Progresso

Today we visited Chichen Itza. This was our main motivation in choosing this particular cruise. We wanted to visit this wonder of the modern world and decided that cruising was the most cost-effective way to get here. It doesn’t hurt that we also planned this cruise on a particularly cold day in February 2018. We are not missing the cold or the snow right now.

We both slept a little fitfully last night. We were paranoid that our alarm would not go off or somehow our phones would revert to the actual time (as opposed to ships time) and we would miss our excursion. These fears we completely unfounded as we woke up with plenty of time to get ready and eat breakfast before embarking on our adventure.

We had a two-and-a-half-hour bus ride to get to Chichen Itza. We prefer not to travel on large buses and with large tour groups, but this was the best way for us to get to Chichen Itza. We even decided to book this excursion on the cruise ship. We were only scheduled to be in port from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm (ships time) and we really did not want the ship to leave without us. During the drive, our tour guide, Armando, taught us some history about the Mayan people, the ruins we would see, and Progresso. He also tried very hard to sell us some Mayan calendars. We passed.

Before we arrived at Chichen Itza we stopped at a rest stop to use the restrooms, eat lunch, and shop for souvenirs. We bought a small obsidian replica of the main pyramid at Chichen Itza and a small stone polar bear. Alison is always on the lookout for polar bears to give to her sister.

We then had a short drive from the rest stop to  Chichen Itza. The site of the large pyramid is very distinctive. The grandeur and scale of these ruins make it easy to see why this is designated as one of the seven wonders of the modern world. We explored the site thoroughly. Our guide gave a detailed explanation of the ruins and the purpose of each building, as well as, descriptions of many of the carvings on the facade. I selectively listened to his explanation as I also wandered off to explore on my own. I read a book: Chichen Itza: The History and Mystery of the Mayans' Most Famous City by Jesse Harasta all about the ruins. I felt like I had a pretty good idea of what I was looking at. The ruins were beautiful.

As I wandered I heard the most interesting sound. It sounded like a panther snarling. I looked around to see where this noise was coming from and saw a vendor with a contraption in his hand. He used it to make a ferocious noise. I had to have one. I quickly bought it and headed back to find Alison. I kept my hand holding my new toy at my side as she asked me what I was doing I raised the whistle to my lips and let out a roar. It startled her and I busted up laughing. It is the best purchase of the trip. We ended up buying an owl whistle that makes a hooting noise to give to Skylee since I could not bear giving up my panther noise maker.

We continued to wander the ruins and came to the ball court where ancient warriors would have played. It was another interesting set of ruins. The tour wrapped up here and we were given a few minutes to explore before we had to get back to the bus. Alison and I took every minute they would give us and we were the last people back on the bus, exactly at the time appointed for our departure. We then took the long bus ride back to the cruise ship.

We were glad we did this excursion through Carnival because we got back right at 4:30 just in time to board the ship before it left. This excursion was great because it basically let us use every moment we had in port. We were famished so we dropped our stuff in our room and headed up to the Lido deck to get burgers and water. One of the things we have loved about Carnival is how good the secondary food outside the dining room is. The buffet is meh, but the tacos, burritos, pizza, Asian cuisine, and especially the burgers are excellent. I have had a burger and fries every day because it is so freaking good.

After getting some food we took a little siesta before showering (it was a two-shower kind of day - Progresso was hot 95 degrees and very humid) and headed to dinner. We did not have Roland, but we had Jericco as our waiter today and he was also top-notch. The food was good and I almost broke my tradition of getting a molten chocolate cake every night because I wanted cheesecake, but not to worry Alison ordered a melting chocolate cake on top of our other desserts.

After dinner, we went to the evening show. The one that was planned had to be canceled because the juggler made it on board, but apparently, none of his stuff did. Instead, they did a love and marriage game show. It was so funny. We could not stop laughing. After that, we hung out in the Lido deck enjoying some music under the stars before attending the 11pm comedy show. The programming on this cruise has been great. After a few laughs, we were tired and headed to bed.