Our cruise included two ports of call and had several excursions you could book prior to leaving so everything was ready to go before you even left! I would certainly recommend booking through Carnival and not an outside source as they keep ship time in mind and there are good deals as well. You also don’t have to leave the ship at all, and I’m told the pools and such are quite empty if you stay (which on a packed cruise may be worthwhile but can we all agree new countries and cultures are way more fun?).
Cozumel, Mexico
When you arrive at port, there was a lot of shopping and restaurants right there for fun souvenirs. There were a few shore excursions, but we chose the Thrill & Chill: Zip Lines, Snorkeling & Private Beach experience. We opted for this experience (at an extra cost) since the zip line was something that Emma would be so pumped about! I was also super excited about the zip-lining after missing that opportunity when we were in Bolivia. The other part of the excursion was snorkeling, but they actually ended up cancelling that due to the winds that day. There was also a tequila tasting and opportunity to purchase bottles, a pool, beach area, and restaurant for lunch.
We left with some peanut butter and some chocolate tequila and let me tell you – I was thinking exactly what you are reading this. Peanut butter? Tequila? Yes. It was delicious. (One thing to note – any alcohol purchased has to be checked coming back on board and they hold it for you to pick up upon debarkation so you don’t have to keep up with it, and you can’t consume it on board.)We had time both before and after our excursion to shop around a bit, and we took a bus to the resort for the day which was a relatively short trip. There were lockers at the resort as well so we had a secure place to put stuff while we were ziplining and at the pool. Emma also got her hair braided which was so fun and such a memory for me as well as I used to get my hair braided on vacations as a kid too!
Progresso Yucatán, Mexico
We opted to just walk into town and venture over to a local beach at this port, but there were also some pretty cool excursions here as well! The town itself had plenty of shops and plaes to grab a snack or lunch along the way as well. Those included Ake Myan ruins tours, Chichen Itza, cave diving, and authentic Mayan buffet experiences. Next time I’d love to go to Chichen Itza and I think I could get on board with that one too. We visited the seaside Mayan ruins in Tulum last time I was in the Yucátan and it was absolutely gorgeous!
All the Details:
See our other posts about the Carnival Valor, because one post just wouldn’t do it justice: Rooms & Boarding, Entertainment & Shops, and Food & Drink.
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