Cozumel dolphin excursion

[tncruisergurl]

We are going to Cozumel in June and want to swim with the dolphins. Any recommendations?

 

 

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[BallFour4]

Carnival dropped this venue for a while from their shore excursions, and I cannot imagine why. Regardless we love the place.

 

I'm perhaps a "cheerleader" for ship purchased excursions, but a short cab ride away and you are at Chankanaab.

 

Visit the website in advance, print off your pricing and if you desire make a reservation in advance.

 

We were there in December and our friends walked right up and booked the swim. It's a great place to linger after, lots to see.

 

One note, don't waste time looking at the shops around the pier when you dock. Get your group together and hustle to the cab line.

 

Our experience...

 

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Edited March 29, 2014 by BallFour4

[shanecindy21403]

I second Chankanaab visit website and prebook much cheaper, taxi fare for 4 was cheap like less than 15 each way. We had a great time there.

[tncruisergurl]

How much are the pictures? If you pay for the dolphin excursion, do you get to use the park or is it an additional charge?

 

 

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[YaWk3Y_BoMb3r]

You get to use the park and some dolphin packages include food also. Pictures are expensive, but price varies based on number people buying and number of photos. Somewhere around $90/pp for lots of pics, I think.

 

 

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[topspot]

No additional charge to use the park either before or after your swim. I can't comment on the pictures. We didn't even look at ours:D, but I've read that they are pricey.

[MichelleChell]

Don't book thru the ship. Cheaper to do thru Dolphin Discovery.

[chipmaster]

I will second what others say, DIY.

 

Go to the park web site as they have a $2 discount. Catch a cab from port and get to the park before all the cruising tours ( seems to be around 10:30ish).

Schedule your dolphin activity either early or after 2:30 and I suspect you will have a smaller group.

 

FWIW the pictures are pricey but I was able to talk them down to 100 for the 80 odd pictures they took of my party. The dolphin encounter we did included the manatee as well as lunch buffet.

[mitsugirly]

This is so easy to do on your own and save a lot of $$.

 

Chankanaab is a beautiful National Park. Any of the swims you do there will include your admission into the park. There's a lot of other things to do there as well (before or after your swim).

 

I have 2 reviews in my signature line with tons of pictures. The second review is the most recent one with pictures in the review itself. (The first one was our first time there and has a link to additional pictures).

 

Since we were there, they have also added some type of "alligator" place there as well. :)

[S.A.M.J.R.]

The cost of a CD of all the pictures with your party in them depends on the number of people in your party. When we were there last June, for a party of two, it was $120. We got that, and had 54 pictures on the disk (you select which pictures are included, there's no facial recognition). A party of four was $180. A second CD was $10.

 

So you could get two couples together, select all the prints with both couples and pay $190 vs. each couple paying $120.

[tncruisergurl]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will do some research on these. We will be a party of 5. I did see on the carnival site you can go to Dolphinaris with a free buffet and all the drinks for only $120ish pp.

 

 

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[cruiselvr04]

We booked dophinaris for $67 pp direct which includes lunch. Transportation on our own but they stated it should only be about $7 each way cab fare. Great deal and will review when we get back in June. It was strange...when I tried to book on our regular computer it would not give me the option of this deal but when I used the iPad it did. In reviews the pics are outrageously expensive so we may have only the memories in our mind but this is on our bucket list and we are excited to do it.

[tncruisergurl]

We booked dophinaris for $67 pp direct which includes lunch. Transportation on our own but they stated it should only be about $7 each way cab fare. Great deal and will review when we get back in June. It was strange...when I tried to book on our regular computer it would not give me the option of this deal but when I used the iPad it did. In reviews the pics are outrageously expensive so we may have only the memories in our mind but this is on our bucket list and we are excited to do it.

 

 

Wow that's cheap! Where did you book that? I've been looking at Chankanaab and it's $119 and includes lunch.

 

 

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[ctyhrn]

My husband and I just did the one at Chankanaab last week and it was really great. We did the royal swim and had alot of interaction with the dolphins. We went with a group of 8 at 11:00 I would recommned trying to go earlier if you can because alot of the cruise ship excursions were with us. The pictures for 2 people were $138 and even though I saw someone post $120 on the boards somewhere they would not budge. I bought the photo credits on their website which was $40 credit for $33 spent so we saved a little money that way. They much to our surprise let us go into the manatee pool and pet them even though we didn't pay for it. They didn't take our pictures with them though. I thought they should've to entice ppl to want to pay for pics but it was still a nice suprise. If anyone has questions just ask. Like I said we were there just last week.

[bguppies]

Our family did Dolphinarus Friday, after the planned Dolphin excursion in Roatan was cancelled with NCL's skipping Roatan all week.

 

It is extremely close to the pier.

 

They got to do the Dolphin push excursion, through NCL, for $119 each.

Included a lunch and drinks afterwards.

