Mexican Ruins

[Atlanta_Cruiser]

Hello,

 

My mother-in-law and I are looking for a cruise that will allow us to travel to some ruins in Mexico. We would like to do a larger cruise ship, not the explorer ships (too small). We would like to be able to go to 3-5 ruins on our cruise. Is this possible?

 

Can anyone recommend a cruise for this?

 

Thank you,

 

-Cory

[martinchem]

Pick a western going to Cozumel and Belize. If your Cozumel stay is at least eigth hours they will offer a tour to Tulum, pretty awsome to see, but access to half the areas are roped off, bring swimming clothes if you have the time. In belize tour the Al Tuna ruins (not sure of spelling), this was a great tour, you can explore, climb and really feel a part it. I hear Guatamala has great ruins too!

[nitnyleo]

3 ruins might be doable; 5 sounds pretty hard (to impossible).

 

My first cruise had a call in Cozumel - the ferry+bus ride to Chichen Itza was about 5 hours long (each way); our next port was Belize City - the bus+plane+bus to Tikal was about 3 hours long.

 

If your ship calls at Costa Maya, you are very close to both Tulum and Coba. You might be able to do both in one day.

 

Calls in Belize City and Santo Tomas are close enough to other sites, but would be full-day tours.

 

To get to 3, you will want a ship that calls at Costa Maya and one of the other ports (Progresso, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen, Cancun,Santo Tomas).

 

To get to 5 sites, I'm thinking you would need to book another cruise (back-to-back?) . . . and that would be a shame ;)

 

PS: not to discount "the ruins" on Cozumel, but they are certainly not monumental.

[bqkali]

From Costa Maya, you can tour Kohunlich & Dzibanche both in the same day as they are only 30 minutes apart. It would be a long, full day, but if you are looking for ruins it would be a great port.

 

From Cozumel, I would only recommend trying Tulum. I believe the other ruins are too far for a typical port stop.

 

From Belize, you have lots of choices, but Altun Ha is popular since it is close. Lamanai is bigger and another great tour option.

 

There are several cruise ships that hit these three ports:

 

• Norwegian Spirit, which also goes to Guatemala where you can see the Quirigua ruins which are different than the others
  
• Carnival Dream (also goes to Roatan - not sure about ruins there??)
  
  
• Carnival Glory (also goes to Nassau - no ruins there)
  
• Carnival Valor (also goes to Grand Cayman - no ruins there)
  
• RCCI Liberty of the Seas (just those 3 ports)
  
• RCCI Independence of the Seas (just those 3 ports)
  

[eandj]

If you are looking to do this in the summer, the heat can be unbearable at some ruins spots. I'd personally not try to do 5....unless you are immune to sun and HOT!

[nitnyleo]

Thank you, bqkali

 

My next west Caribbean cruise had to include Costa Maya; your heads-up about the other ruins close to Costa Maya has made it a necessity.

 

I came across this page that provides even more suggestions: http://www.mayanbeachgarden.com/archaeology.html

 

4 sites now sounds reasonable.

 

Good luck, Atlanta_Cruiser, perhaps 5 sites is doable. (But, hopefully, you'll be able to fit in at least 1 marquis site, like Chichen Itza or Tikal).

[Atlanta_Cruiser]

Thanks everyone for taking time to write. I have them all written down and I will see what I can put together.

 

-Ms. Cory in Atlanta

[tanyanubin]

I've been to 2 so far, one near Costa Maya, and one near Belize city. both were within an hour from the cities. Both were still under excavation, which is really cool because you can still see pyramid shapes under the jungle. very unspoiled spots. The Belize one is called Altun Ha, and there is a beautiful little restaurant nearby called Mayan Wells. The site near Costa Maya in Mexico is called Chacchoben, which is a bit bigger than Altun Ha. Either is a good choice if you don't want to travel too far out.