Destination Review: Progreso, Mexico

Let's kick off the destination reviews with some info on Progreso, Mexico.

The first time we went to Progreso, it was on our first cruise and the only reason we went was because we were rerouted because of a hurricane. I'm not sure this little village knew what was hitting them, but all things considered we had a neat experience. When we got off the ship we walked a little ways into a small shopping area.

The pier at Progreso is 4 miles long. Which makes it the longest pier in the world. It's not walkable so after leaving the shopping area we caught a free shuttle bus to get to the mainland.

The shuttle dropped us off at a street market that had been set up for tourists. We walked around the little town, something we didn't think twice about doing. It was 11 years ago, but I don't remember feeling unsafe. We didn't encounter many people. I feel like most cruise passengers didn't want to go off on their own too much, and the locals were all quite busy preparing for the possibility of the hurricane reaching them. We didn't go too far away from the main area, maybe just a few blocks surrounding it. We had circled around back along the beach and strolled along there for a while. This is one of the really nice things about Progreso. The beach is free and within walking distance of the shuttle drop off area, only a couple blocks and easily accessible. Other than a little walking along, we didn't spend any time on the beach the first time we visited. Because of the hurricane, storms had stirred things up. The beach was covered in seaweed and looked more like a nice lake than the caribbean. After we walked around we made our way back to the market and took a tour bus deep into Progreso. The tour guide was great. He kept us laughing throughout the tour.

The next time we went was our second cruise. It was distinctly different from our first visit. There was a lot of growth and the port actually looked like it was meant to be a cruise stop. At the same time though, it still had the small fishing village feel. Scott and I had booked an excursion this time. Off the ship, we gathered with other passengers and the tour guide, and made our way to the bus that would take us to Dzibilchaltun (dzeeble-chal-toon). On the 30 minute ride our guide talked about the history of the ruins. Dzibilchaltun means "The place where there is writing on stones". We really enjoyed seeing the ruins. It's amazing, and hard to grasp, just how old these structures are. Among many others, we saw the Temple of the Seven Dolls (named for 7 figurines that were found inside), the king's chapel, and also his house.

The king's house sat next to a natural spring water sink hole, called a Cenote (say-NOH-tay), which we were able to swim in at our leisure. It was amazingly clear!

This link is the excursion we booked through Carnival.
We took the tour bus back to Progreso and decided to spend a little time at the beach. This time we experienced the teal waters we had hoped for. It was relaxing, except for the few times we were approached by locals trying to sell stuff. They are just trying to make a living so I can't blame them. A polite "No thank you" was all it took and they would move on.

Going to Progreso the third time was during our family cruise. Not only were our kids with us, but my parents had joined us also. The six of us spent some time at the open air craft market that is set up where the shuttle stop is located. I really enjoy it here. There is the typical souvenir type stuff you might expect, but there are also some really neat things that are not as common. The locals that are set up in the market are all so kind. After looking around the market for a little while we went back to where the shuttle dropped us off. This is also the stop for the double decker tour bus that I mentioned we rode on our first visit. For only $3 per person (could be more now, I'm not sure) we were able to catch a ride around town. It was a beautiful morning and we enjoyed the views from the top deck of the bus. My kids loved being up on top like that.

The tour bus dropped us back off where we began and from there we walked the block or two to the beach. I'm sure there are excursions that will take you to a more private beach, but this one suits us just fine for the hour or two we were planning on spending there. Along the beach there are tables with umbrellas. We picked one and within minutes James and Evie were playing in the soft, white, Mexican sand for the first time.

Along the beach, but across the street, there are a number of restaurants. If you sit at a table on the beach, the servers will come across the street to you. We ordered chips and a couple drinks. Our server was very accommodating. Unfortunately, I don't remember which restaurant he came from. The ocean water was a little chilly (it was March when we were there for this visit). The kids didn't seem to mind, but we only stayed a couple hours. We took the shuttle back down the long pier and before getting back on the ship for a late lunch we did some shopping at the little shops in the terminal area.

