Tulum Mayan Excersion, Experience participants.

[1st mate]

We are thinking about taking this excersion from Cozmel. Have a couple of questions.

Is lunch provided on this trip,or do we need to carry a snack with us???

Where does this excersion dock upon returning to Cozmel, and how long of a walk or trip is it back to the ship?????

Any other information would be appreciated, THANK YOU all, in advance.

[dougp26364]

There are currents around Cozumel that can make for a rather rough ferry boat ride over to the mainland (Playa Del Carmen I think) so be ready with the motion sickness meds. I don't tend to suffer from motion sickness but that ride just about got me and it did get my wife. My estimate from what I could see (and hear) was ~30% of those onboard got sick.

The walk wasn't to bad from the dock to the bus and the fresh air was a welcome relief to everyone on the ferry boat. Many had rather rubbery legs so any walk might have been a challange for some.

They served a box lunch on our trip. As it turned out, it was a tunafish sandwhich. There were a lot of uneaten sandwhichs that day.

On our trip we were supposed to be docked but didn't. The ferry boat pick us up at the tendering station from the ship and returned us directly to the ship.

The ride back wasn't nearly as bad as the ride over. Apparently, a storm had recently passed through that morning and had the waves really rolling. On the way back there was only 1 person who got sick and she had herself all worked up before ever setting foot on the ferry. Otherwise everyone else tollerated the ride back just fine.

[teddie]

Originally Posted by 1st mate

We are thinking about taking this excersion from Cozmel. Have a couple of questions.

Is lunch provided on this trip,or do we need to carry a snack with us???

Where does this excersion dock upon returning to Cozmel, and how long of a walk or trip is it back to the ship?????

Any other information would be appreciated, THANK YOU all, in advance.

I cannot answer the cruise-related questions, but I can speak about Tuluum. It is a beautiful ruin on the beach. There is very little shade, and it can be extremely hot, depending on the day. Bring water bottles, sunblock, and a hat, if you are so inclined. Wear sturdy shoes, as the terrain can be uneven (grassy, and dry and lumpy). There is a small but pretty beach. Wear your swim stuff under your clothes if you want to take a dip. It is a long uphill walk to return to the main reception area. IIRC, there was a shuttle you could use to be driven back up the hill.

Hope this helps, and if anyone else has more recent information, I'm sure that it will be posted here.

[jcross2]

My sister and I did this excursion through RCL. It is a long day, and yes, some walking, but the ruins and the beach below are magnificent, as Teddie describes. I would like to take a land vacation nearby, some day, and visit again.

Doug already answered so thoroughly about the ferry (yes, it rocked quite a bit and some were seasick on our tour, too) so I'll address the other questions.

Lunch: not so good. Tuna sandwich (yes, that gave us pause), very greasy chips, some kind of packaged sweet like a cookie. All very high calorie. They did provide plenty of water and soft drinks, though. We ate on the bus. If I did this again, I'd bring my own packaged energy bar or something.

Walking: this is very subjective. I'm older ... nearing 60 ... but I walk 2 miles every day at home. So the walk to the bus (1/3 mile?) and walking around the ruins (not all level ground, btw) was not a problem. The walk through town (Playa del Carmen) was pretty brisk, though, as the drive ahead was going to be rather long.

At the ruins, there is a tram (an extra dollar or so) that will take you from the parking lot to the ruins, if you wish. We walked instead; it wasn't far, way less than 1/2 mile.

hth!
Jan

[ski ninja]

You didn't mention if you were booking with the ship or not, but I would definately recommend throught the ship b/c when I took this excursion our ferry was about 45 minutes late getting back to Cozumel so the ship waited for us.
Lunch was provided on ours, I think it was snack crackers or something like that, but you might want to take a snack in case you don't like what they have.
You might bring a towel and bathing suit if you want to swim. The beach area at Tulum was very nice, if you can handle the 50 or so stairs down to the beach. We didn't have long there (about 30-45 minutes) but it was worth it.
The bathrooms at the enterance to Tulum(where the buses park) are pay restrooms. You might be able to get by without paying if you don't want toilet paper b/c the person collecting money would give you the TP after you payed. The restrooms close to the ruins are the free bathrooms.

[sjb317]

Tulumm was definitely worth seeing but it was a long bus ride to get there from the pier. We tendered from the ship to Playa del Carmen, and then the ship went on to Cozumel. I agree it was very hot; sunscreen, a hat, and water are a must! There was a small market area where you could purchase souveniers and snacks. I think we did get a small boxed lunch but don't remember what was in it (this was 1999!!). The ferry ride back was really rough, several people got sick but my husband and I loved it! Short walk back to the ship from where we docked, but again, that was 10 years ago!
Sherri

[rncruiser]

The ferry ride is about 1 hour each way in very choppy water, so be prepared to be nauseous at the very least. Then there is an hour long bus ride. In other words, you are traveling at least 2 hours each way on your 6 hour excursion. That being said, the ruins at Tulum were fascinating and the view out to the beach and the water is spectacular.

I brought along packaged snacks, such as peanuts and crackers, but it turned out that it really wasn't necessary. No one ever seems to mention on these boards that there is a Subway located where the bus stops by the ruins. Now I am the first one to avoid the food in Mexico, but I found the Subway to be clean and the food fresh. I was even surprised to find that the employees wore gloves when preparing the food. neither my son nor I got sick from eating there. While I am not a big Subway fan, it was certainly better than the tuna we were given on the bus.

[luvscruising2007]

We took the Tulum/Beach break excursion thru RC in Jan 2009. What you have read about the ferry is true; it can be quite bumpy. We unfortunately had some rain, although that did keep the heat less oppressive. At the ruins we walked around with the guide. He gave us alot of information and then we had time to walk around on our own.
We left the ruins and went to a beach club where we received a hot lunch and had time to relax and go in the water. There were some beach lounges available.
It was a nice day, but very long because you are travelling for quite awhile.
The ferry let us off a very short walk to the ship. The longer walk is between the ferry and the bus.

[sabena]

I went on this excursion at the end of October last year. It was good, but a long day. The high-speed catmaran was fine for us, the walk at Playa de Carmen was brisk but fine. The bus ride to Tulum was a bit long, and we stopped at a rest station for a short break, and then carried on.

the ruins were wonderful, as set out above, but it was REALLY hot, so we left our tour group in the midst for a dip.

Lunch was as noted above by others- boxed tuna. We got it once we were back on the bus, so I didn't have the chance to get to Subway.....

By the time we got back to Cozumel, we had about 45 minutes to get back to the cruise ship pier. There was a shopping area where the Catamaran ferry landed, and we took a taxi (about 5 minutes) back to the ship.