Leaving on the Elation on Monday!!!

[RockandRobin]

Hello Everyone! My BF and I are leaving on the Elation on Monday!! YEAH!!!!! This is my 1st cruise and my BF 4th cruise with Carnival. I have been reading these boards for a while and have learned so much information from everyone! Thank you!!!!!

 

Since our ports are now Progreso and Veracruz, we are needing to find out some fun things to do. Can anyone give us some ideas of what to do at either of these ports? Thank you in advance!

 

RockandRobin:)

[TXParrothead]

Veracruz is full of history. It is where Cortez landed and also where Winfield Scott landed during the Mexican war. I am scheduled for the 12/17 sailing. If we don't make Cozumel I will be happy with Veracruz. It is where western civ was brought to North America.

[sgriff17]

Have you gone over to the Ports of Call board?? You should check there...be a lot more info for you! Have fun

[RockandRobin]

sgriff17- Yes, I have looked at the port of call message boards. I have read a little on Progreso, but there isn't a whole lot out there on Veracruz! Guess maybe we will find out more when we get on the ship next week!:confused:

 

Thanks again,

RockandRobin

[jtoddjr]

This is for people who are doing some advanced planning on their trip to Veracruz.

I am one of the tour guides, and according to the schedule given to us last night at a meeting for the tour guides the Veracruz part of the cruise should be Thursday the 17th. The ship will arrive around 1:30 PM and leave around 8PM. It´s dark here at 6 PM.

Many of the cruise people who sell the shore excursions are finding out what´s here and are now finding out about what´s here. Be patient with them, they are new at it.

Here´s some information about the shore excursions:

I would take one of the shore excursions for 4-5 hours where I am one of the guides. The "long" city tour includes the very old fort of San Juan de Ulua where vast amounts of gold and silver were shipped to Spain, a panoramic drive downtown, a stop on the plaza, and the Aquarium. The "short" city tour is the same but not the Aquarium. The Aquarium is really neat and a lot of people enjoy the exhibits and the shops there.

The other tour is archeological and historical tour to the pyramids of Cempoala and to Antigua, Veracruz. It is about 5 or 6 hours. This is one of my favorites. You can find out more information in the History Section on my web site www.johntoddjr.com I also have a “Wilma” Page which may be helpful to both cruise ship employees and passengers in decided what to do here.

Time permitting at the end of the tour, I would stop by the Zócalo or the town plaza which is an easy 4 block walk from your ship. It has the laid back atmosphere that Carlos and Charlies and Señor Frogs tries to imitate.

Hope this helps.

John

[Gryphon]

Heya,

DH and I just got off the Elation last saturday. We did the tour to Dzibilchaltun in progresso.. (sorta wished we'd done chichen itza though) the ruins were incredible though and the cenote there beautiful and fun to swim in. The tour was booked through the ship it was.. 55 dollars/person. The tour guides were Diego(bus driver), llarena (sp?) and I forget her husband's name.. they were fantastic and we learned mayan words.. there were a few vendors in the parking lot at the park one sold silver pendants with your name or astrological sign on silver.. think they were like 30-40 dollars each. the one to chichen itza was 79/per person.There was also one for dzibilchaltun and mexican rodeo, one for corona beach break (three hours with an open bar), one golfing on I think and I think a few tours of progresso and or/merida. I HIGHLY reccomend booking as soon as you get on board and the shore excursion desk opens. There are very few tours and they sell out QUICKLY. There are also people offering tours at the dock to a lot of the same places for a lot less.. but chichen itza is like 2 hours away so if you're going for that one.. book through the ship.

 

 

If you do one of the shorter tours in progresso I highly reccomend getting off the ship early and doing most of your shopping at the places by the boat.. there are a few silver jewelry stores, a leather store, alchohol and a few other places.. REally wished we'd taken more money with us.. and spent more time, but we thought there'd be more in veracruz.

