Mormon propaganda tour!
At the archeological sites, they mixed Mormon mythology with actual history, in spite of us telling them only half of us were Mormon. When we had asked about this issue when we signed with them, they assured us we would get actual history and only answer questions about putative Book of Mormon parallels when asked. The mislead us. A Mormon who is swimming in this fake history probably wouldn't even notice, but this was a Mormon propaganda tour.
Also, the guide kept calling the privileged people who lived in the cities (royal, priestly, and military classes) "civilized", when he used synonymously with "smart" and "peaceful". The cities were built on the backs of the peasant class by exploitative elites and justified in the name of "civilization", as has been done for millennia, and as any historian could tell you. This characterization ran throughout the tour to the point of being offensive--as if building a stone wall is the quintessence of intelligence and virtue.
They also took us to the Xcaret park and misled us into believing all of our food was included. (It was only one meal.) They also didn't tell us to put all of our photos on one bracelet or we would have to pay hundreds of dollars (not pesos). And they failed to help us secure a scooter for our 80+ year old mother. If they don't help with these things, they're no more helpful than a taxi driver.
At Isla de la Mujeres, they force marched our mother for a mile in sweltering heat instead of getting her a taxi.
One of the guides was so leisurely he failed to keep us on schedule. Rather than helping us see everything at each site, he wasted time by keeping us standing in one place for long periods going on about tangents. The other guide rushed us to the point of being rude. They left no time for souvenir shopping. There's a happy medium somewhere. They didn't find it.
They also rushed us through the snorkeling excursions and there was no time to relax in the water with the fish. They told us we would be on a large catamaran, but we were on a tiny boat that took a beating in the rough waves and got everyone soaked. They also failed to tell us in advance about the problem with sunscreen in the reefs.
All were very friendly, but that doesn't make up for them not doing their jobs. read more