dolphin excursion cozumel

[Babydoll2012]

Hi,

 

I'm researching excursions with RCI. I will be going to cozumel and really interested in a dolphin encounter. I have heard that you can pay half the price if you buy yourself elsewhere. So I have done some research on prices. With Dolphin Discovery themselves its USD 129 if I book on RCI website it is €106 which converts to USD 132. Can this be right. If I went outside of RCI I would have to pay my cab of 10 dollars each way on top of the 129.

I just can't believe RCI would work out cheaper. Have I gone wrong somewhere?

[aurelius180]

Hi,

 

I'm researching excursions with RCI. I will be going to cozumel and really interested in a dolphin encounter. I have heard that you can pay half the price if you buy yourself elsewhere. So I have done some research on prices. With Dolphin Discovery themselves its USD 129 if I book on RCI website it is €106 which converts to USD 132. Can this be right. If I went outside of RCI I would have to pay my cab of 10 dollars each way on top of the 129.

I just can't believe RCI would work out cheaper. Have I gone wrong somewhere?

 

Are you comparing the same two packages? If I remember correctly there are about 3 different dolphin encounters. It's been a couple of years but when we did it we booked through Dolphin Discovery and saved a bit of money and they often run coupon specials.

 

If I remember correctly the third tier dolphin encounter isn't offered by the cruise lines and we had to book directly for it. It was comparable in price to RCI's highest offering which is actually the second tier.

[Babydoll2012]

Are you comparing the same two packages? If I remember correctly there are about 3 different dolphin encounters. It's been a couple of years but when we did it we booked through Dolphin Discovery and saved a bit of money and they often run coupon specials.

 

If I remember correctly the third tier dolphin encounter isn't offered by the cruise lines and we had to book directly for it. It was comparable in price to RCI's highest offering which is actually the second tier.

 

yea they both seem to be the royal swim one.

[sped01]

We did the expensive one on our own and rode a moped there. Had a blast. Spent and extra $90 or so for the dvd and two pictures. Def something to do once in your life.

[aurelius180]

yea they both seem to be the royal swim one.

 

 

Things have apparently changed. Might as well just book with RCI.

[Babydoll2012]

Things have apparently changed. Might as well just book with RCI.

 

Ahhhh the penny drops. Dolphin discovery will give me a special offer and charge full price for one and 10USD for the second person!!!!

[aurelius180]

Ahhhh the penny drops. Dolphin discovery will give me a special offer and charge full price for one and 10USD for the second person!!!!

 

 

There you go! It's still a little early to book and they always offer specials. Glad you were able to find one already! :)

[stompy]

this the the middle tour (highest available on RC) as of 2007

http://www.thehollo.com/dolphins/index1.htm

 

Basically it didn't include the push

 

Either way, Dolphin Discovery is a blast. We go there almost every time we're in Cozumel.

 

CZ14 seems to match the Royal Swim. It looks like they don't offer the push out of the water into the air portion any longer on RC or DD.

 

It will do the foot push which is still very fun. I haven't done it there but did do that one in Nassau. Here's my wife:

http://www.chaseclub.com/cruise/2011/Day2Bahamas/images/dolphin13.htm

[Lionesss]

We did the dolphin push/pull through RCI Freedom of the Seas in July.....

 

It was awesome, in fact we are planning on doing it again next summer.

Our dolphins' name was CHUCK, and there was about 9 in our group. The attendent got a little mad at us when we kept yelling "UP-CHUCK" We got to do everything, boogie board, ride the dolphin, and a lot of cutsie stuff. They sold underwater disposable cameras there, but permitted us to use our own underwater camera.

We were in the water over an hour, and then did the Manatee thing, it was ok.

Safe travels

Sue and crew.

[Daghis]

I've done both the Royal Swim with Dolphin Discovery (while on the Oasis of the Seas two years ago) and Royal Caribbean's excursion (while on the Freedom of the Seas this past March). It's possible that things have changed with the Royal Swim package since two years ago, so I mention that could be a possibility to explain the differences.

 

I found the Royal Swim experience to be more enjoyable. Instead of interacting with one dolphin, we had two which allowed for a bit more parallel activities. We did get the "foot push" which was pretty wild.

