Shore Excursion

We just booked our second cruise with Celebrity (and our second cruise ever!) and are going on the 11 Day Ultimate Western Caribbean Cruise next spring. Many of the ports are quite unlike the Eastern Caribbean cruise we went on last year. I think we are going to feel a little more secure booking excursions through the ship, especially in Cartagena, Puerto Limon and Colon. How often does Celebrity change up the excursion options? For instance there are no beach excursions to chose from in Cartagena. What would be the reason for this. In our guide books I see that there are some fantastic beaches a short boat ride away.

Any advice would most certainly be appreciated.

Thanks!

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

As your cruise is not until next Spring, it is a little early to expect all the excursions to be posted. Basically, Celebrity negotiates excursions with the providers for a period [not individually] usually a season. Currently, Celebrity does not have ships in the Caribbean and, therefore, I would not have expected many, if any, excursions available yet for your cruise. It may not be until quite late this year before they are available.

We're cruising in Nov and were told excursions for Montego Bay will be listed mid August...seems to take more time for some ports ..

you can probably browse the general offerings ....even if you can't book....we received an e-mail today with the gen listings that actually works OK once you get the hang of it !

We just booked our second cruise with Celebrity (and our second cruise ever!) and are going on the 11 Day Ultimate Western Caribbean Cruise next spring. Many of the ports are quite unlike the Eastern Caribbean cruise we went on last year. I think we are going to feel a little more secure booking excursions through the ship, especially in Cartagena, Puerto Limon and Colon. How often does Celebrity change up the excursion options? For instance there are no beach excursions to chose from in Cartagena. What would be the reason for this. In our guide books I see that there are some fantastic beaches a short boat ride away.

Any advice would most certainly be appreciated.

Thanks!

We did a private tour at Cartagena that was great. The company is

www.cartagenatour.com

I think Celebrity had an excursion that included a boat ride, not sure if beaches were included. I recommend visiting the town and taking in La Popa, a monastery at the top of the mountain overlooking the city.

As for Colon, the city is to stay away from on your own. It is a nasty city. Take a tour or excursion to the Gatun Locks of the Panama Canal.

While La Popa is very interesting and does have a beautiful view of the city, it also has a view of abject squalor and poverty. Personally I found it very depressing. Also the vendors around La Popa are the most aggressive of any place I have visited. Just my personal opinion. YMMV.

While La Popa is very interesting and does have a beautiful view of the city, it also has a view of abject squalor and poverty. Personally I found it very depressing. Also the vendors around La Popa are the most aggressive of any place I have visited. Just my personal opinion. YMMV.

Yes, there is poverty in Colombia, however, if avoiding poverty is your goal, about 80% of the World is out.

We have been to eight countries in South America and while we did see poverty, we saw a lot of great sites, as well as prosperity.

Perhaps the beach is for some that cruise to places like Cartagena, but you can go to the beach in the USA.

We were in Cartegena and Colon on our last Celebrity cruise in January. It was our second time in Cartegena and first time in Colon. Like you, I was aprehensive about touring on our own in these countries, however, having done a ship sponsored tour last time in Cartegena (we thoroughly enjoyed it but were herded through like cattle) we decided to risk it on our own this year.

We did a lot of investigating and booked a private tour in Colon that included a lot of history, sight seeing, beach and lunch as well as an up close look at the Gatun locks. It was organized by someone on our roll call so I can't remember the name of the company used but I do remember that the price was quite reasonable and the guide spoke excellent English.

In Cartegena, we grabbed a cab with another couple we met on the ship and went to the beach and a city tour with an up close look at the fortress. My research had assured me of what to pay for such a tour so when we were told $100 by the first person we approached, we knew to keep looking. The second person offered $40 and we accepted. Both tours were just what we wanted. The other plus is that all money we spent went directly into that country's economy to help battle the poverty mentioned in an earlier post. For that reason and the great service provided, we tipped exceptionally well.

Yes, there is poverty in Colombia, however, if avoiding poverty is your goal, about 80% of the World is out. We have been to eight countries in South America and while we did see poverty, we saw a lot of great sites, as well as prosperity. Perhaps the beach is for some that cruise to places like Cartagena, but you can go to the beach in the USA.

Sad, but true! Great points and perspective. Appreciate your post and its wisdom, thoughts.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Back from doing a 14-day Celebrity Solstice, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure on this ship and getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for much more information and lots of wonderful pictures on these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 68,592 views for this fun posting.

I have the same (or similar) cruise booked for this November and have been to Colon and Cartegena twice before. There are some excellent private guides in each of those cities, so I suggest you join your roll call for the cruise, check out the ports of call sites for each of the cities and also check reviews on Tripadvisor to learn more about the areas and what's available before you make any excursion decisions.

Everyone needs to do what they are comfortable with, but as was mentioned Colon is not a city to do on your own, you need to book an excursion. Fabulous itinerary, I'm really looking forward to it myself!

All the excursions for our November Far East cruise on the Millennium have disappeared from their site! Was just about to book all we wanted.