Progreso/Merida Day Trip

[IvyChat]

Greetings everyone. Family is taking our first trip at the end of March and we're confused by all the excursion options. We'd like to see some of the Mayan ruins, but we'd also like some time to explore on our own. We will be on the Carnival Liberty. The layover in Progreso is 9 hours.

 

Do we rent a car and tour on our own? Do we take an excursion to Dzibilchaltun/Merida with the boat? They say we only get 20 minutes on our own to shop/look around.

 

If we do that and head back to the boat, do we have time when we get back to wander Progreso for a while?

 

Kind of have the same question for the next day in Cozumel.

 

Any advice helps.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Chuck

[Naomi John]

Greetings everyone. Family is taking our first trip at the end of March and we're confused by all the excursion options. We'd like to see some of the Mayan ruins, but we'd also like some time to explore on our own. We will be on the Carnival Liberty. The layover in Progreso is 9 hours.

 

Do we rent a car and tour on our own? Do we take an excursion to Dzibilchaltun/Merida with the boat? They say we only get 20 minutes on our own to shop/look around.

 

If we do that and head back to the boat, do we have time when we get back to wander Progreso for a while?

 

Kind of have the same question for the next day in Cozumel.

 

Any advice helps.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Chuck

 

If you take one of the excursions through the Cruise, depending on the time, the bus may stop at Progreso Open Market and allow you to exit. If you do the small Mayan Ruin only, (Dzibilchaltun), you'll have time afterward to explore Progreso. You can take another bus to the ship. We did a full day in Merida, here is a link to the review, http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1725341. I cannot remember if they brought us directly to the port, or stopped at Progreso Market then to the ship. My review says they brought us to the pier.

 

Under my signature, see Thanksgiving Cruise, Elation 2011 for seeing the town of Progreso.

[dioxide45]

Autoprogreso may also have some tours that you may want to look in to. We booked the Merida City Tour through Shore Excursioneer. It ended up being through Autoprogreso. To take the tour you take the free shuttle from the pier in to Progresso. It is quite a ways think a few miles, no walking. On the return, they drove us directly back to the peir and the ship.

 

The tour didn't go to any ruins, but we had a good time in Merida in the town square. We visited the same cathedral that the prior poster shared photos of in their review. We then had a least an hour and a half if not more free time in Merida. It is an incredibly vibrant city. There is a bizarre where you can shop and get something to eat.

[maldenmusic]

The Dzib tour through AP will give you time to walk around town both before your trip to the runs and after if you want. They will give you the option of getting back off the bus once you return to Progreso and catching another bus back to the ship. They run fairly regularly. I've done about 6 tours with AP and never had a bad experience.

[travelnteach64]

Following....I think we are on the same cruise, and interested in the same excursion.

[nissach]

We are also on the same cruise(March26) and are also wondering the same things. We are thinking of just getting a cab to drive us to Merida....any thoughts??

[travelnteach64]

We are also on the same cruise(March26) and are also wondering the same things. We are thinking of just getting a cab to drive us to Merida....any thoughts??

 

We are thinking of seeing the ruins, but we want more time in Merida to look around and possibly some time in Progresso.

 

I worked for three years in a predominately Hispanic community so I want to see some of the culture and taste some of the food.