Blue Lagoon Dolphin Swim/Encounter or stay on ship in Nassau

[mrsgthatsme]

We will be cruising with our 8 year old and 11 year old in April. I have been really struggling with the decision between going to Blue Lagoon or staying on the ship in Nassau. It will be a 4 day, so our only other port is CC. DD loves animals and I think she would really would enjoy either the encounter or swim, but I don't think my son would enjoy it enough to be worth the price tag. DS has never been to the ocean, so one of my fears is that if for some reason weather didn't cooperate and we couldn't dock at CC, he would completely miss that experience. Also, part of me thinks that they would love being on the quieter ship that day if we stayed (the Aquaduck is one of the things they are most looking forward to!) as they are not kids that need to be super busy and scheduled and enjoy low key days. However, I wonder if they would get stir crazy being docked all day and not getting off? Also, my daughter and I are self admittedly wimpy travelers, and I personally hate the atmosphere of the straw market and port area. I have also heard recently that there is a LOT of waiting involved before the Blue Lagoon excursions (at the meeting location, at the port waiting for the bus, waiting for the ferry, etc...) I have also heard some say that they had to walk much further from the bus to the ship than from the ship to the bus and that the walk was pretty jangling with all of the vendors, etc... Can anyone speak to their experience with this? So our options are the following:
1) Stay on the boat.

2) Send DD11 and my husband to the dolphin swim or encounter and have me stay on the ship with DS8.

3) All go to Blue Lagoon; DD and DH as participants and DS and myself as observers and then all hit the beach at Blue Lagoon after. (I assume observers are allowed to do this?)

4) Take a different excursion. (Open to suggestions

I would really appreciate input as I have been mulling this over for weeks and making no progress whatsoever! Thanks!

 

[dcassetta]

A day at Blue Lagoon is really nice, and the beach there has plenty of loungers and shade and some things for the kids to jump around on even if you don't pay extra for the slides and things. We did the sea lion encounter instead of the dolphin encounter, but really enjoyed it. You'll gather in one of the lounges on deck, walk outside, and walk a relatively short distance over to where the Blue Lagoon boat will pick you up. When you get on the boat, you do not walk through the vendor area. There will be some waiting. Waiting in the lounge for the people who don't show up on time, a little bit of waiting outside the ship while you get your wristbands, and then's perhaps waiting on the boat while everybody gets loaded. The ride over to blue Lagoon is about 30 minutes or so. They play music and the captain off and points out interesting things to see. When you return, they'll drop you off in about the same place, but you will need to walk through the vendor area to get back on the ship.

 

[vaidas]

We loved the blue lagoon dolphin encounter and the beaches/water at blue lagoon. Very beautiful but also weather dependent. There is little cover or to do if weather isn’t good.

The encounter took about 1.5 hours and we felt we definitely got our money’s worth (we did the encounter not the swim).

 

[mrsgthatsme]

We loved the blue lagoon dolphin encounter and the beaches/water at blue lagoon. Very beautiful but also weather dependent. There is little cover or to do if weather isn’t good.

The encounter took about 1.5 hours and we felt we definitely got our money’s worth (we did the encounter not the swim).

Thanks for the feedback! Did you feel the beaches/experience was enough fun that you would bring another child and adult in the family as observers that were not planning on doing the encounter?

Also curious to know how you decided between the encounter and swim and if you were glad you went that route after the experience. Thanks!

 

[vaidas]

I would definitely do it for the beach alone next time. My wife said she liked it more than castaway!

If you split the party you will spend at least 1.5 hours apart (I don’t think they can watch as the encounter areas is separate from the beach area). Other than that, as I said I would do it for the beach (I think the encounter is a once in 10 years+ experience).

The reason we didn’t go with the swim was price. We would have done the swim for just the kids but they were too young to do it without us. It seemed like the swim was the encounter plus the push, and the cost differential was too high in my opinion.

 

[mrsgthatsme]

I would definitely do it for the beach alone next time. My wife said she liked it more than castaway!

If you split the party you will spend at least 1.5 hours apart (I don’t think they can watch as the encounter areas is separate from the beach area). Other than that, as I said I would do it for the beach (I think the encounter is a once in 10 years+ experience).

The reason we didn’t go with the swim was price. We would have done the swim for just the kids but they were too young to do it without us. It seemed like the swim was the encounter plus the push, and the cost differential was too high in my opinion.

