Cartagena, Colombia Port Reviews

Took the ferry to old town, and was constantly hounded by locals. Where the ship is docked there is a animal sanctuary that is free with beautiful birds, monkeys, anteaters, peacocks, etc. I rated it a 4 just because of that, plus a nice gift shop. Stay at the port, forget the tours.

Visited: Nov 05, 2018

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Must take an excursion -- experienced the old fort, the walled city, some shopping and then to the city hill for an amazing panoramic view of Cartagena. This was also the nicest port area... just outside the gate there is an aviary and nice shops. The birds -- flamingos, peacocks, parrots, toucans, and some other native animal life -- AMAZING!!! Also be sure to get coffee from the Juan Valdez shop (as we noticed most of the cruise employees flocking there!).

Visited: Mar 16, 2019

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Cartegena is beautiful! The traffic is crazy, and I was glad we weren't driving. We got to see a view of the old part of the town and the fort. Our excursion was the jewelry making excursion. They had raw emeralds drilled out and they pulled silver wire for use to make the jewelry. We made a necklace, bracelet, earrings, and a ring. We were able to take one piece of jewelry and then had to pay $30 for each additional piece that we wanted to take with us. It was an unexpected cost, so please be aware. The raw emerald jewelry is beautiful and some people say it looks flimsy, but I was able to make mine carefully enough it is really good quality and will wear for a long time. I bought all except the earrings I made because I do not have pierced ears. After making the jewelry, we went to an emerald museum and jewelry store. I didn't buy any more emeralds, but I did get an aquamarine that is really beautiful.

Visited: Mar 04, 2019

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Beautiful old city. My wife couldn't control herself and said hello to every vendor she saw. It looked like a parade with all the street sellers following us at some points. There was a street performer mime that was very good. Tour was called sea rumba, and our guide was named Carlos. The boat part had loud music, and rum punch, only on our boat, the rest had no music and no punch. There were half a dozen boats, it was a large princess excursion. Our guide was having everybody on his boat yelling and cheering, all other boats were quiet and boring. This was the most fun excursion. The port has a visitor center with some native animals on display near the pier, its worth a walk over to it.

Visited: Dec 09, 2018

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Beautiful, probably our biggest surprise, how nice the port was , taxi to a beach and private boat to Beach Bomba - great day, service, beach and water!

Visited: Mar 13, 2019

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loved the history … the hustlers on the street are overwhelming

Visited: Jan 07, 2019

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An amazing city....a mix of old and new. The Old City section was very interesting, then the rest of the city is quite modern.

Visited: Feb 28, 2019

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Took ship transfer by boat from ship to Old Town for shopping to avoid wasting time in traffic through town. Venders desend on boat as soon as you dock, just keep walking till within the city walls, hardly any inside. Shopping good and pretty cheap.

Visited: Nov 05, 2018

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Beautiful port and city, but wow is it hot and HUMID. Also keeping me from giving it 5 stars was the incessant persistence of the local street vendors. I loved the old city, and the history.

Cartagena, Colombia was the super surprise port that really exceeded our expectations. There is a free zoo as you exit the cruise port and the city is really beautiful. It put us in such a good mood that we did end up buying a tour for 5 people rather than just walking to the beach. Good Job Cartegena!

Visited: Feb 17, 2018

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