Suggestions for Cartagena???

[bama4cruisin]

We are on the October 10 TA on the Celebrity Apex.  The date of embarkation changed this week from October 21 to the 10th.  At the same time, there were 2 port changes on the itinerary.  We have no problem with the changes as we’ve never visited either of the additions, but research time is fairly short.

 

I am looking for any suggestions for Cartagena, Spain.  Appreciate ideas!  I also asked on our roll call.

Edited June 12, 2021 by bama4cruisin

[edinburgher]

Can recommend you go to the website tomsport guides  and look for Cartagena in the Europe section.  I think you will find everything you need to know about Cartagena on that, and it is an excellent guide. This port stop is super easy to DIY. We had a lovely day there.

[slewis7]

20 minutes ago, edinburgher said:

Can recommend you go to the website tomsport guides  and look for Cartagena in the Europe section.  I think you will find everything you need to know about Cartagena on that, and it is an excellent guide. This port stop is super easy to DIY. We had a lovely day there.

Great suggestion!  For those who want to see that document, the long time domain for Tom’s Port Guides is currently not online but I found the document here:

 

https://cruisetohome.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/cartagena-spain-08-20-2013.pdf

[edinburgher]

Has something changed?  Like most, it has been some time since I needed to look at or for port info.and as I am not good with anything tech related, and because I am already familiar with his guides and had ourselves usded the Cartagena guide,  all I did was an internet search for tomsportguides and up popped his website in the results.

 

Edit.  I tried again and now see it is not actually his website, but  it looks like it did before ,and the info is all there arranged geograpghically.  I also see that it is something called "cruisetohome" as you said above.

Edited June 12, 2021 by edinburgher

[SoccerMom#3]

We used Spain Day Tours for a wonderful tour of Cartagena and the surrounding area when we were on the Celebrity Reflection TA in 2019. I highly recommend Spain Day Tours-in fact we used them for Barcelona, Malaga, and Canary Islands.  Our roll call organized groups to go on on these tours and it was perfect.

[bama4cruisin]

2 hours ago, SoccerMom#3 said:

We used Spain Day Tours for a wonderful tour of Cartagena and the surrounding area when we were on the Celebrity Reflection TA in 2019. I highly recommend Spain Day Tours-in fact we used them for Barcelona, Malaga, and Canary Islands.  Our roll call organized groups to go on on these tours and it was perfect.

Thank you for suggesting Spain Day Tours; we are on their tours in Alicante, Cadiz and Tenerife.  They have already accommodated the change of dates.

Unfortunately, our port time in Cartagena is not long enough for them to offer their small group tour.  Emilia actually suggested that Cartagena is a good DIY port so at this point looking for points to include in our DIY plans.  I have started reviewing the TPG for Cartagena, and I am building our list.

[SoccerMom#3]

14 hours ago, bama4cruisin said:

Thank you for suggesting Spain Day Tours; we are on their tours in Alicante, Cadiz and Tenerife.  They have already accommodated the change of dates.

Unfortunately, our port time in Cartagena is not long enough for them to offer their small group tour.  Emilia actually suggested that Cartagena is a good DIY port so at this point looking for points to include in our DIY plans.  I have started reviewing the TPG for Cartagena, and I am building our list.

Glad to hear you've booked some Spain Day Tours.  You will love them.  Also glad to hear Emilia suggested DIY for Cartagena.  If I remember correctly, it is pretty easy to get around and definitely a must see.  Lots of beautiful architecture.

 

Enjoy your trip.  I hope to do a TA again soon.

[Ine]

Ships dock in Cartagena almost in city center, so it is very walkable. Apart from that there is this touristic "train", leaving not that far from the cruiseterminal. https://www.trenturisticocartagena.com/

Also the hopon off bus is available. https://www.getyourguide.com/s/?q=Cartagena, Colombia&lc=l362&ct=9&searchSource=4

[Ine]

I now notice that unfortunately the link for the hopoff bus isnot correct. I gave you the one of Cartagena, Colombia, not the one in Spain.

