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Segway Cartagena


emeraldcity
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I have not done one there but have in many other places. They are a lot of fun, but two caveats..

 

1> Allow at LEAST an hour of your tour for training on how to use them, this does reduce overall time.

 

2> Depending on how they run the tour they may not be able to go into some buildings (unless they send someone along to watch the gear). Make sure the itinerary works for you.

 

Has anyone done the Segway tour? I've always wanted to try one of these.
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I have done Segway tours and they are very, very fun.

 

However, before I booked a Segway tour in Cartegena, I would want to know where you will be going and what surfaces you will be going on. As I recall from my visit a couple years ago, many of the sidewalks and streets in the Old City would not be particualarly Segway-friendly (i.e. uneven surfaces and paving stones). The Segway-friendly areas may not include a lot of the sights that you want to see.

 

Also, as Loonbeam mentions, you will want to check that they provide sufficient time for learning how to ride the Segway (The tours I have taken allowed 30 - 45 minutes for training which I felt was enough time.) and that they provide helmets. I have not injured myself on my Segway tours, but I have heard of those who have and you will want to have your head protected in case you take a fall.

Edited by GradUT
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Thank you both for your responses. I'd still like to try a Segway tour, but this may not be the right locale from what I'm seeing. I do want to actually tour some of the buildings, not do a drive-by. DD is pushing for a different tour, so I guess I'll have to re-think this.

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  • 6 months later...

so has actually anyone here done the Segway tour in cartagena? I just joined the forum to see if I could find some opinions but dont see anything , anybody here that can give me some pointers, I'm going down there with my wife and we will really like to hear from someone here who has done the tour, I checked the website (http://www.segwaycartagena.com) and it looks all good but I still will like to read some opinions before putting the hand in my pocket.

We are going on October 10 on celebrity cruise, counting the days :)!

 

cheers!

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  • 2 weeks later...

We did a Segway tour of San Juan, Puerto Rico, from the Explorer of the Seas last year and loved it; Segways are sooooo much fun.

 

We've looked at www.segwaycartegena.com and I have been much encouraged by the reviews on another well-known travel review website - where 63 out of 63 reviews were positive.

 

At $65 each for the 90 minute trip that sounds good to me, so will almost certainly book it.

 

I would disagree with needing an hour for orientation though; both my wife and I picked this up in about 15 - 20 minutes in San Juan.

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We're also thinking of trying the segway tour in Cartagena. As Sancho said, they get 5/5 star reviews on Tr...Adv... (could probably say their name as they refer us to CC for cruising forums, after all?!!)... So we think they're worth giving it a go. We're on the Celebrity Century calling into Cartagena in January 2013.

Thought about San Juan PR too but time is limited there and we think we'd like more time to browse the shops in Old San Juan (different cruise!).

 

Alex P - would love to hear what you thought of it when you go in October, if you decide to do it!

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  • 2 weeks later...
Ok, now booked it - had a very friendly and encouraging exchange of emails with Cesar at Cartanega Segway, and we will be gliding through Cartegena late morning on Staurday 10th November!

:)

That's great Sancho, hope you let us know how it goes!

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A BLAST!! Segway Cartaghena is one of the best tours we've ever done. Lean to ride a Segway with Ceasar, a brilliant instructor and informative tour guide. See much of the walled city sights in a lot less time than it would take to walk with the ability to scoot away. Much cooler and less tiring than walking. Ceasar also speaks perfect English with a good sense of humour.

 

We were on a Panama Canal cruise with a short stop in Cartagena. Rather than doing a tour thru the ship, we arranged a 2 hour tour with Segway Cartagena. Great decision! Ceasar is a wonderful guide & made us feel very welcome in his city. To see the sights & hear the history of Cartagena was awesome. The location is just inside the walled city by the sea. Very close to the Sofitel hotel. First Rate! If you have never ridden a Segway... they are fantastic! Very easy to ride. Brilliant, dont miss!

