Carnival cancels Blue Lagoon Excursion

[Mitchie4]

Just wondering if anyone knows why Carnival has cancelled all the excursions to Blue Lagoon Island for the Nassau port of call.

 

I noticed a couple weeks ago that the option had disappeared from shore excursions list so I emailed them yesterday. This is the response I received:

 

thank you for your inquiry, we have discontinued the Dolphin Encounter at Blue Lagoon

we however have a dolphin swim available at Atlantis





Wishing you a wonderful cruise,

Best Regards,

Tour Operations

Carnival Cruise Lines

[Carolyn1950]

I wondered if it was because the Blue Lagoon is closed on Thursday which is the day the our cruise Conquest is there.

[scubagirrl]

Just wondering if anyone knows why Carnival has cancelled all the excursions to Blue Lagoon Island for the Nassau port of call.

 

I noticed a couple weeks ago that the option had disappeared from shore excursions list so I emailed them yesterday. This is the response I received:

 

thank you for your inquiry, we have discontinued the Dolphin Encounter at Blue Lagoon

we however have a dolphin swim available at Atlantis

 

 

Wishing you a wonderful cruise,

Best Regards,

Tour Operations

Carnival Cruise Lines

 

It's very likely that they made a deal with the devil (Atlantis).. This kind of thing has been talked about quite alot these days.. with Atlantis shuttleling cruisers to PI (they even want their own ferry boats so the local boats will be put out of business but the gov't won't let them). They want to eliminate other tours that offer similar products. Carnival has always been in cahoots with Atlantis.

 

You can still book thru http://www.dolphinencounters.com Which is a better experience all around.

[Mitchie4]

It's very likely that they made a deal with the devil (Atlantis).. This kind of thing has been talked about quite alot these days.. with Atlantis shuttleling cruisers to PI (they even want their own ferry boats so the local boats will be put out of business but the gov't won't let them). They want to eliminate other tours that offer similar products. Carnival has always been in cahoots with Atlantis.

 

You can still book thru www.dolphinencounters.com Which is a better experience all around.

 

Thank you for the quick reply.

 

Makes sense, because there are ALOT of Atlantis excursion options. When I emailed them yesterday I inquired as to why Blue Lagoon was not showing up and also noted in the email that I was NOT interested in Atlantis.

 

I did actually book direct with Blue Lagoon several months ago because from reading cc and other reviews it sounded like it was a much better experience. Less commercialized. The only reason I emailed Carnival and asked the question here was to make sure there wasn't a problem at Blue Lagoon that I needed to know about.

[bajathree]

Thank you for the quick reply.

 

Makes sense, because there are ALOT of Atlantis excursion options. When I emailed them yesterday I inquired as to why Blue Lagoon was not showing up and also noted in the email that I was NOT interested in Atlantis.

 

I did actually book direct with Blue Lagoon several months ago because from reading cc and other reviews it sounded like it was a much better experience. Less commercialized. The only reason I emailed Carnival and asked the question here was to make sure there wasn't a problem at Blue Lagoon that I needed to know about.

 

I would not say that BL is a "much better" experience than Atlantis, as they are just different from each other. Both are very good and wouldn't consider one better than the other....just depends on what type atmosphere you more prefer.....you can't go wrong with either.

[scubagirrl]

I would not say that BL is a "much better" experience than Atlantis, as they are just different from each other. Both are very good and wouldn't consider one better than the other....just depends on what type atmosphere you more prefer.....you can't go wrong with either.

 

I have to say that I have never in all my years here heard a word of disappointment regarding the dolphin encounter program and crew.

But I've heard quite a few people who are very disappointed.. even annoyed at the Atlantis programs.

 

Yes, they are different from one another..

 

BL has a stellar reputation.. Dolphin Cay does not.

[arpie05]

I have done both and would do Atlantis again. I would not do BL again. It was fine at the time but after doing Atlantis - it was so much better. With BL, you are stuck there with nothing to do when you are done. We did the pet the Dolphin so we were done over an hour before the other group - but there is only one ferry. So you lose a lot of your shore time. At Atlantis there is a beautiful beach, you get to walk into water instead of standing on a platform (think fish/boat dock) and the dolphin comes up to you. They sell their disk of all their pics for $100 which was a great deal.

At Atlantis, you are at least at a beautiful location. At Blue Lagoon you are stuck on a floating gift shop and can see a pretty area but can't go over to it.

Think about your time. You have to either take a taxi or water taxi over to the Marina, which is 2-3 minutes walk to Atlantis. from there, you catch ferry to BL which about 30 minutes. (checking in 30 minutes before it leaves) then you are at BL for 3 hours even if you are done in 40 mins. Then ferry back to Marina. then Taxi back to ship. If you have a short port time, you will not get to do anything else.

[scubagirrl]

I have done both and would do Atlantis again. I would not do BL again. It was fine at the time but after doing Atlantis - it was so much better. With BL, you are stuck there with nothing to do when you are done. We did the pet the Dolphin so we were done over an hour before the other group - but there is only one ferry. So you lose a lot of your shore time. At Atlantis there is a beautiful beach, you get to walk into water instead of standing on a platform (think fish/boat dock) and the dolphin comes up to you. They sell their disk of all their pics for $100 which was a great deal.

