Dolphin Swim Help and Recommendations

[CrazyPhillyDisneyFamily]

We have 2 cruises next year, one in early March on the Magic that goes to Cozumel and one in early November on the Wish that goes to Nassau. My mom wants to buy the kids a dolphin swim for Hanukkah for one of the cruises. The kids will be 9 and 7 in March and 10 and 8 in November.

I've narrowed it down to either Dolphinaris in Cozumel or Blue Lagoon in Nassau. Has anyone on here done both? If so, which would you recommend? Any insight?

We are leaning towards Blue Lagoon in Nassau as we are really interested in Xel-Ha in Cozumel as well even though it is kinda a hike from the port. I also feel like Cozumel has more to offer in terms of excursions vs Nassau. Price is not important as my mom is fine with either cost.

 

[Colo17]

While we have done the swim multiple times from Chankanaab Dolphin Discovery, we are doing the Dolphinaris one next time for 7 year old granddaughter. Reason is that when booked through Disney they really limit the dolphin behaviors for that age group at Dolphin Discovery. Our granddaughter loves dolphins and would be very disappointed at not getting a dorsal fin pull - she did that at 6. But she probably will be limited to Disney tours on our next cruise. For your March cruise you should be able to do either of these on your own. You really can't do everything at the Chankanaab park during a ship tour - need more time.

We would highly recommend booking Dolphin Discovery tours through their web site rather than Disney. You will need to arrange your own transportation (<$20 cab each way at Cozumel) but you can stay as long as you like, use the pool, shows, activities and snorkeling area, and get the same drinks with lunch. But MUCH CHEAPER, and you can pick the dolphin experience you like. If we could do this on our next cruise we would book the Royal Swim for her. Two dolphins and she would love the roman ride (stand up on two dolphins).

Just remember on all the dolphin experiences that photos are extra - plan on $100-200 for the family.

We liked Blue Lagoon although didn't do dolphin experience there. Slightly smaller area than Dolphin Discovery but from what we could see, similar. Food there is better variety than at Chankanaab. Ferry can be kind of rough 20 minutes or so once you get past Atlantis.

Speaking of ferries, all the tours on the mainland from Cozumel require both a ferry and bus ride. Typically 45 minutes each, in both directions. New ferries are better than old, but we saw people getting seasick just getting to shore when our ship couldn't dock one time. Just remember you will lose a minimum of 3 hours of your 8 hour tour just getting to Xel-Ha.

 

[CrazyPhillyDisneyFamily]

While we have done the swim multiple times from Chankanaab Dolphin Discovery, we are doing the Dolphinaris one next time for 7 year old granddaughter. Reason is that when booked through Disney they really limit the dolphin behaviors for that age group at Dolphin Discovery. Our granddaughter loves dolphins and would be very disappointed at not getting a dorsal fin pull - she did that at 6. But she probably will be limited to Disney tours on our next cruise. For your March cruise you should be able to do either of these on your own. You really can't do everything at the Chankanaab park during a ship tour - need more time.

We would highly recommend booking Dolphin Discovery tours through their web site rather than Disney. You will need to arrange your own transportation (<$20 cab each way at Cozumel) but you can stay as long as you like, use the pool, shows, activities and snorkeling area, and get the same drinks with lunch. But MUCH CHEAPER, and you can pick the dolphin experience you like. If we could do this on our next cruise we would book the Royal Swim for her. Two dolphins and she would love the roman ride (stand up on two dolphins).

Just remember on all the dolphin experiences that photos are extra - plan on $100-200 for the family.

We liked Blue Lagoon although didn't do dolphin experience there. Slightly smaller area than Dolphin Discovery but from what we could see, similar. Food there is better variety than at Chankanaab. Ferry can be kind of rough 20 minutes or so once you get past Atlantis.

Speaking of ferries, all the tours on the mainland from Cozumel require both a ferry and bus ride. Typically 45 minutes each, in both directions. New ferries are better than old, but we saw people getting seasick just getting to shore when our ship couldn't dock one time. Just remember you will lose a minimum of 3 hours of your 8 hour tour just getting to Xel-Ha.

Thank you! We have about $850 in FCC and so we were going to book through Disney so we didn't have to spend our own money! But I will look into booking it on our own now and save that money for extra food and drinks