Fees for Mr. Lee

[cruizinrican]

Thanks for the great tips on this thread! We will be visiting Columbia on our cruise in March 2010 and we couldn't be happier! I will try and arrange a tour with Lee for our visit and put an email out to see if anyone on our roll-call is interested in joining us.

[lambs2]

Our December 9 Lee Miles' tour of Cartagena with Doris as our guide was wonderful! The members of our roll call who signed up for this tour received a delightful overview of the city for a price that beat that heck out of any tours offered by the cruiseline. My hubby and I were the tour leaders and everything worked out just as planned, with the exception of two missing members who took ill the morning of the tour. Do not hesitiate to email Lee to set up your tour of Cartagena!

[maryllb]

WE just got back from our vacation and while in Cartenaga we used Lee Miles Tours. We were very happy with the tour. Our guide (Mercedes) was very knowledgeable, spoke good English, and had a sense of humor. I would recommend Lee Miles tours to any one wanting a personal touch to touring. There were 6 of us and we were picked up at the pier with an air conditioned van.

 

Maryann

[ellbon]

my tour ended up at 45 Pp since we grew to 9.. whata great day.. could of used more time in old town jsut to look around and take more pictures.

[PointCruiser]

Do you pay up front when you book his tour, or when you get there?:confused:

Need to wait till it gets closer to april to book him, just want to know what to expect.;)

 

We had a great tour with Lee Miles (Encarnation was the guide's name) in January of 2010. He was knowledgeable and our van of 8 passengers we quite satisfied. Cartagena does not have too much to offer, but it was enjoyable none-the-less.

 

We made our group of 8 through Cruise Critic about 4 months before our sailing date. We paid for our tour in cash and tipped the guide and driver at the end of the tour. Everything went as planned. I recommend Lee Miles.

[theblonde]

We had a great tour with Lee Miles (Encarnation was the guide's name) in January of 2010. He was knowledgeable and our van of 8 passengers we quite satisfied. Cartagena does not have too much to offer, but it was enjoyable none-the-less.

 

We made our group of 8 through Cruise Critic about 4 months before our sailing date. We paid for our tour in cash and tipped the guide and driver at the end of the tour. Everything went as planned. I recommend Lee Miles.

 

Did you pay in US $ or local currency?

 

Thanks!

[dshefter]

Just arranged for our private tour with Lee Miles in November on Coral Princess. You pay in cash, but don't have to come up with the money until the tour. Lee Miles has been great to work with via e-mail. Gets back to you right away and will provide a sample itinerary for what you are looking for. Our tour will be around 4 hours and will include the fortress, palace of the inquisition and shopping.

[ellbon]

We had a great tour with Lee Miles (Encarnation was the guide's name) in January of 2010. He was knowledgeable and our van of 8 passengers we quite satisfied. Cartagena does not have too much to offer, but it was enjoyable none-the-less.

 

We made our group of 8 through Cruise Critic about 4 months before our sailing date. We paid for our tour in cash and tipped the guide and driver at the end of the tour. Everything went as planned. I recommend Lee Miles.

 

 

I had thesame guide. he was great. i thought this city had tons to offer. I run out of time to see it all. Missed a church and would have liked to have more time to take pictures.. i know i will be back in a couple of years.

[Cozzette2]

I personally loved Cartagena and thought there was a ton of things to see. We booked with Lee Miles and had Claudia as our guide. Unfortunately the day we went there was a big protest in town with the motorcycle cabbies blocking the intersections. we could hardly move and ended up in a hot van with little air moving and a frustrated driver and guide. We didn't get to see much of what we had wanted and missed out on seeing the fort. It was sure not Lee or Claudia's fault and what we did see was pretty cool. We will have to go back and see what we missed.

[TheresaMarie]

We toured with Lee Miles in February from the Equinox. We were very fortunate to have Claudia as our guide. She was very informative and was lots of fun. We started out as 6 but Lee asked if we would like to have another couple join us, also traveling on the Equinox. This cut our cost per couple. He sent us suggestions before our trip so we could pick our personal itinerary. We started at the Monastery, stopped at the Fortress, visited the Palace of Inquisitions, walked the old city and had a short shopping visit to the Dungeons. Got back to the ship for a late lunch. Wonderful day, clean van, good driver, wonderful guide. We couldn't have asked for a better day. No surprises.

[Pirateskigirl]

We did a tour with Lee Miles in Nov 2009 off the Coral Princess. Rosiw was our guide. She did a great job. We did a quick 20 minute stop at Lee's store Mister Emerald and everyone paid for their tours in USD at that time. My only compliant was not enough time in port.

[mrspaper]

We just returned and used Lee Miles for our tour. We combined 2 tours from our thread and with the amount of people we had, the cost went down to $37 pp. We went to the fort for a photo op, went to the Palace of the Inquisition in the old city, walked around the old city, which is really beautiful and colorful, as well as went to another church, high in the hills. We made a quick stop at the dungeons for shopping. Then we made another quick stop at Lee's store. Many on our tour bought Emeralds, both at the Dungeons and Lee's shop. Shop around before leaving home, so you have a feel for quality and prices. You don't get a lot of time on the tour to start educating yourself. We paid Lee at the end in his shop. A few people also bought coffee across from his shop (he used to own the coffee shop across the way).

