Help !! Please ( Progresso, Merida )

Will be visiting this port next week and have not been overly excited
about the cruise lines options for sight-seeing. Does anyone have any
experiences they would like to share ? ( Regarding this port only,
thank-you )

really don't want to sit on a bus for 4+ hours if at all possible, to
go to the ruins.

Take a walk along the water. Have a beer and eat a fish at a waterside
restaurant. Walk down the shopping district. Watch them make tortillas.

Progresso is not a major tourist port. I imagine that ships stop there for
the 4 hour bus trip to the ruins, but why not hang out for the day?
Progresso is relatively untouched, and very Mexican, unlike such places as
Cancun and Cozumel. Yes, it is dirty in places, and be careful what you
drink, but it is still relatively authentic. I got great cafe con leche at
the main square.

Or, perhaps take a much shorter bus trip to Merida, a beautiful city. Hang
around the central plaza. Shop. Etc.

We flew into Merida and drove to Progresso for a couple of nights. We found
it very enjoyable, and very laid back. It is all in what you are looking
for.

Harvey

"j" <jgersch@> wrote in message
news:d8ednRJa39qw47fdRVn-sA@...
>
> Will be visiting this port next week and have not been overly excited
> about the cruise lines options for sight-seeing. Does anyone have any
> experiences they would like to share ? ( Regarding this port only,
> thank-you )
>
> really don't want to sit on a bus for 4+ hours if at all possible, to
> go to the ruins.
>
>

1. Progresso is not a port or a city or anywhere. It is a dump. The cruise
lines who stop there are simply tieing up to a very cheap dock and playing
you for fools.

2. There is a boat harbor/shopping area not far from the cruise dock - you
can get there in 10 minutes on foot. The shops (when they are open) are
fairly medicocre and there are some limited quality restaurants. It . There
are public lavatories there. The town was "invented" to be something new and
of course it was never funded or expanded.

3. The cruise ships tend to hit Progresso on days when the shops don't open
at all or open late. Which means tearing over at 9 AM is dumb.

4. If you have to be occupied, take the tour from the ship. Otherwise, do
you own thing and keep in mind for the rest of your life the name of the
cruise line that played this miserable joke on you.

5. There are a few stops in Domincan Republic which are equally ridiculous.

Good luck.

JDB

JDB Don't hold back; tell us what you really think. (grin)