Progreso gets a bad wrap. I think it's just under appreciated. If you go into it expecting the picture perfect caribbean that you see on tv, you will be disappointed. However, if you know what to expect, it can be quite charming. I will say Progreso isn't for everyone, but as with everything in life, I believe it deserves a chance. Give it one visit and see what you think for yourself! :)

The Next Step

Now that I've posted a blog for each of my cruises so far, what's the next step? Well, since I'm not sure when my next cruise will be, (I'm hoping Spring 2016!) I'm going to pass the time by posting port specific blogs. I hope the information I have will be helpful to someone. I hope it's helpful for a lot of people actually. I'm anxious to see where this will go.

I finally made this blog public and now I'm nervous. You know when you want something bad enough that you almost want to not work on it at all? Is that just me? Well I'm there. It's been fun reliving my cruises, but has it been for almost nothing? I hope not. Let's get this thing rolling.

Anyone have a cruise they would like some help planning? :-D


Check back soon! I hope to have the first port review done within a few days...

Cruisin' With My BFF

And hubbies too. :) Scott and I booked this cruise about 6 months before sailing. A few months later I was thrilled when my best friend, Darby, and her husband, Marc, booked it also!


Cruise details~
Embarkation Port: Port Canaveral, FL
Ship: Carnival Liberty
Date: Sailed 2/22/2015
Length: 7 Days
Destination: Exotic Eastern Caribbean- Nassau, Bahamas/St Thomas, Virgin Islands/San Juan, Puerto Rico/Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos Islands
(Click on a destination above to go to a detailed review for that stop!)

Embarkation~
We left the Orlando area Sunday morning at about 10:30 and had an hour or so drive to get to Port Canaveral. We went straight to Park Port Canaveral, a place we have parked before and were very happy with. Marc parked the car and we were on the shuttle heading to the pier within 15 minutes. The line through the terminal moved quickly and Scott and I had our sail n sign cards in no time. Marc and Darby on the other hand, had a little more waiting at the counter. Darby was pregnant and there was some confusion with the paperwork. I wasn't at the counter with them, but Darby said the worker was new and had not done pregnancy paperwork before. And then I guess the worker was told to do it wrong so she had to start over. I'm sure the wait wasn't as long as we felt like it was, but we were so anxious to get on board it seemed forever. Even with our waiting we were still on board by 12:30. I'm pretty sure from the time we parked to the time we stepped on the ship was maybe 45 minutes. Not too shabby if you ask me. :-D
Our rooms weren't quite ready so we got some lunch and then went to drop off the stuff we had carried on. By the time we had to go to the muster drill, most of us had the bags that were checked, and what wasn't delivered before, was delivered shortly after the drill. We did the muster drill and quickly made our way back up to an open deck for sail away. Before we knew it, our vacation had officially started!


Itinerary~
Monday morning we woke up in Nassau, but didn't rush to get off the ship. The four of us planned to do some exploring on our own so we did not need to be off at a certain time. Eventually we did make our way down to the gangway and began our walk around Nassau. More details Here! When we got hungry we got back on the ship for lunch.
Something to make note of, and it may seem obvious, but in all our cruises we have never been told to take our passports off the ship. The one time we did, we were told it wasn't necessary. So we had stopped. I suppose there are other reasons to carrying them off, but the thought of losing my passport also kept me from taking it off. Well, when we were going through security to get back on the ship, the guard asked for our passports and we did not have them. It was incredibly embarrassing and I felt very stupid. The guard checked the manifest and found our names and we were able to get back on. So, learn from our stupid mistake- they may tell you that you don't have to take your passport off the ship, but DO IT ANYWAY! Ugh. I still get anxiety thinking about it. Moving on... :)
Once back on the ship we changed into our swimsuits, got some lunch, and found some chairs on the lido deck. Darby and I stayed there for at least a couple hours, but after a little bit Marc went to the casino, and Scott went to the gym. It was nice to not feel like we had anywhere to be. It was truly relaxing. Later we got cleaned up early and met Darby and Marc for a snack before going to see a comedian. After that was dinner and some walking around before going to bed.

