COLUMBIA TRAVEL WARNINGS - JEWEL (Panama)

[Tranquil Waters]

If you have purchased travel insurance and travel to a location where your government has issued a warning and you are hurt/mugged/caused harm you may not be covered under your policy. Chances are you are completely safe, but if you wind up in trouble, then you may have serious problems.

 

Recently we had a client travelling to Russia. When we consulted with the Insurer, they forwarded a Gov. of Canada travel warning about Russia. Their warning to our client was that in the event that he was in peril while in Russia he "MAY NOT" be covered under his policy.

 

Read your policies very closely including the health care portion. There are always exclusions and they include war/insurrection, usually now terrorism as well and there is usually a clause regarding warnings now.

 

You need to travel smart and if your gut tells you there is danger and you should be careful, listen.

 

Interesting point about travel insurance - I would have never considered that......

[Gonzo70]

Which Columbia are we talking about, South Carolina or Missouri?

[madforcruising]

Have been to Cartagena in Sept. as one of the ports of calls on the Rhapsody repositioning. There´s only one single complaint I´d have about this stop - it was too short and would have liked to spend more time there.

 

To me it was one of the best ports of call of the cruise. Very friendly people and I didn´t feel a bit unsafe at all. I felt very welcome there and as said before there are lots of street vendors trying to sell, but I think they´ve been less pushy as maybe in Mexico.

 

Oh yeah I remember one other not so nice thing about it. It was just hot hot hot;) :D

[NoelsCat]

Which Columbia are we talking about, South Carolina or Missouri?

 

Someone already pointed out the OP's misspelling of Colombia.

I don't understand the need to continue beating this dead horse. It isn't as though he/she is the only person to have made this mistake.

[sea-cruise]

I don't think Gonzo meant to be smug or vile in correcting someone's spelling. At least I haven't seen him act that way. I think he mentioned our two states in a joking manner. :)

P.S. That's a beautiful baby boy there in your signature photo.

[Gonzo70]

Thank you Sea Cruise :)

[cruzobsessed]

please share......which ship excursions did you take and what did you do? i LOVE the way the excursion to ROSARIO island sounds but cannot find anyone who's done it.

the only other time that happened to me was with a ships excursion in jamaica....could not find 1 person who ever did it and unfortunately we found out why:eek: :mad:

[bubbadog]

whats a cruise without some excitement and danger,or be like me and see it from your balcony:)))

[sea-cruise]

Thank you Sea Cruise :)

You're welcome....Now you owe me a cup of coffee! AHAHA. :D :D :D

[NoelsCat]

I don't think Gonzo meant to be smug or vile in correcting someone's spelling. At least I haven't seen him act that way. I think he mentioned our two states in a joking manner. :)

P.S. That's a beautiful baby boy there in your signature photo.

 

Thank you Sea Cruise. I must have read the statement with the wrong eyes -- it's hard to get intent via a computer.

 

Sorry Gonzo for assuming you meant to be mean. It's nice to know I was incorrect.

 

Sea-- thanks for the compliment on my little boy. He is a tremendous gift that took us ten years to receive. We think he is beautiful, too -- but we are biased :)

[sea-cruise]

Sea-- thanks for the compliment on my little boy. He is a tremendous gift that took us ten years to receive.

Good things come to those who wait. :)

[cruzzingranny]

please share......which ship excursions did you take and what did you do? i LOVE the way the excursion to ROSARIO island sounds but cannot find anyone who's done it.

 

the only other time that happened to me was with a ships excursion in jamaica....could not find 1 person who ever did it and unfortunately we found out why:eek: :mad:

 

We took the easy "Best Of Catagena" as I have some walking problems. It was easily doable as the coach dropped us near the sights. We drove around the city with an English speaking guide who gave us lots of interesting info. We went to a craft market and also a small mall in town. Then on to the fortress and also went to a church high above the city. Great views.

As with any city in the world (USA included) be aware of your suroundings and on your guard. Yes, the vendors are trying to sell their wares, but a firm "No thank you" does the trick. We've encountered far worse in some other places.

[sea-cruise]

We took the easy "Best Of Catagena" as I have some walking problems. It was easily doable as the coach dropped us near the sights. We drove around the city with an English speaking guide who gave us lots of interesting info. We went to a craft market and also a small mall in town. Then on to the fortress and also went to a church high above the city. Great views.

 

As with any city in the world (USA included) be aware of your suroundings and on your guard. Yes, the vendors are trying to sell their wares, but a firm "No thank you" does the trick. We've encountered far worse in some other places.

Sounds like you did the same tour we did on our last trip there. We were there twice. The first time we only went to the little shops that were within the thick stone prison walls of the city, and we went to that mall in town where I bought some beautiful one of a kind pieces of jewelry from Casa Amberes Jewelers. The second time we went, we took a tour of the city and I'm so glad we did!

Wasn't that church high above the city spectacular!? The paintings and icons were so beautiful. Did you see the glass casket that held the remains of Father Peter?

They also drove us to see the estates of the wealthy "lords" of Cartagena, but we couldn't see much past the stone walls and guards who walked along the tops of the walls. We also toured inside some of the gorgeous government buildings in the center of the city.

We loved visiting there. As you said, there is crime everywhere...we just have to be aware of it.

[NoelsCat]

While we did our excursion through celebrity -- it sounds a lot like the previous two posters: We took an extensive tour of the city on which we learned about some of the architecture-- we stopped at the Fort of San Felipe de Barajas, the Inquisition Palace, San Pedro and Las Bovedas and shopped and had lunch. The only bad thing was the a/c was faulty on the tour bus so it was horribly hot. Even still, we loved our tour and saw many wonderful a lovely things. We really enjoyed the non-beach shore day in a fascinating city.

[jjb415]

We stopped in Cartagena in April while on the Radiance and took a ship's excursion. We felt very safe. As a matter of fact the locals seemed very pleased to have us there, and the local vendors were not overly pushy and were willing to haggle. I bought some souvenirs at very good prices.

 

Thanks for the information. Cartagena, Colombia is a place that I have always wanted to visit. Your impression adds good some first-hand infomation to the mix.