 

Veracruz.. BOOK A TOUR.. there is NOTHING within walking distance of the ship.. there are a few people offering tours/cab rentals (one was like $15 dollars an hour, payable at the end) ... but we sooo wish we'd booked a tour.. we'd probably have had a much better opinion of the city.. few things I remember are the new offices at the dock, having to pass between marines armed with assault rifles.. (always a welcoming sight) :(, and the protest that walked through town to end right outside the boat.. couldn't read the signs.. but we gathered it was either about the money on the new dock & buildings or maybe the ship.. not sure.. we walked around for like 2-3 hours trying to find something to do.. did a little shopping.. at the stalls right by the dock.. returned to the ship and had fun there..

 

other than that.. I hope you're in the imagination dining room.. the matre'd there sings really well.. and goto kareoke and the comedian..

[Cruisin Dave]

DW and I have done the Dzibilchaltun/Mexican Rodeo tour and the Merida City/Mexican Rodeo Tour. They are both great tours but the Rodeo is the best part of it. The food is wonderful and the rodeo is very good. The rodeo is not like the American Rodeo but more riding, rope handling and roping techniques. There is also a sample of Mexican Folklorico Dancing. Merida is a beautiful city that has been there almost 400 years. It is the Capital of the area and has a long history. The ruins are not as majestic as Chizinitza but they are very interesting and the museum that is part of the complex very good.

Hope this helps.

Dave

[mamiamjo]

Hello Everyone! My BF and I are leaving on the Elation on Monday!! YEAH!!!!! This is my 1st cruise and my BF 4th cruise with Carnival. I have been reading these boards for a while and have learned so much information from everyone! Thank you!!!!!

 

Since our ports are now Progreso and Veracruz, we are needing to find out some fun things to do. Can anyone give us some ideas of what to do at either of these ports? Thank you in advance!

 

RockandRobin:)

 

Let us know what you decide to do. We will be getting on the ship as you are getting off, so won't be able to read a review after the fact, but I'm still interested on what others are doing as far as excursions.

 

Mike

[RockandRobin]

Thanks to everyone for the information! We are very excited about our cruise, but just a little dissapointed in the selection of our replacement ports. :o There just doesn't seem to be a whole lot of information out there about either one. Does anyone know if there is any good place to snorkel at either port? Like I said before, we are looking very forward to our cruise and are just glad to have the time off of work and be in some warm weather!!!

 

Mamiamjo: I plan on posting a review when we return, so maybe that will help with your cruise!!

 

Thanks again,

RockandRobin:)

[hdawson]

By all means, check out the tourist magazine http://www.yucatantoday.com

You can also pick up a copy when you get to Progreso. It's one of the most useful guides for visitors for planning I've seen anywhere. So often those guides are nothing more than advertising. There are many choices of what to do when porting in Progreso. Many Mayan ruins, a good beach with poor snorkling, an all-inclusive with day passes, Merida, a beautiful spanish colonial city of almost one million, the rodeo excursion, good and the freshest seafood and fish, etc. Remember, Progreso and Veracruise are both on the Gulf and don't have the sparkling clear water of the Caribbean. I just returned from two weeks in the area. Uxmal was amazing.

[4yanx]

This whole deal with respect to where the Elation will go is downright frustrating and borderline disgusting. Carnival can decide where every other ship will go but can only say that decisions will be made with respect to Elation "soon"?

Our party of nine is booked for the 12/26 cruise out of Galveston. Our cruise was originally the Sensation out of NOLA but, after Katrina, we had to re-book out of Galveston and pay and extra $250 PER PERSON (plus $100 pp air fare change fee) for the privilege. I was told by a Carnival rep on the day before I had to make my final payment that it was 95% certain that they’d be stopping in Coz and Calica by 12/28 – kinda laughed at me that I questioned whether it would happen. Now, three weeks later, and we STILL don’t know for sure.

