dolphins?

[andersonsc]

We are going on our first cruise next year!!! My son just asked if we might see any dolphins or other ocean life from the cruie ship. I didn't know the answer to this so thought someone on the boards might tell us if you've seen any dolphins. We are a little landlocked here in New Mexico so not sure what to expect when we get to the ocean! Thanks for any replies to our question.

 

[Mouse Maineac]

We are going on our first cruise in July. DD asked me the exact same question tonight. Has anyone seen dolphins while on board the cruise ship?

 

[Fire14]

I know at times dolphins have been spotted "escorting" ship out of Port Canvaneral other than that I didn't see any sea life from boat but not saying it couldn't happen.

 

[skylynx]

We have seen dolphins a couple of times around the ship while docked at Port Canaveral between boarding around noon and sailaway, and once escorting the ship out the canal. Very cool!

 

[justmestace]

The area between the Disney ships and the other ship that's docked right next to it (sorry, I don't even remember what cruise line it is!) often has a dolphin or two swimming in it, and yes, sometimes they follow the ship out of port.
Very seldom have we seen much of anything once the ship is out in the ocean. You're more likely to see something as you're entering port early in the mornings.

 

[paulasillars]

I've seen dolphins a number of times from the Disney ship - also on the Panama Canal we saw lots of sea turtles and flying fish.

On cruises around Hawaii and Australia, I've seen lots of whales - including one that came up so close to the ship I heard breathing before I saw it.

There is a real "knack" for spotting them - you are looking for dolphins typically for "splashing" unless they are right next to the ship, for whales you are looking for what looks like a vapor in the distance which is the water being vaporised as the whale breathes.

 

[slmarkert]

We didn't see any dolphins while on our 4-night, but we did see them the evenings before and after when we went out to eat on the canal. The night before we left, we went and watched the Magic leave and ate at Grills and the evening we got back, we ate at Fishlips and watched the Wonder go out again. The 2nd time, we must have seen 6 or 7 in a pod.

 

[daipp]

We saw them at Port Canaveral and after we left Antigua in 2006 - it's a great sight.

David

 

[stsomewhere]

We saw them in Aug on on western cruise. We were eating brunch in Palo and we watched the dolphins play in the wake. We have also seen sailfish jumping.

 

[KarenFL]

Just got back from a 4-day and we saw them while we were pulling out of the port (Canaveral). We didn't take binoculars to see much while at sea.

HTH!

 

[lborne]

I've seen flying fish out in the open Gulf / Caribbean on most every cruise. They leap out of the water and fly away from the ship.

 

[truck1]

I havent personally seen them from the ship, though I have heard others on the same cruise say they have, and I know that the waters around the port has a lot of dolphins in it. Ive seen a few dolphins in the water along the road leading to the port. You have to keep a sharp lookout though.The water in the canal needs to be fairly calm though.If theres a lot of ship or boat movement, they may not be as active or near as they would if the waters fairly quiet.

The best thing I can say, is to keep looking and pay attention to what the others on deck are saying or doing, A lot of time other guests near you may notice and talk about it, and guest 5 feet away would never know it.The other place I know for sure, is to stand on the starboard side on the way out, as youll pass a few fishing boat docks, and theyll have the catch on the docks.

 

[Lisa Anne Colling]

On our day at sea on the western cruise we had a school of dolphins following beside the ship for a short time. On our last cruise, also western, the ocean was so calm and flat. I looked down and there was a sea turtle in the middle of no where. Gotta be on the look out all the time. We bring binoculars in case we spot something.

 

[inkkognito]

Out of 73 Disney cruises we've only seen sea life a few times. Once it was a sea turtle hanging around the ship while we were docked at Port Canaveral. Twice it was while we were leaving, and they were at the back of the ship (we saw them from our far after verandah). That was during two cruises when the weather was unnaturally cold this winter. On cruise number 50 we were in a spa villa and saw dolphins playing in the ocean below...that was magical!

 

[JKSWonder]

A school of dolphins swam along side the ship, jumping in and out of the water on the last night of our 4 night in October 2009.

It was an accident that we even saw them. My DH went out on the balcony when he heard someone else on another balcony say "Hey, look at that!" He looked down and saw them and called me and my kids out of the cabin to see them.

It was magical. And honestly, the highlight of the cruise for us, just standing out there all together, over the dark ocean and seeing such a beautiful unexpected thing. Better than all of the the other bells and whistles that came along with the cruise (although, those were nice too!). It was such a post card ending to our cruise.

 

[FLORIDA_DAD]

Ever other time we are on DCL , or watching it sail away we see dolphins playing in the port waters. There are at least three or four. When you get on board or before you dembarking look out the port-side windows, or go to deck 4. You may see some.

 

[andersonsc]

thanks everyone for all the info! The kids are even more excited now!