 

I thought that was a pretty reasonable cost for one of the push excursions, instead of the generic experience, excursions. (especially through the cruiseline)

 

If it did not cut into any of my Nachi Cocum time, I would have loved to try it too.;)

 

Bill

[summer slope]

We did Dolphinaris last year, lots of fun for around $105 each with HAL. Doing Chankanaab this month for same price. Booked through Celebrity. When you say you saved a bunch of money, how much per person did you save?

[rjm11]

I was able to book directly through the dolphin discovery website for Chankanaab for $99 per person that included the dolphin swim, manatee swim, and sea lion swim. We weren't planning to do all three, but with that price I couldn't pass it up- it was a special advertised on their websites specifically for NCL passengers- but I there are always deals posted there. Our price includes lunch as well.

[MichelleChell]

I plan to book 2 adults and 2 kids for the Royal swim and I wanna say it was like $280 for all of us. That is booking direct thru the website which I have done before. It is WAY cheaper to do it on your own then the ships.

Also a cab ride is not $7 its about that much per person. Still cheaper then the ship.

The food wasn't that expensive either.

Last time was also got the manatee encounter for free.

[newbiecruiser-texas]

So - i was reading some reviews of the dolphin swim in Coz ($129 per Carnival's website) which includes alcoholic drinks, food (although i hear the food is BAD) and transportation to and from the ship - so it appears that even if I purchased on my own for $99 + $7/pp taxi ($28 total round trip) + a couple of drinks while there (easily $30) - i would still be coming out ahead by going with Carnival, correct?

 

Regarding photos- reviewers say it's crazy expensive - but someone posted that Carnival offers your dolphin photos at a discount when you come back aboard the ship....is this TRUE???

 

trying to make sure I stay on budget and don't want costly surprises along the way.

[YaWk3Y_BoMb3r]

My understanding is that food is included in the chankanaab dolphin swims so that is an expense that you can knock off.

 

 

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[mitsugirly]

When you book the dolphin excursion using dolphin discovery, food does not come with the swim (unless they just recently changed this last year).

 

If Carnival offers your swim (and make sure it's the same swim that you are talking about with dolphin discovery because they have 3 different swims with the dolphins) and food and alcohol (I can't imagine it would be unlimited alcohol and maybe just a drink), plus transportation, then I would say go for it.

 

I would definitely double check everything you are getting with that excursion. Most people I have heard (I thought) said you still have to provide your transportation??? I may be wrong. We were on NCL when we did it and booked directly with the park. I just keep thinking I read that somewhere for some reason.

 

As for the food...my daughter and her bf bought a burrito over by the dolphin swim when they were done (over by the pool area) and they said it was about $10 (if I remember correctly) and said it was "ok". We however, went over to the beach area (in front is the snorkeling) and purchased a platter that was a "sampler" platter of everything they offered and it was only $12 for all of that food and it was really good. So maybe it depends on where you are buying (getting) the food there?

[S.A.M.J.R.]

When you book the dolphin excursion using dolphin discovery, food does not come with the swim (unless they just recently changed this last year).

 

If Carnival offers your swim (and make sure it's the same swim that you are talking about with dolphin discovery because they have 3 different swims with the dolphins) and food and alcohol (I can't imagine it would be unlimited alcohol and maybe just a drink), plus transportation, then I would say go for it.

 

I would definitely double check everything you are getting with that excursion. Most people I have heard (I thought) said you still have to provide your transportation??? I may be wrong. We were on NCL when we did it and booked directly with the park. I just keep thinking I read that somewhere for some reason.

 

As for the food...my daughter and her bf bought a burrito over by the dolphin swim when they were done (over by the pool area) and they said it was about $10 (if I remember correctly) and said it was "ok". We however, went over to the beach area (in front is the snorkeling) and purchased a platter that was a "sampler" platter of everything they offered and it was only $12 for all of that food and it was really good. So maybe it depends on where you are buying (getting) the food there?

I think the bolded changed this year. We booked direct with them last year and didn't get food, this year the website shows an included meal.

[mitsugirly]

I think the bolded changed this year. We booked direct with them last year and didn't get food, this year the website shows an included meal.

 

Gotcha. I figured it had to be a recent change since it wasn't offered the last 2 times we did it. Sounds like a good deal then.

[Lainy67]

We have booked for May at Dolphinaris through Dolphinaris. The math is for 4 people through Carnival it was 519.96. Through Dolphinaris it was 249.20 for the four of us for the EXACT SAME PROGRAM. The difference being 270 plus our own transportation. So Assuming 20 to and fro... we are still saving 250$.

[tncruisergurl]

We have booked for May at Dolphinaris through Dolphinaris. The math is for 4 people through Carnival it was 519.96. Through Dolphinaris it was 249.20 for the four of us for the EXACT SAME PROGRAM. The difference being 270 plus our own transportation. So Assuming 20 to and fro... we are still saving 250$.

 

When you called to book, did you lie about which ship you are on? When I contacted them and they ask which ship I told them carnival and they told me I couldn't book through them?