Does anyone know the difference between the Royal swim and the dolphin discovery?

[imfun888]

On the website they sound similiar. Any thoughts.

 

Heather

[DARSGANG]

On the website they sound similiar. Any thoughts.

 

Heather

Hi Heather;

The royal swim takes place at dolphin discovery, which is in chakanaab park.Hopes this helps!

Darlene

[NoelsCat]

If you book the royal swim through dolphin discovery rather than through the cruiseline, you will be in a smaller group and have more time with the dolphins.

 

As the PP advised, dolphin discovery is within Chankanaab Marine Park. The Royal Swim is one of the packages available ( and definately worth it) that has the most interaction with the dolphins.

 

HTH.

[glo1196]

So this is a tour that is the same price whether booked on the cruise or through the park? The only difference being that you would have a smaller group if booked on our own? I am asking because I don't see a royal swim listed on the RCCL cruise site, and wasn't sure if maybe the royal swim was more than what is being offered by RCCL. I don't see the nose ride listed on the site. Does that make sense?

[comesailaway96]

My understanding is that the Royal Swim is more involvement than the Dolphin Encounter. We are doing this on Feb. 20 and booked the Royal Swim. It also includes the foot push with the dolphins. Check out the Dolphin Dicovery web site. I think they explained it well.. You get more by booking the Royal Swim on your own is the why I interpreted it.. Good luck..

[comesailaway96]

My understanding is that the Royal Swim is more involvement than the Dolphin Encounter. We are doing this on Feb. 20 and booked the Royal Swim. It also includes the foot push with the dolphins. Check out the Dolphin Dicovery web site. I think they explained it well.. You get more by booking the Royal Swim on your own is the way I interpreted it.. Good luck..

[unclebobg]

Here's my answer from a previous thread:

 

We were in Cozumel on the Valor the first week in January. We also did the Royal Swim at Chankanaab Park and loved it. A great experience. For a complete explanation of the differences in the various dolphin swims, I'll reprint my piece from a previous thread:

 

"Yes, with the Royal Swim at Chankanaab Park, you go in the water with the dolphins. Not exactly free swimming, but you are in the big part of the enclosure with them. You swim out, then two of them come up behind , you grab onto their dorsal fins and they tow you for 30-40 feet. Then you swim out again (not necessarily immediately), lie flat in the water and the two dolphins come up behind and each put their noses under one of your feet and they lift you up out of the water and propel you along for the same 30-40 feet. Also you go out in the water with them and they dance around with you and do their leaps out of the water. You get to hold their heads and kiss them, you put your arms out and they swim up and let you hold them, and you probably will get to feed them a fish. It's all pretty "up close and personal".

 

The Dolphin Encounter is not nearly as varied as this. I think you get to kiss them and touch them, but you are in the small areas of the dolphin enclosure and you don't actually swim with them as described above.

 

The thing to do is go to the website www.cometocozumel.com and check it out. They describe specifically what each package includes. This is the official booking agency for Chankanaab Park. If you go to the park website and try to book tickets, it just sends you to cometocozumel.com, so you can trust them.

 

Once again, I booked the Royal Swim through their website because carnival Shore Excursions only offered the lesser packages, like the Dolphin Encounter and I wanted the whole deal. We were very happy with what we got.

 

There are two dolphin experience places on Cozumel, the one at Chankanaab Park and one called, I believe, Dolphinaris. I don't know anything about Dolphinaris.

 

The Royal Swim booked online was $139 per person. Expensive, sort of, but definitely worth it. Carnival Shore Excursions had Dolphin Encounter at Chankanaab Park for $115 and Dolphin Swim and Snorkel at Chankanaab Park for $165. We saw the people doing this one and they paid more to get less than we got. Carnival also lists Dolphin Swim and Ride for $169. It doesn't say where this is and I didn't investigate more. It may be the same thing, probably at Dolphinaris, but I don't know, and it definitely cost more than what we paid.

 

Carnival also lists Dolphin Trainer for $255. I think this takes place in Chankanaab, but I'm not sure. It is available at cometocozumel.com, not sure of the price. This is a longer, more intensely educational experince with the dolphins, but with less "rides". We might try that at some time in the future.

 

We had to take a cab to the park from the cruise ship pier, but this was the same whether you booked online or with Carnival. The transport was not included in either case. Cabs are very plentiful at the pier, drivers all speak English, the fare (for the whole cab) is set at $10, and it takes about 10-15 minutes to get to the park, depending on which pier the ship is at.

 

They also sell photos and dvd videos of the whole experience afterwards. Not cheap, but worth it for an experience of a lifetime."

 

Hope this gives you a few extra insights.

 

Happy cruising! :)

[glo1196]

Just a quick question? Does cozumel.com charge your credit card right away for the excursion. Or does it charge it the day you get there?

[whale-watcher]

We booked the royal swim through princess, but it was called something else...it was the most expensive of the three dolphin swim excursions offered through the cruise line.