Have you done either of the Cozumel Dolphin Encounter excursions?

[Love2Cruise2015]

Has anyone done either the Dolphin encounter at Dolphinaris (CZ26) or Dolphin encounter, lunch, drinks and beach (CZ04) in Cozumel Mexico and if so can you share your experience and if you would recommend it?

 

[lklgoodman]

Several years ago we did a dolphin swim at the Dolphin Discovery at Chankanaab National Park in Cozumel. It was really nice and we had a lot of fun. Disney offers different excursions there now than when we did it with them. We had to buy our own food, it was good. There is a lot to do at the park, so if you go there I would suggest you pick the earliest time so you have time afterwards to explore the park. We had about 3 hours after we were done with the dolphins and didn't get to see everything. I haven't been to Dolphinaris, but when I did my research it didn't seem to have as much to do there as Dolphin Discovery. We saw the sea lion show, went to the free tasting at the tequila hut, walked around the "ruins", ate lunch, had ice cream(we paid extra for food, I think now it's included), and played at the beach for a little bit. This was all included in the price we paid to do the excursion. I would do this excursion again. They have free lockers that you can fit a backpack/beachbag in, take towels from the ship. They also have showers(not private) so you can rinse off and a changing area.

 

[Love2Cruise2015]

Several years ago we did a dolphin swim at the Dolphin Discovery at Chankanaab National Park in Cozumel. It was really nice and we had a lot of fun. Disney offers different excursions there now than when we did it with them. We had to buy our own food, it was good. There is a lot to do at the park, so if you go there I would suggest you pick the earliest time so you have time afterwards to explore the park. We had about 3 hours after we were done with the dolphins and didn't get to see everything. I haven't been to Dolphinaris, but when I did my research it didn't seem to have as much to do there as Dolphin Discovery. We saw the sea lion show, went to the free tasting at the tequila hut, walked around the "ruins", ate lunch, had ice cream(we paid extra for food, I think now it's included), and played at the beach for a little bit. This was all included in the price we paid to do the excursion. I would do this excursion again. They have free lockers that you can fit a backpack/beachbag in, take towels from the ship. They also have showers(not private) so you can rinse off and a changing area.

Thank you for sharing If you don't mind me asking fid you book through Disney or on your own?

 

[lklgoodman]

We booked through Disney. We've always booked excursions through Disney. I know it's cheaper to book on your own, but if we haven't been somewhere before, we feel more at ease booking through Disney. We're going on another cruise to Cozumel next year. Haven't decided if we'll stay on the ship or go somewhere. If we were to go there again, I'd probably book on our own since we've done it before.

 

[CinderellaDream]

We booked the dolphin swim directly through the dolphin discovery website. I was slightly nervous about not going with a ship excursion but it turned out great. We were able to get there earlier and were almost done with our experience before the ship excursion people even arrived. Then we were able to see the sea lion show and spend some time snorkeling and swimming. I just felt like we were ahead of the crowds all day and it made for a great experience.

 

[Minnie368]

We did the dolphin excursion at Chankanaab last April and it was an awesome experience. We booked on our own through the Dolphin Discovery website and saved a bundle. We were in a much smaller group than the cruise ship groups and I imagine it was a better experience than they had. I felt ok in Cozumel not booking through DCL even though it was our first cruise, though in Jamaica we booked through the ship. Lunch was excellent. The sea lion show was really cute too. Only thing I would warn though is that we had a family with us who had children 8 and 10 years old and they struggled a little bit. The water was a little choppy and they had to hold on to the fence behind them to keep their balance and the parent ended up having to keep hold of the 8 yo the whole time. Also the place where you stand is a little slippery and that didn’t help. I personally liked being in that kind of setting but those kids probably would have had a better experience at one of the companies that does it in an enclosed pool. Besides that it was great.

 

[Love2Cruise2015]

Thank you lklgoodman and CinderellaDream for your advice.

We did the dolphin excursion at Chankanaab last April and it was an awesome experience. We booked on our own through the Dolphin Discovery website and saved a bundle. We were in a much smaller group than the cruise ship groups and I imagine it was a better experience than they had. I felt ok in Cozumel not booking through DCL even though it was our first cruise, though in Jamaica we booked through the ship. Lunch was excellent. The sea lion show was really cute too. Only thing I would warn though is that we had a family with us who had children 8 and 10 years old and they struggled a little bit. The water was a little choppy and they had to hold on to the fence behind them to keep their balance and the parent ended up having to keep hold of the 8 yo the whole time. Also the place where you stand is a little slippery and that didn’t help. I personally liked being in that kind of setting but those kids probably would have had a better experience at one of the companies that does it in an enclosed pool. Besides that it was great.

When you booked through Dolphin Discovery did that include transportation there and back and lunch?

 

[lklgoodman]

My dd was 8 yrs old when we did it. She loved that the water had waves. She was actually mad that we held on to her, they tell parents to hold onto kids. My dd isn't afraid of anything. I can see if a kid is afraid of the water, doing this in a pool would be a better option. There were other families with young kids in our group and they all did great.

