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elbodans

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  • Location
    PA
  • Interests
    Hiking, Cooking, Travel, Photography, Writing
  • Favorite Cruise Line(s)
    HAL and NCL
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    Everywhere Alaska
  • If you have a personal or hobby CRUISE or TRAVEL BLOG, include the url here:
    www.suitcasescholar.com

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  1. Yes. Many people I spoke to took a taxi and my BFF I was traveling with took a taxi back--rather than waiting for the return bus offered by her excursion. So yes, I'd say a taxi both ways is the best option. It's not far; the traffic will be crazy in the morning but without traffic it is 15 minutes from the port area to the old city.
  2. They are entirely open air on the sides. The top I believe has a cover. But it's not enclosed in any way. There are photos of the tram vehicles in birdnutty's comment above--you can see them in the second to last photo.
  3. I don't know which I love more--the teeny, tiny bats or the shed roof toilet! Thank you for sharing these photos! And yes, we saw no wildlife at Veragua. I had read about that here--possibly that was your post? Someone provided a review and mentioned that if you want to see wildlife, you should do the canals in addition to the rainforest. And so I did. If that was your advice--thank you!
  4. Hello all! I semi-recently returned from an MSC cruise which stopped in Puerto Limon. I wrote about every port day, as these ports seem to get little attention as they are lesser-visited (the ship also went to Cartagena and Colon.) But I contend that cruising Central America (and South America) ports on a Caribbean cruise is amazing. Anyway--I wanted to share the experience of my port day, which was an MSC ship sponsored excursion to Veragua Rainforest and a short cruise on the Tortuguero Canal. Enjoy post on my ad-free, non-revenue generating blog (I get nothing from you reading this other than helping you possibly learn about a port you are visiting. I used to be a teacher and old habits die hard.) https://www.suitcasescholar.com/2023/01/10/a-port-day-in-puerto-limon-costa-rica-veragua-rainforest-and-the-tortuguero-canals/
  5. You can walk out of the port. There's a very small town park and a local shopping area. Beyond that it's a road leading out of town past some grocery stores and schools--your typical suburban strip mall sprawl, but in Costa Rica so smaller and less at odds with the landscape. If you walk into the town itself there is a church and some restaurants and bars--but note that this is Costa Rica so it won't feel commercial at all. There's no Margaritaville. It's not possible to rent a car on a port stop (I checked) as the closest rental place is at the airport and most port days in Limon are on the short side; time just doesn't allow it. There were tour options available in the port the day of, but they looked pretty limited.
  6. Yeah, the whole ship was kind of mad at us, as we had something like six busses coming back and the ship had to wait for well over an hour. And THAT is why that experience is only possible via cruise line sponsored excursion1
  7. Thank you! I actually found the Colombia one and then had to go to work and have not had time to return here since. I'll re post the CR one when I can. Thank you for the link!
  8. Yes, that's the one I'm referencing. Good to know that's a worth itinerary. Thanks!
  9. I would totally do this itinerary again! I didn't know this itinerary existed prior to this year. I was on the Meraviglia in Feburary 2020 (we were the last ship that sailed that actually went anywhere; at the time we had no idea what was to come) and that was my first MSC cruise. I'm intrigued by MSC's unique southern Caribbean itinerary. Have you done that one? I'm looking at it for next winter.
