When you first get into Progresso..

[LisaT12]

Can anyone please tell me what to expect when we stop in Progreso? When we leave the ship are we in the flea market that I keep hearing about? What is in walking distance? Are there tours available when you get off of the ship and into town? Thank you..

[hdawson]

The pier complex is almost 5 miles long. There are courtesy busses to take you into town where the fleamarket is. Yes there are some independent tours available. And of course busses to take you to Merida. The beach is only a 3 block walk.

[terryde]

There is plenty of shopping (including flea market) that you can walk to - it is right there. And the beach goes all along the waterfront there with restaurants and drink service.

[hdawson]

I'll add that the food is very good. The fish and seafood is very, very fresh.

And reasonably priced.

[davidaperryman]

There is a double decker bus tour of the area around the beach for $2. The beach is about three blocks away. You can walk around the area and see the real Mexico. Very safe with friendly people going on with their lives.

[TexasAlexus]

We were there last week and enjoyed our day. The bus does drop you just a few blocks from the beach. You will pass a bar on the way that sells $1.00 Coronas and $1.00 sodas. We tried the Pepsi Fire, it's extra fizzy. One big word of caution though. When we first arrived at the beach we ordered a round of drinks and attempted to pay for them. The waiter said to run a tab. The next round of drinks I insisted on paying for them right then and there because I didn't want to run up a tab and our friends at that time payed for the first round so we would be all payed up. We payed cash the rest of the day. When we were about to leave, the waiter approached us stating that we owed him for the first round of drinks ( which was $9.00 at the time, but now he was saying it was $16.00 and that we never paid him). We explained we already paid, but he kept denying it. He also suddenly lost his ability to speak English at that point. I gave him $10.00, but he insisted we owed him $6.00 more. I finally decided to just walk away, and fortunately did not end up in a Mexican jail! Have fun on the beach, but buy your drinks in person at the bar across the street with cash! Happy sailing.

[themom]

Thanks for the heads up we are going to the Cornea beach break. Will go buy our own drinks I do not want to owe any one.

[cheshyrkat]

So we went to Progreso on the Conquest because hurricane Rita shortened our cruise and the itnerary included a stop in Progreso and then in Coz. I had only a couple of days to research what to do in Progreso and reading through the threads here I figured I'd be safer just booking an excursion through Carnival.

 

Originally we were going to do some ruins, but by the time we had to make a decision we were so tired that we decided to go to Corona Beach for some relaxation. Wellll....And I preface this with the knowledge that not everyone will have this experience, but I wish I would have known that this wasn't indeed a foolproof plan because...When we got to Corona Beach and actually made it out onto the waterfront I was shocked to find that there was a long, wide area of some kind of sludge (sewage maybe??) that made it impossible to get into the water and it smelled so horrible that we started drinking just to kill our sense of smell a little. It was all-you-can-drink, anyway.

 

We were approached by about 10 different street vendors trying to get us to buy various items from seashells to "Cuban" cigars (and I have travelled a lot in the Caribbean and am not offended by this BUT...) they were pretty aggressive and not a little irritable when we said we weren't interested. In an effort to try to get away from the stink and the vendors while we waited for the busses to begin returning to the ship we walked down the street a block or so to an open air market. The vendors there were largely aggressive (but not ALL of them were.)

 

We heard some of the locals complaining that the government wasn't doing its job by cleaning the beaches. I felt bad for the people because I knew they needed the tourist's business and the day would be shaping up badly for them because I think Conquest was the only ship there that day and many of the cruisers were already mad because of the condition of the beaches.

 

I really wish I had gone to the ruins! I know they would have been great but we were so tired and it was so hot. My intention in posting this is just to make others aware that this is did happen although it isn't (from what I gather, anyway) the norm. I don't think Progreso should be banished from cruise ship iteneraries, but I think that in order to make it a memorable day (the good kind of memories, I mean) you have to research what you're doing.

 

When we walked down to the open air market area there were many busses and people were getting groups together to go to Merida and to the ruins and the price was WAAAY lower there than onboard. I don't know if these operations are reputable or not, but it's there if you are interested. BTW, I did let the shore excursions desk know what happened and on the last day of the cruise we recieved notification that they did refund our $35 for the "Corona Beach Break" excursion. I was relieved. I hadn't asked them to do this, but I was happy that they did.

 

Another BTW...When we got back to the ship (down the loooong pier!) we decided to look around in the shops that are there. I found the prices to be much more reasonable than what I had seen in town. Bought TONS of stuff. Most of my souvinirs actually are from Progreso! There was a really nice guy at this leather shop (I ended up buying a really nice real leather purse there) who gave me an "extra" discount because I could understand him when he spoke Spanish. He made spending my money a pleasure lol! Then we sat at the edge of the water at a bar drinking (you guessed it...) Coronas for a long time until we decided our feet didn't hurt too bad to walk back to the ship!!

