Traveler353

I always get a kick out of the this thread, especially the title. It was started as a attempt to slam Progreso but has turned into the source of all knowledge about a great port and gateway to the Yucatan.:cool:

I took advantage of it on the Triumph last month. Loved it. Being able to eat at a time that suited me was perfect. Being a solo passenger I just walk in and was seated immediately every night, no waiting. I have it scheduled for both legs of my B2B on Elation in December. When I booked the second leg I was wait-listed for about 10 minutes and then received an e-mail informing me that because I was Platinum I was assigned the dining period of my choice and was given a confirmation for "Your Time Dining".

On John Heald's blog the other day, some woman complained about the room steward hanging a towel "monkey". Said it scared her when she walked into the room. She said it took her "hours" to calm down. This would have sent her over the railing.

His response was amazingly subdued. I bet he was thinking that the woman was a complete moron.:eek:

The best conch fritters that I have ever had have been from just about any of the little stands under the bridge going over to Fantasy Island. Loaded with conch and made fresh before your very eyes.:D

I have been in porthole cabins 6 out of 8 cruises with Carnival. I have three more portholes cabins booked between now and December next year. They are always my first choice. I sleep like a baby in the bow of the ship.

We visited Costa Maya back in '07 and LOVED it!!! Had a great beach day at Cat's Meow. We are going to Progresso in July and traveling with family who did not go to Costa Maya with us.

 

How would you compare Progresso to Costa Maya? Once again, we had a great day there. Of course, we all have great attitudes and just love being on vacation!!!

No comparison what so ever. As hdawson has posted on another thread. Costa Maya is a purpose built cruise stop. Very nice but not real Mexico. Progreso on the other hand is a real Mexican town. Major industrial port and vacation spot for the locals of Merida and the rest of Mexico. No flash and glitz as seen at most all other cruise ship ports. Very laid back and relaxed. I have spent several land vacations in the area (Merida) and usually go to Progreso with friends from Merida on days that the cruise ships are not in port. Michael

I have a neighbor that has the full linen set, sheets, pillows, comforter, the whole outfit. They have a $3000 mattress made to use in outer space or some such nonsense, so I don't think that they are going to buy the Carnival mattress any time soon.

I like the sheets and comforter, but the pillows don't have enough mass to them for my taste. I end up using two of them when I am onboard.

If you want them sent with foreign postage and postmarked from the ports you visit, obviously you have to mail them from those ports. Many stores sell stamps and use a drop box or take them to the local post office and post them yourself. And yes it can take sometime for them to reach the states but what a great surprise they make on arrival.

You also have to consider tacking onto the price of the cruise for visas, excursions, flights, laundry, drinks, dinners, etc. Could get pretty pricey for 70 days of sailing. It's a dream for most! Hope you can make it if that is your dream.

In addition $700 plus just in tips. :eek:

As investment, no. If you just want something to put on the wall there can be some good deals. You just have to be smart about it and don't let the fast talking and free champagne convince you that just have to have it. Also if you see a piece that you want sometimes it is best to talk to the staff after the so called auction is over and you may be able to actually get a better price. I have done that on a couple of Thomas Kinkade pieces that the people got pretty stupid bidding over during the auction. I picked them up for a much more reasonable price.

Stirring the pot as usual!;)

I knows that Host Mach has helped to arrange this on the Carnival ships, I think through John Heald, but not sure of that. Search the Carnival forums from about 2 or 3 months ago.

Ditto, Host Mach has helped several Carnival cruisers in the last couple of years with the arrangements to make this happen. So it can be done and is not against the law.

Hdawson and WilliamLawson you are wasting your breath trying to discuse Progreso rationaly with Nannersmom. That is part of the problem with cruise ship tourist. They spend 5 or 6 hours in a port and make up their mind as to the good or bad of the entire area.

I remember Cozumel before it was discovered by the cruise ship industry. San Miguel was a sleepy little fishing village only visited by divers and a few deep see fishermen. It was wonderful place, barely worth going to anymore. What most cruise ship tourist do not like about Progreso is that it not like most other cruise ship ports. No miles and miles of tourist traps all selling the same touist crap. No chain bars, C&C, etc. I would love for Progreso to stay this way but I am afraid that is not to be. It will change and not in a good way. It will become just like all the other cruise ship ports. While this is good for the locals it just takes away all the reasons that makes them desirable places to visit in the first place.

There are still many towns/villages in the Yucatan that have not been discovered by but a handful of gringos. While Merida is a growing vibrant town I thoughly enjoy all my land visits there and looking forward to moving to the area in a couple of years.

