My DD-6 and I are doing the Dolphin Encounter in Tortola. I assume most Dolphin Encounters are similar. Has anyone's child ever "chickened" out when they got there? She hasn't talked about being scared, but when it comes down to it, I'm worried she will be.

it will just be the two of us on our cruise, so we will not have anyone to take pics at the Dolphin Encounter. I am planning on buying the pics and video if video is an option. Has anyone bought a pic and video package at Tortola or other port's Dolphin Encounter? If so, were you happy and about how much did it run?

My DD-6 and I are doing the Dolphin Encounter in Tortola. I assume most Dolphin Encounters are similar. Has anyone's child ever "chickened" out when they got there? She hasn't talked about being scared, but when it comes down to it, I'm worried she will be.



I did the one offered by the same company in Hawaii and I did see some smaller kids chicken out. What I saw seemed to have more to do with their comfort in deeper water (where I was, the dolphins would/could only go up to a certain depth). And nobody was making dolphins do anything they didn't want to; if a kid was hesitant and stayed hesitant (the trainers give a lot of help), that was that. So basically if a kid is really little or short or very nervous in the water it might not be the best experience. (I saw a couple of nervous adults, too. Squeamish about animals or non-swimmers.) Most kids loved it. I'd guess maybe four years is the bottom age range unless they are very comfortable with their feet not touching bottom.

This dolphin-loving adult was disappointed in the limited interaction and the fact that the dolphins did not suddenly fall in magic, mystical love with me, giving their trainers the boot. Sigh. I get to see wild dolphins fairly often, just not so close. I got more enjoyment watching these dolphins sleeping and doing their normal behaviors at night, when it was just me and the night watchwoman.

We did a Dolphin excursion in the Bahamas, on our Disney cruise. We did not do the Dolphin Encounter, where you swim with the Dolphins. There was another option, where you stand on a platform, and the Dolphin comes to you, and lets you pet it, give it a hug, etc.. We all enjoyed it, and got great pictures and video. My younger daughter loved it, and was very comfortable. Check the excursion list, and see if they have a similar option.

I just looked at the excursion and it says "This is not a swim with the dolphins excursion, you are on a 4 foot deep platform". So, hopefully, that will be fine and neither of us will chicken out.

Oh, I'm glad you checked. How tall is your daughter, though. Will she be comfortable on a 4'deep platform?

She may not be able to touch, but she is used to that depth of water and they still give you life vests, so she should be ok.

My younger daughter is very tiny, for her age, and she was not afraid at all. The platform is right by the dock. The dolphin was highly trained, and responded to the trainer's whistle commands. We had a blast.

We did the dolphin encounter on Cozumel January 2007.

Be warned - we purchased the DVD but when we got home it wouldn't play. Kept giving us a "Incompatible format" message.

We do have the pix to remember it by though.

Amy

Oh geez. One of my daughter's friends did it in Cozumel, I know they got the pics, but not sure about the DVD. Do you happen to remember about how much the pics and DVD cost?

We got a package in Nassau, and our DVD worked fine. We got several pictures, and extras like key rings, and the DVD, which documented our entire encounter. I'm thinking it was close to $100 for the package.

Thanks:)

I'm pretty sure that we spent around $100 (maybe a little more) for photos and video when we did the dolphin encounter excursion when we went to Puerto Vallarta on the Magic in 2005.

It is *so* fun to watch the video and relive that ride on the dolphin belly!! Wow!

Thanks Mary:) I can't wait...less than 3 weeks until we are on the Magic!!!