At Atlantis, you are at least at a beautiful location. At Blue Lagoon you are stuck on a floating gift shop and can see a pretty area but can't go over to it.

Think about your time. You have to either take a taxi or water taxi over to the Marina, which is 2-3 minutes walk to Atlantis. from there, you catch ferry to BL which about 30 minutes. (checking in 30 minutes before it leaves) then you are at BL for 3 hours even if you are done in 40 mins. Then ferry back to Marina. then Taxi back to ship. If you have a short port time, you will not get to do anything else.

 

 

Blue lagoon has a beautiful beach and spectacular grounds to offer after your program..

Most find their opinions just the opposite of yours.

 

if you want a quick - get it overwith program.. then Dolphin Cay would be fine.

Half the fun is the ferry to a private island.. in a natural surrounding..

To each his own.

[palmtre2]

The guides and even security folk at Blue Lagoon actually know what they are talking about. The "fish feeders" at the Atlantis barely knew anything about the creatures they were feeding.

[scubagirrl]

Just wondering if anyone knows why Carnival has cancelled all the excursions to Blue Lagoon Island for the Nassau port of call.

 

I noticed a couple weeks ago that the option had disappeared from shore excursions list so I emailed them yesterday. This is the response I received:

 

thank you for your inquiry, we have discontinued the Dolphin Encounter at Blue Lagoon

we however have a dolphin swim available at Atlantis

 

 

Wishing you a wonderful cruise,

Best Regards,

Tour Operations

Carnival Cruise Lines

 

 

I just found out that Carnival has severed its relationship with quite a few independent vendors and will be sending all tour to Atlantis when there is a comparable tour.

 

The independent vendors will still be doing business at the wharf, and will still be servicing other ships.. just not carnival.

 

You are free to book independently.. or negotiate when you get there.

[morganboys]

I would assume they cut a deal with atlantis. they charge more so carnival would make more pushing their excursion. The all mighty buck at work.

[scubagirrl]

I would assume they cut a deal with atlantis. they charge more so carnival would make more pushing their excursion. The all mighty buck at work.

 

Yes, that's what I have heard... it will get worse.. Atlantis will be the death of independent business in the bahamas..

[pattieann]

I was surfing the net looking for beach and snorkel excursions in Nassau and found a tour company that had a lot of interesting looking tours-lots of snorkeling tours. They are called Best in Bahamas. I don't know anything about them but their excursions look awesome. I went on a Carnival sponsored snorkeling excursion a few years ago, and I really didn't like it. You rode a large boat with two decks to get there, but I really don't remember where it was. In order to snorkel you had to walk down some slippery concrete steps and everyone was crowded together. :(I've snorkeled before, and this was the worst experience I've ever had. I do remember that after we finished we walked to a very small beach area. Right next to this area, they had people feeding the stingrays. Any recommendations on snorkeling trips would really be apprecitated.

[cruz.n.carebear]

Blue Lagoon was great, but I'm not in a big rush to go back simply because I'd like to experience some other areas of Nassau. The only down side was our trainer that was with my group was just okay - she was a bit immature and different. I will say, however, that she was by far the exception to the rule. Other trainers seemed to be fantastic. The rest of the staff went out of their way for us and I sincerely appreciate their efforts as we had a scare getting back to the ship on time. (I think the lady who helped us so much at the end's name was Melinda -- she is an absolute GEM and truly calmed my near panic attack down!)

 

We were there in Jan when the water was just too cold to enjoy the beach toys, but I can't imagine being bored, or considered "stuck" there for three hours when it is warm enough to go in the water. They have everything! Once we visit a few more places (I am considering Atlantis this next trip just so I can experience it once), I'm sure we'll be back to Blue Lagoon.

[scubagirrl]

I was surfing the net looking for beach and snorkel excursions in Nassau and found a tour company that had a lot of interesting looking tours-lots of snorkeling tours. They are called Best in Bahamas. I don't know anything about them but their excursions look awesome. I went on a Carnival sponsored snorkeling excursion a few years ago, and I really didn't like it. You rode a large boat with two decks to get there, but I really don't remember where it was. In order to snorkel you had to walk down some slippery concrete steps and everyone was crowded together. :(I've snorkeled before, and this was the worst experience I've ever had. I do remember that after we finished we walked to a very small beach area. Right next to this area, they had people feeding the stingrays. Any recommendations on snorkeling trips would really be apprecitated.

 

The trip you took was to Pearl Island.. not many tours go their anymore.

 

Best in bahamas is a reputable tour reseller.

So is Viator and shoretrips.

 

There are many great snorkeling tours.

 

http://www.stuartcove.com has a 3 stop tour with sharks at the last one.

http://www.flyingcloud.info Catamaran Sail and snorkel to Rose Island.

http://www.seahorsesailingadventures.com - Catamaran Sail near Rose Island.

[auflag]

My husband and I are really interested in BL. Quick question: Do they have lockers to rent if you are just going to the beach area? I've seen some things online that if you are doing the dolphin encounter they have lockers, I just hope they have them if you are planning on being a beach bum!