!!! SILHOUETTE !!! Western Caribbean- The Ultimate Review & Complete Pictorial Guide!

[gambee]

Ok lets Cozumel, Fun Fun Fun in the Sun, well maybe just Fun Fun Fun without the sun, since the sun decided to take a vacation for the day. But in any case those of you who know me know that Cozumel is one of our favorite ports. Although I will go ahead and admit that during this voyage this was not our favorite port, it was a great port but not the best. Any guess on what port was my favorite? I bet you're all going to be surprised! lol.

 

Anyway back to the story, we woke up early and I was all healed up =). I adjusted my watch for the time change (please make mental note of this) and I headed towards the balcony to look at the weather. Things were not looking very promising, I was actually very surprised we called port, considering the amount of movement the ship that night. But apparently it is not very common for ships to mis Cozumel as I found out later during our Voyage.

 

We were just then approaching the dock.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The swells were pretty strong!

 

 

 

Getting ready to tie the ship

 

 

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I love reflection pictures, this one came out pretty neat.

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

My neighbors were at full blast that morning, between the kids and the parents they were pretty much going all out. I decided to play some music in the balcony to see if maybe that got them to shut up and make them realize that they had other people around, but no go they really did not care about a thing.

 

I tried connecting to the internet but it was still down, it had been sometime since my mom touched base with our family.

 

We sat there and took in the view, I always love pulling into port, specially Cozumel. But the weather was so bad and windy that it was just not as good as the previous time we visited Cozumel.

 

 

 

 

 

I decide to play a little with the fisheye lens, I have had little time to really experiment with it.

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

Like my socks?

 

 

 

Mom went inside the room and watched some TV while I sat outside and highlighted the activities that I would be interested in.

 

 

 

Soon enough we had docked and people started venturing into Cozumel, it was so windy down there that people were loosing their hats and whatnot.

 

You can tell here by the ladies' hair.

 

 

 

[gambee]

I noticed one of the 3 Carnival ships that was supposed to call port in Cozumel that day was pulling in. I could only imagine how the night before felt on that smaller vessel.

 

 

 

The plan for that day had always been to go to Paradise beach for a relaxing day at the beach, but I had something else in mind. It had always been one of my mom's dream to go see dolphins up and close to her, so a couple of days prior our cruise I booked a couple of dolphin encounters at the Dolphinaris. So it was around then that I told my mom about it, she was very excited, but it was a shame that the weather was going to be so windy and cold.

 

As we sat there we noticed that the breakfast was late, my mom made a call and they checked in the system, she was told that they had no order in the system for our cabin and then they said bye and that was it. At no point she was offered an explanation or maybe offered some breakfast, I thought was a bit rude (please not that this was not entirely the ships fault, more on that later).

 

We then decided to get ready and head out to the buffet and get some breakfast before heading out to Dolphinaris. It was kind of cold so I brought my hoodie along and it was a good thing because the wind really brought the temperature down.

 

On the way there.

 

 

Sky Lounge

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

The pool area looks amazing when it's empty!

 

 

You can see we are docked and there is still water movement in the pool. Very strong winds rolled the ship gently that day, very nice.

 

 

 

I got two different kind of eggs benedict, both very tasty!

 

 

And this was mom's plate.

 

 

We were docked next to the carnival Legend, I love the lines of that class of ships.

 

Edited April 6, 2013 by gambee

[gambee]

We sat at our favorite table and enjoyed the view, it was raining but our table was sheltered from it. It was a very nice place to sit down and enjoy some peace and quiet away from our stateroom neighbors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

Soon enough it was time to start heading out to Dolphinaris so we grabbed our stuff and headed outside. I was beyond windy outside, mom struggled walking from the ship into the port area. I decided to put away my Nex camera and I grabbed my point and shoot camera to avoid getting the other one wet.

 

 

 

I love the pelican in this picture.

 

 

 

 

Here is a short video to show how windy it was, mind you video is not my strong hold and this video proves it ^_^

 

 

 

[gambee]

we headed to the taxi area, there was barely anyone there. We got in a cab and headed to Dolphinaris, it was a very short drive and if I recall correctly the cost was $8.

