Ships berth at the end of a 6.5 km pier, and every October 2026 call is listed at 8 hours. Chichén Itzá sits 115 km beyond Mérida; Autoprogreso's tour there costs $95, and its two-cenote trip $59.
Put in your ship's arrival and all-aboard times from your cruise planner. Each tour is checked against the time you have, minus the buffer you choose for getting off the ship and back to the pier.
Example times are filled in. Your cruise line's daily planner has the real ones, and a tender port needs more buffer.
| Operator | What you get | From | Length | Group | Min age | Back-to-ship | Cancellation | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cenote - Santa CruzIncludes Two cenotes (Yaxbacaltun and San Antonio), Guide, Transport back to the cruise ship |
$59 per adult |
4.5 hours |
Each tour "includes guaranteed transportation back to your cruise ship" | Check dates | ||||
UxmalIncludes Certified guide |
$75 per adult |
5 hours, with about an hour at the site |
Not stated | Check dates | ||||
Chichen ItzaIncludes Guide certified by Mexico's tourism ministry for the whole tour, Entrance tickets to the sites |
$95 per adult |
6 hours |
Says a guide stays with the group until it is back in time for the ship, and claims "100% of our customers have returned on time" | Check dates | ||||
Semi-Private Adventure (Cruise guests only)Includes Transport, Driver and licensed bilingual guide, Admissions, Snorkels, goggles and life jackets, Lunch cooked by a Maya family, Cooler of drinks |
$98 per person |
About 5.5 hours |
Max 18 guests |
No formal guarantee; its tours get guests back to Progreso 60 to 90 minutes before re-boarding | Full deposit refund if cancelled by email before sailing, or if the ship cannot reach Progreso; no refund within 24 hours of the tour. | Check dates |
From each operator's own website, checked October 22, 2026. How we compare.
What the cruise lines list for their own excursions in Progreso, from their websites, next to a local operator's trip of the same kind.
| Line | Excursion | From | Length | Same kind of trip locally |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Margaritaville at Sea |
$109.99 per adult |
6.5 hours |
Autoprogreso (Grupo Autoprogreso), $59$50.99 less | |
Margaritaville at Sea |
$199.99 per adult |
7 hours |
||
Margaritaville at Sea |
$199.99 per adult |
6.5 hours |
Read on each cruise line's website on October 22, 2026. Lines change these prices often, so check the page before you book. Trips are matched by what each listing names; inclusions and transport differ, so open both. Every port compared.
Ships berth at Terminal Remota, opened in 1989 at the seaward end of a pier that reaches 6.5 km (4 mi) into the Gulf of Mexico. CruiseMapper says the pier was first 2.1 km long and gained 4 km in 1988. Cruise Critic describes a large duty-free area right beside the ship, with restrooms and a pharmacy but no ATM. The pier is too long to walk, so free buses carry passengers into town in about 15 minutes; Cruise Critic names the operator as Aut Progreso.
Beside the shuttle stop are an information desk and a taxi rank where drivers quote rates for private trips, Cruise Critic says, and Uber also works in Progreso. Cruise Critic warns that the market at the drop-off is a tourist replica rather than the real town market. It also says group tours to Chichén Itzá, Mérida and Uxmal are sold on the spot for US dollars and cost far less than a taxi. Autoprogreso says it has carried passengers from the pier into Progreso since 2000.
Yucatan Cenote's guides wait at the free shuttle terminal on shore with a sign bearing the guest's name, and its FAQ says taking a taxi off the pier is fine too. Its semi-private tour also ends back at that terminal. Autoprogreso's tour pages give no meeting point, though the map on its cenote page starts at the Progreso Cruise Ship Terminal. Its tours are told apart by bracelet: lime green for Chichén Itzá, purple for Uxmal and dark blue for the cenotes.
Progreso keeps Central Standard Time, UTC minus 6, all year. Mexico dropped daylight saving nationally in October 2022 and kept it only in Baja California and some municipalities near the US border. From early November to mid-March the town matches US Central time and runs an hour behind Florida. In summer it is an hour behind US Central Daylight Time and two hours behind Florida, so confirm if all-aboard is given in ship time or local time.