Thanks so much for the insight! I am thinking that if we signed up for the observer excursion rather than the beach day we would be able to watch DD and DH then connect for the beach portion? Interesting to hear that it sounds like the foot push is the only main difference. It’s almost $100 more for the swim, so that’s hard to justify for me. Was the beach rocky or rough at all? Assuming since it’s private there are no local vendors approaching you while you’re on the island? I love that about CC.... you can just relax uninterrupted.

 

[vaidas]

I’m sure the swim had more too it but our family was thrilled with the encounter. I’m not sure what the observer is, don’t recall that as an option. One note is that the all in photo/video package was ~$140 and includes everything. If you do the swim it includes a video of your swim. Same cost if you don’t do the swim (includes a video of about 10 mins of your encounter).

Regarding the beaches: they have plenty of options. To the left of where you dock is a beautiful quiet manicured cove (the sand was awesome) with lifeguards (that were on their phones most of the time) and calm water. You can also walk to small exposed beaches with a stronger surf and more natural feel(ie rocky). With my 6 and 10 yo boys, we stayed in the cove. They have free tubes to use in the cove.

No one bothered us but food is available for $ as are snacks. We did not try the food so can’t speak to it.

I tried to attach some pics of the cove area... first time trying it not sure if it worked.

 

[mrsgthatsme]

I’m sure the swim had more too it but our family was thrilled with the encounter. I’m not sure what the observer is, don’t recall that as an option. One note is that the all in photo/video package was ~$140 and includes everything. If you do the swim it includes a video of your swim. Same cost if you don’t do the swim (includes a video of about 10 mins of your encounter).

Regarding the beaches: they have plenty of options. To the left of where you dock is a beautiful quiet manicured cove (the sand was awesome) with lifeguards (that were on their phones most of the time) and calm water. You can also walk to small exposed beaches with a stronger surf and more natural feel(ie rocky). With my 6 and 10 yo boys, we stayed in the cove. They have free tubes to use in the cove.

No one bothered us but food is available for $ as are snacks. We did not try the food so can’t speak to it.

I tried to attach some pics of the cove area... first time trying it not sure if it worked.

Wow! That looks lovely! Not very crowded looking either! Thanks for sharing the photos and your experiences. Sounds like it might be worth DS and I coming along for the beach experience alone!

 

[antlawn]

We have went to the Blue Lagoon twice. Never did the swim/encounter things. Just went for the beach day. There are lots of loungers/chairs, hammocks in the trees, sand volleyball courts, and a nice lunch area with good food. I think your basic excursion cost includes lunch.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Our grand children were 8,9,10, we were 5 adults with them and the encounter was wonderful.

 

[ForMyBoys]

We have went to the Blue Lagoon twice. Never did the swim/encounter things. Just went for the beach day. There are lots of loungers/chairs, hammocks in the trees, sand volleyball courts, and a nice lunch area with good food. I think your basic excursion cost includes lunch.

Dito for us. We weren't interested in the swim/encounter as we had done that elsewhere, but the day at Blue Lagoon is one of our favorites. I'd pick that excursion again in a heart beat. The water there was warmer than Castaway and was just such a nice day.

 

[TrishaK]

We did the encounter. The observers get to walk to the encounter area and take photos of their family members during the dolphin meet. But the observation area is a bit away from the actual dolphin area; might still want to purchase the blue lagoon photos.
I assume observers can use the beach. I think it's open to all in the island.
When we were dropped off to head back to the boat, street vendors weren't bad. The old market area was going through reconstruction at the time.

 

[disneyholic family]

we did the blue lagoon dolphin swim and LOVED it!!!
but the encounter also looked really good...
we've done many dolphin swims over the years and blue lagoon is definitely one of the best run ones we've seen...
and the dolphins are treated really well...

the difference between the encounter and the swim, is that you have to be able to swim for the swim....but not for the encounter..

you are in very deep ocean water for the swim...

but if you can swim, it's a lot of fun out there with the dolphins....especially when they do the push...
if you go on youtube, you'll find lots of videos of both the encounter and the swim..

in our swim group we had a small boy - i think about 8 years old, who could swim but not well....he also did fine...
everyone has to wear a swim vest...

we did the morning excursion, went on the swim and went right back to the ship...

so we had dolphin time and ship time..

.