PattyW Posted November 15, 2007 #1 Share Posted November 15, 2007 We are cruising in January 2008. In Tortola, there is a branch of Dolphin Discovery. In 2004 we did the Dolphin Encounter with our (then) almost two year old in at the Dolphin Discovery in Cozumel and she loved it. We now have two children who will be 5 and 2 when we go to Tortola. On Dolphin Discovery's website, they list the minimum age for the Dolphin Encounter (they call it something else) as age 1 - same as Cozumel. Great right? Nope. When I called to book they said they were "full", but with a bit of prodding I learned that "full" meant "we are reserving all the slots for the ship excursion". It would be irritating enough to pay the mark up and just do the Dolphin Encounter through the ship, but, to add insult to injury, NCL puts the minimum age for the excursion at four! So according to Dolphin Discovery, my 2 year old is fine to go, but according to NCL he isn't. We can't book directly with Dolphin Discovery because they are saving all their slots for the ship. It's so aggravating and I'm quite disappointed. I left my name and number with Dolphin Discovery and the woman said she would let me know if they were going to open up slots for private bookings, but it didn't sound very likely. . . sigh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Rare CC Help Michell Posted November 15, 2007 Administrators #2 Share Posted November 15, 2007 We are cruising in January 2008. In Tortola, there is a branch of Dolphin Discovery. In 2004 we did the Dolphin Encounter with our (then) almost two year old in at the Dolphin Discovery in Cozumel and she loved it. We now have two children who will be 5 and 2 when we go to Tortola. On Dolphin Discovery's website, they list the minimum age for the Dolphin Encounter (they call it something else) as age 1 - same as Cozumel. Great right? Nope. When I called to book they said they were "full", but with a bit of prodding I learned that "full" meant "we are reserving all the slots for the ship excursion". It would be irritating enough to pay the mark up and just do the Dolphin Encounter through the ship, but, to add insult to injury, NCL puts the minimum age for the excursion at four! So according to Dolphin Discovery, my 2 year old is fine to go, but according to NCL he isn't. We can't book directly with Dolphin Discovery because they are saving all their slots for the ship. It's so aggravating and I'm quite disappointed. I left my name and number with Dolphin Discovery and the woman said she would let me know if they were going to open up slots for private bookings, but it didn't sound very likely. . . sigh When a shore-based provider has a contract with the cruiseline to furnish ship shore excursions, the contract almost ALWAYS prohibits them from accepting passengers from that ship who don't book through the cruiseline (or even other land-based guests on that day). The cruiseline doesn't want passengers booking through them (at X cost) to find others on the tour, especially fellow ship passengers, who paid 50% of X by booking directly. This is particularly true of very popular excursions, like dolphin encounters -- the ship wants to fill every available slot on them if they can, since they can and do sell them out entirely within the ship, and the shore excursion provider agrees to that exclusivity in exchange for the steady business. The age difference is probably the result of different requirements imposed by the insurance companies for the cruiseline versus the excursion provider. It's still disappointing, but the business reasons for these exclusivity provisions do make sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crusinmama06 Posted November 15, 2007 #3 Share Posted November 15, 2007 Yeah we've done that excursion 3 times already and I have NO idea why they would set the age limit at 4? :eek: I would take it up with NCL. Ask them why it's 4. On RCCL and Carnival, the age restriction ranges from 2-3 based on where you are going, but 4? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BethCarp Posted November 16, 2007 #4 Share Posted November 16, 2007 Not sure if you spoke to a manager or not, but I would try that. That just sounds completely unfair. Let them know you are ready to book and pay RIGHT NOW. They can't guarantee that the ship spaces are going to fill up. Good luck. That completely stinks. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clansac Posted November 16, 2007 #5 Share Posted November 16, 2007 I just gave up and booked the dolphin tour with RCCL, after several emails back and forth with Dolphin Discovery. For almost 2x the price, we'll take the ship excursion because I promised my 4 year old that he could "swim" with dolphins. Ugh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Rare CC Help Michell Posted November 16, 2007 Administrators #6 Share Posted November 16, 2007 Not sure if you spoke to a manager or not, but I would try that. That just sounds completely unfair. Let them know you are ready to book and pay RIGHT NOW. They can't guarantee that the ship spaces are going to fill up. Good luck. That completely stinks. :( Beth, I understand that feeling, but I hope the OP isn't offended if that doesn't work. For a shore excursion operator with a contract with one or more cruiselines, the exclusivity provisions of the contract(s) aren't really negotiable. These agreements furnish 3-4 days per week of very steady income for the operator -- which in turn allows the operator to invest in equipment and pay their employees -- which allows the employees to feed their families -- which lets the grocery store owner pay his employees -- and the trickle-down continues. These contracts (exclusive as they are) are highly sought after, especially in the Caribbean. The OP shouldn't be surprised if the operator really CAN'T make an exception in this (or any) case without jeopardizing their contract for next week's cruise, and the week after, and next month, and so forth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PattyW Posted January 4, 2008 Author #7 Share Posted January 4, 2008 I am the OP - I'm so excited. I just randomly checked dolphin discovery's website today and there were slots available for private bookings for the dolphin encounter in Tortola on the day we will be there. I guess NCL must have released the 11:00 a.m. time slot back to Dolphin Discovery. So, not only will my 2 year old be able to "swim" with the dolphins - he gets to do it for free because participants under the age of 5 are free when booking directly (and the adults are $40 cheaper apiece as well). Yeah for us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abitaturbodog Posted January 4, 2008 #8 Share Posted January 4, 2008 Congrats! Don't you just love CC? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Keith1010 Posted January 4, 2008 #9 Share Posted January 4, 2008 Glad to hear that booking the excursion will now work out for you. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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