First time cruisers in Progreso!

Taking a cruise in April, have a stop in Progreso and Cozumel. Not exactly sure how the excursions work, but from doing my research, I believe we are able to get off the ship and take the bus into town and explore the beach/shops on our own vs a guided tour/excursion.

My group will have a 4 year old with us. Coming from the perspective of those who have traveled to Progreso before, should we explore on our own or take an excursion on one of the resorts? Both seem fun, but I dont want to miss out on the shops and amazing beach massages I am hearing about if we are locked up in some resort.

Also, if we do not book through carnival, how does the transportation work? Are there shuttles off the very long pier or do we have to walk the 4 miles or so? What about the double decker bus, if that only through carnival or is that available to other patrons as well?

We are going to do an excursion of somesort in Cozumel (more options) so we are ok with having a beach day, enjoying some authentic mexican food and doing a little shopping, but i want to be prepared for transportation if we are on our own vs with a Carnival scheduled tour.

Sorry for a million questions into one, but any advice you can give is greatly appreciated.

I can answer a few of your questions. You will go through the port at Progreso and when you get outside in the front you will board the large busses that will take you into town. No charge for these but they always have a tip jar for the driver. Auto-Progreso is one of the tour operators there and they have a place in the port, on the left I think. If you want to book a tour through them you can do it there or wait until you get into town and do it. Easiest to pay cash because once their credit card machine wasn't working. You will get a color coded wrist band when you pay. They are the only tour operator we have used on our 6 trips to Progreso. The double decker bus is located in Progreso and has nothing to do with Carnival as far as I know. You can pay for it as you get on. I would suggest doing that first because the other tours don't usually leave right away and we have always had plenty of time. The dd bus is a good way to get acclimated to the town and we have always had good tour guides who point out places to go and local landmarks.

Taking a cruise in April, have a stop in Progreso and Cozumel. Not exactly sure how the excursions work, but from doing my research, I believe we are able to get off the ship and take the bus into town and explore the beach/shops on our own vs a guided tour/excursion.

 

My group will have a 4 year old with us. Coming from the perspective of those who have traveled to Progreso before, should we explore on our own or take an excursion on one of the resorts? Both seem fun, but I dont want to miss out on the shops and amazing beach massages I am hearing about if we are locked up in some resort.

 

Also, if we do not book through carnival, how does the transportation work? Are there shuttles off the very long pier or do we have to walk the 4 miles or so? What about the double decker bus, if that only through carnival or is that available to other patrons as well?

 

We are going to do an excursion of somesort in Cozumel (more options) so we are ok with having a beach day, enjoying some authentic mexican food and doing a little shopping, but i want to be prepared for transportation if we are on our own vs with a Carnival scheduled tour.

 

Sorry for a million questions into one, but any advice you can give is greatly appreciated.

I would definitely recommend using AutoProgreso. Their web site will give you lots of help in deciding which tour to take. Chichen Itza and Uxmal are long tours and you need to get off the ship as soon as possible. Going to Dzibilchaltun with a visit to Merida is $39 and well worth the cost. That tour leaves a little later (around 10:00) and the tour guide, Ivan, is outstanding. There is a museum at the ruin site that is very nice.

I concur. AutoProgreso has good tours and good reviews. We used them once for a resort/ruins tour. They have since dropped that resort and picked up a different one. I believe that it is Tecnotel Resort. I have seen good reviews on it. The Dzibilchaltun or Uxmal Ruins are decent tours but I don't know about taking a little one. Like Malden said, you should have enough time to take the double decker bus tour. Don't forget you camera.