  10. I felt the exact same way! I booked pretty last minute--like two weeks before sailing--and when I did was very excited. And then I was like: oh my what have I done?? But all of my fears were unfounded. It was an amazing trip and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I also booked all ship excursions for this reason. If I hadn't been traveling solo I would have gone with a private company in Limon, but when I reached out there wasn't availability to join an existing tour. I would 100% get a taxi in Cartagena. Locals don't have much English and I have very little Spanish, but I wouldn't worry about the language being an issue getting a taxi. On port days, taxi drivers are taxiing cruise passengers. If you get in a taxi in town and say "puerto" that's all you really need. Decide where you are going from the port and learn the local words for that and you should be fine. A taxi into town should be around $5 USD. A taxi back will be more than that. Like possibly $20 USD. Excellent choice in the canal cruise. And Ocean Cay is one of my favorite relaxing locations. I don't have any MSC cruises booked at this time, but I'm becoming and MSC fan so I know I will return. I hope you love it! The Divina surprised me. I had zero intention of ever sailing on her, as I've seen some bad reviews on YouTube. But I really, really liked the Divina. She's an older ship and I like that. The older ships have more of a...ship feel? I like to feel like I'm at sea when I'm at sea. The Meraviglia (and the one Royal ship I've sailed--I don't recall which) felt like a mall. I also really liked the smaller lounge spaces for evenings. I'm usually always outdoors when cruising--I've closed more than my share of aft pool bars--but I actually enjoyed the live music on board the Divina. My balcony cabin was between forward and mid ship on the starboard side and I had no complaints about that either. The shower setup was kind of brilliant actually. I would not hesitate to sail the Divina again. It should be noted that we were at half capacity on my sailing and it was still difficult to find a lounger on sea days, because pool chair saving is a real thing. The aft pool was really great though.
  11. I was in Cartagena six weeks ago. I don't know about from port to town, but there were one million taxis near the clock tower entrance to the old walled town. So getting back to the ship won't be an issue. You will not avoid any vendors on a port day no matter how early you will get off the ship. I did not find anyone to be overly pushy, as a simple no gracias was all that was needed. The sheer number of vendors is overwhelming at first, but no one was aggressive. The HOHO bus is not reliable. That was the excursion I chose. We were not given the option to hop off and hopping back on was not possible. I wrote about my experience here: https://www.suitcasescholar.com/2023/01/10/pirates-of-the-caribbean-cartagena-by-cruise-ship/ If I had it to do again I'd do the taxi thing. Also my BFF who was sailing with me did the "on your own" excursion through the ship and it was not on her own. There was a tour involved. None of the ship excursion descriptions were accurate (MSC Divina.) Cartagena is amazing. Enjoy.
  12. Hello all! I see there are a lot of questions about the HOHO bus in Cartagena. I did this as my shore excursion last month--booked through the cruise line (MSC) and I wrote about it here: https://www.suitcasescholar.com/2023/01/10/pirates-of-the-caribbean-cartagena-by-cruise-ship/ If you don't feel like reading that, feel free to ask questions here. The short version is: I had a great day, but there's little to no opportunity to hop off and hop back on again.
  13. I did the HOHO bus in Cartagena last month. There was nothing hop on hop off about it! It was basically a drive to the old town, a walking tour that everyone was STRONGLY encouraged to take, and then an additional 90-minute tour around in the bus. From what I heard from others on my tour, if you hopped off there was never an option to hop back on again. Taxis were plentiful. I wrote about my experience here: https://www.suitcasescholar.com/2023/01/10/pirates-of-the-caribbean-cartagena-by-cruise-ship/
  14. I'm happy to do that. I didn't see those forums on the destination list. I'll search. Thanks.
  15. Hello all! I used this forum when I was planning my cruise--which stopped in Colon but did not transit the canal--so I'd like to return the favor by providing some info for those doing research on the ports of Cartagena, Colon, and Puerto Limon. I wrote a whole big destination guide featuring these ports (as well as Ocho Rios and MSC's private island) on my ad-free, promotion-free blog. It's a hobby of mine and you reading these posts benefits me in no way. I simply created this information because I had questions before I sailed and I want to help others plan their trip. I hope this is helpful! Happy cruising! Cartagena Port Day: http://www.suitcasescholar.com/2023/01/10/pirates-of-the-caribbean-cartagena-by-cruise-ship/ Colon Port Day (Panama Canal by Ferry excursion): http://www.suitcasescholar.com/2023/01/10/transiting-the-panama-canal-by-ferry-an-msc-cruise-ship-excursion/ Puerto Limon Port Day: http://www.suitcasescholar.com/2023/01/10/a-port-day-in-puerto-limon-costa-rica-veragua-rainforest-and-the-tortuguero-canals/
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