We were back on the ship in time for lunch

Don't be surprised if you are swarmed by people selling trinkets and cigars. They were ALL over the place

[diraebrad]

Would some of you who have taken Lee's tours mind sharing your itineraries and length of tour? I've been in communication with him for an October tour, but haven't decided on the exact itinerary yet.

[mrspaper]

we did a pic from the fort, 20 min at the dungeons, the old city with the palace of the inquisition (old city is a must), did the church at the top of the hill, which had great views, and then a visit to Lee's store.

I think that's all we had time for

[ellbon]

Would some of you who have taken Lee's tours mind sharing your itineraries and length of tour? I've been in communication with him for an October tour, but haven't decided on the exact itinerary yet.

 

 

we did it all:

 

the fort, la Popa, old shoes, stores,, anotherchurch, gold musuem, walking around, HR cafe for a drink, his shop to pay and then lunch. .we went from 830 to 330/ i lvoed it all.. we had 8 people = prefect!!!:D

[kneadsdough2cruise]

Just want to put a note out that last week in Columbia my husband and I happened to start a conversation with a gentleman while waiting for our excursion in Cartagena at the pier. He was handing out free maps (in a newspaper form) and my DH is waaayyyy into maps - he brought it home!!

 

As we continued to chat we found out he was Lee Miles and we said we would see him later in the morning and left on our excursion with Celebrity.

 

His shop was at the mall on the second stop of our tour and we shopped the other stores to get an idea of price and quality offered (after also pricing on the ship).

We then made our way up the stairs to the store.

 

The people (including Lee) were extremely friendly and accomodating. We had a very nice time shopping and I was able to get a beautiful Emerald Pendant. We found the selection to be perfect for us. Although on different excursions, we later found out that the selection was perfect for my SIL - she bought two loose stones, her sister and Mom - both bought pendants, both of my sisters - one bought a ring, the other a pendant. Some unusual settings (that we LOVED) and varying quality of stones.

 

If you are looking for a clean, comfortable store (AC and a clean restroom!!) make sure you go to MR. EMERALD. In our opinion you can't go wrong:)

[ladylawyer]

Just want to put a note out that last week in Columbia my husband and I happened to start a conversation with a gentleman while waiting for our excursion in Cartagena at the pier. He was handing out free maps (in a newspaper form) and my DH is waaayyyy into maps - he brought it home!!

 

As we continued to chat we found out he was Lee Miles and we said we would see him later in the morning and left on our excursion with Celebrity.

 

His shop was at the mall on the second stop of our tour and we shopped the other stores to get an idea of price and quality offered (after also pricing on the ship).

We then made our way up the stairs to the store.

 

The people (including Lee) were extremely friendly and accomodating. We had a very nice time shopping and I was able to get a beautiful Emerald Pendant. We found the selection to be perfect for us. Although on different excursions, we later found out that the selection was perfect for my SIL - she bought two loose stones, her sister and Mom - both bought pendants, both of my sisters - one bought a ring, the other a pendant. Some unusual settings (that we LOVED) and varying quality of stones.

 

If you are looking for a clean, comfortable store (AC and a clean restroom!!) make sure you go to MR. EMERALD. In our opinion you can't go wrong:)

 

I couldn't agree with you, more. We were also in Cartagena just over a week ago (Infinity) and we booked a tour through Lee Miles. He is just wonderful.

 

If you go to his website, before you leave, print out a coupon for 25% off any purchases. You think you can't afford an emerald? Look at the raw emeralds. They are very reasonable, particularly w/ the coupon. Enjoy!

[venusbello1]

Just curious... I sent him an email a few days ago and have not heard back. Does anyone know what his timeframe is for getting back to folks? A friend of mine booked him on our cruise 2 year's ago with no problems.

 

Thanks for any information you can give me.

 

VB1

[JSWalk]

Just curious... I sent him an email a few days ago and have not heard back. Does anyone know what his timeframe is for getting back to folks? A friend of mine booked him on our cruise 2 year's ago with no problems.

 

Thanks for any information you can give me.

 

VB1

 

Last week I e-mailed him and heard back the next day. I would try again.

[konatyme]

Same here. I e-mailed him 2 weeks or so ago & heard back either the next day or the day after.

[GreySkies]

If you haven't already re-emailed him, go ahead and do so. I did so last night with a title that included "2ND ATTEMPT" or something like that and received a response this morning.

 

It turns out that he was visiting his son in the States and ended up locked out of his email.

 

GreySkies

[venusbello1]

If you haven't already re-emailed him, go ahead and do so. I did so last night with a title that included "2ND ATTEMPT" or something like that and received a response this morning.

 

It turns out that he was visiting his son in the States and ended up locked out of his email.

 

GreySkies

 

Yes, Lee Miles did get back to me a couple days ago and he told me that also. So we are all set and ready to go!

 

Happy cruising everyone!

VB1

[ellbon]

loved using his tour compnay.. would use him again...

[Loonbeam]

Ditto here, contacted him today, he sent back, already have booked for Oct 2011....