Do you see Ocean life from ship?

[Wdwdreamer101]

This may be a silly question, but this will be our first cruise.
Do you see Ocean life from the ship?
We will have a verandah and I'm just wondering if we should be on the look out for large fish and the such.
Thanks in advance!

 

[Dug720]

It depends. They are wild animals and not at the beck and call of the captain. If you are in Alaska you may see whales - orca, humpback, or minke - bears, moose, eagles, sea otters. In the Caribbean/Bahamas you may see dolphin, sea turtles, etc.

But it really is luck of the draw.

 

[kmix78]

We saw dolphins one one cruise, sea turtle on another. It's the luck of the draw really, both times were just really super lucky instances when we happened to be staring at the water from our verandah.

 

[clten]

It is possible to see larger sea life from your verandah. We have seen dolphins (usually while leaving port; but occasionally while sailing). We have seen other things when sailing as well (more likely on itineraries like Alaska) but we have seen a whale on a Caribbean itinerary so not impossible. But the chances of seeing unusual things are very slim so I wouldn't sit on my verandah with the sole purpose of looking for sea life but if I were relaxing on my verandah or the promenade deck, I would look for sea life while I was there.

 

[WickedDreamer]

It really is just luck of the draw, but last cruise as we were leaving Port Canaveral we saw a pod of Dolphins swimming alongside the ship, and then a group of Pelicans flying above as well

 

[ludari]

I would agree with the previous poster in that it depends. I remember one a Disney Mexican Rivera cruise I was on sitting in one of the porthole seats reading the daily navigator when I noticed a large (at least 500) pod of dolphins heading towards the ship. It was an amazing site to witness. I also have done an Alaskan Cruise and noticed all sorts of ocean life but my favorite on that cruise was a pod of killer whales during lunch.

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

Of the six Bahama and Caribbean cruises we have done, our last cruise (December 2016) is the first time we have seen dolphins. Twice even, as soon as we got out of Port Canaveral and on the day we left Nassau. One day we were wondering if we were seeing sharks. From nine decks up and they were further up we could not tell for sure but they had that shark look. No shortage of sea birds for each cruise.

We did a west bound Panama Canal cruise back in 2011, as soon as we got to the Pacific side we saw from our veranda; dolphins, stingray, sea turtle and whales spouts in the distance.

We did an Alaska cruise last July on Celebrity and our TA told us to save our money and not do a whale watching excursion; because we would see them from the ship. We DID NOT see any whales at all. A good reason to take another Alaska cruise.

Just a luck of the draw as others have written.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Not from a verendah but the adults only area we saw the biggest turtle whilst at Castaway cay. I couldn't believe my luck. From that deck it must have been enormous! I have seen dolphins too. Nect time I am bringing a good paur of binoculars. You might get lucky. It's a darn nice view anyway!

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

I was lucky enough to see a pod of dolphins "escort" us into Cozumel. It was early and I was up at Satellite Falls doing yoga, someone else up there motioned for us to come see and the dolphins were just swimming right next to the Fantasy, guiding us into port. It was really cool, but that's the only time I've seen anything.

 

[lucas]

Yep, in the Caribbean it is the luck of the draw. We're always looking but rarely have seen anything other than little schools of flying fish. You might have a better chance when you are sailing into or out of a port.

 

[DisneyNutMary]

I've seen dolphins and flying fish from our balcony. It's not a given, out of eight cruises I've only seen them on about three cruises. It's a matter of looking from the right side of the ship at the right time.
An Alaskan cruise is on my bucket list, I'd love to spot whales and to be sailing close enough to shore to spot wildlife- Caribbean cruises don't pass too much land while out cruising.

 

[Cackyschmackers]

During our muster drill in Port Canaveral, we saw a pod of dolphins. I heard they sometimes "escort" the ship out of port, so maybe check out the forward areas of the ship upon departure.

 

[Mr. Drauer]

one of the best places to find sea life is in the Port channel at Port Canaveral - the port actually connects to the Indian River and Intracoastal Waterway through some locks to the west of the port, and dolphins and manatees like to hang around as tons of fish get moved when the locks open and close. You can also look near Jetty Park (the rock wall) as you leave port. Coming into and out of the Carribean Ports can be good, but the open ocean is pretty much just water - dolphins and sharks don't tend to be too far out at sea as there is less food for them.

 

[Soontobegoodsell]

Definitely! We've seen dolphins and tons of bird wildlife. When in port in Nassau we also saw more dolphins and a sea turtle.

 

[mammacaryn]

We have seen Dolphins, some kind of flying fish (both of those from the pool deck )and one cruise we saw ocean bioluminescence from our room verandah. Oh and sometimes there are manatees at the port in Port Canaveral.

All our cruises have been caribbean/bahamas cruises.

 

[wilkeliza]

Dolphins aren't rare. The pods really like to ride the ships so it is not uncommon to see them depending on the time of year. It also depends on how many other ships are coming in and out as well as they may not ride the Disney ship if there are other ones also coming in and out. We've seen them on 2 of the 3 cruises we've done in the Caribbean.

 

[Msidescooter]

As others reported, we've seen dolphins as we've left the ports and had a pod swimming with the ship during one of our sea days. The most sea life we've seen was during our Alaskan cruise. There were bald eagles, bears, and whales upon whales when we were further North. We did a whale watching port adventure and I'm glad we did. We had a boat built for 75 to us and one other couple. It was the most intimate port adventure I've been on (Thanks Disney for paying the minimum even if it wasn't reached instead of canceling it). We sat for over an hour watching a group of humpback whales bubble net feeding. It was one of the most majestic things I've ever witnessed.

As we were leaving to head back to Vancouver we had a group of Orcas swimming and playing around the ship. We were having dinner in Palo that night and just about the entire restaurant emptied as everyone went out to take photos. Our server said that it was the first time he'd seen Orcas that close to the ship and that active.

 

[fairfax]

We saw manatees once in Port Canaveral! That was the coolest thing ever. Also we've seen dolphins from time to time.

 

[SameNameAsYou]

I've yet to see anything, but I'm hopeful.=)

 

[DCLDVC1]

I've seen dolphins the last three times we've left Port Canaveral.