Mayan Ruins of Tutum-Has anyone ever taken this?

[TT]

Since we have not cruised the Western Caribbean would it be better to take this tour or just shop, go for lunch, shop, go for drinks and just take a taxi around to mybe shop? Has anyone ever boked this tour? How was it? Is it air cond on the bus? Ferry? How bad is the area to walk around to see the sights? Anything you can inform us would be great. Thanks

Toma

[Charliesmom]

We saw them in 1992 when we took a trip on the Radisson Diamond. The ship arranged for a private taxi that was supposed to have an English speaking driver. He spoke no English. Fortunately, I had been taking Spanish classes and was able to converse with him in Spanish. When we got to Tulum we hired an English speaking guide who told us all about the significance of the decorations on the ruins, how they used the buildings to predict astronomical events. We loved it. They also had a show of men who climbed poles and did acrobatics in the air.

Roberta

[Randyk47]

We took this tour in March of this year. It was great! See our webpage for some pictures from Tulum. I would suggest good walking or "tennis" shoes and dress for warm, slightly dusty weather. You can buy bottled water at the site but we bought some on the ship and brought it with us. We'd do it again and we were just there a few months ago. Our guide was Birdie and he was knowledgeable and spoke great English. I wanted to be an archelogist and have studied but Egytian and Mayan history so I was able to carry on a great conversation with the guide......on the side so as not to ruin the tour for others.


www.geocities.com/theklugspage/ (http://www.geocities.com/theklugspage/)

[jhannah]

We went earlier this year and it was wonderful. We rode a ferry over to the Yucatan Peninsula (a wild ride the day we went) and from the pier walked through town to the waiting busses. All was air conditioned. There was no time to shop except during a pit stop and at the "mall" at the ruins. It was fascinating to see the ruins. We enjoyed it very much.

[Thoth]

In September of 2001 I took the ship's tour of Tulum. It was great IF you like history/archaeology and exotic culture. The tour also stopped off at a arts& crafts souvenir shop. For me it was a great tour! DO take water and a hat due to the heat and lack of shade around the ruins. On the down side, most of the ruins were roped off, the cenote house being a rare exception.

[ilovhywd]

We were on the Zuiderdam last July and took the shore excursion to Tulum despite the intense heat. It was one of the best shore excursions we have ever taken. The ferry is large, and the bus is air conditioned and comfortable. It makes a "pit stop" halfway to the Tulum at a souvenir store with clean bathrooms.

After the guided tour of the ruins, we still had time to walk around by ourselves. Then we sat under a palm tree on the beach. Had we worn bathing suits and brought towels, we could have gone in the water. Bring a hat and bottled water.

Back on the bus, we had delicious box lunches from Subway that consisted of a sub sandwich, bag of cheese doodles, and a muffin. The bus driver also served cold sodas.

Friends and family members who stayed on Cozumel to walk around and shop were very disappointed. They missed a fantastic day!

[Krazy Kruizers]

:)

We also did Tulum a couple of years ago and loved it.

The ferry ride over was great - the buses were air-conditioned. Only stop was at an arts and craft stand along the rode back to the ferries.


We took bottled water, hat and DEET.

:)

[LittleBit0522]

It sounds like Holland America has a better trip to Tulum than Princess. With Princess, the Tulum was the trip from hell.:mad: The ferry was terrible and the buses were okay. Our tour guide was terrible also. Tulum was very nice. To bad, we only had 20 minutes there instead of two hours like we suppose to. We didn't learn anything about them. We just had time to take pictures. It was a very beautiful.

[Krazy Kruizers]

:)

20 minutes?! Terrible.

Our English speaking guide spent a good 2 hours taking us from site to site and explaining everything. We even had abour 1/2 hour for those who wanted to go down to the beach for a quick dip in the water.

:)

[Esme]

We did this tour years ago and enjoyed it. It was hot so do take bottled water.

I don't know if the washrooms at the site are still the same, but a word of warning - take some toilet seat covers and a partial roll of toilet paper (if you are a female) from the ship, as the conditions of the washroom were not the greatest. :p There was a lady there handing out single sheets of toilet paper to those in the stalls. :rolleyes: Fortunately I had taken a partial roll and shared it with others. Now I always keep a little bag in my HAL bag which contains a couple of seat covers and TP whenever I go on an excursion. :D

[sheldrvrT6A]

We did the tour a year ago off of the Rhapsody and did NOT care for it.
From the time we left the ship until the time we got back all the local tourguides did was try to sell stuff. We finally made a complaint and it stopped for us at least but others still got the "pitch". The ruins are ok but make sure of two things... 1. The five dollar ride to and from the ticket office to the ruins is a rip as it is about a ten minute walk and 2. Better go to the restroom on the bus as they charge you two dollars to use the facilities.
Have fun as we would definetly not do this excursion again.

[fsdj1097]

Make sure that you're aware that if you are a regular blood donor, because of the risk of malaria from mosquito bites in this area, you will not be able to donate blood for a year if you take this trip.

[TT]

Wow what different views. Thank you for all your advice. I am going to share this with my DH and have the boss give the final word. It does seem interesting but would we being missing anything? I hear Pancho's Backyard is a great place to eat and would love to stop there and HAL informed me that we get back just in time to board the ship before she leaves. Can you Hal cruisers tell me if we dock or have to tendar into this area. Are we close to shops like in St. Thomas or is it totally different. My daughter went to an all exclusive area for vacation and all the girl could talk about were the shops and the food. (For a size 0 she sure does like her food LOL) Will we have to take a cab to get around if we do not take this tour? Again, any info is greatly apprciated. Also thanks Krazy Kruiser for reminding me about the DEET.

