My 2 Cents on Mexican Riviera Shore Excursions

[Brooklyn]

Brooklyn, thanks again for the info on Sea Life Park. I booked the Dolphin Encounter for the 6 of us for the Repo cruise next month. On the email confirmation, it states that they only permit biodegradable sunscreen, and that it is available for purchase in their shops. Did you happen to buy any while you were there? I did find some that I could order online, but then I'd have to pay shipping. I'm wondering if it would be just as cheap to get it there or maybe I could stop in at the Wal Mart in PV first and see if they have it.

Kim

We did not buy their sunscreen. We put sunscreen on before we left the boat and the girls wore rash guards. I heard the sunscreen is really expensive. It would probably be cheaper to get it online then there. There is no one checking though to see what sunscreen you do put on.

 

[discruiser]

We did not buy their sunscreen. We put sunscreen on before we left the boat and the girls wore rash guards. I heard the sunscreen is really expensive. It would probably be cheaper to get it online then there. There is no one checking though to see what sunscreen you do put on.

Okay, thanks. I wondered if maybe they would check your bags and confiscate the regular sunscreen and/or make you shower before entering the pool with the dolphins. I may still order a bottle online (just in case)....

Kim

 

[Tigger1221]

We did the Sea Lion encounter at Sea Life park and Loved it. We also thought the park was clean and nice.

 

[jfletcher]

As for the sunscreen issue, I can report on what happened at the Cabo Dolphin adventure...

No one said anything to us about sunscreen once we were there, but they did ask everyone to shower before getting in the pool. For the Dolphin Swim, we were only in the pool 40 mins or so, and wearing life jackets, so there wasn't that much sun exposure. We put on sunscreen and shirts shortly after getting out of the pool.

I can understand why the Dolphins wouldn't do well if got sunscreen on them from 100 people a day, every single day.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Thank you for posting so much info on this thread!
Some info was posted over on the repo cruise thread and I'm seriously considering cancelling our dolphin swim (thru DCL) to this. In fact I'm on the verge of booking it- but my concern is what happens if you aren't able to make it to that port and you've already paid? I sent them a 'contact us' message but I'm not sure when they'll get back to me.

Anyone who has booked this- did you not have this concern of spending the money now? With DCL if you book it and the ship doesn't make it to that port you're not out any money-- with this you're paying in advance. Did anyone find any info on the website, or when checking out, that mentions anything about this? Or are you just taking the risk- it's cheaper but taking a risk that you lose all the money if your ship doesn't make it there for some reason?

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

I just read this on the website (finally found something that mentioned it!)

Any cancellation or change in your schedule must be done 24 hours in advance.


So...... I guess if you know the day before you won't be making that port you can call or something (somehow?) to cancel?

Oh wait- just found this when checking out- under terms and conditions:
Cancellations
We cannot give refunds for cancellations made with less than 4 days prior to the program date. Any refund will be subject to a 10% administration fee.

So you basically can't cancel. There is no way you'd know 4 days prior... so just take the risk and figure we'll be there? What are really the odds that we won't make it to PV in August?

but wait- further down it says this:
In the event that you are traveling to your chosen location via cruise ship and are unable to complete your reservation due to the late arrival or diversion of the ship, a refund will be given as long as we receive by fax or e-mail a copy of the letter (with logo) issued by the cruise line stating the situation and upon verification with the cruise ship. If unable to keep a reservation due to such event, and if possible, please contact Sea Life Park Vallarta Reservations upon arrival. This will greatly assist us in the resolution of any refund.

So nevermind... I'm booking it. It's saving us almost $500 from the DCL excursion! And that $189pp was really breaking our bank. LOL

Oh and also just FYI- on the swim adventure (not encounter) it says kids ages 8-11 have to be each with a paying adult. Our kids are ages 8, 10 and 14. When I went to book it- I put 2 adults/3 children and it didn't ask the ages and then it told me we couldn't book it because we had to have a paying adult per child. so I assume that means children over age 11 need to be booked as adults (same price anyway).....

then later in the terms and conditions you only find when you're going thru checkout- it says a parent for each child up to age 12!


anyway my point is that I read on here someone saying the ages of their chidren I think 8 and 10 and another one and they were asking if one adult could do it with those 2 children and I am thinking you can't- because of what it says on there. It won't even let you book 2 children and an adult and it says 8-11 have to be each with a paying adult. so I guess for once it's a good thing we have some age differences in our kids and that we only have TWO in that age range and that both DH and myself will be with them. LOL

thanks again for all the awesome detailed information- like which taxis to use (white) and how much it cost to get there and back, how much food cost while there, etc. Even paying for the taxi and paying for the food (DCL excursion says lunch included) it's still going to be cheaper PLUS they have the slides to do also instead of just in with dolphins and back to the magic. yanno?