 

All in all, I wouldn't avoid a cruise altogether just because they stop in Progreso. I have no intention of purposefully seeking out Progreso again as a port, either. If I do go there again I'll book an excursion to see the ruins through Carnival or go into town and hook up with a tour there. Or maybe I'll just prop myself up on the pier and drink Coronas by the ship. I hope that my experiences can help someone else in the future to plan their own day in Progreso!

[LisaT12]

Sorry about your bad time in Progresso. We went there in Mid August and it was one of our favorite stops. We did not do an excursion. First we went to the market - our girls got their hair braided and the woman did an great job. Then we took the $2.00 blue bus sight seeing tour of the city (20-30 minutes but well worth it). Then we walked down to the water. On our way down - we stopped in some stores and a local cafe - where we felt confindent enough to eat and drink. The locals were awesome -- and I agree with you -- it was the best place to to buy souvenirs. It was our first stop so we didn't know what the shopping would be like in the other ports -- but if I could give some advice it would be to buy all you want in Progresso -- the items and prices were awesome.

[cheshyrkat]

I don't think my experience was a common scenario...but we didn't necessarily have a bad time...just didn't think it would happen like it did ;) and next time it will be ruins for me! Well...and the shopping on the pier! The guy at the leather shop's name was Raoul I think, if anyone wants to stop by. They have the softest teddy bears made of llama. They are pretty expensive but really neat!

[hdawson]

cheshyrkat. Can't say this is the root of the problem; whether in the Carolinas, Florida or the gulf states, when hurricanes come visiting sewage systems get way overloaded. The Yucatan had two this year. I think they were Emily and Stan. I remember about five years ago some posters mentioned and influx of large flies, following hurricane Isadora settling over Merida and Progreso for 3 days. I was there a couple of weeks after the storm and although I didn't have a problem, did not doubt the fly story. It's a byproduct of hurricanes.

[cheshyrkat]

cheshyrkat. Can't say this is the root of the problem; whether in the Carolinas, Florida or the gulf states, when hurricanes come visiting sewage systems get way overloaded. The Yucatan had two this year. I think they were Emily and Stan. I remember about five years ago some posters mentioned and influx of large flies, following hurricane Isadora settling over Merida and Progreso for 3 days. I was there a couple of weeks after the storm and although I didn't have a problem, did not doubt the fly story. It's a byproduct of hurricanes.

 

When we were in Progreso (on 9/29) Stan hadn't yet developed...Stan wasn't an issue until we were returning to Galveston (a couple of days after stopping in Progreso) Maybe it was because of other storms in the Gulf? Who knows! I was sorry that it happened and I felt bad for the natives. It was gross. I have seen coastal areas after a bad hurricane but this stuff wasn't like anything I'd ever seen prior. Whatever caused it (and whatever it was) hopefully won't continue to be an issue. It can't possibly be a chronic problem!

[hdawson]

cheshyrkat. Speaking of storms, now there is Wilma headed towards the Yucatan and I'm headed there for two weeks on Thursday. Should prove interesting.

[cheshyrkat]

hdawson:

Much luck on your planned trip! I sure hate hurricanes...I swear we've been surrounded by them and even though we haven't had the damage from the storms, we are inundated where I live by those who have been. It's very sad! Things are so different in the Yucatan/Belize area with respect to hurricanes and they seem to bounce back faster than we do when we really get slammed (with some great exceptions, of course!) I used to dive out of Belize and kept in touch with some people down there...I remember hearing about the damage Mitch inflicted.

 

It looks like tons of people will be getting a stop in Progreso this coming week due to itenerary changes. It'll be good for bringing in some tourist dollars for sure. BTW, just out of curiosity, if you were to be looking for a really nice beach area out of the Progreso port, where would you go?? You are far more familiar with the area than anyone I have heard (read) from... Personally I don't care if there is a bar or anything. I'm into primitive beaches and pristine natural surroundings. Most folks seem to want an "all inclusive" arrangement, but I don't care about that. Keep the pool toys! I want the post card...lol Thanks!

[alildabldo]

I agree with chessyrkat. Progresso stinks. No reason to go there.

[cheshyrkat]

I agree with chessyrkat. Progresso stinks. No reason to go there.

 

alildabldo: While I appreciate your feelings about Progreso, I didn't say there was no reason to go there...I did say "I don't think Progreso should be banished from cruise ship iteneraries, but I think that in order to make it a memorable day (the good kind of memories, I mean) you have to research what you're doing." And I also said I would neither seek out nor avoid Progreso in the future...Just wanted to clarify! Thanks.:)