Dolphinaris vs. Dolphin Swim Adventure(chankanaab)

[cmmarch]

Any experience w/Dolphinaris?

Is it new? RCCL is offering 2 Swim adventures that sound exactly the same but one at Chankanaab & other at Dolpinaris.......each is $149 pp.

Min age for Chankanaab 8. Min height at Dolpinaris 48"(my 6 yr. old is 48" )...I was considering this as he could go w/his 2 older sisters???

Which is better? Where is Dolpinaris in relation to dock?

Pls. looking for best Dolphin advice before I book!!! Help!! thanks!:confused:

[geosgirl]

I looked online and couldn't find any info on Dolpinaris, maybe it's new??

 

You can check out DolphinDiscovery.com for info on the swim at Chakanaab Park though....

[cmmarch]

I looked online and couldn't find any info on Dolpinaris, maybe it's new??

 

You can check out DolphinDiscovery.com for info on the swim at Chakanaab Park though....

 

 

Thanks. There is a website for Dolphinaris in Cozumel....what I am wondering is has anyone been there and is one better that the other, location, etc.......

[geosgirl]

What is the website for Dolphinaris? I would like to look at it myself.

 

Sorry not more help though on your original question....:(

[lfdianne]

We just did the Royal Dolphin swim last Friday at Chankanaab. We booked online and it was $139pp. We paid $15 each way by taxi (for 5 of us) from the ship to the park and back. It was a great experience, but...there were 5 ships in port that day, and the dolphin swim program was running behind by about an hour. We had booked the 11am swim and didn't get into the water until after 12. It was a bit frustrating especially since they tell you to meet at 10:30. It was a great experience overall though, and my kids loved it. Afterwards we ate lunch and my husband and sons did an introductory scuba dive with South Shore, at the end of the beach. They LOVED it, and it was only $65 (my sons are 12 and 14). We drove past Dolphinaris and it seemed to be just a dolphin experience, based on the outside size of the facility, while Chankanaab offers a swimming pool, sheltered cove, a few restaurants, and several dive/snorkel outfitters.

[cmmarch]

What is the website for Dolphinaris? I would like to look at it myself.

 

Sorry not more help though on your original question....:(

 

Website gives good overview of facility......I found it after seeing on rccl shore excursion for my sailing that this dolphin swim was being offered in addition to a few at chanknaab........just trying to pick the best one for our kids 11,9,&6! Good luck:)

[cmmarch]

We just did the Royal Dolphin swim last Friday at Chankanaab. We booked online and it was $139pp. We paid $15 each way by taxi (for 5 of us) from the ship to the park and back. It was a great experience, but...there were 5 ships in port that day, and the dolphin swim program was running behind by about an hour. We had booked the 11am swim and didn't get into the water until after 12. It was a bit frustrating especially since they tell you to meet at 10:30. It was a great experience overall though, and my kids loved it. Afterwards we ate lunch and my husband and sons did an introductory scuba dive with South Shore, at the end of the beach. They LOVED it, and it was only $65 (my sons are 12 and 14). We drove past Dolphinaris and it seemed to be just a dolphin experience, based on the outside size of the facility, while Chankanaab offers a swimming pool, sheltered cove, a few restaurants, and several dive/snorkel outfitters.

 

If you book 11am dolphin swim and we dock into Cozumel at 10am - is there a time change? We are travelling via RCCL LOS in 4/08....is there enough time to get us there and checked in?

Thanks for your review of Chanknaab...sound nice. Hoping someone has a review of Dolphinaris as perhaps could try it and then go to Paradise Island too.....we are in Coz until 7pm.

Thanks!

[piemom9397]

Just found out that there's free transportation from the pier (I posted it on the main board:)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=12888626#post12888626

I am sooo excited!

 

Laura

[geosgirl]

Website gives good overview of facility......I found it after seeing on rccl shore excursion for my sailing that this dolphin swim was being offered in addition to a few at chanknaab........just trying to pick the best one for our kids 11,9,&6! Good luck:)

 

 

:o Now I feel like a moron. I typed that into google and it came up with nothing on the search. Maybe I spelled it wrong - but thanks for the link!

[lfdianne]

CM, I think the time change depends on your ship. We sailed out of New Orleans, so for all of our ports (Roatan, Belize and Cozumel), the local time zone was the same as our ship time. Docking at 10am with an 11am swim might be pushing it a bit, because it does take about 10 minutes to get from the dock to Chankanaab, then you have to check it, etc. 11:30 or 12:00 would be better.

[cmmarch]

CM, I think the time change depends on your ship. We sailed out of New Orleans, so for all of our ports (Roatan, Belize and Cozumel), the local time zone was the same as our ship time. Docking at 10am with an 11am swim might be pushing it a bit, because it does take about 10 minutes to get from the dock to Chankanaab, then you have to check it, etc. 11:30 or 12:00 would be better.