This is the correct link, however in spanish.  I have seen the hopon off bus close the departure point of that ""train"". https://puertodeculturas.cartagena.es/ficha_bus.asp

Also you can check this site for  info about what to see or do for free in Cartagena, Spain. https://turismo.cartagena.es/cartagena_gratis.asp

[tring]

We are booked to visit here on a ship at the end of September.  It sounds a very interesting port, so any updates regards cruising re starting would be very useful to us.

[Neuhoftraveler]

Cartagena (Spain) was one of our most enjoyable port calls.  Very easy to DIY.  You don't need a tour, ship's or otherwise.   Don't miss the Maritime Museum down on the waterfront, which includes a lot of marine archeology.  Part way up the hill from the waterfront is an unearthed Roman villa with lovely mosaic floors and walls.

 

A good book to read for local color is a mystery novel whose name I can't remember but which is set in and around Cartagena, about the search (in modern times) for a sunken 17th/18th-century Spanish treasure ship.  I'm sure a little Googling will bring up the name of the book.

[tring]

2 hours ago, Neuhoftraveler said:

Cartagena (Spain) was one of our most enjoyable port calls.  Very easy to DIY.  You don't need a tour, ship's or otherwise.   Don't miss the Maritime Museum down on the waterfront, which includes a lot of marine archeology.  Part way up the hill from the waterfront is an unearthed Roman villa with lovely mosaic floors and walls.

 

A good book to read for local color is a mystery novel whose name I can't remember but which is set in and around Cartagena, about the search (in modern times) for a sunken 17th/18th-century Spanish treasure ship.  I'm sure a little Googling will bring up the name of the book.

 

Thank you very much for this information.  We will be due there in a couple of weeks and really hope we will be able to go ashore independently, otherwise our only option will be a ship's excursion.  Now looks like we will be able to call at all the ports on our itinerary, but the Spanish ports have done a certain amount of changing decisions on independent exploration - or not. 

[tring]

We visited Cartagena from a cruise ship last Wednesday and were allowed off the ship independently.  It is a lovely port with lots of interest, including the archaeological sites, so is very easy as a DIY without prior planning, though could be worthwhile checking opening times for any sites of interest you wish to visit.  We just strolled around with a drinks stop and brilliant tapas based lunch in a restaurant which was a little way off the main tourist drag which can get a tad busy.

 

Port very near the docking location and the hot, sunny weather helped.

[vickykay]

Would love the name of the restaurant. Thanks,

[tring]

11 hours ago, vickykay said:

Would love the name of the restaurant. Thanks,

 

Abra Same grill and tapas in Plaza San Francisco.  We chose three tapas to share and also ordered bread, a glass of wine, a beer and water and were extremely well fed.  Not the cheapest place, I suspect, but a lovely location, not far from the busier part of the city, but of course not many tourists round this year compared to prevously.

 

We called in there for a leisurely drink and to use wi-fi earlier in the day and decided that was the best place to return to for some food, but plenty of other options as well as in Cartagena. 

 

We had six Spanish ports and were able to go ashore independently in all of them and decided that after all the restrictions of the pandemic, we just wanted to head off and have some freedom - we did not even feel the desire to head into any archeological sites or museums, and we are very happy we did that.

[norn iron]

11 hours ago, tring said:

 

Abra Same grill and tapas in Plaza San Francisco.  We chose three tapas to share and also ordered bread, a glass of wine, a beer and water and were extremely well fed.  Not the cheapest place, I suspect, but a lovely location, not far from the busier part of the city, but of course not many tourists round this year compared to prevously.

 

We called in there for a leisurely drink and to use wi-fi earlier in the day and decided that was the best place to return to for some food, but plenty of other options as well as in Cartagena. 

 

We had six Spanish ports and were able to go ashore independently in all of them and decided that after all the restrictions of the pandemic, we just wanted to head off and have some freedom - we did not even feel the desire to head into any archeological sites or museums, and we are very happy we did that.

Thanks for the update Tring

[vickykay]

Thanks!