 

You can see a video (edited down) that they made of our Royal Swim experience here:

. They didn't make videos during our excursion in March, so I don't have a comparison of that to show.

[cruise bear]

We are also thinking of Dolphin encounter in Mexico. But I tell ya, as soon as I mentioned it on these message boards, I was educated quickly on the "bad press" received from such excursions. There are a lot of videos and articles on how badly the dolphins are treated, not to mention that dolphins don't do well in captivity. I've been told they prefer to travel over 100 miles per day. they cant' do that in captivity.

Good luck to all. My daughter wants so much to see/touch a dolphin, just not sure we should.

[Coralc]

It's not an ideal situation, but in my opinion, the small number of animals in captivity provide a unique experience for thousands of people. This personal interaction provides a greater apreciation and understanding of marine mammals. They are sort of like ambassadors, which may lead to better protection for wild populations. :)

[TexasAlexus]

We just got off of the Oasis yesterday. We did the dolphin push,pull, swim and manatee encounter ( aka Royal swim) in Cozumel. I found that by the time you include the taxi cost and the admission into the national park, the shore excursion purchased through the ship was a good value. We paid 99 dollars each and it was worth every penny. The push and pull were so much fun. I had done the encounter a few years ago, but the push, pull swim was so worth the extra money. Be sure to book the excursion that is at Chankanaab beach because they also offer a different one at Dolphinaris. I like the one at Chankanaab better because it included the manatees and the ability to stay at Chankanaab beach after the swim. When we were with the manatee, I asked if I my son and I could pet his chin. When we did the manatee raised his fins up in the air and began to clap. It was so sweet. It was like he was showing up that he liked his chin to be pet. The experience was so fun and memorable. I hope you decide to book it. You won't regret it.

[Baron Barracuda]

So, you want to hear about dolphins. My youngest daughter is dolphin crazy, and as her college graduation present she asked to go on a dolphin vacation. First flew from NJ to Orlando for a couple of days at Seaworld. No Disney or Universal, just two days with the fishies. Then, instead of the outrageously expensive Discovery cove, we instead drove to FLL for the 8/18 sailing on Oasis. We did the online homework and she selected the Royal Dolphin swim at Cozumel's Chankanaab park. She chose this one because she wanted to have the two dolphins push her across the lagoon by her heels while standing. The Dolphin Push Pull is a different excursion, and doesn't include this. We tried to book online through RCL but couldn't, and when we contacted them were told that RCL wasn't offering it for this voyage. I then went to Dolphin Discovery's web site and found a 30% off deal which reduced their price from $129 to $90 (RCL would have charged $134 incl. transportation). We called them, they were friendly, answered our questions, and we booked it though them. Just checked and the 30% off is still being offered today.

 

Upon reaching Cozumel we took a 5 minute cab ride to Chankanaab ($10 fare each way for 4 people), and the three of us who were not taking the excursion paid $23pp park entry fee. My daughter thoroughly enjoyed her swim, and the rest of us had a great time taking the nature tour and making use of their very clean beach facilities which featured an amazing number of brightly colored fish that swam very close to shore. I would definitedly recommend this excursion, with the only downside being the outrageous cost of purchasing pictures (dolphin pen views are obstructed from shore and they won't let you get near to take your own pics). Ended up paying $79 for a dvd with 15 pictures. Back at port DW bought DD a gold dolphin pin as keepsake. Mission accomplished.

[Babydoll2012]

So, you want to hear about dolphins. My youngest daughter is dolphin crazy, and as her college graduation present she asked to go on a dolphin vacation. First flew from NJ to Orlando for a couple of days at Seaworld. No Disney or Universal, just two days with the fishies. Then, instead of the outrageously expensive Discovery cove, we instead drove to FLL for the 8/18 sailing on Oasis. We did the online homework and she selected the Royal Dolphin swim at Cozumel's Chankanaab park. She chose this one because she wanted to have the two dolphins push her across the lagoon by her heels while standing. The Dolphin Push Pull is a different excursion, and doesn't include this. We tried to book online through RCL but couldn't, and when we contacted them were told that RCL wasn't offering it for this voyage. I then went to Dolphin Discovery's web site and found a 30% off deal which reduced their price from $129 to $90 (RCL would have charged $134 incl. transportation). We called them, they were friendly, answered our questions, and we booked it though them. Just checked and the 30% off is still being offered today

