Whale watching excursion

[queenoftravel]

Has anyone done the whale watching excursion from celebrity? Do you see whales?

When you return is there enough time to grab a cab and snorkel champagne reef and perhaps a falls hike?

Thanks for the help

[obnurse]

We did this 2 years ago. It was nice. Fresh fruit and drinks were served. It was misty, rainy, since that's typical in Dominica. I think the tour was about 3 hrs long and right near the end of our time we finally saw a whale. We saw no other wildlife but it was pretty exciting, our pictures were just ok, but it was nice. I would have loved to have seen more, but I was satisfied with one.

[NCcruisin]

We just got off the Caribbean Princess last week. We really wanted to go whale watching but our excursion was cancelled. Not sure why. I found Capatin Jerry online. Turns out he used to do most of the tours for the company that the cruise lines used. He does fishing and whale watching charters. He was great. We went out with ten of our family. Chased the whales with the hydrophones for awhile to build up the suspense and then they finally surfaced. The kids loved it. My wife loved it too but she unfortuneately got sick from all the rocking which is unusual for her It was fifty dollars US per person and we threw in a $20 tip. I think you can find him at isalndfishing.com or google whale watching in Dominica and he'll eventually come up. It is Capatin Jerry on the Proud Mary. Enjoy.

[1Buckeye Cruiser]

We were on the Celebrity Summitt in the beginning of April and booked the whale watching tour through the ship. The company they used was Dive Dominica and they were fabulous! We only went out about 3 miles before they were able to hear "activity". We waited just a few minutes before we could see our first whale! They tell you to watch for the "blow hole" which I believe you will be able to see in one of my below photos. We saw at least 8 whales and were headed back in when the captain spotted lots of splashing ahead of us. We headed that way to find a pod (around 500) dolphins splashing around two more whales! What an unforgettable experience. Imagine sitting on this boat and seeing dolphins jumping and swimming in every direction you look. I will post some of the photos I took. The dolphins were a little faster than our camera but here are some of our photos.

 

 

 

[1Buckeye Cruiser]

And a few more ....

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was the highlight of our cruise. We were hesitant booking it because we couldn't find any information on cruise critic. Hopefully, this will encourage others to take advantage of this excursion especially those like us that live where it is too cold to think about cruising to Alaska to see whales!

[erin1998]

Thank you so much for sharing your pictures and review on the whale watch excursion!!! :D We are looking at doing this excursion thru Carnival on our cruise this fall and haven't found too much info on this excursion. Can you tell me approximately how many people were on this excursion? Was there enough room for everyone, or were you cramped? Any other info you could share would be appreciated! :D:rolleyes:

Thanks again,

Erin

[1Buckeye Cruiser]

Thank you so much for sharing your pictures and review on the whale watch excursion!!! :D We are looking at doing this excursion thru Carnival on our cruise this fall and haven't found too much info on this excursion. Can you tell me approximately how many people were on this excursion? Was there enough room for everyone, or were you cramped? Any other info you could share would be appreciated! :D:rolleyes:

Thanks again,

Erin

 

We were very fortunate because not only did we get to see several whales and many dolphins but I would guess there to have been less than 30 people on the excursion. There were plenty of places for everybody to sit while riding and plenty of room to "whale watch" on the sides. I am sure this number varies but I don't think they would overcrowd the boat. One thing I should have mentioned is that where you get on the boat is a very short walk from the pier (you can see from one of my photos how close you actually are to the ship). You do have to go down some fairly steep concrete steps to get on the boat but the guys are very helpful. Only mentioning this because I don't think there is anyway this would be handicap accessible if that would be a factor to anybody looking into this.

 

My husband said that while he was talking to one of the guys running the tour they told him they saw 7 orcas last November! Obviously, there are no guarantees but I believe they have pretty good luck.

[SpringRedhead]

Thanks so much for these pictures and the great review. We are doing this thru Carnival in mid June. I assume sunscreen and a camera are all you need to bring... Is that correct? Any special things to consider? Also, was there a restroom on board?

