Uxmal excursion photos

[STP1972]

I was on the Carnival Glory 12/18 Western Caribbean sailing. While at Progreso my family took the ship's approx. 6-hour bus excursion to the Uxmal site. There were 26 passengers on our single, half-filled bus, compared to the 300+ pax from the ship on 9 full buses going to Chichen Itza that morning.

 

Selected photos from the excursion here:

 

http://www.pbase.com/matinee72/uxmal

 

[Click the thumbnails to view larger images.]

 

The excursion cost was $71 p/p and included a bag lunch in the bus for the return to the ship. Post-tour snacks and souvenirs were also available for purchase at the site. We had approx. 2 hours at the site with our guide, who left time for independent exploration, shopping, refreshments, and such. The local Montejo beer bought in the restaurant afterwards was esp. good!

 

Overall, it was a great excursion. Highly recommended if you want a Mayan archeology/architecture fix without the Chichen Itza crowds.

[sarafina]

Was this excursion arranged through Carnival? Thanks.

[Zeno]

Personally (having been to both) I would always choose Uxmal over Chichen Itza. Chichen Itza is huge and interesting but Uxmal is pure Mayan and wonderful (and the Puuc Hills tend to be a little cooler than Chichen Itza).

[STP1972]

Yes, the $71 tour to Uxmal was a Carnival-arranged official tour. In Belize and Cozumel on the same cruise we booked with independent shore operators, but the longer distance and shorter port time in Progreso made us go with the ship tour in this case. Our bus left about 8am (ship time) and returned just before 2pm.

[sea-n-ski]

Great photos! Thanks for sharing. We'll be there in March and are trying to figure out what to do!

[jkloni]

Thanks so much for the beautiful photos! We always tend to gravitate to the water/beach excursions and considered a ruins tour in Progresso. Your photos have sold me on going to Uxmal! It is so beautiful.

 

How long did it take you to get there? Did you have time for anything else - i.e. shopping, etc. in Merida or Progresso?

 

Thanks.

We are on the 2/6/05 Elation cruise out of Galveston

[STP1972]

Thanks for the kind words about the pictures. :)

 

The bus trip to the site took about 2 hours. It included a short restroom stop just before arrival at the site. (Tip: bring a small roll of t.p. from your cabin.)

 

We got about 15-20 minutes of time for shopping, drinking at the site post-tour, then loaded up for the bus trip back to the ship. We arrived back at the ship around 2pm, which left about an hour for shopping at the pier establishments.

 

Overall, the timing ran like this: 8am load on bus and depart; 10am arrive site; noon depart site; 2pm arrive back at pier. Our 10am arrival at the site meant that we beat the crowds.

[TorontoBeach]

Can you climb the pyramid at Uxmal? What about Chichen Itza? What about Dzibilchaltun? Any help is appreciated! Thanks!

[clackey]

Toronto,

 

We took the Dzilbilchaltun tour last year and we climbed the pyramid. There is also a long wall there that you could scale. Just be careful. They are very steep. The ruins are very interesting and the cenote is pretty nice. My only regret was the fact that part of the museum was closed because of hurricane damage. That was 12/2003 so it should be open now.

 

Clackey

[TorontoBeach]

Thanks Clackey. Is the pyramid a big one like at Chichen Itza?