Freeport Dolphin Encounter - only 5 minutes?!

[lilseester]

Is it really only 5 minutes that you get with the dolphins? (through UNEXSCO - Freeport) Anyone done it? Is it worth it? Thanks.

[Dancyalien]

I did the Dolphin Encounter a couple of years ago when I was on the NCL Dawn. My husband and I didn't know the difference between the encounter vs the swim but did notice the HUGE price difference.

 

During the dolphin encounter your in the water with the dolphins for about 15 min. You sit in a pool of water with them. The trainers have them do some tricks. Everyone in the water gets to pet the, kiss them, hug them. The whole experience is recorded and makes a great souvenier. In answer to your question, yes you only personally get to touch them for less than 5 min. The trainers have the dolphins go person to person doing each trick (kiss, hug, etc.)

 

The dolphin ecounter was a lot of fun; however if I ever did it again I would book the Dolphin swim. This is the more expension excursion and you get to actually swim with the dolphins. The trainers let you do a lot more with the dolphins like the dolphins push your feet and launch you through the water. I did not experience this first hand, but I did see others doing it while I was there. The excursion was about 155pp when I went.

 

I'm not sure if it would be feasible, but it might be worth booking this on your own. Their website is www.dolphinencounters.com

 

Hope this information helps!

[maryln]

I did the Dolphin Encounter a couple of years ago when I was on the NCL Dawn. My husband and I didn't know the difference between the encounter vs the swim but did notice the HUGE price difference.

 

During the dolphin encounter your in the water with the dolphins for about 15 min. You sit in a pool of water with them. The trainers have them do some tricks. Everyone in the water gets to pet the, kiss them, hug them. The whole experience is recorded and makes a great souvenier. In answer to your question, yes you only personally get to touch them for less than 5 min. The trainers have the dolphins go person to person doing each trick (kiss, hug, etc.)

 

The dolphin ecounter was a lot of fun; however if I ever did it again I would book the Dolphin swim. This is the more expension excursion and you get to actually swim with the dolphins. The trainers let you do a lot more with the dolphins like the dolphins push your feet and launch you through the water. I did not experience this first hand, but I did see others doing it while I was there. The excursion was about 155pp when I went.

 

I'm not sure if it would be feasible, but it might be worth booking this on your own. Their website is www.dolphinencounters.com

 

Hope this information helps!

That's the website for Nassau, not Freeport, but thanks for the info. I'll be in Nassau & Freeport & trying to decide between the dolphin encounter at Dolphin Cay at Atlantis & the one in Freeport with a 4 year old.

[lilseester]

thanks for the input! : )

[excitedcruzr]

That's the website for Nassau, not Freeport, but thanks for the info. I'll be in Nassau & Freeport & trying to decide between the dolphin encounter at Dolphin Cay at Atlantis & the one in Freeport with a 4 year old.

 

I have no idea about Freeport's encounter, but I was recently at Atlantis' dolphin encounter, and I had a blast. I just wish it was longer, but oh well.

[maryln]

I have no idea about Freeport's encounter, but I was recently at Atlantis' dolphin encounter, and I had a blast. I just wish it was longer, but oh well.

I'd love to hear all about it! Did you book this on your own or through the ship? How many were in your group? Were you able to use any of the Atlantis facilities? Is it a really long walk from the entrance of Atlantis to Dolphin Cay? Sorry for all these questions. I just want my DH & DGD to have a good day...we've been talking about it for so long.

[excitedcruzr]

I'd love to hear all about it! Did you book this on your own or through the ship? How many were in your group? Were you able to use any of the Atlantis facilities? Is it a really long walk from the entrance of Atlantis to Dolphin Cay? Sorry for all these questions. I just want my DH & DGD to have a good day...we've been talking about it for so long.

 

We booked through the ship, because we were both first time cruisers and both were first timers to the Bahamas. I didn't want to deal with getting over to paradise island by ourselves and having no idea what to do next. It was just me and my BF. It was tough having to pay the expensive prices for pictures though! Too bad someone didn't take pictures for us. :p (but it costs $20 for someone to come and watch) Pictures were about $32 for two 5x7's. Yes, we were able to use the Atlantis facilities. It was awesome, after we did the encounter, we were free to use pretty much all the amenities Atlantis has to offer. We sat on the beach, looked at the huge aquarium, and walked around. We didn't go on any water slides or anything. I also heard that the all day Atlantis excursion offered a lunch coupon. We didn't get it with our excursion. It was quite a walk from the entrance of Atlantis to Dolphin Cay, but there's a tour guide who tells interesting facts along the way.

 

At the beginning of the day, it was quite a mess getting everyone to their desired locations though. In the morning we met outside where the ship docked and had to wait for our excursion to be called. We then had to stand in line to get a specific wrist band. We were mixed in with people doing the Atlantis Day excursion and another excursion I can't think of at the moment. After we got our wristbands, we all (about 50 of us or so) walked as a group to the ferry. The ferry ride was fun. We passed the hospital Anna Nicole had her baby, we saw Nicolas Cage's (past?) house, and quite a bit of other things that I don't remember. The ferry guide tells about the Atlantis "Michael Jackson suite" too. ($25,000/night, 5 night minimum stay). It was really interesting. When we got to Paradise Island, it was a huge mess of people. I was nervous we weren't going to get where we were supposed to be, but I kept my ears open, and tried to remember a few people I saw at the ship's tendering area, and kept an eye on them to make sure I was going to the right place. :p Eventually we got our small group together (about 12 of us or so), and we walked to Dolphin Cay with a tour guide. The whole process getting to Dolphin Cay was kinda crazy, but it all worked out in the end.

 

One of the people on the excursion with us was wondering how the employees knew we were doing the "right" excursion (since there's two offered from RCCL), and I let him know that the other excursion was at a completely different location and was probably scheduled at another time, which is how they kept us differentiated when we were waiting for our specific excursion to be called.

 

They'll have a blast. I just wish I would have done the Deep Sea Encounter (RCCL doesn't offer it :(), but Dolphin Cay does. I'm just not sure how you would get into Atlantis, maybe they'd send you documents to show to get in and prove you booked an excursion through them privately :confused:.

 

Did you book through the cruise line or independently? Don't let them forget the camera! BF and I had fun taking quick pictures of us wearing our wet suits.

 

Random: the bathroom amenities were awesome at Dolphin Cay. They had washcloths for hand towels!

 

We also got complementary backpack/sling bag things. (I'm sure you've seen them, they have draw strings to close them..don't know how else to describe them)(like this: http://www.toughtraveler.com/lug/DrawstringBag.jpg) that say Dolphin Cay at Atlantis or something along those lines.

 

The whole experience was a good time.

 

Whew! I didn't think I was going to have such a long reply! :D

[excitedcruzr]

Also, our we were in the water for a total of about 20-30 minutes. It took about an hour to get over to Paradise Island (due to all the people and not very organized). We then had a little introduction to the encounter, then we were able to get in the water with the dolphins!

 

After the encounter, you're free to do whatever you want at Atlantis. You're able to go back to Nassau at your leisure. Just don't forget which ferry to take back. Apparently only two of them go where the ships dock (Comfort II and Captain Harding). It may be different for you, but those were the two ferrys that they kept telling us not to forget, since when you come back, more than likely, you won't be with anyone from your original encounter.