Advice for Uxmal??

[WilliamLawson]

While not impossible, I would say Uxmal is a challenge for anyone in a wheelchair. Uneven, rocky ground, plus many different levels up and down make it difficult in my opinion.

[hdawson]

William. You're right. I've been there twice and still haven't been to the upper level. Now that I have an artificial hip and now that it's been recalled, I don't expect to ever get to the upper level.

[gtsuttons]

One might be able to see maybe half of Uxmal in a wheelchair. I agree w/ Lawson and Dawson :-). Getting across the ballcourt would be very hard in a wheelchair and climbing up to the Governor's Palace was not a piece of cake for a pretty fit guy.

[wantocruisemore]

I'm curious, are you planning on getting a taxi upon your arrival? If so, do you mind coming back later and telling us how it went and the cost for the taxi to take you up there.

 

I was thinking about going with Auto Progreso tours but they don't leave till 9am and I would much rather leave immediately upon arrival at port (7am) to go to Uxmal since we are already limited on time there. I was thinking that if I get a taxi to take me to Uxmal if we leave at 7am we should arrive shortly after they open around 8:30am and that would give us a good head start. I just don't know how much taxi drivers are charging and upon my arrival at Uxmal if they take US$ or peso's only.

 

If anyone has any knowledge on this it would be greatly appreciated.:)

 

Either way wdowns I would love to read a review from you upon your return.

 

 

Just got back from our cruise last night. This is what we did. We decided to book Uxmal through Carnival because DD is disabled (not physical) and we wanted the simplest possible. We got off the ship at 7am. As soon we we walked through the duty free shop we were directed to the side for the Carnival excursion lines. They had signs up and we got in the Uxmal line. After a few minutes they led us to the busses about a 5 min. walk past the shops. We were on the bus by 7:20 and pulled away at 7:30am on our way. Our guide was Carlos and he was excellent. He talked about places in the area, some information about the site etc. We arrived at the site at 9:10am and there was only 1 bus there before us. After a short bathroom break we were on our tour. Carlos took us around and told us about all the places. He gave us time for photos. After that he said we could have extra time to climb and showed us the places we could. He said he would be back at the restaurant where they would have a tortilla making presentation for those who did not wish to climb.

 

We climbed both structures and walked around some more. We were to meet at the bus at 12:15pm to get ready to leave by 12:30pm. Around 11:15 am we ran into a couple from our roll call who came to Uxmal with Autoprogresso. They had not been there long and had departed from the tour because the tour did not have enough time to see all. By that time it was getting really hot, we were tired and we got back to the bus at noon to eat the lunch they had provided. It was basic roll with turkey and cheese, some packaged mustard, some potato rings, a banana and water. It was nothing special but adequate. We left at 12:30pm and arrived back at the port by 2pm giving us plenty of time to do some duty free shopping. The bus delivered us back to the port itself where we first got it.

 

We booked with Carnival in advance through their website. It cost $69 per person. Yes, this was more than Autoprogresso but because of the time, the pick-up and drop-off right at the port rather than catching the bus into town and then waiting for the bus for Autoprogresso to fill before leaving and then the hastle of catching another bus from town to port, and the fact if we had run late the ship would have waited made the extra money a wise expenditure for us.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed our tour. My DH is not a fan of tours but he said this was probably one of the best he has ever been on.

[lady in tx]

Just got back from our cruise last night. This is what we did. We decided to book Uxmal through Carnival because DD is disabled (not physical) and we wanted the simplest possible. We got off the ship at 7am. As soon we we walked through the duty free shop we were directed to the side for the Carnival excursion lines. They had signs up and we got in the Uxmal line. After a few minutes they led us to the busses about a 5 min. walk past the shops. We were on the bus by 7:20 and pulled away at 7:30am on our way. Our guide was Carlos and he was excellent. He talked about places in the area, some information about the site etc. We arrived at the site at 9:10am and there was only 1 bus there before us. After a short bathroom break we were on our tour. Carlos took us around and told us about all the places. He gave us time for photos. After that he said we could have extra time to climb and showed us the places we could. He said he would be back at the restaurant where they would have a tortilla making presentation for those who did not wish to climb.

 

We climbed both structures and walked around some more. We were to meet at the bus at 12:15pm to get ready to leave by 12:30pm. Around 11:15 am we ran into a couple from our roll call who came to Uxmal with Autoprogresso. They had not been there long and had departed from the tour because the tour did not have enough time to see all. By that time it was getting really hot, we were tired and we got back to the bus at noon to eat the lunch they had provided. It was basic roll with turkey and cheese, some packaged mustard, some potato rings, a banana and water. It was nothing special but adequate. We left at 12:30pm and arrived back at the port by 2pm giving us plenty of time to do some duty free shopping. The bus delivered us back to the port itself where we first got it.