We want to take Mayan ruins tour as part of our cruise and this is one the THE reasons we booked a cruise in this area of the world. But, what do we do to plan? Plan out of Calica to go to Tulum or Coba? Plan out of Coz to go to Tulum? We have no real desire to go to Veracruz or Progreso, but out of Progreso we could travel to Chichen or Uxmal. I wish they’d decide so a person could plan something OTHER than a Carnival excursion.

[hdawson]

4yanx. Keep in mind that usually after really bad storms, the port authority is the agency that determines the speed of recovery and allowing the ships to return and at what rate. Same thing for Grand Cayman last year following hurricane Ivan. They know best what the port can accomodate. It's not entirely up to the cruiselines.

[RockandRobin]

4yanx: I know what you mean by being frustrated on not knowing where your ports will be! We just found out a couple of days ago that we would be going to Progreso and Veracruz. So we have been scrambling on figuring out what to do in the ports. We are thinking that in Progreso we want to try the Reef Yucatan all-inclusive resort. Does anyone know the cost and what all it includes?:confused:

 

Thanks,

RockandRobin:)

[dpeck]

We just got off the Elation. We booked the Merida City and Shopping Tour. DON'T do this tour. They take you to two stores, and they make you stay at the first tour for a half hour. We thought we were going to Merida's famous open air markets, but they didn't take us there. As far as Veracruz, there is a choice of four tours, the kayak tour was cancelled, and the other tours of the city, according to the other passengers, was bad. One passenger said it's better to stay on the ship than to take any of Carnival's tours.

[4yanx]

4yanx. Keep in mind that usually after really bad storms, the port authority is the agency that determines the speed of recovery and allowing the ships to return and at what rate. Same thing for Grand Cayman last year following hurricane Ivan. They know best what the port can accomodate. It's not entirely up to the cruiselines.

 

That don't quite cut it, H. With all due respect, I've grown very weary of the apologist's point of view, which I gave due dilegence previously. I was also told that Carnival was sending an assessment team down over two weeks ago. Heck, they own quite a number of the facilities in the Coz port and are intimately associated with the port authority - they know what to expect and what not to expect. Let us not be naive. They have had time to determine what Elation will be doing. It is continued poor customer service on the part of Carnival. The folks with Elation bookings are getting the very short end of the stick (especially if everyone else gets Coz and Elation gets Veracruz/Progeso) - many of whom got the short end of the stick and at more expense after having been booked originally on Sensation or Ecstasy. Folks can say all they want how there are things to do in Veracruz and Progreso, but Coz, and Playa they AIN'T (storm or no storm).

All I'm saying is that Carnival was quick enough to give assurances the day before my final payment was due (and when I could cancel with a full refund) and now they cannot (or will not). As I've said before, we are a family party of nine and our 90 year old matriarch wants to do this cruise as a "last family trip" of sorts. It is the only week we can go. It is the FIRST and LAST time we will cruise on Carnival - no matter how fun is the cruise. The customer service pre-cruise is just atrocious.

[hdawson]

I was in Merida, 200 mile inland from Cancun, untill one week ago on a long planned two week land vacation. Thousands were evacuated to Merida. Glad the hotel saved our reservation. Arrived in Merida on Thu Oct 20th, the day Wilma settled in on Cozumel. At that time, Nov 3rd, there was much government and business uncertainty about recovery of infrastructure in Cancun and Cozumel.

[Gryphon]

progresso doesn't have any snorkeling.. (most of the coastal area is about 2-3 ft deep.. ) that's why the pier has to be so long..

 

There was a snorkeling shore trip from veracruz.. but never heard anyone's experiences with it..

[slabeaume]

THe Chichen Itza tour from Progresso is well worth the time and money. DIdn't seem like 7 hours! IT went way too fast.

[Snoozeman]

RocknRobin

 

is there a roll call board for your sailing, 11/14? I just booked it today.

 

Thanks