Tour with David and Ivan

[vmom]

Hmmm....very interesting perspective on taking the kids. I appreciate both your opinions, so thank you for replying.

 

I'm leaning more toward taking the kids. I'm lucky in that all of mine are very good students and I've been told that they are extremely polite and well behaved, although as their mom I certainly question that?? ;)

 

My oldest son, 10, is a history FANATIC! He just loves it and it blows my mind sometimes on the things he can remember.

 

I am really interested in doing both the ruins and the Mayan experiece. I believe it is so important to expose them to other cultures and ways of life. We get so wrapped up in what we have that we rarely take the time to truely appreciate it. I mean....we're going on a CRUISE for heavens sake...and they're not even teenages...AND...this is their SECOND cruise! Good grief.

 

!

 

You're right. So much depends on the children, their attention span, and their personal interests. And...what the parents have told them is acceptable behavior when they get bored. On our particular tour there was no one available to give an child based story to the children and the children were definately bored.

[MercedMike]

So, can anyone tell me how to get in touch with David and Ivan? PLEASE?

 

Sure ...

 

http://www.chacchobenruins.com/

 

Their email can be spotty, so give them a few days to reply. They will get back to you.

 

I know you will love it!

 

;)

[spcl4cs_gal]

Does anyone know her name? Thanks. :)

[de13]

I have emailed them a couple of times, one about 2 weeks ago, the other about 5 days. I am hoping to shear soon, as we leave in 2 weeks for our pre cruise stay. Does they book early, do you think there is a chance we can;t get ressies for our family of 4? I really want to go with them, but will have to book the cruises tour by a certain point to ensure to see the ruins.

Thanks,

[JKJoannie]

I have emailed them a couple of times, one about 2 weeks ago, the other about 5 days. I am hoping to shear soon, as we leave in 2 weeks for our pre cruise stay. Does they book early, do you think there is a chance we can;t get ressies for our family of 4? I really want to go with them, but will have to book the cruises tour by a certain point to ensure to see the ruins.

Thanks,

 

I had trouble with their e-mail also. Just go to their web site and book the tour. They will get back to you through your e-mail address to let you know if they have room for you. (we booked it less than a week before our cruise so you should not have a problem) Then they ask you to confirm your reservation. I had to go back to the "book a tour" section and at the bottom it leaves room for additional comments. That is how I "confirmed" my reservation and I had no problems. I think they will accommodate as many as are interested.

[shipknotshore]

We were on the tour with Ivan on 11/29. We thought it was really interesting and Ivan was full of information. He was actually born at the ruins site and it was his "playground" growing up. We found him to be really passionate about Chacchoben and it really made us want to hear as much about it as we had time for. If your children like that sort of thing I say take the tour, but if not, I'd opt for something else to do. Climbing up one tall flight of stairs wouldn't be enough for some children and I wouldn't want to have to be distracted by my bored child and miss what Ivan (or David) have to say. As an earlier poster said, the drive to the ruins is quite long and that alone may be too much for some children.

[Chelsea_mom]

 

I am really interested in doing both the ruins and the Mayan experiece. I believe it is so important to expose them to other cultures and ways of life. We get so wrapped up in what we have that we rarely take the time to truely appreciate it. I mean....we're going on a CRUISE for heavens sake...and they're not even teenages...AND...this is their SECOND cruise! Good grief.

 

I believe that Carolina is the person who leads the Mayan Experience part of the tours, which is a very, very good thing. Her English is excellent (she worked in Canada for awhile), her knowledge of Mayan life past and present is impressive, and she has the ability to convey the information that is completely engaging. She also said that she particularly loves to do the Mayan Experience with kids.

 

If I had the chance to do the Mayan Experience with children over the age of 5 or so, I would do it in a heartbeat, especially if Carolina was leading the group. Unfortunately, for our 2 year old Grace, it would have been too much.

 

Enjoy!!! If you don't have the 7 needed for the group, you might see if you could drum up the interest on your roll call.

 

Corie

[MercedMike]

Enjoy!!! If you don't have the 7 needed for the group, you might see if you could drum up the interest on your roll call.

 

We booked the Mayan Experience via the website, for just 2 of us. Ivan emailed us back that it is no problem, they can usually make up a group of sufficient size from the ship.

[mjohnson]

We are coming in on the Grandeur. It doesn't arrive until Noon. Are there afternoon tours available also? :)

[MercedMike]

We are coming in on the Grandeur. It doesn't arrive until Noon. Are there afternoon tours available also? :)

 

Tours start one hour after the ship docks. They know the arrival times of all the ships. Contact them and I think they will work with you.

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[spcl4cs_gal]

For those who are wondering whether their David and Ivan tour will start at the pier or the Cat's Meow, this is what Ivan's email said...

