A Dolphin Encounter

Somewhere near the coast of the beautiful island of Cozumel I had and experience that I’d never forget as long as I live. Before I can tell you, what happened, I must tell you the events that preceded it. In the year 2004, my brother convinced the family to go on a cruise. We had so much fun that we went again in 2007. That was the end of our cruise-going journeys for the time.

My sister, brother-in-law, and nieces continued to go on cruises and tried to talk the rest of us into going. We wanted to go, but due to money and health issues we just couldn’t. Then in 2018 and 2019 we lost 4 members of a 6-person, 3 generation household. This was a bigger financial (as well as emotional) setback leaving me with my meager funds taking care of the household bills. Add to that the fact that the pandemic started the following year. Yet my sister continued to speak fondly of the cruises that she had taken, trying to convince me and my mother to go on one.

Now, as a part time travel agent, she was able to get us a large discount on a cruise. We would have to share a room, but I didn’t mind sharing a room with my mother. We’d only be in it to sleep and shower. Nothing else. We even had a balcony room. So, we decided to go. The sail date was in the middle of November of 2024. I had set things up so that my mother and I could see a dolphin show on one of the islands. I was sure that this would be something she would enjoy. There were 3 listings at increasing price ranges. I picked the middle one. In 2007, my brother and I chose the lower price for an excursion and deeply regretted it. I wasn’t going to make that mistake again. There was a warning posted with this about interacting with the animals and a number of stairs involved. However, I insured her that we would go only for the show. We wouldn’t have to interact with anything.

As the time for the cruise got closer, my mother started to get sick. With just 2 weeks to go, she was hospitalized being fed intravenously because her body was not digesting any food that she ate. The doctors said that it was not safe for her to travel. Therefore, I canceled her ticket to the dolphin show. It was too late to cancel her cruise ticket, so my sister wanted to see if any other relative wanted to go. I was pretty much up to me since it was now MY room. “NO! I’m not sharing a room with anyone. I said I don’t mind sharing a room with my mother. I only have one mother. If she’s not in here, then it’s just me.”

The idea of having the room to myself was great. But with days to go, her doctor approved my mother for travel. As happy as I was to have the room to myself, I was even more happy that she would be joining us. Now, however, it was too late to get her dolphin show ticket back. This wasn’t too upsetting to her since she didn’t know if she could do it anyway. You see, my mother can’t walk more than a few feet. She moves around by means of an electric scooter. She wasn’t sure if the transportation to the dolphin show could accommodate her or not.

To get from Chicago to Galveston, Texas, where the cruise ship would be boarded, we had to take an airplane to Dallas, then a 2nd plane to Houston, then a shuttle bus to Galveston. We were smart enough to travel the day before the cruise. My aunt lives next door to me. At 2AM, an Uber shows up at both houses at the same time. We boarded the plane at 5AM to start this adventure. We arrived at the hotel about noon where little by little, other family members showed up.

There’s an advantage to traveling with someone with a disability. First, at the airport, the staff insisted that they push me in a wheelchair while they carry our bags. At the hotel, although check-in wasn’t until 3PM, they didn’t want my mother to wait, so our rooms were ready right away. When we boarded the ship, they saw my mother on her scooter, opened a side passage, and allowed our entire group to bypass the long line through security. They scanned our bags and let us through. My brother-in-law, who just had knee replacement surgery, had already received the same treatment with his family.

The first few days of the cruise, we were able to enjoy several of the shows and other entertainment the ship had to offer. The food was great. We ate things we would have never tried at home. We had a ton of fun despite being on the tail end of a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico. The waves hitting the boat made it rock back and forth. We could feel it strongly. Fortunately, I was never one to ever get motion sickness.

The day arrived for the dolphin show. The water was calm, and the sun was shining bright. The suggest was given to me that I wear beach shoes. I didn’t understand why. I wasn’t plaining on sitting in the splash zone, so my feet would not have got wet. I got off the boat and followed the signs to where I needed to go. My mother was hanging out with other relatives for the day. I was asked to show my ticket, and a green wrist band was placed on my arm. I was told to follow Omar, although it didn’t make a difference which van I got in since all were going to the same area. As long as I keep an eye on Omar when we get there.