 

We booked with Carnival in advance through their website. It cost $69 per person. Yes, this was more than Autoprogresso but because of the time, the pick-up and drop-off right at the port rather than catching the bus into town and then waiting for the bus for Autoprogresso to fill before leaving and then the hastle of catching another bus from town to port, and the fact if we had run late the ship would have waited made the extra money a wise expenditure for us.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed our tour. My DH is not a fan of tours but he said this was probably one of the best he has ever been on.

 

 

Thanks for the review!! Glad to hear that you liked the carnival excursion. It seems like they gave you enough time to look around and so what you wanted.

[marshhawk]

The AutoProgreso tours are not the same (as in the same bus) as the cruise line tours. The cruise ship tours leave from the cruise ship terminal and Autoprogreso tours leave from the city.

 

AutoProgreso is legit and does offer a better value than the cruise ship for nearly the same tour. They offer more tours than are listed on the website.

 

The only relationship between AutoProgreso and Carnival is that AutoProgreso provides the "free" bus transportation from the cruise terminal to Progreso.

 

As for Uxmal, here are pictures from a couple of visits there:

 

Progreso Feb 09 Uxmal

 

Uxmal/Progreso Sept 2004

 

Fantastic pictures...we will be there 11/11 can't wait!

[jasminelee]

I agree about the Carnival tour to Uxmal-we had a great guide, Carlos. My DH was the same way-he went just because I wanted to go, BUT now that is all he talks about if people ask about our trip. We talked to people there that had done Chichen Itza also and they liked Uxmal better. I, also, climbed all over ther ruins. It is an unbelieveable place to visit.

[Lixer]

We just got back from our cruise last week and the highlight of it was Uxmal.

We went through Carnival rather than Autoprogresso which we were happy with even though it was $20 more. We got off the ship and into a line which led us to the bus and we were off to the site!!

If we had gone through Autoprogresso we would have been taken into town to wait at least another hour before heading out. We were glad to have the extra time to spend exploring after the initial hour and a half tour with the guide.

 

It was a beautiful day all around. There was only the first carnival bus there when we got there so it was not crowded at all.

[poolparty4]

We used Autoprogreso last year and they were great. Everything was handled by email and you don't pay until you arrive. That way if something comes up or you change your mind no problem. Make sure you take some type of bug spray like Off and hand wipes to wipe off later if you are going during summer months.

[WilliamLawson]

Nice to hear everyone enjoying Uxmal! So much better than Chichen Itza and on so many levels. For you "boat people" the long drive to Chichen and back is just a waste of time.

 

:)

[Sargent_Schultz]

Nice to hear everyone enjoying Uxmal! So much better than Chichen Itza and on so many levels. For you "boat people" the long drive to Chichen and back is just a waste of time.

 

:)

 

Chichen Itza is certainly worth seeing, even for "boat people". We've been to both and thoroughly enjoyed our not so long drive to Chichen Itza last September. :)

[vanityfur]

My advice: Don't use Autoprogreso.

 

We were told we would be on an air-conditioned BUS with a bathroom on it. We specifically asked b/c we were bringing our young son. When we got to Progreso, we were shuttled to the downtown market where we had to wait a good while so they could try to get more people to go on the tour.

 

Once they finally told us to board the bus, we walked outside to the bus unloading area. Three buses passed us by. Then, we saw a small VAN pulling up. Yep -- no bus, no bathroom... We asked about being told we would be on a bus and were told to use the one inside the market - no other explanation.

 

Having been to several sites on our own, I know enough to know when a guide is simply saying whatever he/she can come up with to shut people up. It's even worse when the guide makes up an answer that is CORRECTLY explained on the marker in front of the building.

 

If we had to do it over, I would actually pay the extra money to go through Carnival.

[Sargent_Schultz]

The AutoProgreso tours are not the same (as in the same bus) as the cruise line tours. The cruise ship tours leave from the cruise ship terminal and Autoprogreso tours leave from the city.

 

AutoProgreso is legit and does offer a better value than the cruise ship for nearly the same tour. They offer more tours than are listed on the website.

 

The only relationship between AutoProgreso and Carnival is that AutoProgreso provides the "free" bus transportation from the cruise terminal to Progreso.

 

As for Uxmal, here are pictures from a couple of visits there:

 

Progreso Feb 09 Uxmal

 

Uxmal/Progreso Sept 2004

 

Thanks for the photos! They really have us excited. And you seemed to be the only group there, no crowds.

 

Fantastic pictures...we will be there 11/11 can't wait!

 

You're welcome. For anyone interested, here are pictures from Chichen Itza:

Sept 2010, Chichen Itza: Page1 Page2 Page3 Page4

[Naomi John]

There is a little debate going on in my household. How long is the bus ride to Uxmal from port using the Carnival Tour?

[jasminelee]

It was about 1 1/2 hours-