Our first sea day was Tuesday. Scott and I slept in and then went to the sea day brunch in the dining room. Following brunch we met up with Darby and Marc, hoping to sit on deck and people watch. We ended up being on a higher deck and it was fairly chilly. After maybe 45 minutes or so we decided to find something else to do. We spent the afternoon wandering around the ship. Other things we did at one point or another included some shopping, watching the Suess-A-Palooza Parade (Dr. Suess characters lead the parade followed by kids who are at Camp Carnival. They end in the theater and have story time there. It's adorable.), and watching some silly games in the atrium lobby. Marc played a couple of the games too! When the taste bar opened we got some yummy appetizers and went up to watch the sun set. After that it was time to get ready for formal night. We enjoyed a delicious dinner and then went to a show in the big theater. After that show we hurried from the front of the ship to the back to catch another comedian show. As chill as the day was, our night was fairly busy! I was anxious to get to bed after the comedian because I knew that the sooner I slept, the sooner our day in St Thomas would be here. :-D

Since our arrival into St Thomas didn't happen until about 11am on Wednesday, Scott and I slept in again (yay! :) ). After we got some breakfast we met up with Darby and Marc and were soon off the ship. We had a few different things planned and couldn't wait to get started. Towards the end of our time in St Thomas, Darby and Marc got back on board and spent some time in the Serenity area of the ship. Scott and I, on the other hand, pushed our time on the island down to the very last minute. We weren't what you would call "pier runners". Nothing was being held for us, but we were supposed to be back on by 6:30 and we barely made it. :) Scott and I immediately went to clean up and head to dinner. Following dinner we went to a show in the big theater and then it was time for bed. As much as I love my beach days, I was the most excited for our day in San Juan!

San Juan... Oh, San Juan! I needed so much more time here than we had. After breakfast on Thursday, we made a quick call back home (Yay for another US Territory stop!) and then met up with Marc and Darby to begin our walking tour of Old San Juan.
When we got back on board we met Darby and Marc in their room and just relaxed and talked about our day. It was neat hearing about all the other stuff they did. We took some pictures as we sailed away from San Juan and a little while later it was time to get ready for dinner. We had a pretty chill night. After dinner we just wandered around the ship before deciding to just go to bed. We had a big day of walking around in San Juan and we were all looking forward to a very relaxed day in Grand Turk the next day.

Sleeping in is good for you. (You can't tell me otherwise. I'll never believe it. :) ) I love sleeping in. I especially love sleeping in when I'm on a cruise, knowing that I'm not going to miss anything. We didn't dock in Grand Turk until after noon on Friday. That gave us a pretty laid back morning. We slept in, we had breakfast, and at some point, we went to Darby and Marc's room to watch the ship pull in. (They had a balcony room) When we figured the major crowds had died down, we made our way down with our beach bags and got off the ship. We walked down the pier, and there we were on the beach. And that's pretty much how we spent our day. Before I knew it we were back on the ship and our last port day was coming to an end. Marc and Darby went back to take a nap and we agreed to catch up with each other for a comedy show before dinner. It was the second formal night so rather than taking some time and finding something to do around the ship, we just decided to go back to our room and take our time getting ready for formal night. After the comedian and dinner we went to a show in the main lounge. By the time that was over it was almost 11:30. I can't say for sure, but I'm pretty sure we went to bed at that point. :)