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A BLAST!! Segway Cartaghena is one of the best tours we've ever done. Lean to ride a Segway with Ceasar, a brilliant instructor and informative tour guide. See much of the walled city sights in a lot less time than it would take to walk with the ability to scoot away. Much cooler and less tiring than walking. Ceasar also speaks perfect English with a good sense of humour.

 

We were on a Panama Canal cruise with a short stop in Cartagena. Rather than doing a tour thru the ship, we arranged a 2 hour tour with Segway Cartagena. Great decision! Ceasar is a wonderful guide & made us feel very welcome in his city. To see the sights & hear the history of Cartagena was awesome. The location is just inside the walled city by the sea. Very close to the Sofitel hotel. First Rate! If you have never ridden a Segway... they are fantastic! Very easy to ride. Brilliant, dont miss!

 

Thanks for the info lynr04! Did you use their pickup option to get there or did you make your own way to the location? Have sent off a reservation request, just waiting to get confirmation. Sounds like a great tour. :)

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  • 1 month later...

We did the Segway tour with Segway Caragena, booking direct on our own and had a fantastic time. Can't say enough good things about it, especially after being unsure about visiting the city. We made arrangements via email with Cesar (college educated in the US and a number of years working for US businesses) and he was very quick to work out details with us. We had seen that he was the #1 Tripadvisor rated tour and liked the web site. We arranged transportation with him and he actually met us at the pedestrian exit from the port and had a taxi to take us to the city. We ended up as the only ones but he did not hold anything back and spent over the booked 90 minutes showing us all around the city and sharing history. Having done Segways in two other major cities, we found this as easy and professional as any other operation. In fact, given the heat in Columbia, this was by far the easiest, quickest and coolest way to see much more than can be done on foot. We saw many foot tours from the ship and there were many who spoke to us later wishing they'd known about the Segways.

Ron

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  • 2 months later...

Thanks for the report/info. I think we'll try this in March during our canal cruise then have lunch at a nearby restaurant...

1) How long did it take for Cesar to get back with you?

2) Were they flexible with tour start times?

3) Did you need to pay full price in advance and if so what's the cancellation policy if the ship can't make the port call?

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  • 3 weeks later...

I don't know if this is allowed on CC, but there is a thread on another site that I used and contributed to about the Cartagena Segway (and Cesar). He is at 103 straight 5-stars out of 103, #1 excursion on that board.

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g297476-d2431848-Reviews-Segway_Cartagena-Cartagena.html

 

Regarding your questions:

 

1. Cesar responded to our emails timely. Remember, he is the business, performs the tours.

 

2. For the tour time we gave him our 'range of OK times. We asked for the extended 'historic tour based on others recommendations. He arranged a time and asked if that was OK. It was.

 

3. We didn't pay him until we were taxi'd to his office/start point. We paid cash 'plus the tip ahead of the tour. IMO, based on the reviews, that is a 'smart move.

 

I hope using the link is OK.

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  • 3 months later...
We did the Segway tour with Segway Caragena, booking direct on our own and had a fantastic time. Can't say enough good things about it, especially after being unsure about visiting the city. We made arrangements via email with Cesar (college educated in the US and a number of years working for US businesses) and he was very quick to work out details with us. We had seen that he was the #1 Tripadvisor rated tour and liked the web site. We arranged transportation with him and he actually met us at the pedestrian exit from the port and had a taxi to take us to the city. We ended up as the only ones but he did not hold anything back and spent over the booked 90 minutes showing us all around the city and sharing history. Having done Segways in two other major cities, we found this as easy and professional as any other operation. In fact, given the heat in Columbia, this was by far the easiest, quickest and coolest way to see much more than can be done on foot. We saw many foot tours from the ship and there were many who spoke to us later wishing they'd known about the Segways.

Ron

 

We did this in January and totally agree with all that you have said Ron. Although Cesar didn't pick us up personally, the taxi he sent was great and took us back to the ship after finding us in the market place where we went after the segway tour. Also, it was so much cooler on the Segways rather than by foot or on those carriage tours - they were sitting in the sun for most of their tour.

