Dolphin Excursion.

My husband and I will be on our first cruise and have one day in Cozumel. We have booked the day with Dolphinaris through Carnival. Anyone have any info for me? It is all food and drinks included. We picked the 8:00 dolphin tour because i want to spend a little time shopping in Cozumel. Will we be able to sit on the beach? Can we tour the Dolphinaris, go shop and then come back and eat/drink? I really dont think I will want to eat or drink much at 8 am.

ANY info at all will be helpful.

Thank you

I just returned from my cruise on Sunday. We were in Cozumel Friday and booked Dolphinaris through Carnival. We had an 11 am time scheduled. I hate to tell you this, but I was really disappointed with this excursion. First, let me say there were 5 ships in port that day, and I think they really just overbooked the excursions, more $$ for them. My mom was there the week before me and had a totally different experience. I would check the port schedule for that day to see how many ships will be in port.

We waited and at 11 ish.. they loaded us into van taxis for the ride to Dolphinaris. It was probably a 10-15 trip from Peurta Maya peir. Then it was hurry up and wait from there. It was like hearding cattle from one area to another. My son wanted food when we got there and they would not allow him to get anything. At this point it was almost 12. Get there, move into an area and wait. Then, to another area and wait, then wait for life vest, then wait for the instructors. It was probably almost 1:30 before we ever even got in the water. It was so crowded and annoying waiting with so many people and it just felt like such a waste of time.

The actual part of being in the water with the dolphins was great! Very interactive, ours had a 2 month old baby with her, so that was very cool. I think we were in the water about 40 minutes.

Then, we finally got to eat. My son got all of our $$'s worth! lol.. The food was just ok. My husband had a few of the free alcoholic beverages too. Then, we wanted to paddle board, you had to wait until a certain time, every 30 minutes..but, no one ever showed up. The snorkel area did not look clean and was very small. We went to look at the pics.. the prices were outrageous! We tried to go to the small VIP pool area they have, we were not allowed because we had not purchased the VIP package, which I get. But, there was no where else to swim unless you got in the snorkel area. No beach area or pool.

We ended up leaving and headed back to the port area to shop. We had done the dolphin swim in Domican Republic at Ocean World and it was such a nice place compared to this one. Again, my mom was there the week before and she said there were only 2 ships in port and she had a totally different experience. I am not trying to burst your bubble, but I wish I would have known this before we spent $360 on this for the 4 of us.

Good luck on making your decision. We love Cozumel and have been at least 10 times. My favorite thing to do is rent a jeep and ride to the other side of the island that is not touristy and it's so beautiful :)

My husband and I will be on our first cruise and have one day in Cozumel. We have booked the day with Dolphinaris through Carnival. Anyone have any info for me? It is all food and drinks included. We picked the 8:00 dolphin tour because i want to spend a little time shopping in Cozumel. Will we be able to sit on the beach? Can we tour the Dolphinaris, go shop and then come back and eat/drink? I really dont think I will want to eat or drink much at 8 am.

ANY info at all will be helpful.

Thank you

oh no.. I am so sorry you had a bad trip. Is there anyway you can change excursions once booked? We booked through Carnival. I guess your reply will at least have me ready for the worst ... then if it is better, I wont be upset. I really hoped they had a beach area. When i called them they said they had a beach area in walking distance? How would I be able to find out if there will be other ships there? We booked the 8 am so we could get it done and have some time to do other things. Hopefully it wont be as crowded then.. ugh. Trying so hard to keep patience in mind. I am a very impatient person and hate wasting money. LOL.

thanks so much.

with Carnival you can always change your excursion and get full refund if you want before boarding the ship. Once you are on the ship, you can change it to another excursion as long as at least 1 day notice with no charge.

thanks ..didnt know that.. now i dont know what to do... ugh

To Punkin35 - you mentioned a pool that was for VIP package holders. I have been told my 2 different entities that there is no infinity pool at Dolphinaris in Cozumel. Can you elaborate for me?

I have to say I was disappointed with Dolphinaris too. I did not see a private pool . I did see a private area above the buffet area for VIP to eat. I felt we waited a lot and the food was lukewarm. The dolphins were nice but would definately not do it again. Thought the place looked old and rundown. After hearing from everyone on the boat, wish we had done Mr. Sanchos. We left after our encounter (it was not walking distance to a beach area, as i was told), and we shopped at the port until time to board. We are going to Bahamas in October and I am doing a Beach excursion this time..

We just book Dolphin excursions at chankanaab park. They have a small beach area, snorkeling, Sea Lion show and more. I am going on RCI not Carnival though. I would check it out.