Cartagena Hop On Hop Off?

[SadieC]

Hi everyone! Posted this question a few months ago on the Columbia sub forum, but very little traffic it seems to provide advice.

We are on Infinity on a Panama cruise in November and we are looking for any recommendations from those that have already visited this wonderful city. Am thinking of the Hop On Hop Off excursion through Celebrity, but am open to any suggestions! :D

[cruisestitch]

Have you tried TripAdvisor?

[jelayne]

We took a cab to the walled old town - very nice place to wander, shops restaurants, museums, old fort.

[ghstudio]

not sure you need the hop on hop off at all....just take a taxi to the old town.

[chemmo]

When we visited it was really busy...the pavements were jammed with a mix of vendors and tourists. We pre booked a horse and carriage tour. It was great, you slowly viewed everything but were above 'the hustle and bustle' at street level.

 

This trip included a stop at the old fort. We booked with Celebrity as we had lots of OBC. If you decide to book independently check on the internet re animal wefare, when we visited 2/3 years ago now, some companies did not have good reputations about the care of their horses.

[Knighton]

I like HOHO tours. We did the one in Cartagena and it was a nice way to see the whole city. One suggestion-there were a couple of stops claiming to be where the shopping is (i can't remember which) and I didn't see any, really, just alot of closed stores and a mcdonalds. Leave time to see the old fort and walk around there. There's a Hard Rock Cafe in the old fort if you're interested in that for lunch.

[BenBar1]

We were in Cartegena in March on a Panama Canal cruise. We took the hop on hop off bus through Celebrity. When booked through Celebrity, they pick you up right at the dock, which was wonderful. Took great photos from the bus and then we got off at the old town and were given a guided walking tour that was included with the hop on hop off bus tour. This was our second time in Cartegena, and we really enjoyed the hop on hop off bus tour. Included bottled water. We also had time to shop in the old town area during the walking tour.

[Work2cruz!]

We had a great day in Cartagena a fews year ago - we did a Segway tour. http://www.segwaycartagena.com. It was extremely hot and we were happy not to be on a bus or walking tour. Cartagena is also famous for green emeralds. You can get rings and jewelry for reasonable pricing.

 

 

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[Cruise Raider]

We absolutely loved Cartagena but did not do the HOHO bus. We walked out through the little zoo area by the pier and walked down far enough just to bypass all those vendors that were charging $20 for a cab to the walled city. We ended up getting it for $10 as someone had suggested here on these boards.

We signed up for a free walking tour of the Walled City and it was phenomenal. They don't even ask for tips although it was our pleasure to do so to show our appreciation. It was at least 2 hours in length, maybe a little longer depending on whether or not others ask a lot of questions. The cab back was $8 and it was a little bit of a challenge to find someone that spoke enough English to let him know where we needed to go. My limited Spanish helped a little bit, I suppose.

This tour ends up meeting up by the Naval Station, which is at the far end of the Walled City. Others will try to lure you to their tour but this is one you have to sign up for ahead of time and they will have your name on a list. Just a head's up in case this is something you are considering. I would imagine if you did purchase tickets to a HOHO bus, this would most likely be one of your stops.

One warning, though ... Cartagena is hotter than hot and that tour zapped absolutely every little bit of stamina we had, so even if we had the opportunity to tour more of the city, I think that stifling heat would have put a halt to those plans. If extreme heat is no problem for you, then I think you should have no problem at all with continuing on with the HOHO tour. I just remember getting back to the little zoo area and we actually were so wiped out that we got onto that air conditioned shuttle that takes you back to the ship.

It really is a fascinating city and a far cry from what it looked like back in 2000, when we first visited there. They have really turned it around and I felt pretty safe in walking around on my own this time around. I would have never considered it 17 years ago.

[judla]

Hi everyone! Posted this question a few months ago on the Columbia sub forum, but very little traffic it seems to provide advice.

We are on Infinity on a Panama cruise in November and we are looking for any recommendations from those that have already visited this wonderful city. Am thinking of the Hop On Hop Off excursion through Celebrity, but am open to any suggestions! :D

We saw a thread about this before we visited there. Someone suggested we take a cab that is parked outside the port entrance. It was the best thing we ever did. We paid him to tour us wherever we wanted to go. He was a wealth of knowledge and so personable. Went where we wanted to go then he made other wonderful suggestions. We took as much time at each stop as we wanted. It was so much better than any organized tour and cheaper.

[DENIE]

We had a port stop in Cartagena in 2014, and loved it. We were connected (through Cruise Critic) with another couple, and did a private van tour. Our new friends researched TripAdvisor and found a highly rated tour company. We did research ahead of time and then he arranged with them ahead of time to go to the places we wanted. The service was so personable, the vehicle was comfortable, and we easily saw everything we wanted to see. Plus, the guide got off with us and gave us a narration of many places we stopped. Highly recommend them monastary at the tip of the highest point, and the old walled city. So much to see! It is best seen with a personal tour guide who can answer any question you might have. We liked not competing for seats on a bus. Be aware....it is a very HOT and HUMID city. A very memorable day!

[SadieC]

Wow everyone...thank-you so MUCH!!! This is more information in a few hours, than I've had in a few months on that other forum. I felt guilty taking up port excursion info on this board, but am just thrilled with your responses. Much appreciated!

[Cruise Raider]

Wow everyone...thank-you so MUCH!!! This is more information in a few hours, than I've had in a few months on that other forum. I felt guilty taking up port excursion info on this board, but am just thrilled with your responses. Much appreciated!

 

Never feel bad about that! Nearly everyone that has answered here has gotten the information here as well ... so are just willing to share our great and even their not so great experiences. It is why this website is so invaluable!!

[ClaudiaB]

A few years ago we did an independent excursion through Lee Miles who is/was Mr. Emerald. Had a great tour and circumvented all the buses and lines. We asked to not spend time shopping, and we asked to go to a nice place for lunch and he delivered. We paid for the driver/tour guy's meal and enjoyed listening to his life story. I would go that route if it's your first time there.

[DENIE]

Never feel bad about that! Nearly everyone that has answered here has gotten the information here as well ... so are just willing to share our great and even their not so great experiences. It is why this website is so invaluable!!

 

Cruise Raider - could not agree more. Everyone on CC is so helpful. Especially when visiting places like Cartagena, which are not as well known stops as other places. CC has been invaluable! :cool: