Dolphin Discovery - Cozumel

[Alamo]

We did the Dolphin Discovery in Cozumel 10/18/06, and it's a complete rip off. You're in the water for about 15 minutes with the dolphins, and then you're carted off to a room to view the video they shoot of your group.. Only $29.....what a bargain!!

Other issues:

- Entrance fees of $16 for adults and $8 for children. Entrance to what? There's just a building and a gift shop.... They're rebuilding everything else.. When I asked about this fee, I got a bunch of BS answers. Bottom line - you're paying for construction. Rip off.

- Cameras. Don't plan on taking a camera down with you on the pier when you get into the water... No no. They will (in some cases not so politely) ask you to leave it in the locker or take pictures from afar. Of course, they want you to buy their overpriced pictures $15/ea. of your kid kissing a dolphin. OK, I'm a sucker, and I bought some pictures for my kids, but I felt trapped in the experience. In other words, I wanted my kids to remember it.

They have other "experiences" where you actually ride the dolphins and swim with them. Those look better, but I'm not sure on the prices. Either way, they charge you to take a step in that place. If you absolutely have to do the excursion, do it; however, if you have an alternative in a different port, I would highly recommend re-booking elsewhere.... Sorry to dissappoint the dolphin fans out there, but I feel obligated to speak the truth.

I hope you have a great DCL Cruise.

 

[buster478]

I guess everyone has their own opinion. We did the same Dolphin Swim and had a great time. My kids loved it. We were in the water for about 25 minutes, I guess. No, you are not in the water a long time, and yes it is expensive, but you are paying for more than the 25 minutes in the water. I am sure it costs a lot of money to maintain a park like this, buildings, the part facilities, staff, etc. I am sure dolphins are not cheap to maintain. I had to take my dog to the vet several months ago and it cost me $350. I am sure a dolphin vet is a little more. Yes they are rebuilding, but it looked pretty good after the storms ripped them apart. Hopefully you did your research before you went on this tour. Our entrance fees were included in our tour and you were also able to use the beach. You had to take a bus to get to the beach. A two minute ride. It was nice. Not really a swimming beach but nice. The video was about $29 and we bought three pictures, 2- 8x10 and 1 6x8 for about $24 total. I guess my advice would be to read these boards and decide if it is really worth your time and investment. For my family, it was worth every penny and they would do it again. For others, like yourself, it is not. One of the kids in our party had a reaction to the coral in the water. She leaned up against the fence in the water and the coral on the fence gave her a painful rash. They said to use vinegar to pull out the infection. Be careful. They had the Vinegar and towel for use to use.

 

[Alamo]

Like you said, everyone has a different experience. My son also got a bacterial infection (we believe) from the life vests that may not have been sanitized properly.

Bad analogy on the dog and vet - apples v. oranges.

I don't deny the hurricane had a lot to do with the condition of the building, et al; however, the management had no real explanation for the fees paid, and there was no beach open to the folks (my party) who paid for he "encounter." We asked two different employees what else we could do there and the response was the dolphin encounters - only. Bottom line - if they plan on padding the tourists to pay for the rebuilding, then jack up the fees for the encounter and get rid of the "entrance" fee to nothing...... Oh, and how about some honesty concerning the situation. I would have had no problem with the fees had someone been up front about what they were doing..

The other issue you didn't address is the fact that they corner you into buying their pictures by not allowing cameras down at the dock area. Disney charges a ton for their pictures (which I buy because they're very good..), but they allow you to take pictures of your own as well. This is a bad policy at Dolphin Discovery, and should be changed.

No doubt, dolphins are cool. Seeing them was pretty neat and my kids enjoyed it. We didn't do the swim as your family did, but it was nice to interact with the dolphin. That said, I think there are probably better venues at a better price available either in Cozumel or at other ports. If they're comparable, I would suggest going elsewhere.

My message to future patrons is simple - take my experience and those of others - do your due diligence, and make an informed decision. Best of luck.

 

[sejejoemmiev]

We have this booked for Feb 2007, and your report is making me a little nervous. My hubby and kids ages 1 1/2, 4, and 7 will be doing the Dolphin Encounter (booked at 3:30) and myself and 8 year old son will be doing the swim. (booked at noon) The website makes it look like a huge park with ruins, restauraunt, beach, bird and sea lion shows........ I thought we would have lots to do in the 3 hour time frame while we wait for each dolphin encounter to be done. Is this not the case???????????????????

 

[interested]

That would have put you on the 10/14 cruise. The same as us. There must have been some kind of communication error because we spent the day at Chankanaab. Some of the best snorkeling ever. The beach is BEAUTIFUL and the chairs have been upgraded. I posted pictures on the picture of the day thread. Sorry you were misinformed, no wonder there were only a handful of us at the beach.

 

[nani]

Did you book through DCL or on your own? Planning to "do the dolphins " in Nov, Thanks

 

[interested]

The first time we did the dolphin encounter was when my grand daughter was 17 mos. old. My husband and she LOVED it! We were just there again last week. We took a taxi by ourselves at a cost of $10.00 each way. If you go to the Chankanaab site you can learn what is available to you and the costs. This national park is INCREDIBLE!

http://www.dolphindiscovery.com/cozumel/
Hope this helps!

 

[buster478]

You may or may not have known this but Chankanaab is a national park and you are paying a fee for entry. There are many parks in the US that charge an enterance fee also. To your point, not as much as Chankanaab. My tour cost $110 per person. It included my transportation, entrance fees and the dolphin encounter. I don't believe any of the fees have gone up after the storms. As far as the camaras go, we took water cameras with us to our encounter, as a matter of fact, everyone in our party brought cameras and one family even had someone sitting up on the dock taking pictures. The dolphin encounter employee even video taped her taking pictures. I am sorry you were misinformed about the beach and camaras. That really stinks. I am sorry you were also misinformed about the beach. They had a bar, snorkeling equipment, and nice chairs with grass umbrellas.

I agree with you 100%. people should do their homework before they do any excursion. Unfortunatly, not everyone has the same experience.

 

[Alamo]

Buster - it just goes to show that there's either an employee training issue or they have no real set of standards - re: cameras. Either way, IMO, that's unacceptable. I can't go back and get a "do over" now. I don't have a problem with posted requirements, it's just when we're told one thing and then we're told we can't do it, that really irritates me. Obviously the folks there aren't well versed on the scope of the entrance fees as well.

sejejoemmiev - I think everyone agrees the dolphins are cool, but you can see dolphins at several different ports. Not sure what cruise you've booked. We asked two people about other activities at the facility, because (as you mentioned) they advertise like there's always something to do for hours - other than the dolphin activities. Interested, who posted as well, said they spent time on a beautiful beach. The hand full of people referenced in that post I'm sure enjoyed the beach as well; however, there were a lot of people we spoke to at the facility who were disappointed in the lack of activities (outside the dolphin stuff) available. If you plan on keeping your Dolphin Discovery reservation, contact someone at the facility via e-mail and plan out your activities there. That way you have something in writing to refer to... Frankly, that shouldn't be necessary, but I would strongly recommend it if you're planning on utilizing their facility.

Nani - we booked seperately and saved some bucks. My wife booked the excursion, so I can't tell you how much.

Again, my kids really enjoyed the dolphins; however, I feel obligated to provide an opinion on the overall value of the experience. While the dolphins shined, everything else came up way short.

 

[kwork11]

We did the Dolphin Discovery in Cozumel just a couple of weeks ago also. I would have to agree with Alamo that we are very disappointed with the outcome. No cameras are aloud on the pier, which is frustrating to begin with. But after both of my children, my husband and I got done with the excursion, which was about 15 minutes in the water, we went and looked at the video and then the pictures.
Let me make this very clear, if you are not going to allow cameras be sure to get some once in a lifetime photos of everyone who paid for this. Needless to say they had no photos of myself, my husband or my son. They had two pictures of my daughter....one was ok and we bought it. So needless to say we were not happy at all. I paid for the excursion for all four of us and asked if I did not get in the water if could i just take pictures and they said no. So I am sure you can understand why I was frustrated in the end when now I have no pictures of my son or husband and only one of my daughter.

Did my kids enjoy it....YES! Would i do it again there....no I would not.

Just one more note when we asked about the photos and why we didn't have any...they gave no reason and were very rude....did not even apologize. This to me was totally unacceptable.

If you are wanted to do something with dolphins and will be in Orlando before or after the cruise I would recommend the Discovery Cove. This is truly and enjoyable day!!!!

 

[lrodptl]

We were allowed cameras in the water with us last week. They also allowed cameras on the main pier. We were in the water about 35 mins.

 

[DisneyZell]

Alamo, sorry you had such a bad experience. My son (8 yrs old) and I just got back from Dolphin Discovery (did it on 10/25/06) and we had an amazing time. We did the Royal Swim and it was the best thing we did on the cruise. We were in the water for about 45 min. and just about everyone in our group had waterproof cameras and we were all allowed to take them with us. We are getting ours developed right now, so I don't know how they turned out. I would be very sad if our photos did not come out or the photographer didn't take any pictures of us as it seems like that is what happened to you. We had a great photog. and if he didn't get a good shot, he would have the person re-do their pose for another shot. We ended up buying the video and all the pictures, of course after negociating with them, plus we had a coupon from booking online, so that helped a lot. I was disappointed with the beach area...not very child friendly, so having to pay the the admission was a bummer, but since they are rebuilding, hopefully the money will help get it done sooner and more people will be able enjoy it. Right now I would not recommend just going to Chankanaub park for the beach, but I would highly recommend the Royal Dolphin Swim...I would go back in a second!

 

[clarasunnyside]

Hi everyone

I also was on the 10/21 cruise. I was allowed to take my waterproof camera and took about 20 pictures and no one said anything to me. We were also in the water for about 30 Minutes.

Sorry to hear so many are disappointed but we had a great time.

 

[Alamo]

My kids did have a good time with the dolphins, and I'm glad the policy appears to have changed (cameras). It's unfortunate that the management didn't understand this policy the day we went. I guess it's depends who's on duty..... Luck of the draw is not the way I prefer to plan excursions.

Looks like the admission is simply a building fund. We paid about $50 for nothing in return.... Again, they don't tell you this in advance, nor are they honest about it when questioned.

IMO it boils down to this - when you have trained dolphins, it's kind of hard to mess up an activity. Dolphins don't disappoint. Unfortunately, having great dolphins doesn't translate into a professionally run organization. Dolphin Discovery is anything but professionally run.

On our next cruise, we will do a dolphin excursion again - at a place that allows cameras every day....

Thanks for the continued dialog. Much appreciated.

 

[lrodptl]

BTW,we paid $132 per person through Disney.

 

[Alamo]

We paid around $80 I think...... My wife booked the excursion direct to save $$.. In any event, the entrance fee is still a rip off.... Thanks...!