 

We have gained access to the port and there is usually one of us at the booth for public transportation to assist our clients get to the place where we will start our tour. Depending on the size of our group it is possible to start the tour directly at the port.

I guess this might be the easiest thing to do and a trip to the Cat's Meow can be made after the tour returns from the ruins.

[vmom]

We are coming in on the Grandeur. It doesn't arrive until Noon. Are there afternoon tours available also? :)

 

The day we were there David was doing a tour in the afternoon for a ship that arrived later in the day. It likely was the Grandeur now that I think about it.

[de13]

I still have not heard from them. I know someone posted that I should just book online, but you can/t do that without contacting them first. I have tried to do a couple of times without any response.

Has anyone heard from them in the past 2 weeks?

thanks!

[kem]

I have has no problem emailing them in the last week, have heard back from Ivan twice regarding a Jan 5 tour. Is this the email you used?

icohuo@chacchobenruins.com

[kelz66]

I still have not heard from them. I know someone posted that I should just book online, but you can/t do that without contacting them first. I have tried to do a couple of times without any response.

Has anyone heard from them in the past 2 weeks?

thanks!

 

Be patient...they do not have daily access to the internet as most people in the US do..:D

 

They will get back to you.

[de13]

yes, that is the email. I have tried again today. My first email was at least 2 weeks ago...

We leave in one week for the precruise stay, so heopefully they will see it and respond before we leave. We have also provided our cell phone number

[crusinpsychRN]

We were there the week after Thanksgiving. I found lots of confusion at the taxi stand--lots of people looking for David and Ivan. We were told to buy $3 tickets for cab to Cat's Meow, did so then were herded on one van, then off, then on another and headed out. Carolina started speaking and she was interrupted by several very nervous cruisers who weren't sure we were even on the right bus as we never went to Cat's Meow. Carolina explained the change was made recently. (Then why the $3 taxi fare?).

 

She was an excellent speaker and very entertaining. She memorized everyones's names (16 people). At the site there were very few places to sit down except on the ground. The site was beautiful although at first glance we were a bit disappointed as we saw one lonely pyramid and nothing else. After about a 45 minute talk we followed David into the forest behind the pyramid we could see to see so much more.

 

He was a wealth of information!

 

On the ride back we had a LONG detour into a nearby town as one passenger and Carolina were doing a 2nd part of the excursion, I think it involved meeting and eating with a local family.

 

Got back to pier with an hour to eat and get back to ship.

[Nebr.cruiser]

We were there on Dec. 7th and were met right outside the dock area by representatives. No need to get to the Cat's Meow. I'm not sure what the $3 fee was for since we didn't change vehicles or go into town.

 

We enjoyed the tour, but I was disappointed that we were on a big bus with 30+ other people. I expected to be in a van with 4-6 people. Maybe it had something to do with David being sick that day.

 

We had Ivan and Elias (sp.) as our guides. Carolina rode along for most of the way as she had about 4 people going on the Mayan experience tour, which included a home visit and meal as well as the ruins.

 

The ruins were interesting, though not huge. I liked that some of the areas have not been reconstructed yet but are still captured by the jungle. Some Mayan sites have been overly rebuilt.

 

They divided us into two groups of 15-20 with Elias and David each taking a group. We started out with Elias but got changed to David; Elias's English is much easier to understand. David gave a lot of interesting background but maybe (for us, especially my husband, who doesn't like too much verbiage on tours) too much information. Since we've been to several other Mayan sites a lot of this was information we already knew, so we kind of wandered away from the group at times to look around on our own.

 

Again, we had a good time, but we wished we were in a smaller group.

[sharecruises]

Good info...thanks Neb

 

altho I have not been there (no flames please LOL) from what I have READ on these boards, they now meet people at the pier, rather than Cat's Meow...but..being Mexico they must have to "pay off" the other drivers, so you have to pay the $3 fee that you would have paid to go into town...confusing LOL ? whew

 

It does sound interesting....but maybe TOO interesting...I might be like Neb and wander away...

 

I know there is a LOT of praise for these guys on this board, but things change....from older reviews it seemed that the tours were smaller

 

I also hate to say it but I wonder if they may have TOO much info, have gotten too much into their "talks"?? I like history, but I don't want a degree in Mayan Culture LOL

 

I have seen pics of ruins and people standing on them, climbing them...like that one season of Survivor, haha! I would like that I think!

 

I am still thinking about this vs Altun Ha in Belize....have plenty of time tho since cruise not til May, so I will keep reading the reviews and see how it goes. Hopefully the confusion over the "bus fare" will ease up, really these guys should cut a deal with the taxi/bus drivers and raise the tour fee by $2 or something and pay them off themselves JMO

 

or change the info on their website, cause that is why people are confused

 

and (putting on flame suit) maybe they should read some of these posts...and tailor their tours to be a bit less structured and pedantic.

