Jason_S, jan. 2021
I read many reviews before deciding that it doesn't matter which one you pick as they are all similar with similar complaints as well. Sure enough, many of the same annoyances happened on our trip as well. We were picked up first and then spent 1:30 hours picking up others, and then we were dropped off almost last which meant we spent an extraordinarily long time on the bus in addition to the distance to the actual historical site. The good news is we got to pick our seat and the bus was comfortable and clean. As I read in other reviews, the lunch at the cenote is first for some bizarre reason, much earlier than lunch would normally be. However, the lunch was very good and the cenote was interesting and pretty, but not much to actually do there if you aren't swimming. It was an unexpected highlight to be traditionally greeted by a Mayan shaman upon arriving at the cenote to remove any bad spirits we brought.
Once we arrived at Chichen Itza, we were passed off to a different guide because of the group-size limitations. Diego was our guide and was fantastic. He is of Mayan background and is everything you want a guide to be--knowledgeable, enthusiastic, fun, and easy to ask questions of.
Not the tour operator's fault, but the hundreds of peddlers of trinkets yelling "one dollar" or "almost free" and physically approaching you as you get within 50 feet of them is aggravating. It is literally a constant swarm anywhere you go in the complex. I did buy a magnet from one of them and was able to negotiate the price a little bit. Even the price he originally offered was significantly less than what I would pay for at any gift shop.
Then we stopped in Valladolid on the ride back. I'm not sure why. We only spent 30 minutes so it wasn't a big problem. The town itself looked way more taken care of than any other town we had passed through on our trip, even better overall than Cancun. Not just the parts we were dropped off in, but the parts of town we drove through to get there looked cleaner and brighter and sharper than anywhere else on the trip. And then I saw the police--a lot of police presence in the town square area both on foot and in vehicles.
As far as the tour operator itself, what a drag. The driver was fine and professional. There was an assistant there who I don't know what she did other than count people on the bus to make sure we didn't leave anyone--I'm sure she did more, but I don't know what. And then there is Karla, our main guide. As someone who finds it hard to learn other languages, I am always fascinated by someone who can flip between two languages like it's nothing. Karla has that skill and it was great. She gives a memorized scripted speech to teach about the Mayans and their culture. It seems like this is her job and so she does it, but doesn't seem all that excited about it. She did give a great story about her Mayan birth certificate and what everything means, and guess what, we can buy one too! At first, I didn't think anything of it until suddenly every so often there was always another opportunity to buy something and then another thing and another thing. The upselling from the market vendors at Chichen Itza was expected, but the frequent hawking of items on the bus itself where we were trapped was a big turnoff.
I did buy a birth certificate because it was neat and she said the Mayans at the cenote would "do it for you" on handmade papyrus type material. By "do it" you would assume they meant "do the artwork," but what it really means is put your birthdate in a computer program and print it out on maybe-handmade cardstock. So I just paid for a Mayan (maybe) to press print on a computer--how authentic!
When you get to the cenote, they force you to get your picture taken--I already knew this was going to turn into an upsell so I pushed my way past and didn't let them take my picture. On the bus trip to Chichen Itza, the photographer magically shows up on the bus--Karla called it a "special treat." He, at least, seemed enthusiastic to be there and to talk about how the traditional Mayan tequila is made. We were able to have samples of it, which I guess was a treat. But then from his backpack he pulls out other bottles of the tequila with everyone's pictures pasted on the label. He passed them out and then you had the chance to purchase them. It was a clever way to do the picture upsell, I just didn't expect it to be while we were captive on a bus. It felt like a drug deal where you get the sample for free and then here comes the sale if you want more. I'm on vacation, I don't need this constant vending.
Then, the icing on the cake...as we approached Cancun at the end, Karla then ASKED for tips. Maybe it's cultural differences, but she basically said all the things she did on the trip to earn a tip and that we should tip her and her assistant and the driver. In MY culture, that is bad form. Imagine if your waiter listed all the ways they helped you at dinner and because of that you need to tip him. Crazy! I know Karla probably thought it would influence our tipping, and for me, it certainly did--but not in the way she wanted. I was going to tip what I normally would out of obligation for average service, but after her trying to guilt me or whatever, I reduced the amount. I used to wait tables, and if people don't tip you or give you a bad tip, that's part of the gig. If it bothers you that much, you're in the wrong business.
Overall, it was a net positive because of the sites--I got to see Chichen Itza and the cenote. The ride was comfortable and smooth. The tour company itself seems like it could easily be replaced by any other tour company and you'd get an equal experience.