[fsdj1097]

The ship will dock in Cozumel. You will have to ferry to Playa Del Sol take the excursion to Tulum.

There are several shops in the Terminal where the Ferry arrives/departs, and of course, there are the usual array of shops and watering holes in Cozumel.

[jhannah]

Make sure that you're aware that if you are a regular blood donor, because of the risk of malaria from mosquito bites in this area, you will not be able to donate blood for a year if you take this trip.This is exactly what happened to me. I was called down in February after our return home and when I told them where I'd been things came to a screeching halt. No big deal to wait for a year ... except that donation would have completed my 13th gallon of donated blood. Oh well, hopefully I'll make it next February.

[ASM]

We took the HAL tour last August and it was the highlight of the trip. We docked in Cozumel, walked a hundred yards to the ferry and boarded. It was large, cool, with no sales pushed. We were met at Playa Del Sol and walked to our air-conditioned bus. Our guide was charming, funny, well-versed and quite a jokester. The shopping stop was at a sanctioned store selling locally made and other Mexican crafts-lovely onyx chess sets. The bathroom was surprisingly clean and smelled of disinfectant. Tissue on the roll and not on the floor! They also served free tequila shots and demonstrated the proper way to do them. Tulum itself was amazing, beautiful beyond words and HOT! I waded in the ocean but my Dh actually swam and dried out by the time we reached the bus again. The market is interesting and as pushy as most but easy to avoid if you're not interested. There are also really neat Mayan calendars available that can be personalized as you wait. Our bus was running and cool when we returned. Soft drinks and beer were included in the excursion cost, as was a very good Subway lunch. There was less talk from our guide on the return and many people napped. We boarded the ship which was waiting for us apparently and set sail right away. We saw nothing of Cozumel but I wouldn't have missed Tulum for the world.

[TT]

ASM it's funny that you would mention the ship was waiting for you. HAL informed me that this trip is cutting it close to departure time. The Rep. said that the ship will wait for a short time if we run late and if the ship has to leave the area because we booked threw HAL that they would make arrangements to get us to the next location. I do wonder why HAL is only there from 6:30 am -3:00pm. You would think they would stay there until 5-6 or so. Well you guys have made this tour very exciting and I looked at the pictures RandyK47 had and it really looks very interesting. RandyK47 it must have been so wonderful for you to go there with your knowledge. I feel we should go and I am going to show this to the 4 other couples going I think they will love it.

Thanks everyone.

Toma

[tjcox9]

Did the tour last May with Princess. I haven't seen any mention of the possibility of the dreaded seasickness on the ferry ride. Our ride was quite rough on the way and some who are prone to seasickness might go prepared for that. Actually, Princess mentioned this the the tour literature.

We did enjoy the ruins, but found them anti-climactic after visiting Tikale in Guatamala a few years ago. Now, those are ruins!!

But, the trip was enjoyable, view from the cliffs is awesome and presents some great picture taking opportunities. It was hot, hot, hot. There was a little breeze fortunately. So, dress cool and take lots of water.

Go, and enjoy!

[tetons]

Did the tour two years ago through RCI and it was combined with Xel-Ha. The ruins were interesting but the views behind the ruins are what make the trip beautiful. I would have liked to have not taken the long and redundant guided tour and just been able to go down on the beautiful beach. Will not ever take this trip again and will always book one of the tours with more water exposure and more time in Xel-Ha or the other water/animal place, I think it is called Xaret or something like that. There are ruins all over that area. One tour was enough for me. Absolutely take water and wear good shoes. I thought the tram was worth any price because of the heat. I can't remember if we were allowed to take anything off the ship or not. Mexico has very strict rules about that. We were given a box lunch and drink on the bus to Xel-Ha. I'm not sure what Holland does.

[Randyk47]

Thanks for the comments TT. Indeed, having just a bit of basic knowledge made the tour that much more interesting. Might caution that the round calendars you see for sale outside the ruins are actually Aztec and not Mayan. They still make an interesting conversation piece and aren't all that expensive. As for the blood donation thing. Hadn't heard that before but it makes sense. Unfortunately I spent 4 years in Germany in the late 80's and now I'm more or less banned from ever donating blood because of potential exposure to Mad Cow Disease so the time in Mexico is not an issue for me. DW had a blood issue a few years ago and she's banned from donating. Interesting that the ship tour folks don't mention it for those of you who can and do donate on a regular basis.

PS - The ferry ride is almost like a wild ride at a theme park. I've been told we went over on a relatively calm day and several folks still got sick. One gentleman got so sick he couldn't take the bus tour with us. I have no idea how he made it back across to the ship. I felt bad for his family as they all pulled out of the tour and stayed in town.

[KAJOKG]

I wouldn't have missed Tulum for anything, but we love to visit hisorical places. We've been to ruins all over Continental Europe, Greece, and Israel and still found the Mayan ruins fascinating! I would adivse anyone who really does not enjoy historical sites to give it thought before signing up for this excursion. It is fascinating and quite beautiful, but it is very hot, dusty and walking is a bit rocky. Saw lots of iquanas too. For us, this trip was worth it! We also enjoyed the bus trip to the ruins. Our guide was well versed in history, and spoke perfect English. We stopped at a very large Mexican craft store which has some quite beautiful items. We did this tour with NCL. I can't speak for the Princess excursion.