Dolphin Swim in Nassau

[greg&liz]

I have been reading this site for a few months now. Thank you all for the information and advice!!

I have never been on a cruise before. We (my daughter:7 yo and my fiancee) are taking our first one on 2/8 on the Zuiderdam. I've asked this question on the Bahama thread but have not received a response. We are scheduled to arrive in Nassau at 10:00 a.m. and I have scheduled a dolphin swim with my daughter at 10:30. How long does it take to get off the ship? Is this enough time to get to the dolphin swim place? Thank you!!!

[Sierrachik]

You probably won't make it for the 10:30 swim. You might want to schedule the 1:30 swim if the Zui will be in Nassau til 5pm. If you have scheduled the swim through Dolphin Encounters rather than the encounter through Shore Excursions, you will have to take a taxi to the Paradise Island Ferry Terminal (plan on 20-30 minutes) to catch the ferry to Dolphin Encounters. The ferry will take 25-30 minutes or so to reach Dolphin Encounters. Just an FYI, on the way back the ferry tells cruise ship passengers to stay on the ferry and they bring you back to the pier where the Zui will be....Shore Ex passengers for the encounter will actually be able to take the ferry from the ship rather than Paradise Island Ferry Terminal. If you're booking the swim directly from DE you will probably not be able to board the ferry at the pier where the Zui is docked, as a rule they only allow passengers who've booked through Shore Ex to board. On the way back no one checks to see who you booked with. This will save you time.

[greg&liz]

Sierrachik, thank you! I will call and cancel the 10:30 swim. I was also concerned about how cold it has been there in Nassau (71 F during the day) recently and wondered if it might be too cold to do the swim, especially at 10:30 a.m.!

[RuffinReady]

Hello Greg&Liz,

I don't know about the weather at that time of the year and hour. My wife, I, and our two grandaughters, age 16 were on the Celebrity in June 2003. We signed up for the tour with the ship. BTW, there are different packages available for the swim and they are shown at the site. There is some transportation on a ferry as has been told. I don't know what you are saving by scheduling the swim directly, but anytime I have to go that far and take that much time I would be nervous about doing it independently. But, that is just me. However, it was a blast for my wife and the girls and a 7 y/o will have a great time :) . I stayed out and took movies. I think that all of you will have a great time. One other thing, it takes a fair amount of time to get the pictures that they take developed. We had some on keychains to hang on the fridge etc. Time for the ferry was getting a little tight waiting for our pictures to get developed, as there are a lot of people waiting. IAC have a great time.

Ruffin

[MandyGirl]

This is our experience from the 11/20/04 Zuiderdam sailing... (pics of dolphin swim are linked in my signature)

Nassau:

Friday, scheduled 12:00-7:00

Disembarked around 12:20 (one of the first to disembark), all aboard by 6:30



We had booked the Dolphin Swim through Dolphin Encounters of Blue Lagoon independently. HAL did not offer the swim but only the encounter for Nassau, which I was not interested in. By booking independently, I was also able to book my husband as an observer for $20, enabling him to take over 100 digital pictures.

We took a cab to Paradise Ferry Terminal ($10 plus $1 toll) and checked in around 1:00. Our ferry was scheduled for 1:30 but ran a little late, so we all arrived just a little late for the 2:00 program (but we were all on the ferry).

After an introduction to the program, we put on wetsuits and lifejackets. We were placed on three platforms with ten participants each. The program consisted of two parts.

Part One:

All participants in the water for several “swim bys”, petting, kisses, hugs, and dancing.

Part Two:

The swim. Adults had two dolphins propelling them through the water while kids had just one. This was awesome and happened so fast!

After a warm shower, changing clothes, and purchasing a couple photographs (4x6 for $14, picture magnet for $8), we were on the 4:00 ferry back. The first ferry stop was at the ferry terminal, and cruiseship passengers were instructed to stay onboard, as the ferry would take us directly back to the cruiseship dock.

We did some quick powershopping and purchased the earrings we were after on this trip. This was the only day we had time to shop due to booking ourselves with excursions and times in port being shortened.

[greg&liz]

Thank you both Ruffin & Mandy! Unfortunately 10:30 is the only time they have the swim on 2/10 (the Zui is at Nassau from 10:00-11:00). I had to cancel but signed up for another excursion. My daughter is very disappointed. :( Hopefully she will like seeing the fish in the harbor tour and the forts. This is our first time cruising and if we really like it, we will go again!

[spcl4cs_gal]

Thank you both Ruffin & Mandy! Unfortunately 10:30 is the only time they have the swim on 2/10 (the Zui is at Nassau from 10:00-11:00). I had to cancel but signed up for another excursion. My daughter is very disappointed. :( Hopefully she will like seeing the fish in the harbor tour and the forts. This is our first time cruising and if we really like it, we will go again!

There is another dolphin swim at Tortola that my brother and I are going on during our March cruise. Maybe you could get on that reservation list...booked through HAL. :)