My Tulum experience

[tcs1366]

We did Western Caribbean on Carnival Glory and booked thru the ship due to the time constraints [6 hr excursion, 7 hrs in port]

 

First off -- I chose this trip because i wanted to experience the ruins, period.

 

port time was supposed to be 10am-6pm

 

by the time we were getting off the ship, it was about 10:15am. Short walk to the boat that takes you to Playa Del Carmen .... one of the first ones on ... .so we waited til the boat filled up ... probably 20 minutes [by this time, i'm starting to watch my watch to keep track of the time so i could do a good report]. but now i cant recall when we left the pier... but it seemed like an eternity.

 

40 or so minutes to the main land.... get off the boat, get in lines [there were 3 different excursion groups on this boat.]

 

our excursion consisted of 3 groups .... get into groups, start walking..... and walking... about 6-7 blocks later we get to some buses.

 

Load onto buses and wait until all 3 are loaded.

 

I dozed on the bus ride, so i do not recall how long it took to get to the first stop... now mind you... all i wanted to do was experience the ruins.... after about 45+ minutes we pull into a parking lot.... I'm now looking for signs for the ruins but find out we are on a "shopping trip" to buy Mayan trinkets [i missed most of the 'history lesson' due to my nap, but DH found it fascinating. PLUS - since we were unaware of this lil shopping 'detour' we didn't bring much cash to purchase said 'trinkets', though DH bought this lil pyramid made out of this black "stone" that turns gold when put in sunlight.

 

ok... now after 25 min or so.... load back on the bus. [oh, i will comment -- clean bathrooms]

 

now about another 10 min or so to Tulum. Get all peeps off the bus. [no offense] ... but i think we were put on the Senior bus, where they all walk pretty slowly ... that took about another 10 min.

 

now we are all gathered in our group, in the sun [now i know this is Mexico, where we were told they have 2 temperatures.... hot and HOTTER] but it was HOT and humid, with not much shade in that parking lot.

 

about another 10 min.... we start walking, as our tour guide was telling us the good food we could purchase after this tour. Then we all get in line for the lil ride over to the Ruins [$2 per person]

Pile on the carts .... coupla minutes later we are gathering into our group again, luckily in teh shade.... by now, i'm quite irritated - 1) because of the heat and 2) I came for the Ruins .... this entire time, our tour guide was giving us a history lesson about Mayans ... the Yucatan Mayans, not the Guatemalan Mayans. After a bit... we are walking again, getting more of a history lesson. One of the ladies with us, who is in her low 70's is now getting dizzy due to the heat, and actually decides NOT to go any further. He DH stays with us [me mostly, as he and I were grumbling about the history lesson, while my DH was fully enjoying it.

 

with all the walking and stopping and more history lessons.... I can't even recall HOW much time has passed... but i know i kept saying to myself..... well, we have to be back on board the ship by 5:30pm and i have yet to SEE any ruins... the main reason for me taking this trip.

 

at one point, it was 2;30pm ... and I peeked thru a "walk way" to view a few buildings .... tiring of the history lesson... i walked off on my own to take a few shots.

 

I stuck with the groups a bit more, but by now, i'm no longer listening to the history lesson, just taking photos -- and i quite grumbling to DH as he wasn't having any of it, and was enjoying the 'history lesson'.

 

By the time the 'tour guide' was done talking... he said, "ok, you have 1 hour to be back on the bus."

 

so -- that gave us 60 minutes to explore the entire site... which is quite large, plus go to the beach, which was awesome!!! get back to the train thing, grab some fish tacos and load back on the bus.

 

The temps had to be mid to upper 80's with humidity at 90%+

 

and I brought water!! i drank 3 24oz bottles during this trip.

 

The Ruins are incredible!!! but i did not need the history of Yucatan Mayans.

 

Would I do this again?? thru the ship... possibly not. Maybe if the port was on the main land... then you would have more time.

 

and I also understand the "guide" was proud of the heritage and wanted to share all of that information with us.... but i guess i wasn't in the mood, since all i wanted to do was experience the beauty of the ruins themselves.

 

There just was not enough time to fully explore and to go for a dip in the ocean.

 

OH -- some of the concerned seniors on our bus asked our tour guide to get us back to the boat that would take us to Cozumel .... so he walked us there [where i've read you just get dumped back off the bus and have to make your way back on your own] ... so he walked all of us back, got the transfers for the boat and made sure we all got back on.... we got back on the Glory at 5:45pm and pushed away at 6pm.

 

It was a very rushed, hectic day...

 

maybe if it were cooler i would have enjoyed it more.... but i knew it was going to be HOT as i read a post on it where a gal stated it was 104° in April.

 

If you had a port time of over 8 hrs it'd be worth it, as you'd have time to relax a bit ... but 7hrs just cuts it way too short, as you can be late getting into port too.

