Swimming with pigs.

[ON THE VERGE]

RCCL is offering a swim with pigs excursion from CocoCay Perfect Day. Has anyone done it??  If so how was it ???

Thanks 

[alexkrn46]

We did it in November , it was fun. Short ride via boat to another island. We spent about  45 minutes swimming with the pigs. We were given apples on a stick to feed them.

[ON THE VERGE]

Thanks!! 

[BermudaBound2014]

Did this in Exuma- the pigs were more aggressive than I anticipated. Captain said they are better later in the day after they have been fed all day. RCL can’t possibly be going to EXuma on an excursion because it’s too far, but I suspect same pig behavior. Might want to take the late tour. 

[bajathree]

just when I thought I heard of it all.....lol. Why would one want to swim with pigs?....just saying

[BNBR]

Swimming with pigs as an excursion is a tourist trap and nothing more. It's fake. The only real pigs are in Exuma and Abaco.  They became famous and not as a cruise excursion or anything of the sort.  So now people think of the pigs and Bahamas. 

 

You can't see the real thing from CocoCay, it's just a bogus tourist trap designed for dumb tourists who don't know better.  I'd avoid it. 

[Thorben-Hendrik]

2 hours ago, ON THE VERGE said:

RCCL is offering a swim with pigs

For a minute I thought you were talking about the main pool!😁😱😜

[Merion_Mom]

1 hour ago, bajathree said:

just when I thought I heard of it all.....lol. Why would one want to swim with pigs?....just saying

 

Why would pigs want to swim with cruisers?!!?!?!?

[parrotfeathers]

1 hour ago, BNBR said:

The only real pigs are in Exuma and Abaco.

 

What  breed are the Bahama pigs?   Okay--I did a search and saw they are regular pigs.  Interesting.  

Edited February 23, 2019 by parrotfeathers

[blueridgemama]

3 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Did this in Exuma- the pigs were more aggressive than I anticipated. Captain said they are better later in the day after they have been fed all day. RCL can’t possibly be going to EXuma on an excursion because it’s too far, but I suspect same pig behavior. Might want to take the late tour. 

 

The pigs that are being used will be pet pigs, not the wild pigs of Exuma. They will probably be tamer and maybe better behaved as they are cared for and not left to fend for themselves. However I would agree, why would you want to swim with pigs? Why do we exploit any creature for that matter. I am not a fan of swimming with sharks, dolphins, stingrays, manatees etc.

[Germancruiser]

Sometimes there is no need to take an excursion for swimming with pigs- one can easyly do that in the Main Pool... hmpf!

[broberts]

I expected a thread on nasty pool habits .

 

Are pig swims really a thing? Hard to believe.

Edited February 23, 2019 by broberts

[ReneeFLL]

3 hours ago, Thorben-Hendrik said:

For a minute I thought you were talking about the main pool!😁😱😜

I did too. 

[blueridgemama]

21 minutes ago, broberts said:

I expected a thread on nasty pool habits .

 

Are pig swims really a thing? Hard to believe.

 

Absolutely! Do a Google search on The pigs of Exuma

[CRUISEFAN0001]

Ironically, our daughter just asked about this (she's 30).  In doing some homework...learned how incredibly expensive it was to get to Exuma (from regular port stops), not to mention the actual :swimming pigs" location itself.

 

From Nassau...several shuttle ferries to and from there, along with admission...were $399 per adult.  Looks like the folks running this kind of excursion are money hogs.

[Jasukkie]

I know the ocean is full of fish poop but somehow that seems different from swimming with pig poop which is all I can think of with this.

 

Aggressive, pooping pigs. 

[A&L_Ont]

10 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Did this in Exuma- the pigs were more aggressive than I anticipated. Captain said they are better later in the day after they have been fed all day. RCL can’t possibly be going to EXuma on an excursion because it’s too far, but I suspect same pig behavior. Might want to take the late tour. 