 

 

 

 

 

Now my friends is were Gambee messed up… We got there and headed to the front desk, I got my reservation paper and the lady looked at it. She then says, "ok, we are all good here, but sir you're 2 hours early"…. Yup you guessed it, I changed the time in the wrong way. So um yeah that room service breakfast we ordered the day before did indeed got to the room and on time ( I was told later on) and now we were 2 hours early for our encounter.

 

The lady was very nice and told us if it was possible she could try to put us in the Carnival group that started their encounter in one hour. We agreed and decided to walk the grounds and take some pictures of the place. I also inquired about the beach they claimed to have and also about their snorkeling area. I was told that the snorkeling was closed due to the weather and she pointed me to the beach area.

 

This is the main restaurant area.

 

 

 

 

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Overlooking the lagoons. The snorkeling area is all the way to the left by the mesh that divides the area from the ocean.

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

and now the walking tour

 

Bring your own towel (my mom did)

 

 

 

 

We did rent one locker, mainly to keep my equipment protected. But it is not necessary to do so, you can easily use the storage under the huts by the dolphin area. Although I am not really sure how safe it is. There are a lot of people coming and going through there.

 

Clean bathroom facilites.

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

 

This is the area for the younger dolphins.

 

 

And this ladies and gentelman is the glamorous beach! There is really no water access as that pool right there is the baby dolphin pool and you're not aloud in there. I guess it is more of a chilling place. Mind you if the weather was better I might of been a little frustrated because this was the reason I picked this place over chankanaab (for those curious about chanka, please visit my Allure review). So um yeah, no beach area. Lets call it a chilling place with view of baby dolphins :D

 

 

 

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The bar

 

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So what do I think of the Dolphinaris? Well it is a very clean complex, but at the same time very small. If you are looking for something to do other than the Dolphin swim I highly recommend doing Chanka instead. I also think that this one is more expensive but I am not entirely sure. I purchased the tickets online and got a discount, I believe the total cost was $129 for two people. Please note that we did not do the swim, we only did the encounter. Why not the swim? well in all honesty I was afraid the dolphin would hurt my mom, they pull with extreme force and I just wanted to be careful. Mom agreed with me in that aspect.

 

 

So then we went back to the restaurant area and soon enough the folks from the carnival ship arrived. So the nice lady called us up and told us that she managed to put us in a small group. We lined up with everyone else, (btw I heard somewhere that carnival customers can only book dolphinaris through the cruise line) anyway we lined up and waited. Then we went to rent the locker for 3 bucks (you have to leave your sea card) and headed down to the life vest area, were they fit you for one and then split into groups.

 

Then they send you down and you leave everything in the little hut, by now we were freezing!!!! we had left all the towels there. There were 4 of us in our group, mom and I and a mother with her daughter (wonderful people), the swim groups have a lot more people, maybe 10 per group. All the groups get the same amount of time in the water, but since we were just 4 we got to really spend a lot of time with the dolphin, actually much more than the swim groups. The swim groups rush to get everyone their swim meanwhile everyone else waits. In our grouped the lady went through the anatomy of the dolphin, explain a lot of stuff about their behavior, training examples and feed the dolphin among other things.

 

Ok my friends now please allow me to vent one more time. Dolphin encounters are a HORRIBLE HORRIBLE THING! There I said it, sorry but it had to be said, I have refused to do dolphin encounters all my life and trust me living in Florida I had my fair share of opportunities. I just find it very sad for these poor animals, they work all day and they are kept in this tinny pools where they spend their entire life. Other than me freezing that day in that cold water that day, the only thing in my mind is how horrible that has to be for that poor animal. I swore I looked in her eye and I could see her pain. So why did I play for it? simple, it was my mom's dream, nothing else needs to be said. Mom wants it, mom gets it.

 

I must sound like a hypocrite by now and trust me that is how I felt.

 

Also those dolphins are beat up, they have marks everywhere. The lady explained that they sometimes play too hard or get into fights and get these marks. My though was otherwise, I think that all the human contact might have to do something with it.

 

Ok enough of my rant, back to the story. So yeah the entire time there 2-3 photographers per group and all the do is focus on your pictures. You spend a total of 50-55 minutes in the water, by the time I got out I was like an Ice Cube. I would not recommend doing this in cold weather ever!!!

 

The mother of the little girl was also very cold and she hated touching the frozen fish to feed the dolphin. My mom on the other hand was not that cold, I am not sure why, because she is always cold. Maybe she was having fun and forgot about how cold it was.

