What if no openings for excursion?

[rjf32]

I am going to be in cozumel in May and would like to do the dolphin swim in puerto aventuras. I have heard that it takes forever to get off the boat in cozumel if you don't book your excursion through rccl and thus I am worried about making it to my puerto aventuras in time. I would go ahead and book it with rccl but the excursion is already full. Any advice?

[cb at sea]

Put yourself on a waitlist, if possible. I'm sure there will be cancellations--there always is! As an aside--we've never had major problems being delayed getting off or on the ship at ports. If you have a good excursion you would like to book outside of RCI, go ahead and do it! You should be fine!

[cb at sea]

Put yourself on a waitlist, if possible. I'm sure there will be cancellations--there always is! As an aside--we've never had major problems being delayed getting off or on the ship at ports. If you have a good excursion you would like to book outside of RCI, go ahead and do it! You should be fine!

[horsefeathers75]

CB at Sea is right. There are always cancellations depending on how many tickets you need. The dolphin swim is a very popular excursion. My husband & I booked twice through Channabaak ourselves for the 10:00 a.m. swim (both times) picked up a taxi right at the ship (this was in 2002 and 2003 before the hurricane) and made it in plenty of time. I don't think if you made it for a later time at the dolphin place like (10:00 or 11:00) you will have any problems. It was great trust me we still talk about it. I can't swim either.

[39august]

Do NOT book it yourself for Puerto Aventuras. That is a LONG way from Cozumel and invloves a ferry ride to the mainland. Horsefeathers is referring to Chankanaab park's dolphin swim. Chankanaab is not open due to hurricane Wilma's extensive damage. Projections are for the park to open in April, but no dolphin swim is expected until fall. Those dolphins at Puerto Aventuras are the dolphins that were at Chankanaab on Cozumetl prior to the hurricane.

[negc]

It may also turn out that they hold back a certain percentage of excursion slots for onboard booking. As soon as you board, check with the Explorations staff to see if there are openings. As someone else mentioned, there may be last minute cancellations, so being on a waitlist might be worthwhile. Good luck.:)

[angelpug]

Go to www.dolphindiscovery.com, and click on Cozumel. They are currently taking reservations for May for both the swim and the encounter at Chankanaab. We have reservations for July.

 

You can fill out the application online, but then you print it out, and mail or fax the information to them. They'll e-mail you a confirmation letter within a day or two....no problems. Make sure to make your reservations for a couple of hours after arriving, but also give yourself a couple of hours to get back to the ship on the other end. We went to Chnkanaab for a dolphin swim a few years ago, and didn't know when we made our reservations that we had to stay on ship's time, and not local time. Our reservation was for 3PM local time, and ship's time was 4PM. The ship was leaving at 6:30, and we were the last to board before they lifted the gangway.....VERY SCARY! Our reservation this next time is for 2:20, and the ship leaves at 8PM...more then enough time!

 

Take Care,

Jaime