Getaway Shore excursions-dolphin swim

[gpgirl]

We are sailing on the Getaway in April with 3 kids (ages 15, 11, and 7).

 

The children and my DH really want to swim with the dolphins. There are a few options at the different ports of call: St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and Nassau Bahamas.

 

In looking at the different options for the 5 of us it would be approximately $600-900 for the 5 of us. Pretty steep.

 

Are there any other dolphin experiences/swims that we can book that would not be booked through NCL that is a better value? Any options for me to be a non-participant but watch my DH and children participate?

 

Thank you in advance!

[Coloradomama]

I am glad you asked this question I'm looking for the same. It for 4 of us.

[MtnsToSea]

The Blue Lagoon Dolphin Swim in Nassau has some cheaper options such as the Encounter or an Observer. They have a website you can book thru. I can't remember if any other excursion sites have the observer option or not. We have been looking at these also. The Blue Lagoon excursion gets really good reviews, better than Atlantis.

Hope this helps!

[RikkuCat]

We did the dolphin swim at Blue Lagoon (Nassau) last year and loved it. As someone else mentioned, they have different options: dolphin swim, dolphin encounter, and program observer. They also have sea lion encounters there - a friend from my RC and her husband did that and they loved it.

 

Dolphin swim is the most extensive and longest. It takes place in deep water (you have to wear a life jacket and can wear a wet suit if you want). You go into the water with a group of about ten people and you tread water in a line. The dolphins swim past you a couple times and you get to touch them. They do some tricks and show you how fast they can swim. Then you get some one-on-one time with a dolphin - they hug you, kiss you, you dance (it was a "dolphin date") and stuff like that. The one-on-one time is pretty brief, but fun. The highlight of the whole thing was the "foot push" - you swim to the middle of the pool, two dolphins swim up and put their noses on your feet and push you REALLY FAST across the pool. It's very cool - your 15 year old and 11 year old would love it. Check to see if there are age restrictions, though. There was a family in our group with two daughters that looked about 11 or 12, but I didn't notice any kids younger than that doing the dolphin swim. (That doesn't mean they can't - I just didn't notice them if they were in other groups.)

 

Dolphin encounter is done in shallow water and it's a shorter program. We watched part of one and it seemed to be the first part of what we did - you get to touch the dolphins when they swim past the participants. I think they got hugs and kisses as well. There were more younger kids in these programs the day we were there, even toddlers.

 

We hung around and watched the dolphins for a while after we were done, which is where I assume you'd watch if you were a program observer. It's basically a bridge that goes between the main dolphin pools and you can see everything from there in each pool. If I was there as a program observer, I would have been happy with the arrangement. (No shade in this area, however, so bring a hat and sunblock).

 

Also consider the cost of photos and/or DVDs. Blue Lagoon will let you bring a waterproof camera in the water with you, but honestly, you'd miss out on the experience if you were trying to photograph it yourself. If someone is watching from the observer area, you'd be able to get some photos, but nothing close-up - so probably plan to buy a few photos, so you don't regret it later. You could probably get video of each person doing the foot-push and skip the DVD, though.

[gpgirl]

Thank you Rikku Cat!

 

I will look up the pricing for Blue Lagoon on their website and compare it to NCL pricing. With 5 of us all experiencing the "encounter" will by pricey. Glad to know it is well worth it though!

[Samiam997]

I would suggest you do some research about why not to do these activities. This is nothing short of abusive to these beautiful creatures. Watch The Cove. Google and read why you shouldn't. Dolphins are social creatures that are not meant to be kept in captivity. They are migrating animals that actually go crazy and attempt suicide at such close containment. These extremely profitable activities contribute to the abuse of more and more animals. There are hundreds of these swim with dolphins experiences popping up all over.

 

The reason I know this is because I was looking into doing the same and did just a small amount of research and discovered it wasn't something I wanted to do with my money nor did I, morally, want to contribute to such a reprehensible practice. I also did not want to expose my son to it.

 

I'm not trying to offend anyone or rain on anyone's parade. My hope is that someday cruise lines won't contribute to this type of abuse.

 

I hope that you will all look into it (and not shoot the messenger.) I totally get why people would like to do this, but if you look into it, I can't see why anyone would do so.

[alexspepa]

I would suggest you do some research about why not to do these activities. This is nothing short of abusive to these beautiful creatures. Watch The Cove. Google and read why you shouldn't. Dolphins are social creatures that are not meant to be kept in captivity. They are migrating animals that actually go crazy and attempt suicide at such close containment. These extremely profitable activities contribute to the abuse of more and more animals. There are hundreds of these swim with dolphins experiences popping up all over.

 

The reason I know this is because I was looking into doing the same and did just a small amount of research and discovered it wasn't something I wanted to do with my money nor did I, morally, want to contribute to such a reprehensible practice. I also did not want to expose my son to it.

 

I'm not trying to offend anyone or rain on anyone's parade. My hope is that someday cruise lines won't contribute to this type of abuse.

 

I hope that you will all look into it (and not shoot the messenger.) I totally get why people would like to do this, but if you look into it, I can't see why anyone would do so.

 

I too have done some research, and there do seem to be serious questions as to whether these activities should be encouraged.

 

As with all businesses I am sure some are better run than others as to how they treat the animals involved.

 

Remember that "smile" is frozen in place on a dolphin...it does not necessarily reflect how the animal feels.