Cartegena was a great stop.
When we got off the Disney Wonder, my plans were to take a taxi to the clock tower (Old Town). I asked the shopping expert on our ship, and she said I should only pay $15 for a taxi to the clock tower (total price, not per person). As you get to the end of the pier, you have to go inside a building (they sell shirts, coffee, jewelry, etc..) and exit out the other side. Once you walk outside, you walk straight, and slightly to the right to get to the cabs. As soon as we approached the cab area, a gentleman asked if we needed a cab, and where we wanted to go. I told him we were going to the clock tower, and he said it would be $20. I told him that we were told it would be $15, and he said $15 was okay. So we got in the cab (me, my wife and another couple), and the driver wanted to take us on a tour of Cartegena. He wanted $20 per person, but we agreed on $15 per person. We then drove to the La Popa Monastery. It sits on the highest point in Cartegena. Great view, and interesting building. It was $4 to enter, but the view alone was worth that. The sellers "attacked" as we exited the taxi, but they weren't allowed inside, on the grounds of the Monastery, which was nice. After that, we drove to the fort (Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas). We got out and took pictures, but we didn't enter (fee to enter). We then went to the new city part of Cartegena (Bocagrande), and went to a "museum". That was what our driver told us, it was jewelry store, with a "museum" on the upper floor, showing different gems that are mined in Columbia. At first, I was a little upset that we stopped, but they had a clean restroom, and free Wi-Fi, so it was okay. After that, we stopped at a market near the old part of town. We told our driver we wanted to eat, and he took us to a restaurant. It was okay, nothing special, and he obviously got a "kickback" from the restaurant for bringing us there, but like I said, it was okay. Me and my wife divided a huge plate of rice with vegetables and chicken, and it was about $10 for that. But it was enough for two. I was mainly thirsty, and we got a couple bottles of coke. After lunch, we parked near downtown (Old Town) and walked the streets with our taxi driver. He took us all around, and that is what I enjoyed the most. The buildings are really neat to look at, and there are vendors everywhere selling watches, cuban cigars, jewelry, fresh fruit, snacks....it was really something to see. Our taxi was parked near the historic wall, so we walked on that a little and took pictures. Our taxi tour lasted from 10am to 4pm, and after the tip, I only payed $40 (total) for me and my wife. People on our cruise ship payed $49 per person, and their tour did not last as long as ours. We got to see alot for a great price. While we were in the market in Old Town, a lady from our cruise ship said they paid $100 for 6 people to take a tour in a van. Now our taxi was not the most spacious, or comfortable. But it was a great deal, and I would recommend it to others..........jonathan
(map of Cartegena port, and where our ship was docked, and the yellow dots show the path to the taxis)
, along with David McCulloigh's history of the PC. Looking forward to some awesome reading time. 
Yikes!! We're not hagglers, so I think we'll just stay on the ship the day we're in Cartagena... and probably at the other ports of call as well. Wish we were going to stop at Castaway Cay
It's also for the wedding. I told my sister my 1 job as Maid of Honor is to make sure she doesn't break her other foot (oy.).
In my opinion this is the best thing they have done in a long time. I don't want to cause a ruckus, but....when my hunny and I were on the EBTA in May of this year, the folks in the cabin next to us were smoking on their veranda all day (chain smoking at that). We didn't realize it, and after 5 days of my asthma and allergies being horrible we were forced to close our veranda and were unable to use it at all. We paid a good price - for what became an inside cabin. Finally when I was no longer able to tolerate the smoke that was coming through the connector door - we went to Guest Services. It took 3 more days before they could move us to another cabin. Guest Services spent those 3 days trying to contact the folks in that cabin - they chose to ignore the calls and messages. We also discovered that they had 3 small children that were in the cabin for the whole cruise - breathing in all that second hand smoke.
The "side to side" rule was never a real rule - just a courtesy that was ignored for the most part. I have been sailing since 2001 - never saw it in print, as an asthmatic I really stay aware of where folks are smoking - when I asked about this (had a starboard cabin with smokers next door in the early 2000's) I was told there was never a rule of that sort.
Only 2????? Geeeze - I have 12 countdowns going right now - 4 for this trip alone!!!
Cartegena was a great stop.
When we got off the Disney Wonder, my plans were to take a taxi to the clock tower (Old Town). I asked the shopping expert on our ship, and she said I should only pay $15 for a taxi to the clock tower (total price, not per person). As you get to the end of the pier, you have to go inside a building (they sell shirts, coffee, jewelry, etc..) and exit out the other side. Once you walk outside, you walk straight, and slightly to the right to get to the cabs. As soon as we approached the cab area, a gentleman asked if we needed a cab, and where we wanted to go. I told him we were going to the clock tower, and he said it would be $20. I told him that we were told it would be $15, and he said $15 was okay. So we got in the cab (me, my wife and another couple), and the driver wanted to take us on a tour of Cartegena. He wanted $20 per person, but we agreed on $15 per person. We then drove to the La Popa Monastery. It sits on the highest point in Cartegena. Great view, and interesting building. It was $4 to enter, but the view alone was worth that. The sellers "attacked" as we exited the taxi, but they weren't allowed inside, on the grounds of the Monastery, which was nice. After that, we drove to the fort (Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas). We got out and took pictures, but we didn't enter (fee to enter). We then went to the new city part of Cartegena (Bocagrande), and went to a "museum". That was what our driver told us, it was jewelry store, with a "museum" on the upper floor, showing different gems that are mined in Columbia. At first, I was a little upset that we stopped, but they had a clean restroom, and free Wi-Fi, so it was okay. After that, we stopped at a market near the old part of town. We told our driver we wanted to eat, and he took us to a restaurant. It was okay, nothing special, and he obviously got a "kickback" from the restaurant for bringing us there, but like I said, it was okay. Me and my wife divided a huge plate of rice with vegetables and chicken, and it was about $10 for that. But it was enough for two. I was mainly thirsty, and we got a couple bottles of coke. After lunch, we parked near downtown (Old Town) and walked the streets with our taxi driver. He took us all around, and that is what I enjoyed the most. The buildings are really neat to look at, and there are vendors everywhere selling watches, cuban cigars, jewelry, fresh fruit, snacks....it was really something to see. Our taxi was parked near the historic wall, so we walked on that a little and took pictures. Our taxi tour lasted from 10am to 4pm, and after the tip, I only payed $40 (total) for me and my wife. People on our cruise ship payed $49 per person, and their tour did not last as long as ours. We got to see alot for a great price. While we were in the market in Old Town, a lady from our cruise ship said they paid $100 for 6 people to take a tour in a van. Now our taxi was not the most spacious, or comfortable. But it was a great deal, and I would recommend it to others..........jonathan
(map of Cartegena port, and where our ship was docked, and the yellow dots show the path to the taxis)
Thanks Jonathan for this information on Cartagena. If you have any other bits of information you wouldn't mind passing along to us, we all would be very grateful.
Thanks Stephanie for the that piece of info. I'll keep that in mind.
