Newbie question re: Carnival & Chichen Itza

[LawyerJames]

Hi ya'll...I have only been on one other cruise and it was a Disney cruise years ago.

 

Wife and I are taking a cruise, by ourselves without the kids :D. I was reading on another message board where Carnival sailed from Progresso without the passengers that had taken a shore excursion to Chichen Itza. Carnival's schedule has docking at 10am and leaving at 6pm, and the excursion listed has 7 hours. Wife says I'm freaking out about this, but since I've never been there...I don't want to get stuck there.

 

Any advice regarding this?

 

Thanks and this board is super informative :)

[UPCrawfish]

A more seasoned cruiser that may have done the tour can give you more specific details but here are some 'high altitude views'.

Tour is a good 6+ hrs. 2+ hrs on a bus - each way.

This leaves about 2 hrs on site.

If you book with a private tour group, and are delayed - the ship will not hold for you.

If the tour is booked thru the cruise line, they are more likely to wait for the tour to return but not guarenteed.

I have been to Chichen twice on ground tours. The site is magnificant and I do not believe you can do justice to it with a 2 hr "drive-by"

[cb at sea]

I would definitely take a ship's excursion for a long trip like that....even if the ship doesn't wait for you, they are responsible for getting you to the ship somehow. If you do that trip with a "private" company, and the ship leaves, YOU are responsible for getting back to the ship.

These excursions that take hours and are miles and miles away are worth paying the ship's price.

[UPCrawfish]

Followup: Try the "Ports of Call" section and go to Progresso/Merida forum. A number of threads in there about Uxmal and Chichen such as this one...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=893161

[cassieroll]

I just have to say I read the title as "Chicken Itza" and thought it was a recipe request! LOL! I was all excited.

[UPCrawfish]

POLLO CHICKEN ITZA.....:D

 

http://www.bigoven.com/6786-Pollo-Chicken-Itza-recipe.html

[LawyerJames]

*Homer Simpson voice* Mmmmmmmmmmm Chicken Itza! :-P

[RoofingPrincess]

James,

I went on Carnival to Progreso and was also concerned about the length of the trip to Chichen Itza, and how little time it would be spending at the site.

I booked a tour to another, much closer set of ruins called Dzibilchaltun through a company called AutoProgreso. The "D" ruins are much smaller but only about 30-45 minutes from Progreso by bus. Plus, you can still climb to the top of the small pyramid at D.

Follow the link in my signature if you'd like to see pix.