 

It will be interesting to keep reading the various reviews tho...so thanks to all and keep em comin <grin>

[MercedMike]

maybe they should read some of these posts...and tailor their tours to be a bit less structured and pedantic.

 

It is interesting to hear this comment made. We have been on LOTS of tours all over the world, and have heard many guides who drone on and on with uninteresting information, even at world famous sites -- like Herculaneum, Haggia Sophia, Skara Brae, the Colusseum, and the Pyramids. I really found the pace at Chacchoben very nice, just enough information to make it interesting and lots of time to see what we wanted to see. I did not find it "droning" at all. Odd how people's perceptions differ.

[Guest CRUZIN' SUZIN]

Interesting.....we just got back from 11/11 sailing on RCI Legend of the Seas...... we also had tour with David and Ivan.......

 

we were also told at first to meet at the Cats Meow... but then received another email and we met them at the exit of the port area (where you get taxis, golf carts etc....)

 

He had told us that they were negotiating with the "pier people" to do this......

 

Anyway...... I would not want to walk to the Cats Meow...... we were told it is about a mile but I am not sure about that....... seemed like a mile to the turn off (left to village - right to main highway) not a real great area either...... construction going on..... and not alot there.

 

Spend the 3.00 for a taxi if you have to meet him in town.......

 

At the end of the tour they will drop you in town after they drop off those who want to return to the pier area/ship...... we got back about 3:00 but did not go to town...... the ruin tour was amazing though...... Davids grandmother was the midwife of the village near the ruins..... he knows ALOT of interesting stuff......

 

How do you contact David and Ivan?

[madisonswims]

We just got back from our cruise on the 9th. We booked with David and Ivan ahead of time based on the numerous positive comments on these boards. They were even better than we ever imagined!

 

I did have one instance where I did not receive an e-mail back right away. I guess the infrastructure in the region is not yet fully developed and has continuity issues still.

 

But, they met us right outside the pier by the Tourist Transportation window. The Tourist Transportation window is on the other side of the port compared to where you disembark. It is past the pools. I asked someone where I could find David and Ivan and they knew exactly who I was referring to and pointed us in the right direction. No problem!

 

The tour was wonderful. I was there during the same week while Ivan was sick. We had a marvelous young lady take us on the tour. I feel awful, but for the life of me I can't recall her name. She was wonderful!

 

The information that we received was just the right amount. She provided us with very interesting historical facts about the Mayan culture as well as the invasions. She also pointed out many items of interest to us so that we were able to appreciate what we were looking at.

 

My 8 year old daughter was even intrigued by the tour. She walked away asking me questions about what we had seen. I could tell based on her questions that she had been listening and understanding much of what she had heard.

 

EXCELLENT!!! Please don't let the computer difficulties impact your decision to go with David and Ivan. They are an outstanding group of people with such vast knowledge who make the tour FUN!!!

[tjcox9]

We did a tour with David and Ivan in October. David is so passionate about the ruins and the area that he is a pleasure. He is very animated and keeps it interesting. Sure, his English isn't perfect, but it's FAR better than my Spanish! I just had to focus a little more than I usually do when listening.

 

It was funny that we were the first ones at the tourist transportation area and David was there with his sign saying with a big grin that if we wait just a "Mexican 10 minutes" while the others gathered, we'd be on our way. Well, by the time the complete tour got together and a bus was acquired, it was probably 30 "US minutes".

 

They did provide bottled water and small snacks which was a nice addition. And yes, there are some issues with the port and transportation, and we paid $3 to the tourist transportation services in addition to the tour. Loved the tour, but all should be aware that it is hot and somewhat rugged with a fair amount of walking. There was a lady on another tour who used a cane she didn't last long at all.

[tpear3]

I know the tour is to last about 5 hours. Does this leave time to see the city, too? We will be on the NCL Sun and leaving at 5 or 6. Thanks!!

[Zeno]

I have done a number of tours of Mayan ruins (Chichen Itza, Uxmal, Dzbilchaltun, Lamanai, Tulum, Coba) and I would rate David and Ivan's tour as one of the top for quantity and quality of info. There are other ruins I rate more highly than Chacchoben but their tour was special.

 

Ivan is the only tour guide I have ever had who made a real effort to explain Mayan cosmology in terms most people could understand and I think it really adds to the experience of historic sites when you get some insight into how the builders minds worked. "Dumbing down" stuff would just make the experience a walk through the jungle scattered with some old buidlings rather than an actual meaningful learning experience.

 

Frankly if you don't want info, perhaps a historic tour is not for you - perhaps a day at the beach would be better. I am not sure it is a suitable tour for very small children but older children with an interest in history seem to enjoy it (We had 2 on our tour and they asked LOTS of questions and seemed pretty intrigued with the place.)