Google is your friend:

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4SUNA_enUS261US262&q=Discount+Kennedy+Space+Center+Tickets

I thought that you were going to say something like $50 a day. But after reading your post with all that in included that does sound like a very good deal. Enjoy your cruise. I am able to go to Europe a couple of times a year but I would like someday to do a transatlantic and then spend some time in Europe before coming back home or the other way around.

OP: Welcome to CC. No reason to be confused. Check the suggested dress recommendations on the Carnival web site. It is written in standard plain English very easy to understand. Carnival no longer has a "Formal" night, it is now called "Elegant" night. They have dumbed down the dress to fit the desires of most of the passangers.

but wouldnt expect anything less from the CC:eek:

 

I wasnt offended I was impresed you knew Thai :)

Thank you, I lived in Thailand for a couple of years and it was a matter of survival and just good manners to learn it.

Plus I was sent to the DOD language school, so I was happy to take advantage of the oportunity.:D

I thought it was considered extremely rude to carry on a conversation in a language that the majority of the people in the group don't understand. I don't think I would want to risk offending my tablemates by doing so. And I wouldn't want to get the crew member in trouble either, I think that Carnival wants them to speak English when in public.

 

As far as memorable MDR crew. They have almost all be very friendly, efficient and in some cases entertaining. I appreciate them taking care of me but learning their names and making note of them isn't something I usually do.

 

I did have one waiter on the Freedom that was from Croatia and didn't have much of a personality one way or the other. He was efficient, just not at all friendly. In his defense, this was the inaugural voyage and the crew had not worked together before and I don't think he actually knew anyone else. He just took our orders and served our food, which is okay, that's all I needed him to do.

 

On the Dream this past December we changed our table assignment for the 2nd evening and the waiter was terrible. Many orders were incorrect at most of his 4 tables, disappeared for LONG periods of time. Apparently the 1st evening hadn't been much better. Several of the gentlemen went collectively to the MD and the waiter was moved back to the crew mess for more training and the 1st assistant was promoted to head waiter.

Thank you for your input but was not looking for a criticism of my post.

Twanboo from Thailand on the Holiday. I had the pleasure of having her as my head waiter for two cruises in a row. She is now gone to Galveston, TX on the Ecstasy and is serving on the same ship as her husband for the first time in 5 years. Not sure what her new title is but she was promoted and is a supervisor in charge of MDR waiters. Once she found out that I spoke Thai that is what we spoke for the rest of the two cruises. I think it sort of annoyed the rest of my table mates, but it was fun for the both of us. It was specialy good for me as I don't have a lot of oportunites to keep in practice with my Thai.

Is this how urban myths are started? :eek:

Nice, but where would the Captain sleep if you booked his cabin?:D

Everything I've read about Progreso makes me more excited to visit there than our other port stop, Cozumel. With this being our (friend & myself) very first cruise, everything will be new and we're excited about it all. Thankfully, we both enjoy visiting and seeing new places and Progreso will be no different.

 

No matter where I go or what type of trip, I prefer going and doing what the local residents do/see/go to more than to a fabricated vacation destination. Although, some of those can be fun also! And I'm a "glass is almost full" type person. So, I can find wonderful things about most any place I go.

 

Can't wait to visit the Uxmal historic area (with Autoprogreso) and hoping we have enough time to wander around town before having to get back on the ship. Actually, I wish we had 2 days at Progreso because I've read about enough stuff to do that one is really not going to allow enough time!

 

hdawson---thank you so much for sharing your photos with me. They are wonderful!

 

Progreso---I can't wait to visit you!:)

With your attitude I believe that you might just like Progreso/Merida. It is very different from most if not all mainstream cruise ship ports. And that is exactly what many cruise ship "tourist" dislike about it. Have fun and enjoy your visit.

Follow up to Fireflys post. I had 2456 on the same Triumph cruise as her. While it is a very large oversized corner aft O/V cabin it was the noisest and most shake and bake cabin I have ever been in. There is a very uncomfortable unharmonic vibration from some mechanical machinery directly below it. Makes the entire room vibrate and shake constantly. Very hard to relax much less sleep. I would recommend that everyone stay away from this one. It was the only cabin that I have had on a Carnival ship that I was truly dissatified with and would never consider booking again.

With all the beautiful photos of suites I thought I would post a picture of how most passangers actually live while on board:

1A on the Carnival Fantasy

does it make sense to purchase the vacation protection plan offered by the cruise line?

Like all insurance only if you need to use it. If you do and don't have it you will be wishing that you had purchased it or some other travel insurance. Check out http://www.insuremytrip.com/ for a comparison of many different travel insurance policies.