 

[abayaflowers]

Ok so we just got back today and I wanted to share my 2 cents about our shore excursions...

PUERTO VALLARTA
Sea Life Park
We decided to book this one on our own. Disney does not offer an excursion to this place. This place was GREAT!!!! The dolphin experience was WONDERFUL. The best part of this one is that you can have a child as young as 1 enjoy this experience. Our DD 3 LOVED it. Also children 5 and under are FREE with a paying adult. You just mention at time of booking that you have someone 5 and under.

The cost for the Swim Adventure....ages 8 and up is $99 a person.....a huge savings over Disney's tours. This includes the belly swim, kiss, handshake, boogie board ride and free time. It was AWESOME. DD (7 - we were not so honest about her age but it was well worth it!!!) and I did this one

The Dolphin Encounter is for those ages 1 and up. Adults are $69 and children 6-11 are $59. DH and DD (3) did this one. They are similar and in the pool at the same time. You just don't do the belly ride and boogie board ride. Again, children 1-5 are free on this one!

The taxi ride from the port was about 20 minutes and cost $7 pp. The ride back cost $5 pp. We used the governement approved taxis both times. Other taxi companies are cheaper but not protected in cases of accidents, etc....

The cost of the dolphins ALSO includes admission to the waterpark and use of tubes all day. It was so awesome. There slides were AWESOME and the lazy river was soooooooo relaxing!!!! It was much better then the "kid soup" pools on the magic...

Thank you so much for your information. Our family just returned from the July 6th thru 13th Mexican Riviera Cruise and it was exactly what you described. We loved it! We highly recommend it.

We woke up and found that we were docked across the street from a Wal-Mart. The Royal Carribean was docked next to us. It was humid when we arrived. We also slept in and enjoyed looking out into Puerto Vallarta. The taxi driver spoke English very well. We arrived around 10:30 a.m. to find that the place was nice and not crowded.There were a total of 10 visitors including our selves. It was not crowded until about 2 p.m. in the afternoon. The staff was extremely nice and helpful. There's a great waterslide which DD8 went down with an inner tube. You can check out the inner tube from a window located underneath the water slide. Remember to read the sign on the inner tube. There's a front side and a back side. If you sit in it incorrectly, you will go down the waterslide backwards. The person at the bottom of the slide is there as a lifeguard. He was willing to take my DD8's picture, but I didn't bring an underwater camera. Bummer! We also got two lockers for our family. If you want a locker, you will need to go to the boutique and pay $20 which is refundable if you bring the keys back. There are changing rooms, showers, and bathrooms. Bring some hand-sanitizer or your own handsoap, because there was not any when we went. The lounge chairs were plastic but nice. There is also lunch tables where most of the local visitors eat and then reserve the lounge chairs. I recommend sitting away from the garbage cans, because there were a lot of bees and flies. I also found that there were two broken lounge chairs. So, I recommend looking before lounging. The food was good and inexpensive. We stayed in the "kids area" where my DD5 and sometimes my DD8 would go down the slides. There's a lifeguard there who enforces the age, weight, and limit rules. Remind your children not to climb up the slide, because this lifeguard will give the child one warning. If it happens again, the child was asked to leave the kids area's pool. My DD5 went down all 9 slides. It was also spread out so that it was not crowded. It's very orderly. l loved the poolside service for beverages and food. Jesus was our server. My DD's loved this place and they didn't want to leave. We had lunch around 1 p.m. and started packing it up to leave. There's an icecream shop near the entrance. Again, it was empty. I forgot to mention a couple of things. My DH and my DD8 did the Dolphin Encounter. They loved it and was well-worth it. They wished that they did the Dolphin Swim. They would have loved to ride the boogie board. Also, the pictures were good. I paid $440 Pesos ($44.00) for 4 pictures. There is a DVD available, but we didn't have time to wait. In order to get a taxi, a gentlemen at the front check-in presses a button to call for the taxi. The taxis were very clean. There is no eating in the taxis. We accidentally found about it the hard way. There were a couple of accidents on the way. So, we arrived back at the ship in 30 minutes. The Sea Life Park was well-worth it. Book on-line. Also, we the taxi dropped us off, we had to exit the taxi at the red-life in front of the dock's military entrance. I hope this helps others who are on the future Mexican Riviera Cruise into Puerto Vallarta or PV as some call it.

