Dolphin Encounter in St. Maarten

[nutz4dzny]

I just signed up for this with DCL. I am going on the the 7 day Eastern Cruise in May. Has anyone done this and what did you think? I have time to cancel if I want. I would like some feedback if possible! Thanks!

 

[poconoboatniks]

We did the dolphin swim through DCL 2 years ago and then the dolphin swim in Nassau on our own. Everyone agreed that the Blue Lagoon swim in Nassau was better than the Anguilla/St. Maarten excursion. If this is your only chance to swim with the dolphins then do it. Anguilla is a 45 boat ride from St. Maarten and is a BEAUTIFUL island. After our dolphin swim, we had a buffet lunch (just ok) and then we had 2 hours or so on the beach. We rented floats for $5 and had a great time. Since then, I've seen Anguilla in some of the travel magazines. The articles were about how the island is becoming a place for celebs. We didn't see any while we were there.

pocono

 

[D-Daddy]

We went on the Anguila dolphin excursion in February - me, DW, DS-9 and DD-11. DS and DD loved the dolphins -- you absolutely do get in the water with them, kiss them, dance with them, etc., but the wildest part of the day was one that we didn't expect. The 45-minute ferry boat ride was the wildest (bumpiest) boat ride I had ever been on. I've been on the wildest roller coasters in the world and this was more upsetting than any of them!

We were constantly flying up in the air then slamming back into the water, then back up, then down..... A couple of people inside the boat got pretty sick and a few people riding on the outside got completely soaked. My DW would never have gone on it if she had any idea. (She said that the banana boats on CC were tame and fun compared to that wild ferry boat ride.)

I thought the food was just fine -- nothing wierd that my kids turned up their noses at, and the Anguila beach was absolutely beautiful. My kids liked it much more than the Castaway Cay beach. It was warmer and the sand was perfectly clean and soft (no broken seashells). The waves were great and little fish were constantly jumping around in the water. I think my kids may have enjoyed the beach at the dolphin encounter even more than the dolphins!

They do a hard sell on the video and photos at the end. The photos were pretty good, really, and by "recoiling in horror" at the first price they offered, my DW got them to cut the price in half in about 3 seconds. (I read someone else say that in Nassau they couldn't even get their pictures??)

-Jeff

 

[nutz4dzny]

Thanks so much for the info! I guess I better take my Bomine for the boat ride. I also appreciate the tip about the pictures. I am like your wife, I will always ask for a better deal!

 

[Hanover]

Hi Nuts4dzny, when are you cruising in May? We are going on the May 13th Eastern and have also signed up for the dolphin excursion and a snorkel/beach day in St. John.

I am a bit worried myself about the boat ride to the dolphin encounter and the one from St. Thomas to St. John. We have 2 sons (5 and 8) and the youngest gets quite sea sick on small boats. I also get sea sick, but will be wearing my patch all week. I'm hoping for the best.

We did the Blue Lagoon Dolphin encounter in Nassau in February 2005 and we all loved it. It was a LOT better than the dolphin encounter in Cozumel we did in November 2004.

 

[kb1esx]

Hi All,

Are there any other 'Dolphin' opportunites on the 'Eastern' cruise?

Thanks.

David

 

[nutz4dzny]

Hanover,

We are going on the same cruise! It will be the 3 of us. My sister and her 11 year old daughter and myself. My son who is 21 and my husband will be going scuba diving that day. So we will meet up! I am hoping for the best with the ferry boat ride also. I guess I will eat a VERY light breakfast or risk hanging my head over the side of the ferry LOL! But I am looking forward to this excursion since I have never done anything like this before.

 

[Hanover]

Nuts4dzny-
That's great! Come join our cruise thread for May 13th up on the cruise meets link (when you click on Disney Cruise Line it's near the top of the page by the cruise trip reports). There's quite a few of us corresponding and several that have just recently joined. " Dr. Cavin" has also made a yahoo site for May cruisers that you can click on and join as well. Looking forward to meeting you,

Danielle

 

[crystaldri]

We did this in April 05. I guess if you never did this it would be worth it but I'd rather do the royal swim in Cozumel (which we will do at a later date). My husband didn't think it was worth it but my kids enjoyed it. I would not do it again (not enough activity with the dolphins) Hard decision to make, I know I was in your position not long ago wondering the same thing. I guess you will never know unless you try it yourself. I wasn't too impressed.

 

[nutz4dzny]

Hanover

I will do that! I would love to meet more people and talk to them about our upcoming cruise especially since this is my 1st cruise.

Crystaldri,

I guess you have to take what you can get since this is the only one they offer and my niece is dying to just "touch" the dolphins. I will post a trip report when I get back and let others know what we thought. We will keep a positive attittude and hope for the best! Thanks for your input.

 

[Hanover]

Nuts4dzny-

Sounds great! See you on the May 13th cruise meets thread!

 

[crystaldri]

I had people telling me not to do it on disboards but had to try it for myself anyway cause it was important to us. I'm glad we did it other wise we'd never of known what it was really like. If youv'e never been that up close with a dolphin ,go for it! The beach was beautuful! Its only money,right? Thats what we work for.I think you'd regret it if you didn't try it cause everyone has a different opinion. Have fun and I agree keep a positive outlook.The ferry ride was nice for us.

 

[Dixielady908]

I have been debating do the dolphin swim also...my question is..it says that the tour is 7-712 hours....so are we there for the whole day? I would like to see other things on St Maarten and not have to spend the whole day in one area....thanks

Denise

 

[D-Daddy]

I had people telling me not to do it on disboards but had to try it for myself anyway cause it was important to us. I'm glad we did it other wise we'd never of known what it was really like. If youv'e never been that up close with a dolphin ,go for it! The beach was beautuful! Its only money,right? Thats what we work for.I think you'd regret it if you didn't try it cause everyone has a different opinion. Have fun and I agree keep a positive outlook.The ferry ride was nice for us.

I was the person who wrote saying that the boat ride there and back was wild and it was!! But I have to think that it was an unusual occurence and it can't be that bad most of the time.

Yes, the dolphins were wonderful and amazing, the food was just fine, and the beach was outstanding. We actually prefered the Anguila dolphin beach far more than the beach at Castaway Cay.

Our boat ride was insane, but yours may be smooth as glass.

As I recall, we left the boat around 11 or 11:30 and were back between 5:30 and 6:00.

PS: My DS-9 got a big bruise on his leg from one of the dolphins swimming by. He was very proud of that bruise and showed it to all the kids back home.

-Jeff

 

[nutz4dzny]

Dixielady908 - That is a very good question, can anyone answer it? Are we actually there 7 - 7 1/2 hrs? In that one area?


poconoboatniks - writes about celebs going to Anguilla, well yesterday I was getting my hair done and I was reading a rag mag and it said that Brad Pitt and Angloina sp? were just spotted there on the beach! So we will have to keep our eyes open for celebs although I probably wouldn't recognize anyone if I saw them in person! LOL!

 

[crystaldri]

With the transportation back and forth it did take the whole day, we didn't have time for anything else.