When I got just outside the dolphin park, an announcement was made. “Everybody with a green wrist ban, follow me.”

It was Omar. He told us to place all of our belongings in a locker. No cameras or phones were allowed. I thought that it was strange that they didn’t allow us to take pictures. I figured that they wanted to sell us their pictures. They also told us that when going into any of the restaurants afterwards, we had to change into something dry. Fine, I wasn’t plaining on sitting in the splash zone. When exiting the locker room, I was handed a life vest. ‘Why’, I thought. ‘I’m not getting in the water.”

Once again, they checked to make sure that I had a green wrist band. Omar told us that this was as far as he would take us. He arranged for transportation back to the ship any time we wanted to go. However, we did pay for a full day’s adventure. It included, not just the dolphins, but sea otters and several other aquatic life forms.

We would now be following the orders of a young lady who was one of the park officials. She suggested that we take off our shoes if we didn’t have beach shoes. I suggestion I wish I would have followed. She led us to a dock where there were places to store our shoes. Again, I did not listen. Then she led us down a short flight of stairs where I noticed the water was very close. My feet were now in the water. I was fine with this. I didn’t mind my feet getting wet. But after just a few steps, more stairs led deeper into the water.

At this point my nerves were on end. I can’t swim. This was not a dolphin show. It was a dolphin encounter. I never intended on getting in water. I wasn’t dressed to get in water. I had no clue as to why I didn’t turn around when I had the chance. Now, it was too late to turn around. I was the 4th person going down and there were about 20 people behind me. There was no way around them without stepping off of the platform. So, the first person in would be the last person out.

I was in the water chest deep, walking on a narrow platform. Behind me was a chain-link fence. Behind the fence was the Atlantic Ocean. The swells from the ocean would bring the water up to my neck every minute or 2 and then drop back down. Of course, I had on a life vest, so I wasn’t in any real danger. Then again, with the life vest, my whole body would life up and the waves would push me forward. Because of this, I held on to the fence for dear life.

I wasn’t the only one feeling the effects of this. There was a young couple with their little daughter in front of me. The wife couldn’t swim either. She, too, was holding on for dear life. It was the cry of the girl that caught my attention.

“Mommy. I want to go. I want to leave. I don’t want to be here.”

I mumbled under my breath, “Me too sweetheart. Me too.”

The girl’s father lifted her up on his shoulders. I was amazed as the park official told the girl to do different hand gestures which caused the dolphin to perform for her. The girl was even more amazed. Everybody was given a chance to do the gestures. And then it was my turn.

I was happy to do the one hand gestures. That meant that I could still hold on to the fence with the other hand. I was convinced to let go of the fence long enough to rub the dolphin’s belly and then I grabbed it back as soon as I could.

Overall, I did have a great time. After all, the group with the red wrist bands were there for “Swim with the Dolphins.” Which is exactly what it sounds like. They would start swimming, the dolphin would swim under them, pick them up and take off at top speed.

But it was time to go. All I wanted to do was get back to the ship and dry off. (All except my shoes) However, the bus to get back was not ready. I was told that my ticket would also allow me to do the same things with the sea otters and the sea turtles. But I was not about to get back into the water. I waited for the bus. By the time it came, I was mostly dry. Before heading to the ship, I stopped to take pictures of the sea water splashing on to land. I saw family members sitting at an outdoor restaurant / bar. I ordered a virgin Piña Colada served in a tall narrow tube. (Which I later lost)

We all returned to the ship, enjoyed more shows and other entertainment. We continued to eat exotic foods that we would never consider eating at home. I set my shoes out on the balcony. It took them 2 days to dry. The dolphin encounter was by far the highlight of the entire cruise. Although I still can’t swim, I think that I will do it again. Next time I’ll bring a change of cloth and better shoes.