4-Night Western Caribbean Cruise from Galveston - Day 3 Progreso, Mexico

If you've read any of my previous trip reports you know that we don't usually book ship sponsored tours. But the port situation in Progreso is a little unique and the main tour that we wanted was also offered as a DCL sponsored excursion at around the same price so we just decided to push the easy button and book the tour through DCL: Mayapan Ruins, Lazy River Tubing and Cave Swim. 

Our meeting time was 8:30 in the Walt Disney Theatre so we woke up at 7 AM, had breakfast at Cabana's and arrived right at 8:30. We waited there for about 15 minutes where about three full rows of people arrived for our tour and I worried that we made a horrible mistake. 

They took us off row by row and we loaded onto tour buses of about 40-45 people per bus. From there we drove for about an hour to Cenotes Hacienda Mucuyché. On the way, one of our tour guides explained the region, the people, how the cenotes were formed, what was farmed at the haciendas in the area (a certain species of agave used to make sisal rope) and how the day would work for us. When we arrived at the hacienda, the previous bus had already arrived and were a little bit ahead of us. We had our swimwear on under our clothes (as they had instructed us) so we stripped off our outer layer, got on our life jackets, put our bags up on some shelves and headed for the cenotes.

The other group had just finished the first cenote so the timing was perfect. We came to find that they were pros at all the timing and clearly did this regularly as a well-oiled machine. We never once felt rushed or that there were too many people. I was pleasantly surprised. The first cenote was partially open and reminded me a little bit of our day in Dominica in 2022 when we went to Titu Gorge. But the water was much warmer. When a lot of people were getting in they were freaking out that it was so cold so we were ready for a repeat of Dominica but the water was fantastic and perfect.

There was a larger pool and then a little narrow channel to get from the first cenote to the second cenote. They told us we could talk in the first one, but that the second one would be silent. The second one was in a cave completely enclosed. They had lights in there to light it up and massive stalactites could be seen coming down from the ceiling into the water. We were given goggles so that we could look down into the crystal clear water at the beautiful rock formations. Photos do not do any of this justice. It was a really cool experience. 

After we finished at the cenote at around 11:30 it was time for lunch. They served us up two tacos and an empanada made with local ingredients. The empanada in particular has a sort of local spinach-like leaf that they mix with corn for the outside. On the bus ride over they had asked who needed a vegetarian meal and called it in ahead so I had veggies and Emmaline and Roger had chicken on theirs. We all agreed that lunch was delicious. 

After lunch we changed into dry clothes (I had thought to pack dry undergarments for all of us) and then we got back on the bus for an hour and a half drive to Aké, the Mayan ruins we would be visiting. We were apparently supposed to visit Mayapan, but it is presently closed due to protests. The same thing recently happened at Chichén Itzá. Apparently the boundaries of the sites are unclear for these sites and local Mayan people want to be able to sell their handicrafts at the site. However security guards are keeping them out saying that their presence at the site is "invasive" and all they really want to sell is cheap Chinese crap. Not sure what the answer is there. When we were coming back through the port we were absolutely harassed by vendors selling cheap crap in the shops at the port. I honestly wish I saw more unique local handicrafts. I hope they can find a balance between allowing the native Mayans to sell their wares, while also allowing visitors to fully appreciate these sites without being bombarded by vendors. 

Alright, back to Aké. We arrived there around 2:00 PM. I confess to taking a short nap on the bus ride over. When we arrived we had a different tour guide who was Mayan who explained some things about the Mayan calendar, how the Mayans arranged their pyramids and why and a little bit about their culture. Then we were told what we could and couldn't climb on and set loose for about 20 minutes. Roger and I have actually been to two other Mayan sites: Chichén Itzá and Tulum. All three are different and impressive for different reasons. This was the first time I had seen columns at a Mayan site and the pyramids looked slightly different. It was a small site, but there weren't many people there and it was pretty chill. Next door was a production facility that made the aforementioned sisal rope.

We left there at 2:45 or so and made the hour and a half drive back to the ship. If you're thinking, "wow, that was a lot of time on a bus" you would be right. It was a lot of driving. Would I do it again? Well, I probably would have been fine without the ruins since I have seen two others before. But Emmaline never had and I think it's important to appreciate local history and culture when you visit a place. The cenotes were definitely cool. 

When we got back to the port (incidentally, the longest ship pier in the world at 4 miles long) we bought some cheap vanilla and a fridge magnet before getting back on the ship. While we started cycling through the shower, I ran up to deck 9 and grabbed some snacks. Emmaline ran off dressed in her pirate outfit (well, actually, it was my pirate outfit that she borrowed) to meet up with her friends in Vibe. Roger and I got ourselves ready for dinner at Palo because we're tired of the pirate night menu. 

We saw in the Navigator that they would be doing early fireworks that night - at 7:30 PM which I didn't remember them doing previous. I guess there was concerns about weather at 10:30 so they picked the time between normal dinner and show (which was a movie, Wish, that night). So that meant that Roger and I would miss the fireworks. Turned out Emmaline didn't go earlier because she was with friends and they decided they didn't feel like going. 

Our Palo dinner was absolutely amazing. We've been to two Palo dinners previously and they were fine, but we didn't feel they were worth the uncharge. But now that we're Platinum cruisers and don't have to pay the uncharge any more, we figured we might as well go. I've done brunch three times (Roger has been to brunch twice, I went with my parents on one cruise) and I thought I preferred brunch, but now I'm not so sure because our dinner was so phenomenal. Our server (Sandro from Portugal, ask for him on the Magic) was incredible, the best Palo server we've ever had, hands down. 

After Palo it was late and we were tired from our long day so we changed out of our nice clothes and just sort of chilled in the room until bedtime. Emmaline came in late again after hanging out with her friends. 

Click here for Day 4.