 

Thanks!

[1Buckeye Cruiser]

Thanks so much for these pictures and the great review. We are doing this thru Carnival in mid June. I assume sunscreen and a camera are all you need to bring... Is that correct? Any special things to consider? Also, was there a restroom on board?

 

Thanks!

 

Don't forget your sunglasses! Hats do have a tendancy to blow off so I would advise leaving them behind. The guys running the tour are very eco-friendly and are concerned about anything going overboard. We actually went out of the way for them to pick up a hat that they saw floating. They do have water available (hang on to your plastic cup!) and a restroom. Also, there is shade available on the lower level.

 

Enjoy!

[tdk1938]

Hi Buckeye,

Thanks for sharing your pictures. How many hours did you spend for your excursion? I wanted to do whale watching and also visit Carib Village. I think is not enough time. Maybe I'll try to do whale watching in another port.

 

Go Cavs! :)

[1Buckeye Cruiser]

Hi Buckeye,

Thanks for sharing your pictures. How many hours did you spend for your excursion? I wanted to do whale watching and also visit Carib Village. I think is not enough time. Maybe I'll try to do whale watching in another port.

 

Go Cavs! :)

 

Our excursion was around 3 hours - we were back to the ship around 11:30. Whether you have time to visit Carib Village would depend on the amount of time you are docked there. I know there were some people that booked two excursions the same day (one morning and one afternoon). Not sure what other port you are considering but all of our research showed our chances of seeing whales were greater in Dominica than in Grenada. Good Luck!

 

And even though things are going as well as we would like right now ... I agree - Go Cavs!

[2PinaColadas]

Anyone ever use Barefoot Travel for a whale watching tour?

[metairiegal]

Just found this thread. Great pics! I think we are going to book the whale watching in Dominica. Does anyone know what tour operator Princess uses?

 

I am a little worried as a poster above mentioned "all the rocking" that was felt on the boat. I'll definitely have to take something for sea sickness before the tour.

 

We are sailing in November and this seems like a good time to spot whales.

[kayo kruiser]

We'll be in Dominica on March 8, 2011. Does anyone know if there are still whales at that time of year?

[metairiegal]

I found some videos on youtube of whale watching in Dominica. The boat rides always look rough/choppy so we've decided it would be better to skip this excursion.

[golfer1966]

Island Style Fishing & Whale Watching was the best. They took our small group and they saved us money and ALLOT less people. We saw the tours with the cruise ship people on them and they were 10 deep...so how the heck did anyone see a whale..?? I saw people raing their arm with the cameras aiming to see if they got a pix....its a shame since they paid so much. Island Style was great !!I recommend them if you want to be comfortable , no crowds and see whales and dolphins..etc

[VermeulT]

I've briefly looked around online and it seems that Jan-March is the best season... what about Nov? Can you see whales then too - or just maybe if you're lucky... ??

 

Thanks.

[hammers]

I've briefly looked around online and it seems that Jan-March is the best season... what about Nov? Can you see whales then too - or just maybe if you're lucky... ??

 

Thanks.

 

Hi, went on the Whale & Dolphin tour on 18th November. We saw loads of Whales and Dolphins. On the way back to port we also saw a Turtle. I was amazed at the number we saw, I was hoping to see one, we ended up seeing at least 8 Whales.

[jspirit]

Hi, went on the Whale & Dolphin tour on 18th November. We saw loads of Whales and Dolphins. On the way back to port we also saw a Turtle. I was amazed at the number we saw, I was hoping to see one, we ended up seeing at least 8 Whales.

 

Lucky to have had so many sightings!

Would you be able to tell us which tour you took? Was it from your ship , or one of the private ones?

Any other comments , re: crowds, rocky ride, etc would be so much appreciated!

[stuckinbuffalo]

Has anyone ever seen the whales from the cruise ship itself and not on a tour?? Just curious!

