Excursion - private or not

[tchan03]

Helo

I will be on Oasis of the seas within 3 weeks , and i am still struggling with my decision , in term of whether i should go with cruise Dolphins Encounter excursion at Cozumel Mexico or go with private Dolpins excursion.

Advantage with cruise: WIth cruise excursion, i think if there is cancellation due to weather or whatever, i think cruise may refund me back . With private one, i highly doubt it.

Advantage with private one: Cheaper, and timing is more flexible. but there is other risk such as i have to take taxi (safe?)

Q1. What do you think?
Q2 In term of timing, if i really book cruise excursion 1 day before cruise trip starts , do i run the risk that everything is full , and i can`t join anymore?

Thanks
TC

 

[sam_gordon]

Helo

I will be on Oasis of the seas within 3 weeks , and i am still struggling with my decision , in term of whether i should go with cruise Dolphins Encounter excursion at Cozumel Mexico or go with private Dolpins excursion.

Advantage with cruise: WIth cruise excursion, i think if there is cancellation due to weather or whatever, i think cruise may refund me back . With private one, i highly doubt it.

Advantage with private one: Cheaper, and timing is more flexible. but there is other risk such as i have to take taxi (safe?)

Q1. What do you think?
Q2 In term of timing, if i really book cruise excursion 1 day before cruise trip starts , do i run the risk that everything is full , and i can`t join anymore?

Thanks
TC

We have visited Cozumel twice (once on Oasis, once on Freedom). Both times we booked directly with Dolphin Discovery at Chakanaab. As you mentioned, it's cheaper, and you have more flexibility with time.

Yes, if you wait too long, the time you want may sell out. But it is a gamble. If you pay early and the ship doesn't make it, you're probably out the money.

If you decide to book directly, some notes:

1) For us, Oasis (and Freedom) stayed on ET and Cozumel was on CT. Which means although the ship itinerary said we would dock at 10am, it was actually 9am local. That allowed us to book the 10am swim.
2) You are on your own for transportation, but taxi rates have already been negotiated ($11US one way for two people + tip). When you get off the ship, follow the signs for the taxi stand. All the ship excursions will have meeting places on the dock. Those are only for those on ship excursions (we saw the sign for 'Dolphin Discovery' and got in line. We didn't know better).
3) I don't *THINK* the ship's excursion includes lunch, while the private one does.
4) I would *NOT* do the Dolphin Encounter. I would do the Dolphin Swim Adventure at minimum. Yes, it's $30 more for adults (kids are the same price between the two), but you do SO much more.

My full review of our Oasis trip is in my signature, Cozumel is on page 6, starting with post 108: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1863074&page=6

 

[Indpartyof5]

We cruised the Freedom in October 2014 with another family. They booked the dolphin excursion through RCL before boarding. We had planned to go to the same park, Chakanaab, but planned to buy at the gate. I researched on trip advisor in advance and had it all planned out. Well, there happened to be a hurricane in the Caribbean on our cruise. While it didn't affect our ship, many others were rerouted to different ports. The night before we ported in Cozumel, I got really nervous that they would fill up and my family of 5 would not be able to get in. We had totally talked up this excursion to our kids and I would have been devastated if we disappointed them. I went to the port excursion desk at 8:30 that night to sign up for the ship excursion. They put an excursion brochure in your room when your board. In that brochure, they were running a special Buy one get one child free. It worked out great for us. The excursion cost about $100 per person. We paid $300 for our family. The other family who booked in advance paid $500 for thir family of 5. We took a chance of it being unavailable, but we would have gotten that deal from the time we boarded. We are current planning a RCL cruise in Alaska this summer. I am tempted to wait to book excursions until we board, hoping for the same deal. But again, I ama nervous Nellie and fear it will book up and we will be out of luck.

You can wait until you board to see if there is a deal. If not, you can book online while on the ship. You will have to pay for Internet, but may plan to do that anyway. On a side note, this same family joined our private excursion in Grand Caymen at the last minute too. I just emailed our tour company while on board to see if there was space. Again, it worked out. Given a busier season, it may not have. Good luck! It was a great trip and worth the very expensive pictures, which we negotiated down from their original price.

 

[bigtony777]

We almost always book with a private company. You should get a refund if weather prevents the ship for docking or going on the excursion. You have fewer people, costs less, and you get to do more with most private verse cruise ship excursions.