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Tour of Cartagena with Dora


espmass
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Just back last night from our Island princess cruise. In Cartagena I had arranged to take a tour through Dora. It was wonderful. Her cost depends on the number of people. We had the maximum of 10 (located on our roll call) so the cost was $65 per person. I think that's pretty close to what the ship's excursion would have cost but it was much nicer with a group of 10 where we had personal attention and could hear everything our guide was saying as opposed to being herded around with a group of 25 or more people. The van easily held the 10 of us comfortably and the much needed air conditioning worked great. They were waiting for us right at the end of the dock as they told us they would be. Our guide was JC and he was as pleasant as can be. We saw everything we wanted to see from the streets to the monastery to the dungeons to the fort and then some. We did not climb the fort since nobody other than me wanted to, so instead JC took us to see more of the city and we walked around quite a bit. Cartagena is a beautiful city with a lot to see and we all felt totally safe and secure on the tour. I highly recommend Dora's tours to anyone going. She can be contacted at dora@cartagenatour.com

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We, too, just returned from our cruise (11 night Ultimate Caribbean on the Equinox) and would like to second the accolades for Dora (the Explorer) as a tour guide in Cartagena. She is a fine lady with an excellent business sense, is dependable and easy to correspond with. I started arranging a tour (after seeing many excellent reviews on Cruise Critic) many months before our trip as I was interested in a PRIVATE tour for 5 family members traveling together. Dora was always quick to respond and answer questions. Most importantly, when Celebrity changed the itinerary and neither my travel agent nor Celebrity had yet advised me of the change, Dora picked it up, made the change of date and time of our tour, e-mailed me and we were good to go. Imagine working with a tour guide that on top of things!

 

We were met at the end of the pier as arranged, taken to a clean, air conditioned van, and taken to all the spots we had requested. Because we were a private tour, we were also able to make changes as needed to our day's itinerary. Dora met us at the van and though she was unable to be our tour guide that day (due to the itinerary change with Celebrity she was booked with another group) we were very fortunate to have her niece, Veronica, a former teacher, as our guide who did an excellent job showing us her beautiful and historical city while giving us extensive information of the history of Cartagena. I would also like to add that our driver, Pilar, was excellent both safely navigating the busy streets and working with Veronica to always have the van waiting nearby when we were ready to move on to the next stop.

 

I highly recommend Dora and her staff for any tour you may consider in Cartagena.

For our private 4 1/2 tour we paid $80 pp for a party of 5.

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  • 8 months later...

We just returned from a Princess tour. The Cartegena tour was Fabulous with Dora. There were only 4 for us on our tour, but the price was just about the same as the ships tour. We were able to move much faster thru traffic and we did not have to wait for stragglers, which is the case for all ship tours. Our tour guide was great and apparently well respected by all of the other tour guides. It appeared as if she knew everybody in Cartegena. Dora's tours are superior to every other tour. I would highly recommend them. We saw just about everything that was of interest to us. Thanks for the great tour.

Edited by collie mom
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We just returned from a Princess tour. The Cartegena tour was Fabulous with Dora. There were only 4 for us on our tour, but the price was just about the same as the ships tour. We were able to move much faster thru traffic and we did not have to wait for stragglers, which is the case for all ship tours. Our tour guide was great and apparently well respected by all of the other tour guides. It appeared as if she knew everybody in Cartegena. Dora's tours are superior to every other tour. I would highly recommend them. We saw just about everything that was of interest to us. Tha nks for the great tour.

 

thanx for the review, we'll be there late january on coral princess 9.00am to 2.30pm, could i bother you with a few ???s

how long a tour did you book? did you make up an itinerary or did you let the guide? what type vehicle were you in? we will be 4, late 60s, 1 can't do too much walking. thanx.

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We, too, just returned from the 11-day cruise on the Equinox. We did a walking tour with Dora in the morning and a late afternoon/evening tour with Marelvy. Both were excellent. Although there was a bit of an overlap in the tours, the guides focused on different things. I highly recommend both tours and it was easy and worth doing both. We did them easily in one day.

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We just returned from the 11 day on NCL and as we were in "Group 2" we had the other guide, Mercedes. She was wonderful! As a former teacher (Dora was one of her students) her knowledge was not only expansive, but easy to follow and enjoyable as well. You really can't go wrong with this tour company.

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  • 2 months later...

We just returned from a great Panama Canal cruise on Seabourn Odyssey that included a full-day stop in Cartagena. We had a fine time there. We booked Dora in advance, and she personally led us on a private tour. She's not cheap but she's good. She did just what we wanted. LittleRedJohn

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  • 1 month later...

I can also recommend Dora. I posted a longer review on another post above this one. Dora was prompt in replying to emails, and our guide, Mercedes, was great. The City tour covered more than what the ship's tour covered, and we had a nice, small group. I would highly recommend using Dora for a city tour in Cartagena. Our ship was only there from late morning until early afternoon, and doing the tour allowed us to see all of the sights and get back to the ship in plenty of time. Would have been very hard to do all of it going off on our own and getting back to the ship on time. We would definitely use Dora again if we get back to Cartagena.

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Hi. My husband and I just toured Cartagena with Dora in April 2017. We found her on Cruise Critic. Can't say enough about Dora and our tour. It would be impossible for 1st timers to this beautiful city to see all that we saw by ourselves and hear all the history involved.

 

We were in a modern air conditioned small bus with a total of 3 couples. Dora is a very warm and knowledgeable tour guide. We love her.

 

She took us to the Fort for a photo op. Then onto a walking tour of the Old City. Beautiful. As far as shopping goes (I am a shopper), we stopped at the Dungeons craft area and to a store to shop for emeralds. We then toured the new city by bus. Dora made sure we were back to the ship with time to spare for us to see the botanical gardens/zoo at the pier.

 

Great tour and would highly recommend Dora. She is the best local tour guide we have ever had.

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  • 10 months later...
  • 3 months later...

Hi! The fort is nice for views. Also the Dungeons for shopping. Really liked walking around city. Reminds you of Europe. Right outside the port is a shopping area and mini tropical paradise with exotic birds and monkeys. Very nice port and city!

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