Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula is a big place, and not all of its visitor highlights can be found on the coast. As such, the destination presents a challenge for cruise operators, which traditionally rely on the daylong tour as the staple of their land itineraries. But America’s Victory Cruise Lines has reconceptualised the conventional cruise holiday to offer a combined land and sea experience, allowing guests to make the most of the vast destination.
The Grand Mayan Experience combines a nine-night cruise around the three states of the Yucatan, including an overnight inland stay to enable an exclusive sunrise tour Chichen Itza, and a two-night pre or post-cruise stay in the colonial city of Campeche.
Departing from Miami, the 202-cabin Victory II will call in at Puerto Morelos near Cancun, where passengers will set off on a tour of the ocean-facing Mayan ruins at Tulum, before heading inland to visit the ‘Pueblos Magicos’ of Valladolid, Izamal and the magnificent Chichen Itza. The inland portion of the trip affords guests the chance to swim in one of the Yucatan’s 6,000 cenotes and experience a traditional Mayan healing ceremony, before setting sail for the colonial city of Merida and visiting a traditional hacienda. The walled city of Campeche is the last stop on the cruise; a UNESCO World Heritage site whose cobblestone streets and colonial buildings provide a delightful climax to a comprehensive Yucatan adventure.