Dolphin Encounter.. only half the group

I was wondering if anyone has been able to configure a Dolphin Encounter where only half the group swims and the other half watches. It's expensive to pay for a tour and not swim, but it would be nice for the group to be able to stick together. My granddaughters are 5 and 8. The 8 year old and her dad will swim. The 5 year old "might" do it. If she did not meet the age requirements, I don't think she'd care that much as long as she can watch. Mom, Grandma (me) and Grandpa want to watch.

Can you get to Anthony's Keys without the ship tour? They have non guest prices for the Dolphin Encounter.

Tabayana Beach has Dolphins, but the dolphin tour does not necessary go to the same location at the same time as the Tabayana Beach Break so you can't necessarily meet up. And the two tours definitely don't go on the same bus per the RC tour desk.

The tour desk suggested that some tours might have observer tickets, but she did not have the specifics and these cannot be booked until you are on the ship. Anyone have experience with these types of tickets?

I wonder if anyone has been successful in taking a cab to AKR for a dolphin encounter without booking thru the cruise line? ? Also is AKR set up for partial group to swim with dolphins and the rest to languish on the beach?

Here's my experience...

I was travelling with a fairly large group, and 11 of us wanted to do a dolphin encounter, while also doing other things over the rest of the day. We all booked with Victor Bodden (whose guides were fantastic), and he was amazing in accommodating everything that everyone wanted to do.

Getting back to the dolphins now... I believe Anthony's Key Resort is the only place that offers dolphin encounters, and all the other places that advertise them take their guests there. I called them, and I got the impression that you can go there and hope for the best, but I wanted to ensure that everyone got to have an encounter, so I contacted the Mayan Princess Resort and explained the situation. I told them that I understood that Anthony's Key only books cruise passengers in advance through the cruise lines, but wondered if I could book with them since they have a day pass (and at the time I didn't realize that they sent people to Anthony's Key). The concierge, Nina, assured me that the 11 of us were confirmed and booked for the encounter. I spoke to her in person a week before the cruise and she said she would know the time of our encounter in a few days and just had to call for confirmation. Well... when we arrived, our guides drove us directly to the Mayan Princess to pick up our tickets... only to find that we had no reservation and Nina was nowhere to be found - and not answering her phone (I don't blame her). We chose to then drive out to Anthony's Key and see what we could do. Thankfully, they were very understanding and checked their bookings and found that they had openings later that day and we were able to go.

So... I don't entirely blame Nina - I think I was probably the first cruise passenger to ever ask her to do this and she just thought that Anthony's Key would treat us like regular resort guests. I'm sure it was a good learning experience for her! The other important bit of information is that if you don't want to book through the ship and you're okay with taking the chance, you can go to Anthony's Key on your own and ask if they have any openings. It's their policy to book cruise passengers through the cruise lines, but if you are polite and explain that you are aware of the policy but wanted to see if they could fit you in, I'll bet if they've got openings they'll be happy to take your money. :)

We were on NCL Star just last week and booked the dolphin encounter in Puerta Vallerta which is probably very similar at most places. We were bused to the location and split into two grops. Each group had a trainer and dolphin to interact with. The trainers and dolphins were great and it really was a hands on experience.

The catch is buying the pictures they take of your encounter. Each picture was $25 which is way overpriced. In fact, we thought the entire tour was way overpriced at $149 each person.

We noticed there were a few people acting as observers who were recording their loved ones encounter themselves. That was the smart way to do it. I have no idea what they paid for the non-participation ticket but they certainly saved a great deal on photos.

hello,

My wife and I will be going on a NCL cruise soon and we booked the dolphin encounter. Would you be able to tell us what exactly is done while there?

touching? kissing? do you get to swim with them? do they push you or do you get pulled by them??

thanks in advance.

We had planned to go the Fins & Flippers and then wanted to book the dolphins. I just got off the phone with Anthonys Keys and was told that they do not take individual reservations, that I would have to book thru the cruiseline....

So............ swimming with the dophins.....out on Roatan....

We had planned to go the Fins & Flippers and then wanted to book the dolphins. I just got off the phone with Anthonys Keys and was told that they do not take individual reservations, that I would have to book thru the cruiseline....

 

So............ swimming with the dophins.....out on Roatan....

Hi Elaine,

What # did you use for Anthony's Keys? I'm going on the NCL Pearl on April 5th and want to do the Tabyana Beach & Dolphin Encounter excursion. However, I'm physically disabled and use a wheelchair, so I have questions about how it works etc. I will have an attendent with me who can carry me in and out of the water, but still have questions and no one at NCL can tell me anything.