CruiseMapper's October 2026 list shows only 8-hour calls. Carnival Valor was listed from 8 am to 4 pm on five dates and Carnival Breeze from 9 am to 5 pm on four. Margaritaville at Sea Islander shared October 15 with Valor, on the same hours. Cruise Industry News, citing local media in October 2025, reported that more than 450,000 cruise guests were expected that year, 80% more than in 2024.
Yucatan Cenote's FAQ says guests get back to Progreso 60 to 90 minutes before they re-board. Its semi-private tour sets off 45 minutes after docking. Autoprogreso says a guide stays with each group until it is back in time for the ship, and adds that "100% of our customers have returned on time." Its cenote page includes guaranteed transport back to the ship. Its 6-hour Chichén Itzá trip and Margaritaville at Sea's 7-hour version each take up most of an 8-hour call.
Chichén Itzá, in Tinúm municipality, stands 115 km from Mérida on Highway 180 toward Pisté, according to INAH, and Mérida is about 30 minutes south of Progreso by highway. UNESCO listed the site in 1988, and climbing El Castillo was stopped after a visitor's fatal fall in 2006. Autoprogreso's 6-hour trip costs $95 per adult and $39 per child, with entrance tickets and a guide certified by Mexico's tourism ministry. Margaritaville at Sea charges $199.99 per adult and $169.99 per child for 7 hours, with a boxed lunch on the ride back.
Uxmal lies 62 km south of Mérida in the Puuc region, a UNESCO site since 1996 whose Pyramid of the Magician rises in oval layers. Autoprogreso's Uxmal tour lasts 5 hours, about one of them at the ruins, for $75 per adult and $39 per child. Yucatan Cenote puts Uxmal about 90 minutes from the port and most of its other sites about 60. Autoprogreso's Chichén Itzá and Uxmal pages show a $ sign without naming the currency; its cenote page prices in US dollars.
Autoprogreso's cenote tour visits Yaxbacaltún, which Wikipedia lists among the cenotes of Homún municipality, roughly 50 km southeast of Mérida. The 4.5-hour trip adds a second cenote, San Antonio, for $59 per adult and $49 per child, with anyone 12 or older paying the adult rate, and payment is taken on the tour day. Yucatan Cenote's $98 semi-private day pairs Maya ruins, where it says some pyramids can still be climbed, with a cenote for jumping and swimming and a lunch cooked by a Maya family.
We list two local operators for Progreso, and they sell in different ways. Autoprogreso, part of Grupo Autoprogreso, runs set-price group tours, says it has more than 50 years of moving tourists around Yucatán, and includes site tickets and a certified guide. Its cenote tour needs nothing paid upfront; an email follows with how to pay on the day. None of its pages read gives a group size, a cancellation policy or terms for a ship that misses Progreso.
Yucatan Cenote sells its semi-private day to cruise guests only, at $98 per person with no more than 18 guests, and tips are extra. A PayPal deposit holds the booking and the balance is due in exact cash at the morning meeting. Cancel by email before the sailing date and the deposit comes back in full, as it does if the ship cannot reach Progreso. Inside 24 hours of the tour nothing is refunded, and tours run rain or shine.
Yucatan Cenote counts late arrivals as no-shows: more than 45 minutes after docking for the semi-private tour, 60 minutes for a private one. It then keeps the whole deposit, or $20 for each missing guest when only part of a group appears. Its private tours have no age limits and can add car or booster seats with advance notice. Cenote entry and exit is by steps or small ladders. Margaritaville at Sea's Chichén Itzá trip costs $199.99 per adult, against Autoprogreso's $95.
from $59 per adult
Cenote - Santa Cruz and 2 more options
Back to ship: Says a guide stays with the group until it is back in time for the ship, and claims "100% of our customers have returned on time"
Cruise Critic says it runs the free shuttle between the pier's duty-free area and downtown Progreso, and sells its group tour tickets on the spot, payable in US dollars
from $98 per person
Semi-Private Adventure (Cruise guests only)
Back to ship: No formal guarantee; its tours get guests back to Progreso 60 to 90 minutes before re-boarding
Semi-private tours leave 45 minutes after the ship docks; later arrivals count as no-shows and lose the deposit
Prices and policies come from each operator's own pages, read on October 22, 2026. Seasons, rules and local details come from the pages below.