Has anyone

[Jane2357]

Has anyone taken the X excursion in Cartagena, Colombia called the Cafe San Alberto Coffee Tasting and Historical Cartagena? See description below:

 

"This shore excursion will fill your cup with the bold history of Cartagena and the rich goodness of pure Colombian Coffee. Your adventure begins with a “Coffee Baptism” with the representatives of the famed hacienda of San Alberto. Under the tutelage of experts, you’ll awaken your senses to the joys of true coffee appreciation. After you’re good and caffeinated, embark on a guided tour through the narrow streets of the Old City and relive the days of Spanish treasure and swashbuckling pirates. CAC2"

 

As coffee lovers this sounds pretty nice but for the life of me I cannot understand the $199.00 U.S. price. The number of guests is limited to 16 but unless they are taking us in a limo - it is pretty expensive coffee. Anyone done this tour and was it worth the cost?

 

(yes I did do a search and failed to find any info and also asked in Colombia port area)

Edited October 19, 2016 by Jane2357

[awhcruiser]

No.

[swigso]

I would do a private tour here, we did a great tour on theEquinox a few years ago.

I will try and find the name of the tour guide

[kk99]

Definitely do a private tour. You can go into the coffee shop, and purchase thecoffee, beans, and pastries, and it is across from the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Catherine of Alexandria on Calle de los Santos de Piedra. For what the ship's tour costs, you can get a private driver to take you around old town, to any number of wonderful cafes for lunch, and photo stops such as the San Felipe de Barajas Castle, and La Popa Monastery.

 

There are also lovely local jewelry shops with authentic Columbian Emeralds and reasonable prices for emeralds.(All duty free in both set and unset gems to the U.S.) It is a beautiful city, and you can see a great deal more than just the coffee shop and parts of the walled city by doing it yourself with a private guide.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[ClaudiaB]

The tour operator we used a few years ago was Lee Miles - who is known (or was) as Mr. Emerald. He seems to fancy himself as a big to-do there. Maybe he is. Whatever. At any rate he was very communicative to us all via email before we got there. That was nice.

 

There were two vans of about 6 each from our roll call. We went to the must-do places but not when big buses (from our ship!) were there.

We also customized the tour. Instead of just skipping lunch or stopping by a touristy place, we asked if the bus driver could take us somewhere in the city that locals like to go. We said we'd buy his lunch and we were in no hurry.

We also wanted to very much abbreviate any stops for emeralds, etc.

 

We saw the fort and the palace of the inquisition, and we saw many things as we walked through the old town of Cartagena. Our guide was great. Beware of pickpockets and the kids constantly begging for money and to buy things. I made the "mistake" of buying a little tiny purse for my granddaughter. Oh boy I was followed for a mile! Cute kids though. Note the flower boxes on all the balconies. People compete for "best balcony" or something. Really spectacular, make sure to get the official scoop on that and take lots of pictures.

 

Our lunch took us on a windy path way into Cartagena and the location wasn't where I'd normally think to go. If I knew Cartagena. And I was on my own. Images of the drug cartel and being on an episode of 20/20 came to mind as we just kept driving away far away from the tourist area. :eek: Silly I know.

 

We stopped at a two story place and it looked ok. Went inside and it was an oasis like country club setting and there we enjoyed great grilled fish and wine (not for the driver) and had a chance to get to know our driver. He was thrilled we bought his meal. Such a fun time. I'm not sure Mr. Miles is still doing tours but I'd recommend his outfit and the good thing is you can customize it. Don't know what there is to do? Ask him. Get on Trip Advisor. Etc. Then get him to take you and group.

[ghstudio]

I'll second "lee Miles"...we've used him twice. $199 per person is, at least in my view, absurd for cartagena where you can walk around the old city yourself...but it's better with a guide.

[wendychloecruiser]

Just some advise regarding purchasing emeralds...the vast majority of the emeralds have been enhanced or filled. This is an acceptable process (in Colombia) that they will not tell you about and GREATLY reduces their value.

[Jane2357]

Just some advise regarding purchasing emeralds...the vast majority of the emeralds have been enhanced or filled. This is an acceptable process (in Colombia) that they will not tell you about and GREATLY reduces their value.

 

Thanks for that tip - I am aware but it doesn't hurt to share for others. I'm a bit of a jewelry snob and wouldn't dream of purchasing a color enhanced or filled stone. :) And there is nothing wrong with those IF you know what you are getting and how much it devalues the item. A cut emerald, with its natural beautiful color is very rare and extremely expensive. Most emeralds in U.S. jewelry stores are color enhanced.

 

I'm checking now with a private tour operator and have let him know - no jewelry - lol. They all make money taking you to those places so he most likely won't want my business. :cool:

[disgirl]

We did a private tour here in March this year. We booked through Dora De Zubiria. Amazing! There were 10 of us on the tour and it was exactly what we wanted. They are flexible with a smaller private group to do/see what you would like.

[4774Papa]

We took a great private tour for about 1/3 that cost from a company named Dora.

http://cartagenatour.com/testimonials.html