 

 

I did a YouTube search and this video was in the top ones that came up. This pig rammed and possibly bit the woman.  If you replay the video you can see that the pig immediately sniffed the ground where she was standing, after the push. I suspect to look for dropped food, thinking her large camera was a bag of food. These pigs seem to be just large aggressive versions of dogs begging for food.

 

You are right, if I were to go I’d take the late afternoon excursion when they aren’t as aggressive to avoid a situation like this one. Sure doesn’t make me want to swim with the pigs that badly. Maybe take my chances by the pool with the chair hogs.

 

 

[tinkr2]

51 minutes ago, CRUISEFAN0001 said:

Ironically, our daughter just asked about this (she's 30).  In doing some homework...learned how incredibly expensive it was to get to Exuma (from regular port stops), not to mention the actual :swimming pigs" location itself.

 

From Nassau...several shuttle ferries to and from there, along with admission...were $399 per adult.  Looks like the folks running this kind of excursion are money hogs.

Its not a big deal if you're vacationing on one of the islands with the wild pigs. They're on many of the islands now and have been a"thing" for years. I would not plan a trip just to see pigs but if you're on Eleuthera or Exuma, its a cool thing to do. RCCL has them on little island so I suspect these are being raised for this but they could be wild.

[A&L_Ont]

Just now, tinkr2 said:

Its not a big deal if you're vacationing on one of the islands with the wild pigs. They're on many of the islands now and have been a"thing" for years. I would not plan a trip just to see pigs but if you're on Eleuthera or Exuma, its a cool thing to do. RCCL has them on little island so I suspect these are being raised for this but they could be wild.

 

I agree.  We almost went to Sandals on Grand Exuma and considered doing it there with the “original” wild pigs. As for Royal’s pigs, if they are actually wild I suspect they would have been exploiting them years ago for excursions.  I tend to feel that they have been transplanted for revenue purposes.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

5 minutes ago, tinkr2 said:

Its not a big deal if you're vacationing on one of the islands with the wild pigs. They're on many of the islands now and have been a"thing" for years. I would not plan a trip just to see pigs but if you're on Eleuthera or Exuma, its a cool thing to do. RCCL has them on little island so I suspect these are being raised for this but they could be wild.

Yeah...certainly a novelty thing to do if you happen to be on that island already.

[tinkr2]

1 minute ago, A&L_Ont said:

 

I agree.  We almost went to Sandals on Grand Exuma and considered doing it there with the “original” wild pigs. As for Royal’s pigs, if they are actually wild I suspect they would have been exploiting them years ago for excursions.  I tend to feel that they have been transplanted for revenue purposes.

 

We fly into Eleuthera which has the pigs and they do seem to have spread. But the bigger ones are more aggressive. I have seen photos of the CoCo cay pigs, they looked smaller and cuter, thus probably hand picked for the cruise crowds.

[suesnake2002]

I want you to know this thought is from my husband : " the pigs are already brined "  

 We have hosted a few pig roasts at home. And one actually took place on the beach. Maybe thats why he said that. 

[momofmab]

Paying money to swim with pigs in a soup of their own poop/food??  What does Royal charge for this excursion?

 

Next thing you know there will be a "swimming with the Canadian Geese" excursion on the Canada/New England cruises!

[tinkr2]

I am getting a laugh at peoples reaction to this idea. We spend lots of time in the remote islands of the Bahamas and it is so famous and popular there. But that poop issue is real.

[A&L_Ont]

48 minutes ago, tinkr2 said:

 

We fly into Eleuthera which has the pigs and they do seem to have spread. But the bigger ones are more aggressive. I have seen photos of the CoCo cay pigs, they looked smaller and cuter, thus probably hand picked for the cruise crowds.

 

Yes, the last thing RC wants is a pig attack gone wrong.  Side note, do you like Eleuthera?  We are still thinking about going one day. Seems like a nice quiet island. 

Edited February 23, 2019 by A&L_Ont