We did the Dolphin Encounter in January with 4 kids (13, 11, 9, & 6). You take a 45 minute ferry ride over to Blue Lagoon Island from the ship and then you walk over to the Dolphin area. They take you all into a sitting area and explain about Dolphins and the do's and don'ts about your encounter. Then they take all of you down to the dolphins and divide you up into groups of about 30 or so. You then go down to your underwater platform and sit on the edge (all but two of the encounter areas are covered with a canopy). They then take each family and you have your picture taken with the dolphin kissing 1 of your family members. After that you all sit back down and the trainer does some talking and then takes you in groups of about 10 (there was my family of 6 and another family of 4) and you get to stand in the water (waist high for adults) in a line and you each get to do a bunch of hands on activities with the dolphin. Our trainer was so funny, he kept things lively and very amusing. You are with the dolphin for about 15-20 minutes in your group and then you get to leave when your group is done. We were the first group to go so we had more than enough time on the island. You could pick from a 2 pm or a 4 pm ferry back to the ship, so there is plenty of time to spend on the island if you want to relax.
My kids absolutely loved the Dolphin Encounter and if you can get a reservation I would take it and go experience it!
