VIP Chichen Itza and Cenote Ikkil with Lunch Excursion (PGO21) Question

[marynomad]

Hi! We’re stopping in Progreso on our cruise this January and I was wondering if anyone’s done the VIP Chichen Itza and Cenote Ikkil excursion? I saw an awesome review about the other Chichen and Cenote tour out of Progreso, but haven’t seen much about the VIP tour. If you’ve done it, I’d love to know your thoughts and experience! Thanks so much!!

 

[sipnride]

Can't speak to the excursions themselves but I've been to both. Ikkil is beautiful but very crowded. If a vip tour allows you to go with less crowds that would be nice because it definitely stands out among the areas many cenotes. OTOH I'm not a fan of Chichen. Everything is picturesque but the experience is hollow. I would pick Coba or Ek Balam and probably a half dozen other sites over Chichen. But again maybe a VIP Tour adds something to it that would provide a deeper exploration.

I love touring the Yucatan. In sure you'll have a wonderful time regardless.

 

[Cheburashka]

We really enjoyed visiting Chichen Itza and are glad we went. We didn't do the special VIP tour, though, so I can't speak to that. We just did DCL's standard tour to Chichen Itza.

 

[pjacobi]

Note that Chichen Itza can be very hot in the jungle. Which mean someone will be following you around selling neck scarves loaded with ice.


-Paul

 

[Intr3pid]

Chichen Itza's scale is bigger than all other Yutacan ruins combined. Its temple's architectural alignment with celestial events is a steep ask today - let alone a millennium ago. If you have watched the evening show at Xcaret, the games portrayed in the show used to be actually held in the ball court at Chichen Itza. A good guide will make the site's rich history come alive. Those other ruins have few tourists for a reason.

Haven't done the excursion from Progreso - the difference appears to be in the choice of the cenote? There is a cenote at/near Chichen Itza as well - quite a bit smaller than Ikkil. Neither is as dramatic as Seytun.

And FWIW, the VIP excursion is cheaper than the "regular" excursion?

 

[DCLCruiseFan09]

And FWIW, the VIP excursion is cheaper than the "regular" excursion?

If I've learned anything since I started cruising in 2018, its that the definition of "VIP" varies wildly at the whims of those using the word...

Just because it says VIP certainly doesn't mean it is.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

I've never done it via a ship excursion. I've gone on my own a few times . Both Chichen Itza and Ik Kil are worth it. I have had two private tours with guide and they have been amazing. I am not sure if your excursion will provide a tour guide for Chichen Itza. If they don't, I HIGHLY recommend hiring one at the front entrance. Chichen Itza is one of the world's seven wonders and is rich in history and just looking at the structures and perhaps reading from the signs just doesn't do it justice. Maybe times have recently changed but we have never found Ik Kil overly busy. Perhaps, it's because we go to Chichen Itza first thing in the morning to avoid the heat and ahead of the crowds. Then we head to Ik Kil one step ahead again of the crowds.

 

[CarolynFH]

I'm reviving this thread to ask more about the Chichen Itza excursion as well as the other Mayan ruins excursion listed (I understand they may or may not actually be offered) for Progreso. Our port stop there will be in January. We are only interested viewing and exploring Mayan ruins, not in swimming in a cenote. I'm trying to compare the excursions to Chichen Itza, Dzibilchaltún, and the Mayapan Ruins.

How strenuous is each excursion? We're older, so we move a little more slowly than a lot of guests on a DCL cruise probably move, but we can walk. We wouldn't plan to climb any pyramids; we just want to see them and the other parts of the site. Would there be continuous walking, or are there options for a brief sit-down rest? Are there many steps or stairs or hills to climb? How hot and humid is it in January?

Any information will be appreciated!

 

[auntlynne]

Chichen Itza: The site is dry and flat (compacted dirt). Pretty much walking and standing with a lot of direct sun, limited shade. I just watched a few videos to refresh my memory - and saw no places to sit during your visit.

No climbing involved - and the main pyramid is definitely off limits to climbing. There are ropes to keep guests off the structures here.

 

[auntlynne]

I have visited several Mayan sites: Copan, Tikal, Tulum, Chichen Itza, and Chacchoben. Some are “prettier” or have more structures.

Chichen Itza has neatly reconstructed buildings - the stones are precisely placed and are aesthetically pleasing. They photograph well.

Others show what happens when the jungle has taken over, to be found later and reconstructed with a labor of love. Often these are an ongoing work site. And yet May offer more, but less showy, structures.

That is what I see when I watched this video of Mayapan: (tap the red arrow box to play)

If you want to see the famous Chichen Itza - it’s there (About a 2.5 hour drive from Progresso cruise port, each way)

If you would rather see a more laid-back ruin (with grass to walk on, and low stone walls you should be able to sit on - since they are still climbable structures) that is about 1.5 hours drive each way, consider Mayapan. I haven’t checked out the bathroom situation there.
I haven’t looked at the other one, yet.

We all look for different things in an excursion. Even the same person, in different times if life.
Is either one calling you?