Saturday, our final full day of the cruise, was a sea day. Scott and Marc had tickets for the Behind the Fun tour so while they did that, Darby and I picked a spot on deck where we could see the live musician, the big screen on the lido deck, and also have somewhat easy access to the pool. We planted ourselves there for 2-3 hours! Close to lunch time there was an announcement made about Groove for St. Jude. It's a deck party where the entertainment crew come out and lead dances and other fun stuff. I just like to donate the money and get a shirt. It's a wonderful partnership that Carnival has with St. Jude Children's Hospital. I feel a small, but important, tie to the cause. Last winter Scott and I ran in the St. Jude Marathon. Participating in such a wonderful cause makes my heart so happy. It's hard to think about what those poor kids go through and if I can support them by getting a shirt, or running a race, then that's what I want to do.
About the time Darby and I had finished in line for Groove for St Jude, Marc and Scott showed back up. Their tour was over and it was time to eat. The rest of the afternoon I really can't remember what we did. Probably more laying out, more walking around the ship, and more people watching. :) Around 4 Scott and I went down to get cleaned up because we had the past guest party at 5. If I understand correctly, they actually don't do this party anymore. Not for guests who are not platinum or diamond anyway. But as of February, they did it for any guest who was a gold VIFP or higher. We enjoyed yummy hors d'oeuvres and free drinks for anyone that wanted them. I always like when they showed the slide show of all the ships and anyone who had been on whatever ship was on the screen could applaud. It's a shame I won't be able to do that again for a while. (As of this cruise, we're only half way-ish to platinum.) The party lasted about 45 minutes to an hour and ended with guests dancing on stage. Scott and I had a great time. After the party I called Darby to see if they were up from their nap. Remember, she's pregnant and needed lots of rest. :-D I felt a little bad for calling, but it was our last night on the cruise and I wanted to spend time with her and Marc. Once we docked we would be heading in opposite directions to get home. Eventually they got up and they spent some time playing games in the casino. It's fun to watch, but I could never play. I would lose all my money, and then some. :) We hung out until dinner time, and then we had our last real meal, which included lots of laughs. After dinner I knew it was time to face the truth. It was 10:00 and we had not yet begun to pack our stuff. We had a chore to do before going to bed that night. So we said goodnight to Marc and Darby and faced the very unwanted task of packing our bags. Knowing we had a long drive ahead of us the next day, we went to bed after packing.


Debarkation~
Having chose the Self Assist Debarkation option, Scott and I got up early enough to get some breakfast, and then went back to our room to wait for our zone to be called. I believe it was shortly after 8 when we made our way off the ship with Marc and Darby. The line to get through customs wasn't too bad. In fact, most of the time spent between getting off the ship and getting out of the building was spent walking through the building to get to the line. The customs agent asked a couple questions; I was barely with him for a whole minute, and then we were out.
There was a little confusion as to where we were supposed to go to meet the shuttle to get back to the car. When we finally figured out where to go, there was more confusion in the line. The experience of getting back this time was quite different from the first time we used them. I'm sure we were a tad extra irritable with post-cruise blues, but there was definitely frustration with the way things were handled. We waited probably 30 minutes before getting on a shuttle. Which isn't bad, I suppose, but it was more than twice as long as it took for us to get off the ship, and that was unexpected. I'm still pleased with the company and will likely use them again. We arrived back at the car, and were on the road around 9:00.


This and That :) ~
The Ship
The Carnival Liberty is a part of the Conquest-class of ships. Since we have sailed on the Carnival Conquest before (read about that cruise review Here) there was a familiarity as we explored the Liberty. We did have the same layout "issue" on this ship as we did on the Conquest. Some areas on the same deck were an inconvenience to get to because we were have to go up or down a level, cross the deck, and then back up or down to get to where we wanted to be. It wasn't horrible though. It just took a little bit of learning early in the week. Other than that, I thought the ship was great. It's big, but not overwhelming. I felt the crew did a great job, as always, making the ship look immaculate!

