy such things and no intention of doing so here). Her English had been perfect up until she heard me say I wasn't interested in the pictures, and then all of a sudden she claimed not to understand me and not to understand the word "cab". A quick talk with her supervisor solved the problem, but the whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth for the experience as a whole.

 

Definitely not enough time if you're only in port until 12:30. We had an 11:00 appt. and didn't get into the water until close to 12:00.

[palmtre2]

Thanks everyone - I thought there wouldn't be enough time. I guess we'll just head to Brewers Beach for some snorkeling.