Cartagena, Colombia

We will be cruising to Panama in Nov. and will be stopping in Cartagena for 6 hrs. Does anyone know how far the port is from Old Town? Walking distance or is a taxi or shuttle needed? Thanks.

And, any ideas for Ocho Rios, Jamaica? We can't seem to find an excursion that sounds like anything we are interested in. Thanks, again.

Good places to look- Columbia board:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=500

 

Jamaica board:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=111

In Cartagena taxi is required to get to the old town. Also recommended is a guide through the old town. When you exit the cruise terminal you will find people with whom you can negotiate a tour. Typically they work in pairs, a driver and a guide. The driver will drop you off at an entrance to the old town and pick you up at a different location. The guide will walk you through the old town.

 

All of the taxis /guides want to take you to various shops on the way to / from the old town. They get commissions or other considerations (gas coupons, etc.) for doing this.

I was there in the spring of 2005. Having also had the chance to visit the old historic cores of San Juan, Santo Domingo, and Panama City, I have to say Cartagena is the most beautiful of the bunch.

 

Even though I was on a guided walking tour with a local, I had to say "No, gracias" about every three minutes, to scores of street vendors offering the same ten products (water, or juice, or leather belts, or necklaces, or fake "lace" tablecloths, depending on the vendor). Some of them, such as those selling jewelry, will likely regard your "No, gracias" as merely the opening round of your negotiating tactics, so for their sake, try to be clear about your ultimate intentions.

 

"Vendor-ama" notwithstanding, go and enjoy!

It can be walked to but you will walk thru some seedy area and it is a bit of a distance in hot humid weather....so a cab would be a good idea. Not all of the cabbies speak good English so for coming back it is an idea to take a post card of the ship with you and point to it, all the cabbies know where the port is.

We walked through the terminal/shopping building and just outside found a shuttle bus driver and guide. They gathered a group of us from the ship, drove us to old town and we had a walking tour of the old town. I don't think I would have wanted to do this entirely on my own and we've been pretty gutsy in a lot of cities on our own. I am usually more gutsy when I can walk to the city with a map in my hand. I am less concerned about getting lost. A guide is also a better idea because of your short window of time.

 

This was very inexpensive. I am thinking $15 plus tip a person. My one complaint was that there was too much shopping. We stopped at 3 different stores of the guides choosing and this is one reason we hate ship excursions. The guide told us exactly the same thing the guide in Morocco told us, DO NOT MAKE EYE CONTACT, DO NOT ENGAGE IN CONVERSATION EVEN TO SAY NO and they will leave you alone.

We took the ship's excursion to the mud volcano and loved it. We had time to stop briefly at the fort on the way out of the town and another stop in the old town area afterwards. To give you some idea of Cartagena, we had an armed military escort on our bus.

We walked through the terminal/shopping building and just outside found a shuttle bus driver and guide. They gathered a group of us from the ship, drove us to old town and we had a walking tour of the old town. I don't think I would have wanted to do this entirely on my own and we've been pretty gutsy in a lot of cities on our own. I am usually more gutsy when I can walk to the city with a map in my hand. I am less concerned about getting lost. A guide is also a better idea because of your short window of time.

 

This was very inexpensive. I am thinking $15 plus tip a person. My one complaint was that there was too much shopping. We stopped at 3 different stores of the guides choosing and this is one reason we hate ship excursions. The guide told us exactly the same thing the guide in Morocco told us, DO NOT MAKE EYE CONTACT, DO NOT ENGAGE IN CONVERSATION EVEN TO SAY NO and they will leave you alone.

We took the ship's excursion to the mud volcano and loved it. We had time to stop briefly at the fort on the way out of the town and another stop in the old town area afterwards. To give you some idea of Cartagena, we had an armed military escort on our bus.

We took the ship's excursion to the mud volcano and loved it. We had time to stop briefly at the fort on the way out of the town and another stop in the old town area afterwards. To give you some idea of Cartagena, we had an armed military escort on our bus.

..... Not all of the cabbies speak good English so for coming back it is an idea to take a post card of the ship with you and point to it, all the cabbies know where the port is.

Good suggestion! Thanks, Putterdude. I think I am going to try to remember to do this when going off the ship on our own in any foreign port where we do not speak the native language.

 

We also try to remember to take a card from our hotel with us when staying at a hotel in a foreign country so that we can use it the same way if needed.