 

[auntlynne]

Comparing some of my photos. Tulum (first two photos) are great presentations in a beautiful setting. Tikal and Chichen Itza have great structures. Copan offers a more “natural, laid-back“ experience - what I would expect at Mayapan. (I am actually not pushing this, just trying to compare possible experiences. And hearing remarks of how “touristy” some places are.)

I don’t even see a photo of the great pyramid at Chichen Itza in my files.

I do love to visit UNESCO World Heritage Sites; that would include Chichen Itza.

 

[auntlynne]

Dzibilchaltún

Only 35 minutes from Progresso Cruise Port. Not even as far as Merida.

From the Yucatán Today website:
Bathrooms available. This appears to be a smaller ruins site. Nothing overly impressive, but an easy visit.

This could be combined with a visit to Merida for an interesting day. If only as a drive-through if the town.

 

[SeanSD]

Hi! We’re stopping in Progreso on our cruise this January and I was wondering if anyone’s done the VIP Chichen Itza and Cenote Ikkil excursion? I saw an awesome review about the other Chichen and Cenote tour out of Progreso, but haven’t seen much about the VIP tour. If you’ve done it, I’d love to know your thoughts and experience! Thanks so much!!

We may be on same cruise if it’s out of New Orleans. Checking out the cenote excursions also. And maybe a ruins that’s a little closer to port.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

We did Chichen Itza and Cenote swim this past spring. The bus ride was late to get going and the ride was closer to 3 hours each way. I have never in my life been anyplace as crowded as the entrance to Chichen Itza. The guide said it was extra crowded because of it being spring break (we had also gone out of NOLA). There were 50 people clustered around our one guide trying to hear his commentary. One of my kids got something in his eye, so we just sat in the shade with me trying to rinse it while the group tried to hear about the ruins in the direct sun at noon. I started getting worried at the thought of what if we needed medical care, and here we are 3 hours from port with a group of 50 people. Then we went to the cenote. They gave us 40 minutes to rinse, get a life jacket, find somewhere for our things, walk down to the cenote, swim, get out, dry off and return life jackets, get lunch, and be back on the bus. The cenote was WONDERFUL. It was so cool and refreshing. I wish we had longer to stay there. Then on the bus we sat for an hour waiting for them to collect a couple of people who hadn't heeded the time restriction. Then another 3 hours back to port. We were late rolling in and those on the bus with early dinner were going to be late for that - plus it was pirate night so they all wanted to go change first.

Though unlikely, I would love to go back to Chichen Itza and really get to see it someday, but I would never again do it with a tour group that size. We would get a private guide, and not come from so far away that it was a 3 hour drive each direction. If I had a re-do, I would absolutely just pick ruins that were much closer to the port, as well as a cenote (which was my favorite part by far). There was also a cenote - river tubing combo that I think we would have liked.

 

[CarolynFH]

@auntlynne , thanks for the details and photos, very helpful. And @jalapeno_pretzel , what an awful excursion. Reinforces my plan to just visit Mayan ruins, no cenote for us.

 

[auntlynne]

Our visit to Chichen Itza was from Cancun while on a vacation, not a port excursion.

My sister does not have fond memories of the long drive involved. It‘s about the same distance from Progresso as Cancun.

… It doesn’t matter the cruise line, most excursions pretty much go at the speed of the slower walkers - unless they are exceptionally slow. And you most likely won’t be the slowest. (? Because you are looking at excursions and don’t have a wheelchair )

Let us see a photo of where you ended visiting.

 

[SeanSD]

Really good info here. We will likely try and find a “close” ruin and cenote excursion from Progreso also.

 

[CarolynFH]

Really good info here. We will likely try and find a “close” ruin and cenote excursion from Progreso also.

Well, for what it’s worth, here’s the length of drive to each of the sites we’re investigating:
Chichen Itza 130 minutes
Mayapan 70 minutes
Dzibilchaltún 40 minutes

Driving time to cenotes not included!

 

[MrMagoo]

I am reviving this thread to give our recent experience with this shore excursion.
We recently took this excursion on February 28 and while we enjoyed Chichen Itza the tour was not what was described.

First the name means nothing. You expect a VIP tour to be a small group especially when the description says you will be met at the pier and escorted to a mini bus. WRONG!!!!!!
We started in the Walt Disney theater and there were about 4 rows of people waiting. Definitely not going to be VIP treatment.

Next we were escorted to our transportation which were regular large excursion buses!! Not mini buses as described!
They also miscounted for our bus and tried to get too many people on so 2 had to transfer to another bus. We had 3 large excursion busses!!!!

Then the excursion description said we would go to Chichen Itza and then the cenote for a swim with lunch. They reversed the order! I understand they can do this, however, when it is hot, and it was 90 degrees that day, you would think a swim after Chichen Itza would be smart to cool you off. NO! You cooled off and then went to Chichen Itza and got hot!!!! I am sure they did this because Chichen Itza was SO busy with SO many large excursion busses they were trying to stagger or cruise busses there. However, had we been in small mini busses as described on the Disney web site, I do not believe it would have been a big a problem.

