Dolphin Encounter/Adventure - Tortola or Nassau?

[scluvsrain]

Going on Zuiderdam 7/17 East Carib. Which would be better for dolphin encounter, Tortola or Nassau?

[chellbird]

We too are sailing on the Zuiderdam but in November. I have posted a similar question on the HAL board, and have not received many responses. I did notice though that the Adventure description includes "hugging" and swimming holding on to the fin! It will cost my family about $600 if we choose that excursion!:eek: It also mentions pictures and a video option that I'm sure is an additional ton of $$$! The other option is the Encounter which just mentions standing on a platform in the water with the dolphins, but it's much cheaper. I will be watching this thread as well to see what people who have actually been there say about it. :) Please be sure to post a note when you get back and let us know what you decided to do.

[scluvsrain]

I will definitely let you know. I know I want to be actively involved with the dolphins, not just look at them. I searched the old boards and can't really find anyone's comments about the excursions. We'll see.

[MandyGirl]

I, too, am on the Zuiderdam in November. I'm highly interested in the dolphin swim, but hubby isn't all that interested. He's said we could book it, and he'd go as an observer since he's known that I've wanted to do it for so many years. (Which will be great for me since he can be my photographer from the observer platform). Booking through HAL, we don't see where you could book an "observer".

 

Anyway, if you are considering doing it in Nassau...

http://www.dolphinencounters.com/program.html

I believe this is the company you go through, and booking through the company is MUCH cheaper than the cruiseline. Also, you can clearly see the differences between "encounter" and "swim" on their website. I will be choosing to do the swim. Our port times are scheduled 12 noon - 7 PM that day, and I put that in my reservation request. This company has a 24-hr cancellation policy, so time to change my mind if finances change.

The cost for "swim" is $165 while the "encounter" is $85. An "observer" fee is $20. All three prices include the roundtrip 25-minute boat ride from Paradise Island (near the Atlantis resort) to Blue Lagoon - a cay where the dolphin habitat is. (Plus you need to pay about $3 each to get from ship dock to this ferry dock on Paradise Island).

To compare to HAL.... Looking at HAL's website of shore excursions for Nassau, they only offer the "encounter" for $119 - which is quite a bit more than going through the Dolphin Encounters Company directly ($85 plus $3 cab fare to ferry dock). The "swim" is not offered through HAL's website for Nassau. HAL describes the "encounter" as "Wear your swimsuit as you will be helped onto a floating platform in small groups for the greatest highlight-the opportunity to touch and interact with these creatures in waist deep water."

It looks like the Tortola excursion is more - $129 each through HAL (for the encounter) but actually cheaper versus Nassau for the swim ($149). I don't know what company is in the Tortola area for this.

The reason we are planning to do this in Nassau versus Tortola: We've been to Nassau before and done the island tour along with Atlantis, so this would be something "new". Also, we are definitely planning on going to the Baths on Virgin Gorda on our day in Tortola. We've always heard many great things about the Baths.

Hope this helps some!! :)

[chellbird]

Thanks for the added info Mandy. Are you sailing 11/6 or later in the month? We had thought about doing the dolphin thing on Tortola and stingrays at Nassau. I keep hearing awesome things about the Baths at VG, but I'm wondering if that's something our girls could do?

[MandyGirl]

I'm a teacher, so I'm confined to our Thanksgiving break for the cruise. (When I worked in the corporate world, we'd go 2 weeks after Thanksgiving - low crowds and cheap cruise fares). I don't know much about the stingrays in Nassau - but have been to the stingrays at Grand Cayman. Really awesome. How old are your girls? I heard there is walking and a little climbing - might be fun for them. However, I did read it could be very hard for those who are physically challenged.

 

I've had problems with the Nassau Dolphin website - tried submitting the reservation and got an error, so I typed the exact info into an email to send to the email address on their "contact" page. Got this message back this morning, so I see it did not go through yet:

 

This is an advisory-only email. Please do not reply to it.

Delivery of email to this address

"info@dolphinencounters.com"

has been postponed due to a full mailbox.

We will continue to try to deliver your message over the next few days.

[chellbird]

Hi again. I'm glad I looked at the Nassau link you sent. Our 5 yr old can't do the dolphin swim there. The minimum age listed was 6. I guess we will continue to check out the Tortola option. I wish someone who had done these excursions would speak up. The DH and I did Stingray City at Grand Cayman too! It was one of the main highlights of our cruise. I think the dolphins will be even better! I used to teach high school, so I know about limited time to travel. I'm starting to homeschool the girls this fall - we can fit travel plans (extended field trips!) into our schedule! Incidentally, we are also from Texas. We lived in Dallas when we first got married, but now we live in Pampa - it's NE of Amarillo in the Panhandle.

[scluvsrain]

I emailed Dolphin Encounters yesterday and tried to make a reservation for July 23, the day we'll be in Nassau. Of course, it's already booked and I can't get a reservation so soon before the cruise. If you want to do it, I suggest you either call them and try to get a reservation or email them again. My email attempt worked perfectly. I also called them earlier to ask some specific questions and got through right away. I guess I will try to do the Tortola one now, as I really want to do a swim, rather than just an encounter.

[MandyGirl]

Too bad about Nassau for the dolphins. But at least you have Tortola as a backup!! That's cool you are homeschooling - and "extended field trips" are definitely a good part of a child's education! I always learn cool things on vacation!! By the way - It's a small world! Hubby grew up north of Pampa in a little town called Liberal (Kansas). When we go back to visit (like high school reunions) we fly into Amarillo and go through Pampa on the way!! Amarillo was the closest town with a shopping mall for his family to go to!

[chellbird]

Rusty and I discovered this website last night, and then Gizmo posted it on the other thread that I started on the HAL board

 

http://www.*****swim_dolphins.asp

 

My little one is too young to do the two more expensive options, but the cheapest option doesn't sound too bad - especially for a first time experience.

 

I don't know if there are 2 different companies on Tortola or not. This doesn't really sound like the HAL shore excursion. We couldn't find any other companies that we could book ourselves, so it may be the same place - they just offer different packages to cruisers.

 

I hope this helps for your July cruise. I got a pretty negative post on the other thread from a lady that did an encounter (I think) in Mexico. She was not very impressed and said the dolphins didn't look happy:( . I hope the dolphins in the EC are well cared for.

 

to mandy - My high school boyfriend had family in Liberal - I've been there several times. It is a crazy small world!:rolleyes:

[MandyGirl]

Thanks for the advice scluvsrain! I just tried emailing again, and I'll call soon if no luck.

 

Chelle - Wow! Definitely a small world! And I forgot to mention that the best friend I had in high school moved to east Texas in 8th grade... from Pampa! We met in 8th grade after her family moved across the state. Yes, it is definitely a small world!

[scluvsrain]

Well, I just went to that dolphin discovery link you mentioned and they do have a program on Tortola, so I've emailed them to inquire if there is availability at this late date. We'll see. Thanks for the link info!!!

[joleda]

Be sure to do the "Dolphin Swim" not the encounter. You will kick yourself if you don't do the swim. We did it in Sept. in Cozumel... It was the Best! I cannot saw enough of how cool it was to do that. My kids were 9 and 13 and they will never forget it. We also got a special price for them to go in a pool with a sea Lion "lana" They really thought that was cool too. They were in there for about 45 minutes with her. I got some great video!

 

Dave