Thread: Cartegena - Will You be SAFE?

Originally Posted by LuLu

We were on a mini-bus for the excursion. Gangs of teens would run out and shake our bus demanding money. The police would come QUICKLY and run them off each time.

Yikes...seriously??? I would have been screaming bloody murder (I'm such a drama queen)

If any future itinerary involves Cartegena I'm not getting off the ship again either. At least I can say I've been there.

Originally Posted by LuLu

Nice info, xN ! Glad you enjoyed and made the best of your day there.

Cartegena is one place I strongly suggest taking an excursion offered by the ship!

We were on a mini-bus for the excursion. Gangs of teens would run out and shake our bus demanding money. The police would come QUICKLY and run them off each time.

It was January and sooooooooo hot and humid ... not even to mention the smog. Remember, I'm from SC and very use to hot & very humid weather (July/Aug.) ... but not combined with the smog.

Yes, we were safe ... but, I'm not getting off the ship there again.

I remember well, a few years ago when we took a cruise bus excursion through the city and I saw a young child sleeping in a doorway at 8 am. I didn't venture very far away from my bus group that day! And I would not go back there again... it left a very bad impression on me. The other responses are correct. I experienced them also.

I was recently in Cartagena. We went on our own via taxi from the ship. We really never felt threatened, but were annoyed that the ship claimed that shops took US dollars. Of course, we found the few that didn't as other passengers said that they had no problems spending dollars.

We did find the vendors to be very aggressive. A black market money-changer followed us for what seemed forever. We can't tell the difference between good money and counterfeit so tried to avoid him. He just wouldn't leave. Theoretically, we had no need to change money since all the shops accepts US dollars. We finally found an internet cafe - after 3 tries- that did accept dollars.
This was our first time in Colombia and didn't know what to expect. It was incredibly hot - December- but the old town is quite scenic. We didn't find the people very friendly. Smiling doesn't seem to be part of the culture and we were always very considerate. FYI, we have traveled throughout Mexico and find the Mexicans far more friendly. We rationalized the unfriendliness by the recent influx of cruise passengers. Maybe the Colombians just aren't too used to tourists. I personally have a Colombian friend who is just charming. Maybe I expected the Cartegenans to be as charming as she is.
From my experience, I don't know if I will rush to visit Colombia again - unless it is to visit my friend.
Has anybody seen the really clever commercial that Colombian Tourism has about the risk of visiting Colombia?

Ma Cruise

I would like to stop there some time. We were scheduled to stop there on a cruise a years ago but just before sailing the US State Department issued an advisory and the cruise line canceled the port.

Well, Carategana is surely getting some mixed reviews from Cruise Line Fans!