And then the lunch. We thought lunch would at least include water. But NO!!! We had to buy our bottle of water which was $3. The only water furnished was a bottle at Chichen Itza as we got off the bus which we almost missed because they were slow in getting it out. As for lunch, it wasn't bad, but not great. At least it wasn't a sack lunch!!

We did not do the cenote swim and were glad we didn't. A family that sat next to us at the dining rooms on the ship said they went swimming for 10 minutes and then missed the lunch. Not included in the write up was you were not permitted to wear makeup, sunscreen or anything like that in the cenote. You were also required to take a little shower before going in. There was a small building for changing clothes that was not decribed in the write up either. Like jalapeno_pretzel said, we only had about 40-45 minutes to do everything here which was NOT enough time if you wanted to swim and have lunch and change your clothes. Plus it was a BIG staircase down and back to the cenote. We were told there were 90 steps!

There were lockers to put things in but the people at the table next to us said they tried to make them put their stuff in with other peoples stuff. They had a little battle with them but did finally get their own locker.

As for Chichen Itza, it is an amazing place. However, all the vendors they have let set up their tables takes a lot away from it. Now those people have animal call simulators that made it difficult to hear our tour guide sometimes.

We were on a B2B cruise and this was our second stop at Progresso. Our first stop we did the Uxmal Mayan ruins.
It was SOOO much nicer!!! Much smaller crowds! You could actually hear your tour guide! And NO vendors all through the park!!! Would do it again over Chichen Itza. The only bad thing about Uxmal is there is a fair amount of climbing there.

As for this excursion, we and others in our tour group we talked to would not book it again nor would we have booked it this time had we known what it was going to be like. I know we were all disappointed that we thought it was going to be a MUCH smaller group tour!!!

Back on the ship we and others in our group did talk to Disney about our experience. We went back to shore excursions to voice other concerns and they told us they had already been in contact with that shore excursion vendor.
Hopefully they will either get a better description of the tour or just drop it altogether.

 

[sipnride]

I am reviving this thread to give our recent experience with this shore excursion.
We recently took this excursion on February 28 and while we enjoyed Chichen Itza the tour was not what was described.

First the name means nothing. You expect a VIP tour to be a small group especially when the description says you will be met at the pier and escorted to a mini bus. WRONG!!!!!!
We started in the Walt Disney theater and there were about 4 rows of people waiting. Definitely not going to be VIP treatment.

Next we were escorted to our transportation which were regular large excursion buses!! Not mini buses as described!
They also miscounted for our bus and tried to get too many people on so 2 had to transfer to another bus. We had 3 large excursion busses!!!!

Then the excursion description said we would go to Chichen Itza and then the cenote for a swim with lunch. They reversed the order! I understand they can do this, however, when it is hot, and it was 90 degrees that day, you would think a swim after Chichen Itza would be smart to cool you off. NO! You cooled off and then went to Chichen Itza and got hot!!!! I am sure they did this because Chichen Itza was SO busy with SO many large excursion busses they were trying to stagger or cruise busses there. However, had we been in small mini busses as described on the Disney web site, I do not believe it would have been a big a problem.

And then the lunch. We thought lunch would at least include water. But NO!!! We had to buy our bottle of water which was $3. The only water furnished was a bottle at Chichen Itza as we got off the bus which we almost missed because they were slow in getting it out. As for lunch, it wasn't bad, but not great. At least it wasn't a sack lunch!!

We did not do the cenote swim and were glad we didn't. A family that sat next to us at the dining rooms on the ship said they went swimming for 10 minutes and then missed the lunch. Not included in the write up was you were not permitted to wear makeup, sunscreen or anything like that in the cenote. You were also required to take a little shower before going in. There was a small building for changing clothes that was not decribed in the write up either. Like jalapeno_pretzel said, we only had about 40-45 minutes to do everything here which was NOT enough time if you wanted to swim and have lunch and change your clothes. Plus it was a BIG staircase down and back to the cenote. We were told there were 90 steps!

There were lockers to put things in but the people at the table next to us said they tried to make them put their stuff in with other peoples stuff. They had a little battle with them but did finally get their own locker.

As for Chichen Itza, it is an amazing place. However, all the vendors they have let set up their tables takes a lot away from it. Now those people have animal call simulators that made it difficult to hear our tour guide sometimes.

We were on a B2B cruise and this was our second stop at Progresso. Our first stop we did the Uxmal Mayan ruins.
It was SOOO much nicer!!! Much smaller crowds! You could actually hear your tour guide! And NO vendors all through the park!!! Would do it again over Chichen Itza. The only bad thing about Uxmal is there is a fair amount of climbing there.

As for this excursion, we and others in our tour group we talked to would not book it again nor would we have booked it this time had we known what it was going to be like. I know we were all disappointed that we thought it was going to be a MUCH smaller group tour!!!

Back on the ship we and others in our group did talk to Disney about our experience. We went back to shore excursions to voice other concerns and they told us they had already been in contact with that shore excursion vendor.
Hopefully they will either get a better description of the tour or just drop it altogether.

Sounds pretty miserable. Even if it hadn't been advertised as VIP, one should never expect a shore excursion that is so poorly executed - even if it were, say, Carnival, much less on a Disney cruise. Disney really should have offered the guests something to make amends.