Thanks again to your posting, Brooklyn.

Geri

 

[abayaflowers]

Thank you for posting so much info on this thread!
Some info was posted over on the repo cruise thread and I'm seriously considering cancelling our dolphin swim (thru DCL) to this. In fact I'm on the verge of booking it- but my concern is what happens if you aren't able to make it to that port and you've already paid? I sent them a 'contact us' message but I'm not sure when they'll get back to me.

Anyone who has booked this- did you not have this concern of spending the money now? With DCL if you book it and the ship doesn't make it to that port you're not out any money-- with this you're paying in advance. Did anyone find any info on the website, or when checking out, that mentions anything about this? Or are you just taking the risk- it's cheaper but taking a risk that you lose all the money if your ship doesn't make it there for some reason?

Hi! I recommend buying travel insurance through Access America. We purchased ours through them. I called them up and the agent was great. You can purchase it up to the time of your cruise. We paid $238.00 for our $11,XXX.XX cruise from which we returned (July 6th to 13th). The insurance covers this risk. We bought the Family Basic Plan, because children under a certain age are free and covered under this plan. It also covers any ports if the ship doesn't arrive.

I hope this helps out.

Geri

 

[SweetSpot]

Thank you so much for the review. We have booked the dolphin adventure and are really looking forward to the day. I know DCL has a dolphin excursion in PV, did you see ship run excursions as Sea Life Park or does anyone know if DCL uses a different facility?

Also, we booked for a family of 5 and our time still shows 10 spaces available on the Sea Life website. Does anyone know how many people they allow during each time for the Dolphin Adventure?

 

[abayaflowers]

Thank you so much for the review. We have booked the dolphin adventure and are really looking forward to the day. I know DCL has a dolphin excursion in PV, did you see ship run excursions as Sea Life Park or does anyone know if DCL uses a different facility?

Also, we booked for a family of 5 and our time still shows 10 spaces available on the Sea Life website. Does anyone know how many people they allow during each time for the Dolphin Adventure?

DCL uses Vallarta Adventures. They provide all of the shore excursions for DCL. Vallarta Adventures uses the Dolphin Adventure Center. All the local visitors told me that the Sea Life Park is better for those families with little ones which I totally agree. My DD5 went down every slide for 4 hours straight except for a drink, bathroom, and lunch break. It's fun. The local visitor's children who were very privileged to interact were very kind and sweet to my DD5 who speaks no Spanish. The most in my DH and DD8's group was 10 (Dolphin Encounter).

Geri

 

[SweetSpot]

I'm happy to hear we won't be over crowded with excursions. My kids are 12, 16 and 18. Will the waterpark be too small for adults and older children? We all love water parks and booked dePalma in Aruba and even though I have read that the waterpark is mostly for young kids. I was hoping it would be a little better at Sea Life.

 

[discruiser]

Brooklyn, thanks again for the info on Sea Life Park. I booked the Dolphin Encounter for the 6 of us for the Repo cruise next month. On the email confirmation, it states that they only permit biodegradable sunscreen, and that it is available for purchase in their shops. Did you happen to buy any while you were there? I did find some that I could order online, but then I'd have to pay shipping. I'm wondering if it would be just as cheap to get it there or maybe I could stop in at the Wal Mart in PV first and see if they have it.

Kim

We did not buy their sunscreen. We put sunscreen on before we left the boat and the girls wore rash guards. I heard the sunscreen is really expensive. It would probably be cheaper to get it online then there. There is no one checking though to see what sunscreen you do put on.

Geri,

What was your experience with the biodegradable sunscreen at Sea Life Park? Did you find that they enforced this rule or checked for it?

Also, do we need to bring our own towels from the ship?

Thanks,
Kim

 

[abayaflowers]

I'm happy to hear we won't be over crowded with excursions. My kids are 12, 16 and 18. Will the waterpark be too small for adults and older children? We all love water parks and booked dePalma in Aruba and even though I have read that the waterpark is mostly for young kids. I was hoping it would be a little better at Sea Life.

