Why does dry ice "dissolve" so quickly in water?
It's just about heat capacity + heat conductance, nothing more. $\ce{CO2}$ sublimates much quicker in the water because water is much better at heat exchange than air. Anybody who ever experienced swimming in water at 15°C and walking in air at 15°C can attest to that.

Catalysts for heat exchange are usually made of copper and other metals. (Also, usually they are not called catalysts.) You have one in your computer, attached to the CPU.

As to formation of carbonic acid, it hardly has any influence on the process (though it does happen to a certain extent, of course). Most $\ce{CO2}$ escapes in gaseous form anyway.