[Buffalo_Soldier]

We did Island Style with Captain Jerry. While we saw very little in terms of whales although we did see 4 jumping out of the water just from a distance.

 

Capt Jerry was quite an interesting guy, had many stories and while it was disapointing we didn't see any whales close up we did see some Marlin and wahoo. The guy loves what he does and he loves his island. he told us in the begining that they call him hawkeye and he wasn't kidding. He knows what he is doing and even though we didn't see many whales I would do it again next time in Dominica and would recommend it to everybody interested.

 

One secret you will learn is that all the whale watching tour guides know each other and work together to ensure that tourists have a great experience. Think about this when booking with your cruise as for us it was 39 dollars per person cheaper to go with him then it was with Princess's excusrion. The ship excursion saw nothing. We only had 2 other couples with us on the Proud Mary so there was no crowd and I think all od us enjoyed it much more then if we had taken the cruise tour.

[hightownCO]

We did Island Style with Captain Jerry. While we saw very little in terms of whales although we did see 4 jumping out of the water just from a distance.

 

Capt Jerry was quite an interesting guy, had many stories and while it was disapointing we didn't see any whales close up we did see some Marlin and wahoo. The guy loves what he does and he loves his island. he told us in the begining that they call him hawkeye and he wasn't kidding. He knows what he is doing and even though we didn't see many whales I would do it again next time in Dominica and would recommend it to everybody interested.

 

One secret you will learn is that all the whale watching tour guides know each other and work together to ensure that tourists have a great experience. Think about this when booking with your cruise as for us it was 39 dollars per person cheaper to go with him then it was with Princess's excusrion. The ship excursion saw nothing. We only had 2 other couples with us on the Proud Mary so there was no crowd and I think all od us enjoyed it much more then if we had taken the cruise tour.

 

Buffalo Soldier...When you booked with Island Style, did they need a deposit or credit card number for your reservation? Did they pick you up a the ship? How long was your trip with them and when to when.

 

Sorry for all the questions. We have an excursion booked thru Princess and while the cost is not that different, am more concerned about the quality.

 

Thanks in advance!

[hammers]

Lucky to have had so many sightings!

Would you be able to tell us which tour you took? Was it from your ship , or one of the private ones?

Any other comments , re: crowds, rocky ride, etc would be so much appreciated!

 

Hi, we took the tour via the ship (P&O Ventura). I tried to book direct with the tour company over the internet, the tour price was $50. When I told them I was on the Ventura, they refused to take my booking and advised me to book on the ship. The price on the ship was £49 - $79. I wonder where the extra $29 went...... The boat held 100+ people, there were 84 passengers on our trip. The sea was a bit rough, one poor ladie was sea sick. I personally found it exhilarating. As I said, we saw loads of Whales and Dolphins, we really enjoyed the trip and felt it was money well spent.

Terry

[jspirit]

Hi, we took the tour via the ship (P&O Ventura). I tried to book direct with the tour company over the internet, the tour price was $50. When I told them I was on the Ventura, they refused to take my booking and advised me to book on the ship. The price on the ship was £49 - $79. I wonder where the extra $29 went...... The boat held 100+ people, there were 84 passengers on our trip. The sea was a bit rough, one poor ladie was sea sick. I personally found it exhilarating. As I said, we saw loads of Whales and Dolphins, we really enjoyed the trip and felt it was money well spent.

Terry

Thanks for the feedback, hammers!

[Lorey2007]

Hi, we took the tour via the ship (P&O Ventura). I tried to book direct with the tour company over the internet, the tour price was $50. When I told them I was on the Ventura, they refused to take my booking and advised me to book on the ship. The price on the ship was £49 - $79. I wonder where the extra $29 went...... The boat held 100+ people, there were 84 passengers on our trip. The sea was a bit rough, one poor ladie was sea sick. I personally found it exhilarating. As I said, we saw loads of Whales and Dolphins, we really enjoyed the trip and felt it was money well spent.

Terry

 

What tour company handled your tour? Was it Dive Dominica or Island Style?