Carnival's "Discover Yucatan.." tour?

[me&2kids]

We are sailing on the Fantasy in Feb (Woohoo!!!). For our stop in Progreso, we want an overview of the area. Our party includes 2 kids (ages 6 & 3), their mom (me), and my parents (non-swimmers). We'd like to see the town and the kids would love seeing flamingos. Anyone taken the Discover Yucatan tour through Carnival? My parents want to do a cruise line sponsored tour rather than outside party. Any other suggestions? As cool as Chichen Itza or Uxmal would be, I don't think the kids would enjoy the long bus ride.

[hdawson]

I'm not certain, but I seem to recall reading that the flamingos are a seasonal thing. Again, I'm not sure. Hopefully YT will respond.

 

Checkout http://www.yucatantoday.com There could be info there.

[me&2kids]

Thanks for the heads-up about the flamingos. Anyone have recommendations on a good area overview cruise-tour? What about good or bad experiences with the Yucatan Discovery tour group? Mom & Dad really want a cruise-tour but I like the idea of customizing our own tour. Maybe I could talk my folks into a private tour....?

[hdawson]

I never use the ship's excursions. Overpriced, don't like the herd mentality and getting such an abbreviated view of the sites moving along at someone else's pace. As you can tell, I love Merida and the Yucatan State. Experiencing Merida, a beautiful Spanish colonial city is so easy and simple and with the reliable bus service and very inexpensive. Check this thread from a couple of weeks ago. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=879249 And of course checkout http://www.yucatantoday.com

[YucatanToday]

We have flamingos right here on the coast, you don't have to go to Celestun! You might consider a trip to the Hotel Reef Yucatan - with Autoprogreso this includes an optional stop at Xcambo - a small Mayan site - http://www.yucatantoday.com/destinations/eng-xcambo.htm

The drive along the coast road will give you many opportunities to see flamingos, and the Reef Yucatan is an all-inclusive resort with great beaches and activities for the kids. http://www.reefyucatan.com

[faith31617]

Hello, I just came across your thread and hopefully you will look at it again since you posted in December. But I wanted to let you know that we did this excursion in December and I posted a review if you are interested in reading it. Here is the link http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=891648 your 6 year old might like it, not sure about the 3 year old. I can tell you that most of the tour (they say 4 hours, but it is actually almost 5) you are on the bus. But it is very interesting and I highly recommend it. Also we were allowed to climb all over the ruins from top to bottom and when you get to the top you have a really good view. Have fun!

[WilliamLawson]

Just took a family of four from the cruise ship to Celestun to see the flamingos and was pleasantly surprised - there were lots of them! Along with the other species of birds pointed out by the guides on the hour-long boat ride. It is a bit of a drive (about 2 hours) but if you leave early enough you can make stops at interesting spots along the way to break it up for the kids.

 

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Happy planning!:)