 

 

Excellent! I think that I am going to book Chankanaab Royal Swim excursion direct online through Dolphindiscovery.com and go for 12noon time frame.

I appreciate all of the info. - seems like there will be enough to enjoy at Chankanaab park. I will have my husband go w/11 & 9 year old (Royal Swim) and I will do the Swim adventure w/6 yr old son - as he is not old enough for the "royal swim"........decisions, decisions....can't wait to be sailing!:cool:

[Mandy W]

Just got back from Cozumel - and we the dolphin swim through Dolphinaris - I know there aren't a lot of reviews out there so here are my two cents:

 

We booked directly through the Dolphinaris website and paid $119 a person. There are several times to choose from, but the 10:20 tour worked out great since we got into port at 9:00. We took a taxi to the Dolphinaris site (Our ship was at the International Pier and the resort was about 1.5 miles towards the downtown area, cost was $2 per person for ride.) (If you are parked downtown, you could walk - its about 4-5 blocks.) Once we got there, the resort is beautiful! Very nice facilities including outdoor showers, nice bathrooms and a locker area (lockers were very big - cost was $4.00 to rent.) We were instructed to put everything in a lockers except ourselves in our suits of course and were given a key to hang around neck. Once done we joined a group of people - were given a number and waited our turn to be called up to get life vests and snorkel (all included.) The wait wasn't long and soon our group of about 12 were off to our dolphin area. We had two dolphin trainers who were both very nice and informative, they enouraged us to ask as many questions as we wanted. We ended up in a smaller pool area with 3 dolphins, 2 girls and a boy. The entire experience was wonderful - we started out by all swimming freely with the dolphins while they swam by us over and over to be petted - sometimes rolling on their backs so we could get to their bellies. They seemed to really enjoy themselves. After about 15 minutes of just swimming with them - we made our way back to the platform and in between our guides pointing out various facts and letting us touch their teeth, tongues, skin.. etc. we took turns doing 3 things: 1. The dolphin flipped on it's back and we went belly to belly and held onto their fins - while they swam us around the entire pool. 2. We swam out into the middle and waited while the dolphin swam up and gave us a good long kiss on the cheek. 3. We floated in middle and stuck our arms out straight and splashed the water and the dolphins swam up in between arms and "shook hands" with us with their flippers for a few seconds, face to face. After that we sat on the platfrom in the water while we watched the dolphins do some tricks including showing us how fast they could swim and jump among other stuff. Tour ended with us being able to swim freely again for about another 15 minutes while the trainers threw fish out to the dolphins and just plain had fun. They did one trick where they threw a fish to dolphin and made a gesture so the dolphin played fetch and brought the fish back to my husband to be grabbed out of his mouth.

 

All in all it was a fantastic tour and I feel like we got a lot of exposure for the money. The resort was beautiful and there is a restaurant and bar. My one and only complaint was that they did not allow cameras down near the dolphins - however they did take lots of pics for us including a DVD. We didn't really price the pics, but between the 5 in our group we did all chip in $10 each for the DVD ($50) and burned copies for everyone. DVD captured the entire day so it was worth it.

 

I have been to Chakanuub many times and experienced the park, but only watched the dolphin swim from afar. I really liked Dolphinaris because it is conveniently located and much closer (We only had to walk about 4 blocks to make it downtown to Carlos N Charlies when we were done.)

 

Hope this helps - if you have any questions, feel free to ask! mandie800@aol.com

Mandy

[Jenna1983]

Mandy J, I'm going to ask a question and everyone will think I'm nuts, but does Dolphinaris use the sea water, but it's sectioned off from the actual ocean? And are there fish swimming around you while you're doing the dolphin thing (I just like to prepare for that kind of stuff because I'm not that fond of fish brushing up against me lol).

[mics pics]

Jenna, I might be able to answer your question. I did this in Costa Maya, and it sounds exactly the same. Anyway, they did have the section for the swim sectioned off with chicken wire or wire of some sort, so no fishies. I love fishing, I love the ocean, but fishies between my legs sends me squealing. :rolleyes:

If they do it the same way in Cozumel, I think it'll just be you, the dolphins, and your own personal saltwater swimming pool.

[CruisnGram]

Mandy J, I'm going to ask a question and everyone will think I'm nuts, but does Dolphinaris use the sea water, but it's sectioned off from the actual ocean? And are there fish swimming around you while you're doing the dolphin thing (I just like to prepare for that kind of stuff because I'm not that fond of fish brushing up against me lol).

 

At Dolphin Discovery in Cozumel,there were definitely fish swimming around. In fact, we saw more fish while on our dolphin swim then when we snorkled in another part of the park later on. They didn't bother us, but while standing on the platform in the water, you could look down and see them right there. Don't know about Dolphinaris tho.

