Progreso Shore Excursions Recommendations

[Disneyfam854]

Will the rest of the excursion be the same (lunch and cenote)?

It will be the same, but in reverse order compared to when we visited Mayapan-

Cenote, lunch, and then ruins.

Previously, we did the ruins first.

 

[anricat]

We just disembarked today and really enjoyed this excursion. We are pretty much die hard non-DCL excursion takers so that's actually saying a lot. This was our 13th cruise on DCL and only our third ever DCL sponsored excursion. It's a long day on the bus so be ready for that. When we met up in the WD Theatre and there were four FULL rows of people there for our same excursion, I had a minor panic attack, but they managed us all really well. Each row left individually with a few minutes separating us and got on a different bus. Each bus of around 40 people was about 10-15 minutes staggered so everything flowed really well. It was a little over an hour drive to the cenote which for me was the highlight of the trip. Then we had lunch there at the Hacienda which was absolutely delicious. After lunch we got back on the bus for another hour or so trip to Ake. I've been to two other Mayan ruins (Chichen Itza and Tulum) and these were lovely as well and all different. Chichen Itza is impressive for it's massive size/scale. Tulum is beautiful because of the backdrop of the water. Ake offers a good size with very few people and some really different sorts of construction. I don't really know the difference of these vs. Mayapan, but I quite liked the area and the tour guide (who did speak Mayan) was very knowledgable. The drive back was about another hour and fifteen minutes or so. We made it back to the port at a little after 4 PM. It probably would have been earlier, but an 18-wheeler dumped cement blocks all over the freeway causing a bad traffic jam. I would definitely recommend this excursion.

 

[AUBDis]

We just disembarked today and really enjoyed this excursion. We are pretty much die hard non-DCL excursion takers so that's actually saying a lot. This was our 13th cruise on DCL and only our third ever DCL sponsored excursion. It's a long day on the bus so be ready for that. When we met up in the WD Theatre and there were four FULL rows of people there for our same excursion, I had a minor panic attack, but they managed us all really well. Each row left individually with a few minutes separating us and got on a different bus. Each bus of around 40 people was about 10-15 minutes staggered so everything flowed really well. It was a little over an hour drive to the cenote which for me was the highlight of the trip. Then we had lunch there at the Hacienda which was absolutely delicious. After lunch we got back on the bus for another hour or so trip to Ake. I've been to two other Mayan ruins (Chichen Itza and Tulum) and these were lovely as well and all different. Chichen Itza is impressive for it's massive size/scale. Tulum is beautiful because of the backdrop of the water. Ake offers a good size with very few people and some really different sorts of construction. I don't really know the difference of these vs. Mayapan, but I quite liked the area and the tour guide (who did speak Mayan) was very knowledgable. The drive back was about another hour and fifteen minutes or so. We made it back to the port at a little after 4 PM. It probably would have been earlier, but an 18-wheeler dumped cement blocks all over the freeway causing a bad traffic jam. I would definitely recommend this excursion.

Thank you so much for this report! We're doing this excursion next month and I'm so happy that you still had a good time even though you didn't go to Mayapan. I have a question and it might be dumb, but did you bring a change of clothes since went to the cenote first? Or did you have plenty of time to dry before going to the ruins? Just didn't want to spend the rest of the excursion in a wet swimsuit.

 

[beaglefan]

We just disembarked today and really enjoyed this excursion. We are pretty much die hard non-DCL excursion takers so that's actually saying a lot. This was our 13th cruise on DCL and only our third ever DCL sponsored excursion. It's a long day on the bus so be ready for that. When we met up in the WD Theatre and there were four FULL rows of people there for our same excursion, I had a minor panic attack, but they managed us all really well. Each row left individually with a few minutes separating us and got on a different bus. Each bus of around 40 people was about 10-15 minutes staggered so everything flowed really well. It was a little over an hour drive to the cenote which for me was the highlight of the trip. Then we had lunch there at the Hacienda which was absolutely delicious. After lunch we got back on the bus for another hour or so trip to Ake. I've been to two other Mayan ruins (Chichen Itza and Tulum) and these were lovely as well and all different. Chichen Itza is impressive for it's massive size/scale. Tulum is beautiful because of the backdrop of the water. Ake offers a good size with very few people and some really different sorts of construction. I don't really know the difference of these vs. Mayapan, but I quite liked the area and the tour guide (who did speak Mayan) was very knowledgable. The drive back was about another hour and fifteen minutes or so. We made it back to the port at a little after 4 PM. It probably would have been earlier, but an 18-wheeler dumped cement blocks all over the freeway causing a bad traffic jam. I would definitely recommend this excursion.

Thanks for the helpful insights! The cenote would be the highlight of the trip indeed (also having visited the other Mayan run sites you mentioned).

My sons do not like the idea of 3+ hours in the bus, and I can't say I blame them. Need to consider if we actually do this excursion, or find some other non-DCL alternatives that don't require as much time on the bus and focus on the cenote. Would you say 2+ hours on a bus would be worth it just for the cenote? How much time do you spend there?

I was debating just walking around Progresso and trying to find some beach time somewhere. Those beach excursions though Disney are already booked, and the resorts don't seem to be plentiful. Anyone have any recommendations on where one could spend time on the beach during this day in port?

 

[anricat]

Thanks for the helpful insights! The cenote would be the highlight of the trip indeed (also having visited the other Mayan run sites you mentioned).

My sons do not like the idea of 3+ hours in the bus, and I can't say I blame them. Need to consider if we actually do this excursion, or find some other non-DCL alternatives that don't require as much time on the bus and focus on the cenote. Would you say 2+ hours on a bus would be worth it just for the cenote? How much time do you spend there?

I was debating just walking around Progresso and trying to find some beach time somewhere. Those beach excursions though Disney are already booked, and the resorts don't seem to be plentiful. Anyone have any recommendations on where one could spend time on the beach during this day in port?

I think the bus time was worth it for the cenote. We weren't in the water for a super long time, but it was SUPER cool. Especially the second one which was dark and super deep. Lunch was really nice and leisurely. I would have been really happy to drive out there, do the cenote, enjoy lunch, shop in the gift shop and head back to the ship. But also, we aren't beach people so that wouldn't have been a great alternative for us.

 

[anricat]

Thank you so much for this report! We're doing this excursion next month and I'm so happy that you still had a good time even though you didn't go to Mayapan. I have a question and it might be dumb, but did you bring a change of clothes since went to the cenote first? Or did you have plenty of time to dry before going to the ruins? Just didn't want to spend the rest of the excursion in a wet swimsuit.

Yes! This is a great point. We wore our swimwear under our normal clothing and then I packed dry undergarments in our bag. After the cenote, they asked us to go straight up to lunch so we ate lunch in our swimsuits. There was a little pool there and some kids swam a bit. After lunch we had plenty of time to change into our dry clothes.

 

[AUBDis]

Yes! This is a great point. We wore our swimwear under our normal clothing and then I packed dry undergarments in our bag. After the cenote, they asked us to go straight up to lunch so we ate lunch in our swimsuits. There was a little pool there and some kids swam a bit. After lunch we had plenty of time to change into our dry clothes.

That information is so helpful! Thank you so much!

 

[anricat]

My full report from Progreso with photos is up in my trip report: https://www.disboards.com/threads/m...-getaway-from-galveston.3938466/post-65275036