We booked with Disney, but pretty sure if you book on your own it does Not include transport. There's no problem getting taxis from/to the port area.

 

[CinderellaDream]

We were responsible for our own transportation. We got a cab right outside of the port. When we finished we stopped at Hard Rock Cafe for lunch before boarding the ship.

 

[smd8z]

We did the lunch/drinks included one and it was fun. Lots of families! If you don't book through the cruise line, you have to get your own transportation. We went with one person who had balance issues, and they had to hold on to the railing because it can be a bit choppy. (about belly button high water when standing on the platform). The lunch was OK; tacos, nachos, etc.

 

[KashasMom]

We've done it twice - once was a dolphin excursion (the push/pull one), which was so much fun. The other was with the sea lion (my daughter's request) in November. We booked both on our own. It's an easy taxi ride there and back. I recommend getting there early so you can explore. The beach is really nice - there are even snorkeling spots. There is a pool and sea lion show and a couple of food options and bars. When you arrive you can add on the lunch buffet. It's a really nice day.

 

[lklgoodman]

We've done it twice - once was a dolphin excursion (the push/pull one), which was so much fun. The other was with the sea lion (my daughter's request) in November. We booked both on our own. It's an easy taxi ride there and back. I recommend getting there early so you can explore. The beach is really nice - there are even snorkeling spots. There is a pool and sea lion show and a couple of food options and bars. When you arrive you can add on the lunch buffet. It's a really nice day.

We did the push/pull one also in 2017. We're doing another WC next Jan, haven't decided if we'll stay on the ship or not. What did you get to do as part of the sea lion one? Did you notice if they now have manatees? They didn't in 2017, but I thought I read somewhere that they do now. If we go back there I will book on our own.

 

[KashasMom]

We did the push/pull one also in 2017. We're doing another WC next Jan, haven't decided if we'll stay on the ship or not. What did you get to do as part of the sea lion one? Did you notice if they now have manatees? They didn't in 2017, but I thought I read somewhere that they do now. If we go back there I will book on our own.

When we did the push/pull in Feb 2017 they took us into the manatee area. It was very brief and the platform was super slippery. We were supposed to feed the manatee lettuce but didn't and no photos taken there either. The sea lion was only for my daughter. You have to really love sea lions. It was a limited amount of time and we were in the water when she swam by, made faces, kissed us, etc. It was not active at all but my daughter loved it and that's what mattered. It's not something I would do again. If you saw the show, I think it's a lot of that except you're in the water with the sea lion.

One of our favorite Cozumel excursions was the baby sea turtle release but...I don't think you can do it in Jan.

 

[LAX]

For those of you that booked on your own, did you just have the cost covered by trip insurance in the event of an unexpected itinerary change?

LAX

 

[Samantha Morgan]

We did the Dolphinarius Encounter with our kids a few years ago, on a Carnival Excursion. The Dolphinarius facility was nice, But be warned the photo packages are CRAZY expensive.

 

[cedricandsophie]

For those of you that booked on your own, did you just have the cost covered by trip insurance in the event of an unexpected itinerary change?

LAX

If there’s an itinerary change because of weather, etc. then you would not be charged. And if someone got sick st the last minute my experience has been that Disney is very good about not charging. If you sign up and don’t show up you get charged. i suppose you could add the value of the excursion to your overall trip Insurance but not sure how you would get your money back if you just want to cancel at the last minute.

 

[KashasMom]

For those of you that booked on your own, did you just have the cost covered by trip insurance in the event of an unexpected itinerary change?

LAX

I am pretty sure that I read on their site that you are not charged in the event of an itinerary change. I'd suggest you check though. (I do think that is pretty standard for any good excursion company in the event of an itinerary change.)

 

[ChicosWife]

Has anyone done either the Dolphin encounter at Dolphinaris (CZ26) or Dolphin encounter, lunch, drinks and beach (CZ04) in Cozumel Mexico and if so can you share your experience and if you would recommend it?

Yes, we did it and it was great! We got to interact with the the dolphin and afterwards, we got to explore the rest of the park. They also have a pool, tequila tasting and other animals to look at. Our kids really liked it.

 

[Minnie368]

We booked on our own through dolphin discovery. Their current cancellation policy is below. We had trip insurance that would have covered it if we needed to cancel because rescheduling for another day obviously wouldn’t have worked for us. The savings was well worth it though we saved 50% and now it looks like they’re offering 25% off. Don’t know how often that changes. Transportation wasn’t included but getting a taxi was easy. Lunch was included. Also the manatee experience was added in at the end which we hadn’t been expecting.

 

[ForMyBoys]

We did what I assume is the same as CZ04 through Royal Caribbean. It was at Chankanaab and included lunch, Dolphin push/pull and beach after. It was a great excursion and we would highly recommend it. We also had a wide range of ages. Age 6 through 62.