Has anyone recently used the Hop on/Hop off Bus?

[Nashna]

We will be in Cartagena on our January Edge cruise.  We are considering taking the Hop on/Hop off bus via Celebrity.  We wanted to take the Catamaran/Walled City Tour, but it is listed as strenuous.  We are seniors who regularly walk two miles.  However, reading the many "hot and humid" comments, we don't want to get stuck on a tour.  The Hop on option includes transportation from the pier and it appears that it would give us the flexibility that we need.  Would love to hear from someone's recent experience.

[Turtles06]

19 minutes ago, Nashna said:

We are seniors who regularly walk two miles.  However, reading the many "hot and humid" comments, we don't want to get stuck on a tour. 

 

Have you considered a small, private tour with, for example, Dora De Zubiria (aka Dora the Explorer)?  She's highly recommended here on CC for good reason -- excellent tour starting at La Popa and then of the old city. Yes, there will be walking, and yes it is hot and humid in Cartagena.  IIRC, we did move briskly through the streets (among other things, Cartagena has about the most aggressive vendors you are likely to come across), but you could email her about your concerns and talk about the pacing.  

 

http://www.cartagenatour.com/

[Nashna]

4 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 

Have you considered a small, private tour with, for example, Dora De Zubiria (aka Dora the Explorer)?  She's highly recommended here on CC for good reason -- excellent tour starting at La Popa and then of the old city. Yes, there will be walking, and yes it is hot and humid in Cartagena.  IIRC, we did move briskly through the streets (among other things, Cartagena has about the most aggressive vendors you are likely to come across), but you could email her about your concerns and talk about the pacing.  

 

http://www.cartagenatour.com/

Thank you, we have considered Dora The Explora Tours....just not sure we want to spend that long touring.  

[Turtles06]

15 minutes ago, Nashna said:

Thank you, we have considered Dora The Explora Tours....just not sure we want to spend that long touring.  

 

Certainly your call of course.  3.5 hours is pretty short for an excursion. The old city of Cartagena is interesting, colorful, and historic.    What is it that you are hoping to see/visit in Cartagena? 

[v3cruiser]

same here. be good to get some feedback on the hop on hop off bus tour. we did one in guatamala once and it seemed pretty rushed.  last time in cartegena we took a nice water taxi through ncl from port and back to old town. it was nice and we just took our time and did what we wanted till we had to get back on the ship

. 

[The Med]

On 9/11/2022 at 5:06 PM, