What is the Chichen Itza Ruins: Augmented & Virtual Reality RC excursion like?

[CruisingOz]

Hello RCB Community, we were wondering what to expect on this tour. It is quite a long bus trip and we are concerned the actual time at the ruins will be short. If you have done this excursion we would love to know all about your experience, and what you recommend to do. We did have a RC tour via air and private tour get cancelled which would have allowed us a few hours at the site. Should we consider a non-RC tour or stay with Royal for safety? If you have done a tour privately and have a recommentdation, please let us know your thoughts.  

[KJones]

We did a different Chichen Itza excursion, and yes, the time at the actual site is very limited. The bulk of the duration is transportation. We chose to still do the excursion because we knew this might be our only chance to visit. If you do opt to go, I would stick with an RC excursion for the security of knowing that you won't be on your own should the tour run late and potentially miss ship departure time. If I recall, there wasn't much of a buffer between the time the excursion was scheduled to return and when the ship left port  - maybe only an hour or so.

[Baked Alaska]

Hi @CruisingOz, we also had our Chichen Itza by Air canceled for our December 2021 NYE cruise. We booked that tour for the purpose of avoiding the ferry and long bus ride to the site, not to mention being able to spend more time at the site. I imagined that we would be back on ship from the "by air" excursion just about the time the ferry/bus tours were arriving. We will not visit via the ferry/bus excursion. We will either wait for it to show back up in a year or so (headed back to Cozumel December 2022) or head to it when we visit by land. 

I did see it available outside of the cruiseplanner, Cozumel by Air website, I think. On a cruise excursion like that, I prefer to book with Royal.

[Strife]

I had thought about going on this one myself, but the long travel time is a really big negative in my opinion.

[ChessE4]

On 11/22/2021 at 4:45 PM, CruisingOz said:

Hello RCB Community, we were wondering what to expect on this tour. It is quite a long bus trip and we are concerned the actual time at the ruins will be short. If you have done this excursion we would love to know all about your experience, and what you recommend to do. We did have a RC tour via air and private tour get cancelled which would have allowed us a few hours at the site. Should we consider a non-RC tour or stay with Royal for safety? If you have done a tour privately and have a recommentdation, please let us know your thoughts.  

Because of the travel time, I've had my eye on a cruise out of Galveston that has a port stop at Yucatan.  It seems to be closer to Chichen Itza and may provide an extra 45 min- 1 hour onsite.  This itinerary isn't offered very often, but it's worth looking into for 22-23.  The basic idea is that you skip the ferry ride from Cozumel but still take a bus to the site.

[BrianAlt]

I’ve heard that Chicken Pizza is really good!

[ChrisK2793]

On 11/22/2021 at 4:45 PM, CruisingOz said:

Hello RCB Community, we were wondering what to expect on this tour. It is quite a long bus trip and we are concerned the actual time at the ruins will be short. If you have done this excursion we would love to know all about your experience, and what you recommend to do. We did have a RC tour via air and private tour get cancelled which would have allowed us a few hours at the site. Should we consider a non-RC tour or stay with Royal for safety? If you have done a tour privately and have a recommentdation, please let us know your thoughts.  

If you’re also going to Costa Maya, you’ll have a MUCH BETTER time doing the Chacchoben Mayan Ruins instead.  It’s only 1 hour from the port and they have about 8 large and nice pyramids.  Also, at Chacchoben, you can also touch and climb on the ruins……. You CANNOT do either at Chichen Itza and are only there for about 90 min of the 8 hours.  Do yourself a favor and skip Chichen Itza in favor of Costa Maya’s Chacchoben Mayan Ruins!

 

[CruisingOz]

8 hours ago, ChrisK2793 said:

doing the Chacchoben Mayan Ruins

@ChrisK2793Thank you for this suggestion, appreciate it. Did not realise what this excursion was and was going to do a scuba dive at Costa Maya. As this will be our first time and possibly only time, seeing historical sites is more important, so we have booked this excursion. I think we will still do Chichen Itza as it is also unique, and the bus ride will help me sleep off my hangover, lol. Will weight up the value of such a lone travel time.

[K-LeighD]

My husband and I are doing Royal in December and were looking into this virtual reality trip and wanted to know if it was worth it.  Any updates on thoughts?  It does seem like long travel, and perhaps not long at all at the site.  Do they provide any lunch?

[Danae]

We're going in a few weeks..... Is lunch offered on the excursion?

[CruisingOz]

On 1/6/2023 at 1:03 PM, Danae said:

s lunch offered on the excursion?

You get a prepared lunch box which you eat on the way as you will not have time while on the excursion

[Suzanne Elise]

Hi so I have been to CI about 15 years ago. I was on a land trip and spent the night at a hote neabyl. I had a taxi bring me there when the gates open to avoid the heat and crowds and went to a cenote after. I was able to see what I needed to in about 2 to 2.5 hours. I recall maybe hiring a guide at the site which was easy and not that expensive.

CI is amazing and a must see BUT it is FAR from the coast. Also you will get there in the heat of the day at the same time the other buses arrive.

So if you are a hard core ruin person it is a memorable wonder. Or you could go to Tulum which has a beach you can walk right down to from the ruins and is much closer.

The air trip sounds fabulous, I am sorry it was cancelled.

[TexanTwoStep]

On 11/26/2021 at 11:11 AM, ChrisK2793 said:

If you’re also going to Costa Maya, you’ll have a MUCH BETTER time doing the Chacchoben Mayan Ruins instead.  It’s only 1 hour from the port and they have about 8 large and nice pyramids.  Also, at Chacchoben, you can also touch and climb on the ruins……. You CANNOT do either at Chichen Itza and are only there for about 90 min of the 8 hours.  Do yourself a favor and skip Chichen Itza in favor of Costa Maya’s Chacchoben Mayan Ruins!

 

 

I agree with this one.  There is also an option (usually) that includes Seven Colors Lagoon along with the Chaccoben ruins.  You go to the ruins for about 1.5 hours (MORE than enough time) and then to a private beach on the lagoon with free food and drinks.  It's my favorite place I've ever been and we plan on doing that exact excursion this June (we are taking our son this time).