DSCN7419.jpg.ed44bd0c9ead5e15c202ef1869ef1c39.jpg

Edited by sussanahrose
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  • 6 months later...

I booked an independent excursion through Segway Tours Colombia SAS. We did a Segway excursion in Puerto Rico before and loved it, so we wanted to do another one in a historic city. For $65.00 each, we booked the 90 minute historic tour. We also arranged for taxi transportation with this company for $15.00 each way. There was one other couple on the excursion with us. We stayed in the walled city and stopped at major churches, public squares and other relevant places. It was warm that day and there was no wind. At each stop, César, our guide, would direct us to a shaded location and provide informational narrative on the location. He was awesome and so was the excursion. We traveled down the streets and got to see some magnificent balconies with flowers. We would do this excursion again in a heat beat.

At the end of the tour, the cab driver arrived to take us back, but for $20.00 each person, he would take us wherever we wanted to go before arriving back at the ship. The couple we were with wanted to shop for an emerald, so we agreed to go to various sites for the extra money. We stopped at a shopping center that the cruise ship stops at, and an emerald museum. Of interest to us, we stopped at the Castillo San Felipe de Barajas. For $20.00 each we could have gone into the fort, but we just wanted to get photos. The last stop was at the La Popa Monastery. This is a top a large hill and gives some great photo opportunities of the city below. There was a $5.00 per person admittance charge, but again we were only looking for picture opportunities so we did not go in. After this we headed back to the ship. The taxi driver is the regular driver that César uses for his Segway business and is very polite and honest. Please note, the vendors in Cartagena are aggressive. If you are not interested, just tell them and they will leave you alone. If you act interested, they will continue to follow you trying to sell their wares. We had no problem, but saw others struggle with this concept.

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I disagree about the time to learn to ride as well- it took us 5 minutes max.(In DC) I didn't see it take anyone more than 15 minutes. But if you are already unsteady on your feet I would not recommend it. Thanks for all the info about the Cartagena tour-it's exactly what we were looking for :)

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  • 3 weeks later...
We are looking at doing the Segway tour as well in Columbia but wanted to know if you feel safe. I was worried about how safe you feel. Thank you for any replies regarding this.

 

We were just there last week and had absolutely no safety concerns. If you are doing the Segway tour, I'd highly recommend you arrange taxi transportation through them to further reduce any concerns. His driver was outside the port area holding a sign with our names on it. Very easy. There were many pushy drivers inside the port area offering transportation that you'll need to get through.

 

Note that it is a fairly long walk from the dock to the port exit, around 20 minutes or so. You have to weave through a shopping area, mini-zoo, etc.

 

We had a great time on the Segway tour and would highly recommend it. Suggest you try to setup an early tour, since it will let you see all the major sites / plazas in the old city. Then after the tour, you can wander back on foot and spend some time at the ones you liked. Cesar was able to set up the return taxi at a later time so you don't have to rush off immediately after your tour is finished.

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We were just there last week and had absolutely no safety concerns. If you are doing the Segway tour, I'd highly recommend you arrange taxi transportation through them to further reduce any concerns. His driver was outside the port area holding a sign with our names on it. Very easy. There were many pushy drivers inside the port area offering transportation that you'll need to get through.

 

Note that it is a fairly long walk from the dock to the port exit, around 20 minutes or so. You have to weave through a shopping area, mini-zoo, etc.

 

We had a great time on the Segway tour and would highly recommend it. Suggest you try to setup an early tour, since it will let you see all the major sites / plazas in the old city. Then after the tour, you can wander back on foot and spend some time at the ones you liked. Cesar was able to set up the return taxi at a later time so you don't have to rush off immediately after your tour is finished.

 

Thank you so much for all of the information. I really do appreciate it. We did a segway tour in Tampa a few years ago and loved it. I was just worried about the area but you have put my mind at ease. Thank you again. Have a great afternoon.

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