Our Cabin
Scott and I were in stateroom 6204, which is classified as an interior cabin. Only, it has a window. Technically the description says this cabin has an obstructed view, and I suppose it does, but not really. If you want to look out your window and see nothing but ocean, then I guess it would be obstructed, but if you like to have a window for the view, in addition to natural lighting, or because interiors are too dark, then this is a good room for that. Stateroom 6204 is in the very front of the ship on the Upper Deck. Outside the window is a small public deck. Deck 6 Forward is one of those "secret decks" you may read about. It's not actually a secret, and it is public, but because it's not well known, or easy to access, it almost feels like a private deck. We went out a lot and watched the ocean go by, or the stars at night. It was a great place to go for sail away from all of our port stops. There was never more than maybe 4 other people on the deck with us. Most of the time though, it was just Scott and I. From the outside, you can mostly see inside the room, so we kept the curtains closed at night and of course any time we were changing. From inside the room, as mentioned, you see the deck, but you definitely see the ocean as well. So for a little more than the cost of an interior cabin, but less than the cost of an ocean view cabin, you can have a so-called obstructed view, that's not so obstructed. At least in these rooms. I know there are other obstructed views on ships, and some may actually block the view of the ocean. Those would probably be good for anyone who really just likes to wake up to natural light coming through the window, not as much for the view.
In our 7 cruises, we have never had a complaint about our room. Until this one. There are a couple of things that need to be noted. Before this cruise I have had people ask me if I thought stateroom location mattered when it came to feeling the motion of the ship. I have never really noticed a difference. However, I have never had a room in the VERY front of the ship. My answer now would be, Yes. I don't know if it was because the water was just a little choppy, or if it would be like this no matter what. I just know that in our room we felt every up and down. To the point where sometimes I thought I was going to roll out of bed. There was one day/night that the waters were worse, but we felt the movement any time we were in our room, all week long. And then when we would walk to Darby and Marc's room, just 7 cabins down the hall, I felt it significantly less, if at all.
Another downside to this room... Every time the ship would go over a rougher wave, we heard a loud metal banging noise right below our room. It sounded like a door that hadn't been latched closed, or something like that. After a couple days we decided to call Guest Services. You should know that Scott and I are not complainers. If any of my past reviews have shown anything, it's that we know how to go with the flow. So the fact that we said anything should give an idea of how bad the noise was. Within 15 minutes of calling, the Guest Services Manager came to our room to talk with us about the noise. He was extremely polite, but said unfortunately there was nothing that could be done. The noise is a result of large waves hitting the bow of a massive metal ship. He apologized multiple times and even said if there was a room available we would be able to move, but there were no rooms. To be clear, we did not ask for a different room. We weren't even officially complaining. It was more of something we wanted to let them know about in case it was something that could be fixed. Given the circumstances, we were happy with how the situation was handled. Unfortunately, that did not mean that we were able to get a good night's sleep for the length of the cruise.
I wish I could close out this section with something positive... I guess, if I could be guaranteed the weather was perfect and the seas wouldn't be choppy, I'd like to have this room again. Because other than the banging noise, I did like its location.

The Food
The only thing that was different for us this time around was trying out the Sea Day Brunch. This happens in one of the dining rooms from 8:30-1:00 on sea days. I had seen this menu a couple months before we left and I knew right away that I wanted to order the Funnest French Toast. French toast is my favorite and I thought getting french toast covered in crushed fruit loops would be something fun to brag tell my kids about. There must have been some confusion though because the fruit loops came in a bowl on the side. When I asked the waiter if I had misunderstood the menu he did apologize and offer to take it back. I passed even though I was disappointed. The french toast was still delicious. Scott ordered steak and eggs, and for dessert (yes, dessert with breakfast- it was awesome! :-D ) we had the brownie.
I loved all the options on the brunch menu. We only made it to brunch one time on this cruise. I'll just have to go on many more to make sure I can try everything!


Entertainment
Generally speaking, the entertainment on this trip was so-so. The stage shows were entertaining, but not mind blowing like the others I have seen. I can still remember most of the shows we have seen on past cruises, at least parts of them. I remember very little about the shows this time. They were something to see to pass the time. I am glad I saw them, but there's room for improvement. Which, actually, it turns out is what was happening. The dancers were being trained as the "old set" of dancers were about to leave the ship. The ones we saw had only been on for a couple weeks. I could never do what the entertainers do on cruises, so I'm not going to pick a part how good or bad they are. I just know I have seen much better.
The comedians were funny. I go to the comedy shows mostly because Scott really enjoys them. I get a kick out of hearing his, and the rest of the audience's, reaction. The really good ones can reel me in though. Marc, Darby, and Scott all enjoyed the ones we saw. We went to a comedy show almost every night this week.

Service
As mentioned above when I was talking about our cabin, the service we received was excellent. After the night that we had a visit from the Guest Services Manager, we received multiple follow up calls. They knew there was nothing that could be done, but they still wanted to check in on us. It wasn't necessary. It was appreciated though. Of course the service in all other areas was wonderful.


We had a blast on this cruise. The itinerary is my favorite so far! There were some things that could be better. We decided that, at least for the time we were on board, the Liberty was a teaching ship. We knew for sure the dancers were being trained, and also new waiters were being trained. We also felt like maybe the band was new too. We don't know for sure though. None of that affected the overall feel of our cruise though. It was fantastic. It was relaxing. It was nonstop fun. We can't wait to do it all again!