[mckinna]

We did this tour, and I will agree about the heat and humidity, and we are from Tennessee! However, I really enjoyed the history lesson. I learned quite a bit, and besides, it makes the trip there go by a little faster.

 

There is one structure there, forgot the name, but it has a circle in stone at the top that if the wind is at a certain speed, will make such a loud sound as to serve as a siren- warning of inclement weather. I remembered this when the hurricane went through there last year, a Weather Channel reporter was at Tulum and commented on this fact.

 

I will also agree that it would be better with an independent tour, as there wouldn't be as many people, which wouldn't take as long. However, there is the danger of not getting back to the ship on time.

[tcs1366]

whoops... i wanted to edit, but that function is gone now....

 

it was a 7hr excursion with 8hrs in port.

 

but coming into Cozumel -- all your transport time is close to 5 hrs.

 

McKinna -- thanks for your insight on it..... maybe I'll do a bit of research on the ruins to better educate myself on it.

 

My Dh loved the "history lesson"

[blessedwith12]

Maybe next time you could make the tour of Tulum from the Calica port. We are going with Edventure Tours in 3 weeks and I understand it is only about 45 minutes from the port. We are excited about seeing the ruins, snorkeling in a cenote and visiting a turtle sanctuary. Hope we have time to see the beach at Tulum also.

[hart0926]

Maybe next time you could make the tour of Tulum from the Calica port. We are going with Edventure Tours in 3 weeks and I understand it is only about 45 minutes from the port. We are excited about seeing the ruins, snorkeling in a cenote and visiting a turtle sanctuary. Hope we have time to see the beach at Tulum also.

 

I've done the Tulum excursion from Calica, and the 45 minute bus ride is about right. I'm guessing you'd have a more relaxed experience with a private tour than we did, though the uncertainty of returning to the ship on time would probably add stress unless you don't worry about those sort of things like I do. The ruins are on a cliff, and the beach is just below...it is beautiful, and we got some great photos, but there are steep stairs down to the beach, just so you're prepared.

[spartygrad95]

Why wouldn't the tour guide give a "history lesson"? That is his job. Secondly, why wouldn't he talk of the Yucatan Mayans? Although, technically you are in the state of Quintana Roo, you are still in the Yucatan Penisula. If you want Guatamalan Mayan history, visit Tikal. You think its hot at Tulum, don't ever visit Chitchen Itza or Palenque, at least at Tulum you can walk down to the water.

[dragonflymy2000]

we took this tour last May and absolutely loved it. Yes the boat to play del carmen seemed to take forever and the forced march was long and hot, but we found the history great and our tour guides were awesome. we could have skipped the stop at the little shop but i did manage to purchase the mayan calander that i wanted from the last time we were in cozumel.

 

when we reach tulum our guide offered us the choice of walking to the site or paying $1 to ride the train/trolly thing...we chose the ride. We had about 30-40 minutes of guided exploration which we found great (im 43, my daughter was 12 and a family friend who is 68 ) we walked around at our leisure after that and took the stairs down to the beach, which we didnt know about and would have bought our suits if we knew, but that didnt stop my daughter from jumping right in.

 

we took the train back and had drinks and chips at one of the little cantinas until it was time to return. yes it was a busy ,hectic day but i have to say with 7 cruises under our belts and 3 to go this was one of the best stops ever.

[clcurry]

Thanks so much for the review!

 

When we first booked our cruise, I was determined I wanted to do this excursion. However, it seemed a bit expensive and it sounded to me like a lot of waiting around and driving. I think we will do our own thing in Cozumel and have a good time with just the two of us.

[dolfansam]

Maybe next time you could make the tour of Tulum from the Calica port. We are going with Edventure Tours in 3 weeks and I understand it is only about 45 minutes from the port. We are excited about seeing the ruins, snorkeling in a cenote and visiting a turtle sanctuary. Hope we have time to see the beach at Tulum also.

 

You will love Ed and Bonnie. We went to Tulum and did two separate snorkeling stops with them. It was well worth the money and I would use them again in a heartbeat.

[marybeth200]

Thanks for all the info! We are going to be in a similar situation with a short time in port and from your review I think we are going to bow out and do something a little more active. A history lesson has it's place, but I don't think taking up an entire day of our vacation is going to make our group happy.

[familycruisernj]

So, for a family of six, plus grandma, is is more advisable to try to do the Tulum tirp on your own? History lessons will not interest 4 kids under 12....or Dad! Is it do-able on your own, or will we get ripped off??

[familycruisernj]

So, for a family of six, plus grandma, is is more advisable to try to do the Tulum tirp on your own? History lessons will not interest 4 kids under 12....or Dad! Is it do-able on your own, or will we get ripped off??