 

Upon reaching Cozumel we took a 5 minute cab ride to Chankanaab ($10 fare each way for 4 people), and the three of us who were not taking the excursion paid $23pp park entry fee. My daughter thoroughly enjoyed her swim, and the rest of us had a great time taking the nature tour and making use of their very clean beach facilities which featured an amazing number of brightly colored fish that swam very close to shore. I would definitedly recommend this excursion, with the only downside being the outrageous cost of purchasing pictures (dolphin pen views are obstructed from shore and they won't let you get near to take your own pics). Ended up paying $79 for a dvd with 15 pictures. Back at port DW bought DD a gold dolphin pin as keepsake. Mission accomplished.

 

Thanks a million for your info. I went ahead and booked. Got it for 129 dollars for the first person and 10 dollars for the second. I'm delighted. This is much better the RCI excursion. Even when you include the 10 each way fare in taxi.:)

[Cruising4theFirstTime]

We really enjoyed our dolphin swim at Chankanaab. While we were waiting for our turn, we also got to see the sea lion show. I was actually picked out of the audience to go up as part of the show and kiss a sea lion! So much fun. :D

[S.A.M.J.R.]

Just starting to look at excursions. What's the difference between this and the "Dolphin Push, Pull and Swim, Manatee Interaction at Chankanaab" (CZ79) offered by RCI for $99pp?

[Baron Barracuda]

The smarty pants answer is $35. The real answer is that there are two main differences. While both tours are broken into groups of 8 - 10, the royal swim groups get to play with 2 dolphins while the push - pull groups only get one. This allows for much greater personal interaction. Also, the royal swim group gets to do a few more tricks like the foot push. The push-pull does include petting the manatees, which the royal swim supposedly doesn't, however my daughter's royal swim group got to pet the manatees too. I'd personally pay the extra $35 for the royal swim (or less if you book directly with Dolphin Discovery and take advantage of their discounts)

[kimkencruzers]

Ahhhh the penny drops. Dolphin discovery will give me a special offer and charge full price for one and 10USD for the second person!!!!

 

 

I am a bit confused.. The Cozumel dolphin discovery site only is offering 25% off for early booking and bogo for $10 only if you are on a NCL cruise. When I asked if I could get the NCL rate (I am arriving on MSC), they said no. Did other people get this 30% or BOGO for the Cozumel location?

[mitsugirly]

The difference between the Royal and the others is this...

 

 

 

http://kimbakersphotography.smugmug.com/Other/Cozumel-Mexico-Chankanaab/22279582_dQxr8T#!i=1786625514&k=zBSB3HJ&lb=1&s=A

[kimkencruzers]

Thanks a million for your info. I went ahead and booked. Got it for 129 dollars for the first person and 10 dollars for the second. I'm delighted. This is much better the RCI excursion. Even when you include the 10 each way fare in taxi.:)

 

babydoll2012, did you have to prove that you were on ncl?

[am-mc]

Looks like Dolphin discovery is offering new discounts - BOGO offer looks good. Just have to convience the BF to book the curise so I can book the excursion too. So excited.

[cruisecritiquer]

Looks like Dolphin discovery is offering new discounts - BOGO offer looks good. Just have to convience the BF to book the curise so I can book the excursion too. So excited.

 

Thanks for sharing. I love BOGO!

[cruise@50]

Hi we're going to Cozumel in Dec on the Carnival Triumph and I tried to book the royal experience with dolphin discovery, but since we are with Carnival won't allow to book this excursion with dolphin discovery online. Any way around that, or why that is. Does Carnival just want your money for that excursion???

[am-mc]

I have read a few other posts - and was told (havent tried it yet) that you can click on one of the boxes at check out that it is "ecommerce" instead of cruise ship - or something to that effect - and it will let you book it. I guess this place has a deal with Carnival to not let their customers book if they are on a Carnival ship = but if you dont tell them - they dont know. Or at least that is what I was told on another board.