I don't have teenagers, but I believe that they would love the lazy river if they want to just relax. You can check out the inner tube from the window located underneath the waterslides. The waterslide with the inner tubes (backwards and forwards). This ride is fast. The funnel ride, which my daughter wanted to do but was told that she was not old enough or tall enough, would be fun for your children. Then, there's the different levels of the waterslides which are color coded. I saw the blue one which had an extreme drop. I saw that one and it was scary to me, but for teenagers, it would be fun. The other waterslides are only, I believe, for teenagers and adults. My daughter went down one of the color-coded waterslide and she said that it was fast and scary.

Geri

 

[abayaflowers]

Geri,

What was your experience with the biodegradable sunscreen at Sea Life Park? Did you find that they enforced this rule or checked for it?

Also, do we need to bring our own towels from the ship?

Thanks,
Kim

Hi, Kim! We put on sunscreen at the ship which was around 9:30 a.m. My husband put on sunscreen when shortly before the experience which was scheduled at 11:15 a.m. He had to put some on. Otherwise, he would end up looking like a cooked lobster after the Dolphin Encounter. I wasn't there when they met at the restaurant. So, I don't know whether they checked everyone out for sunscreen or rinsed them off.

As for the towels, yes, brings towels from the ship before you go. They sell them at the Sea Life Park, but I didn't want to bring another towel home.

I hope you and your family have as much fun as we did.

Geri

 

[Tenears]

What a scam! After seeing these great pictures posted here, we decided to do the Sea Life Water Park in PV. The cheapest ride we could find there was $40 for our family of 5. About half way 10 minutes into the 20 minute trip, the driver asked why we were going there. He thought it had been shut down for weeks. Even the day before we left on the cruise, the Sea Life Park website didn't say anything about being shut down at all. Upon arriving, we found out that there were employees there but the water park was shut down and unless we wanted to go see there pitiful captive fish there was nothing to do. So now we are out $80 for a 40-minute bad cab ride to a dump that I'm sure the cab driver knew was a rip off before he agreed to take us. I would say... STAY AWAY FROM SEA LIFE PARK!!

 

[abayaflowers]

What a scam! After seeing these great pictures posted here, we decided to do the Sea Life Water Park in PV. The cheapest ride we could find there was $40 for our family of 5. About half way 10 minutes into the 20 minute trip, the driver asked why we were going there. He thought it had been shut down for weeks. Even the day before we left on the cruise, the Sea Life Park website didn't say anything about being shut down at all. Upon arriving, we found out that there were employees there but the water park was shut down and unless we wanted to go see there pitiful captive fish there was nothing to do. So now we are out $80 for a 40-minute bad cab ride to a dump that I'm sure the cab driver knew was a rip off before he agreed to take us. I would say... STAY AWAY FROM SEA LIFE PARK!!

That's really unfortunate. Our cab ride only cost us $20.00 for four of us. When we went during our July 6-13th cruise, it was operating and nice. It was no dump. Everyone thought highly of this place. It's too bad that you had a bad experience. I recommend buying traveler's insurance which covers these types of incidents www.accessamerica.com.

 

[Tenears]

You are going out on a limb if you decide to go on your own and try Sea Life Park in PV. There were many Disney families showing up there when we were, based upon this DISboards review, and all of us were furious at the obvious bait and switch scam. Stick with a Disney excursion, and at least you won't be out a bunch of money in cab fares and over an hour of your time only to have seen nothing but a shut down water park that looked in very poor repair, and some poor captive dolphins. DCL doesn't use Sea Life Park for any of its dolphin excursions... we asked the excursion desk, trying to warn others.

 

[Tenears]

We are just back from the 7/20-27 MR. If you are planning on going to Sea Life Park based upon the DISboards review, BEWARE. I checked out the website and thought all looked great and legit. After a $40 cab ride there (cheapest we could find when we got off the ship), we arrived to find a shut down water park. The taxi driver said, after he had taken us all the way there, that this place had been shut down for a while. There website hadn't said anything about a shutdown. After an $80 cab fare, we could hardly wait to get back on the ship and away from PV! Beware! And if you do decide to try this, find a way to call Sea Life Park and check on the amenities available before you go all the way there!

 

[Joy2theWorld]

How many times do you have to post the same thing?

There were other posts on this same topic and people said they received an email saying the park would be closed, but the Dolphin adventures would still be on.

 

[Michelle2]

Yeah, it looks kinda fishy that the poster posted basically the same message on the same thread within 9 minutes of each other.....just curious.