RCL Dolphin Swim Question

[SAS21]

I have this booked. Thinking of canceling, my question is, if your not booked to do the dolphin swim can you still ride on the bus with your family who are booked. I'm thinking of booking directly if i can't ride on the bus with my family. DH is unsure about taking taxi. Advice please.

 

Thanks

[petel]

You need an excursion ticket to get on the bus - provided by the ship if it is a ship's tour. You can ride a taxi in most ports with no problem at all. Just ask the price before you get in the taxi. If you book separately you will probably not be in the same group with you family.

[TigerLady]

I have this booked. Thinking of canceling, my question is, if your not booked to do the dolphin swim can you still ride on the bus with your family who are booked. I'm thinking of booking directly if i can't ride on the bus with my family. DH is unsure about taking taxi. Advice please.

 

Thanks

 

When we did it two years ago, my DH rode along, even though he wasn't participating. Things may have changed since then, though..

[lritch426]

I Booked the Dolphin Quest too for Bermuda and it seems to be within walking distance. I could be wrong though...

[emdia43]

I have this booked. Thinking of canceling, my question is, if your not booked to do the dolphin swim can you still ride on the bus with your family who are booked. I'm thinking of booking directly if i can't ride on the bus with my family. DH is unsure about taking taxi. Advice please.

 

Thanks

 

Where is the dolphin excursion?

[wolfcathorse]

If its in Cozumel, its at Chanakaab Park. And when we did it last October we weren't bused but taxied. The excursion just filled taxi's, gave the driver a voucher and told him where to drop us off. When we left the park, we asked if we could be dropped off for shopping instead of back to Freedom (docked at International Pier) and it was no problem. We took a cab back from the shopping area back to the International Pier, its a flat rate of $14

[cruisePRN]

I tried to book the dolphin excursion on my own but the days there is a ship in port they won't take any reservations. They cater entirely to ship passengers who have booked onboard. Can we say GREED $$$$$

[dondiane]

not sure where the dolphin swim is you are considering but we took a dolphin tour while in St. Martin with RCCL. They offered a "non-swim" ticket for which you recieved the same transportation and the buffet, not quite as pricey as the encounter swim.

[rock the boat]

I tried to book the dolphin excursion on my own but the days there is a ship in port they won't take any reservations. They cater entirely to ship passengers who have booked onboard. Can we say GREED $$$$$

 

They do take private bookings as I have done this in the past and have done it on my upcoming Mariner cruise. Problem is you have to book it early as they do fill up. Sorry you didn't have any luck booking on your own. :( You tend to have a lot less headaches on your own than with the large groups from the ship. Nothing wrong with ship excursions, but I like the personal touch with smaller groups.

[SAS21]

I emailed rcl yesterday and got a reply. They offer observer tickets which can only be purchased on the ship. They said to go to explorations as soon as I get onthe ship to purchase one. For those of you who asked this is in Cozumel. Next time I will purchase independently. Thanks for all your help.

[emdia43]

Have you tried http://www.dolphindiscovery.com this is the company at Cozumel that runs the dolphin swims? We booked direct with them and saved money. You just get a taxi to Chankanaab Park and go out to watch the others without paying a fee except the admission to the park.

[njmomof2]

We also booked directly with Dolphin Discovery and saved a lot of money. The ship didn't offer the Royal Swim (the most involved one that includes the 2 direct swims with the dolphins) and when I booked the encounter for my younger son and me (he was 5) they didn't charge me for him at all. We walked off the ship, out of the shopping building and there were taxis lined up. There is a big sign with the flat rate prices to all the destinations. We got in, told him Chakaanab and that was it. When we were done, there was a taxi waiting and we took him back to the port for the same flat rate.

 

We had a great time. And when we saw the group coming from the ship, it was a madhouse. Incredibly crowded, too many people in each group, very limited time with the dolphins. After they left, it was time for ds and me to do ours and we were the only ones in the group. Us two, the instructor and the dolphin. It was like a personal lesson and it was great.

[Ammarg]

We just got back from Mexican Rivera and had great fun at the Splash Water park. I swam with the dolphins, my family took cab to park.and just paid entrance price. google it!

On the way home, the bus was empty except for 2 of us from the dolphin swim, so we asked and they took our entire family back to the ship.

They just gave tips to the driver.

[emdia43]

We just got back from Mexican Rivera and had great fun at the Splash Water park. I swam with the dolphins, my family took cab to park.and just paid entrance price. google it!

On the way home, the bus was empty except for 2 of us from the dolphin swim, so we asked and they took our entire family back to the ship.

They just gave tips to the driver.

 

The OP is going to Cozumel, not Puerto Vallarta.

[OPSoccermom]

We also booked directly with Dolphin Discovery and saved a lot of money. The ship didn't offer the Royal Swim (the most involved one that includes the 2 direct swims with the dolphins) and when I booked the encounter for my younger son and me (he was 5) they didn't charge me for him at all. We walked off the ship, out of the shopping building and there were taxis lined up. There is a big sign with the flat rate prices to all the destinations. We got in, told him Chakaanab and that was it. When we were done, there was a taxi waiting and we took him back to the port for the same flat rate.

 

We had a great time. And when we saw the group coming from the ship, it was a madhouse. Incredibly crowded, too many people in each group, very limited time with the dolphins. After they left, it was time for ds and me to do ours and we were the only ones in the group. Us two, the instructor and the dolphin. It was like a personal lesson and it was great.

We did exactly the same as you, and were able to get off the ship, into a cab, and to Chankanaab before the ship's excursion. Did the Royal Swim as well.

 

Not being in the large groups from the ship were a huge advantage when it came time to viewing the pictures, etc. after we finished. Also, the beach at Chankanaab had not gotten really busy at that point, and we were able to get a place at the beach and have lunch before the "crowd" finished up. Also, Chankanaab offers other things such as the sea lion swim that you don't even know about if you're on the ship's excursion.

 

To the OP: not sure when you're cruising, but it may be worth a try to see if you can still book directly with dolpin discovery, esp. if your family wants the Royal Swim. RCCL says you can cancel your RCCL tour with proper notice.

[luv2cruz24]

We did exactly the same as you, and were able to get off the ship, into a cab, and to Chankanaab before the ship's excursion. Did the Royal Swim as well.

 

Not being in the large groups from the ship were a huge advantage when it came time to viewing the pictures, etc. after we finished. Also, the beach at Chankanaab had not gotten really busy at that point, and we were able to get a place at the beach and have lunch before the "crowd" finished up. Also, Chankanaab offers other things such as the sea lion swim that you don't even know about if you're on the ship's excursion.

 

To the OP: not sure when you're cruising, but it may be worth a try to see if you can still book directly with dolpin discovery, esp. if your family wants the Royal Swim. RCCL says you can cancel your RCCL tour with proper notice.

 

That is what we did...we had it booked through the ship, then cancelled and booked directly through Dolphin Discovery. More for your money, and they included a voucher for the cost of the cab if you booked at least 4 people. They were very helpful!

[SAS21]

Thanks for all of your advice. I tried to book directly but they only have really late times left. So I'm just gonna keep it as is and hope for the best. I'll know better next time.

 

Thanks again!

[emdia43]

Take some plastic watershoes with you (Walmart$5) most of the time you are standing on a submerged metal grille and it kills your feet.

[ritarussell]

We had the same issue on our Navigator cruise in December. On the website it only had the later times available. I called the company direct (the number is on the website)and they were able to get us in at an earlier time. When we got there early, they let us go on the next available encounter, which was even earlier. Worth a shot!