It's My Birthday Cruise - Day Four - Carnival Valor - Progreso

Let me start by saying - we are not impressed with this port. This is our third time visiting, and even though Carnival is starting to build up the "marketplace", it's really not that great of a port. To be fair, we have never booked a cruise excursion. We have taken a bus into Progreso, and there is really nothing to the town. From my understanding, in order to take in the actual local culture you have to go further inland about half an hour to Merida; however, when we went ashore, we couldn't find transportation to go there - only transportation to go into Progreso. We hung out at the little marketplace that has pretty much the same as every other Mexican port.

We spent most of the day on the ship on the Serenity deck and in the hot tubs. The big advantage to staying on the ship during port day is the ship is empty. No lines, cabanas available on the serenity deck, and empty hot tubs. We just relaxed, read, and napped. It was a relaxing afternoon.

Another great dining experience in the main dining room. We were entertained by the wait staff again. We attended the Love & Marriage show. This has been a staple of Carnival cruises since we started cruising in 2009. Some shows are better than others, and always depends on the participants and the cruise director. Frankie does a great job and is very quick witted so that helps immensely.

After the Love and Marriage show we decided to give the comedians a try; however, the venue was too packed as was the karaoke bar and the piano bar. So, up to the Lido deck we went. We played a few hands of Phase Ten, and spent time getting to know the bartenders. One of the bartenders and I traded off magic tricks with our cards, and amazed each other. After a walk around the ship - we were in our stateroom by 11:00.