Getting to Old Town On My Own?

[DonD]

Have never been to Cartagena and looking forward to doing my own thing that day.

 

I am wondering if there will be a shuttle bus from the Princess dock to the old town, or just to the harbor? Is it a free shuttle bus? Can I walk to the Old Town from the harbor or do I need a taxi? About how much will it cost?

 

Thanks, DonD

[celem]

Just hire a taxi. The blue shirted drivers whose shirt says Taxi, Taxi are beyond the white shirted drivers. The ship advised using the blue shirted drivers - I don't know why. The fare was $20 to town and $15 to get back.

2010-01-06 - Cartagena, Columbia

Awoke around 6:40AM to a pilot boat alongside our cabin, escorting the Constellation into Cartagena. We passed an old fort and can see modern Cartagena's skyscrapers in the distance, looking much like a small Chicago or Atlanta, It is currently overcast and pleasant but with high humidity that immediately fogged the camera lens when stepping from the air conditioned room onto the deck.

We shared a taxi in Cartagena with two friends, who I met through CruiseCritic, to the El Centro part of Old Town ($20 for four people). We had not walked 50 feet before my wife disobeyed the ship's instructions and she ate fruit from a street vendor. It was some odd fruit that she had never seen before. The lady pulled a fruit from her hat and a bowl from within her shirt and with a knife, pulled from some hidden source, and my wife ate it with relish, tasting like a "plumy fig". When we walked up the street I saw another fruit vendor sharpening his knife on the curb by our dirty feet, just above the rivulet of water where, we are told, they break up the ice used in fruit drinks. We kept expecting my wife to explode in illness but she never suffered any ill effects from her fruit.

We went to the restaurant, El Santisimo, where we had reservations for noon, only to discover that it did not open until 1PM. So, we went to a beautiful, upscale, nearby hotel, the Sofitel, to wait in the air conditioning with a beer. With a relaxing hour killed, we started to leave the hotel when my wife engaged in conversation with staff of the upcoming citywide music festival. They pointed an American conductor so we then engaged him in conversation. He recalled fond memories as a boy at Camp Greenville - small world!

The restaurant, El Santisimo, was nice. It is in the San Diefo area of old town, on Calle El Toro. Our initial waitress spoke no English. I showed her my reservation email and she spent several minutes conferring with several people at the bar. Then she returned and asked if I had a passport. It seems that she wanted to verify that I was the person named in the reservation. We were amused by that as the restaurant had available tables, especially since we were the first customers. They replaced our waitress with a young man that spoke English, as he said, mas o minus. Between his limited English and my limited Spanish, we got the job done and we all ordered what we desired. my wife ordered Chango, red snapper stew with coconut milk, coriander and yucca. She also ordered Cairmanolas, fried yucca croquettes stuffed with ground meat and in local sour cream. I ordered Filete con pulpa y curry roja, fish filets with sliced octopus and a spicy red curry. We both ordered red house wine. Our dessert with coffee was an absolutely delicious La Pereza. They describe it as coconut pie a la mode, but it was more like macaroon pie, but less sweet.

After lunch, we strolled toward Old Town's main gate when, in the La Matuna area, a man in a white shirt approached us with a folded piece of paper with Celebrity Constellation showing and offered a taxi for $15. Our travel companion said "NO we only paid $20 to get here". The man said OK, if you want I'll take you for $20". Our travel companion had misunderstood him and thought that he said $50. Anyway we accepted the $15 offer. He walked us to a taxi with a driver wearing a black shirt instead of the official blue shirt with "taxi" printed all over it. Our travel companion said "wait a minute, is this an official taxi? The man replied "of course, that is my brother." We had a twisty, circuitous ride back, but we got to the ship terminal, and that is what matters.

We considered Cartegena to be one of the nicer ports that we stopped in and never felt unsafe or anything but comfortable. My only complaint was the heat - it is HOT and HUMID in Cartagena.

[MsFinland]

Thanks "celem". Very interesting story. Only I could have my travel companion, this elderly lady, to join doing something like you did. Saling off Colón, Panama on the Enchantment of the Seas, for the very first cruise of my life... :)

[celem]

Thanks "celem". Very interesting story. Only I could have my travel companion, this elderly lady, to join doing something like you did. Saling off Colón, Panama on the Enchantment of the Seas, for the very first cruise of my life... :)

 

A ship's excursion would certainly be a safe choice for someone elderly, but if she walks well, consider hiring a taxi for the day to do what you want instead of being bogged download with a bus load of people who seem to actually want to go to the emerald jewelery showrooms. Such a driver, engaged for the entire day, would wait for you while you ate lunch in a nice restaurant such as El Santisimo, which was recommended by a Columbian friend of our family as her favorite. Just do a little research to determine what would be interesting to both of you and within her physical capability. Make sure that the taxi has a well functioning air conditioner and negotiate your price and itinerary fully before you hire. The Cartagena taxis have a good reputation.

[MsFinland]

"celem". I will see what can be done & perhaps will tell you later on, when I'm back again in the cold Helsinki, Finland, now -15C. :)