 

 

[gambee]

After we got out we got dressed and got our stuff out of the locker, mom headed to the picture area and I followed her.

 

 

 

 

The prices of these pics is exorbitant.

 

 

You look in the computer and select the pics you want.

 

 

Ok you want to know why I felt like a hypocrite, I paid $70 for pictures!!!!!! :eek: I could not believe it, up to now I still wonder why I did it… Who in their right mind would pay this much for that, my theory is that the dolphin release a drug through their skin and when you contact the dolphin the drug enters your system and commands you to buy the pictures =). lol.

 

That said there is one picture that I look magical, it has actually turned into my Facebook profile picture… I know… tst, tst, tst… We bought 2 pictures of me and one of my mom, she really did not want hers, well I am sure she wanted it, but she just could not justify the price and neither could I, but well, it's done already, not going back. I became part of this atrophic business and helped financed it as well.

 

My DVD. At least you get a fancy bag with it. Mom asked for another fancy bags to put the towel in and they gave to us. They better :D

 

 

 

[gambee]

Then we went back to the restaurant area and got some pictures

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They are truly magical animals, so much power but at the same time so loyal and tender.

 

Will I do it again? most likely not, but never say never right. If someone I love wants to do it, you bet ill be there again.

 

Been there done that… for now at least.

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

Ok my friends I though long and hard about wether to post this or not. I have taken all precautionary measures to protect the persons identify and I have blurred all of the exposed skin. Please note, this is nothing perverted or anything, it was just so funny that I caught it on camera.

 

 

So yeah this is how it goes, while I was there taking pictures, I happened to get this.

 

Ok see the guy getting pulled by the dolphin? Remember I told you how powerful these animals are?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wait for it….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wait for it……

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wait for it….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wait for it….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BUTT NAKED!!! LOL.

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah it was to die for, I guess the dolphin pulled him so hard that he lost his swim trunks. I was like wait a minute, did I just see what I though I did?

 

It was soooo funny, but I felt bad for him. He was looking for them, I am not sure how he found them, but he did. All the camera guys were laughing and I am sure more than one person caught it on camera.

 

 

Mods, if you feel the need the to delete, please do. But I think I took all the precautions, to make this post safe and fun without offending anyone :)

 

[gambee]

We waited for a few minutes there and then left, mom had to buy a nativity scene for her collection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

To get to downtown from the dolphinaris is only a few blocks waking so we decided to just walk there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We stopped at margaritaville

 

 

 

 

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By the way I never understood the magic behind margaritaville. Different folks different strokes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other carnival ship docked by the downtown pier.

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

 

Mom really liked the white one and it was priced right, but it was too big for her.

 

 

 

 

 

They had this pool bar in an alley with a bunch of stores around it, it might be a lot of fun in a very hot day.

 

 

[gambee]

We shopped around a little and then entered this store. Let me tell you something, who ever designed the setup of the stands here is not very bright. Let me explain, they had the sexual items right across from the religious items. I like ummmmm, ok, kind of funny now that you think about it. Who in their right mind would do that, who knows maybe they are not very religious.

 

 

 

Anyway back to the story, we looked everywhere for the nativity scenes, last time we were there in Nov, they were in every store by the thousands. But I guess being out of season they are not as popular. Right before we were going to give up we noticed the same store where she bought her favorite nativity scene the last time. We went in and asked and they told us that all the way in the back we would find then in the clearance area. Mom and went and looked and actually found the ones she wanted, she bought two of them one for her and one for my aunt.

 

This is the store

 

 

 

 

 

If you're wondering how to find the store, well here you go. Just look for him, lol

 

 

 

[gambee]

Right next to that store there is an art gallery with amazing pieces, I absolutely love it. Last time I went there they had completely different art work, but everything they have is just amazing!

 

 

 

I wanted the one in the left, but I would not even ask how much it was. I know it is well above anything I could afford. Last time the item I looked at (which by the way was tinny) cost something like $500… So um yeah, thats a no go :-/

 

 

 

Then it was time to go back to the ship, I was starving, cold and salty…

 

So we crossed the street and grabbed a cab. Note, always ask the cab driver the cost prior entering the vehicle. I think he quoted us the same $8 and I gave him $10 same as the other.