[Nymaria]

We booked the Royal Swim with Dolphin Discovery through their website at $149pp. I booked the 11am swim. The Glory will be leaving out of Port Canaveral on Eastern Time, and we are set to be in Cozumel at 10 - but Cozumel time is Central, so it'll be 9am Cozumel time. I'm talking myself in circles, but if this makes sense, then we should have plenty of time to get to Chakanaab (1.5 hours?), enjoy the excursion (assuming 4 hours, given possible delay), head back to port and maybe even shop around for a bit, before getting back on the boat.

 

Does this sound right to you all?

 

I'm a little type A, and like to plan all details...besides I sure would hate to miss either the excursion OR the boat. lol :rolleyes:

[CruisnGram]

You should have time. One question tho. Are you docking or tendering in Cozumel? If tendering, those who booked ship excursions will be given priority in getting off the ship. So it could cut it a little close.

 

We had an 11 am time but we docked at 9 Cozumel time so had plenty of time to tender in.

[Nymaria]

We are docking into Cozumel,10-6. I'm glad to hear that you had plenty of time with your 11am excursion. I was counting on the Cozumel time giving us an extra hour to get to the park, and now that it's booked I immediately started second guessing. lol (first time cruiser paranoia :rolleyes: )

 

One other question for you, after your dolphin swim, how much time did you have leftover? I'm figuring 4 hours at the park, which would put me back at the pier at 3 (4 ship-time), with enough time to shop around a little bit. Does this sound about right?

 

Thanks!

[cheeseheads1]

Mandy J, I'm going to ask a question and everyone will think I'm nuts, but does Dolphinaris use the sea water, but it's sectioned off from the actual ocean? And are there fish swimming around you while you're doing the dolphin thing (I just like to prepare for that kind of stuff because I'm not that fond of fish brushing up against me lol).

 

 

At Dolphanaris there are no other fish in the pools. It is right on the shore but separated from the ocean. That should help with the heebie geebies!!

[Jajone]

Is the observer area at Dolphinaris close enough to take pics of the kids?

[azkcruizers]

At Dolphin discovery you are in the ocean and there were fish swimming all around our legs. At first it bothered me but once we got busy with the dolphins I didn't think about it. The only thing that bothered me was the slimy algae on the grate you stood on. Other than that we loved the royal dolphin swim!:)

[azkcruizers]

cmmarch- I just wanted to let you know that dolphin discovery made us have an adult for each child under 12 when we did the royal swim in February. I wasn't expecting that so my husband had to reluctantly go also. In the end he enjoyed it as well. It just ended up a little pricier than we had planned. If you say he's 12 instead of 11 you won't have a problem. My 7 year old had to say she was 8 when we went. She was just 2 months shy and a great swimmer so....

 

Enjoy whatever you decide we had a ball:)

[CruisnGram]

We are docking into Cozumel,10-6. I'm glad to hear that you had plenty of time with your 11am excursion. I was counting on the Cozumel time giving us an extra hour to get to the park, and now that it's booked I immediately started second guessing. lol (first time cruiser paranoia :rolleyes: )

 

You will have enough time. If the 10 am time they are listing is ships (EST) time, then it's actually 9 am Cozumel time, so you will have 2 hours to get to Chank Park. If the 10 am time they are listing is "local" time, that still leaves you an hour which is still plenty of time.

One other question for you, after your dolphin swim, how much time did you have leftover? I'm figuring 4 hours at the park, which would put me back at the pier at 3 (4 ship-time), with enough time to shop around a little bit. Does this sound about right?

 

Yep, sounds like exactly what we did. Our ship changed time to local time and we arrived in Coz at 8 am. Took our time getting off cause we were tendered and didn't want to fight the crowds. Got on shore around 9:30, grabbed a cab and got to Chank around 10:00. Our dolphin excursion was running really late, so we had about an hour and a half to kill so we had lunch. Did the swim and then snorkled, walked around, used the pool and left the park about 3 pm. We had the cab drop us off about 6 blocks from the dock and shopped our way back. Our ship left at 5 so we had to get in line for the tenders by 4:15.

[Jenna1983]

Dolphinaris it is then!! Thank you. I really do not like fish. lol I will snorkel, but only in deep water (like in Belize...most of the water was anywhere from 15-40 feet deep!). I almost passed out when a fish that had to be at least 12-18 inches jumped out of the water about a foot from me in Nassau. lol

[lilkickgang]

Is the observer area at Dolphinaris close enough to take pics of the kids?

 

I know this is old but I am trying to figure this out for our upcoming cruise...because we have 2 children we are choosing to do Dolphinaris over Chank. as they do not require an adult to swim for each child like Chank, this way I can take pics...but does anyone know if the "observers" areas are close enough to take decent pictures?

 

Thank you!

 

Kelly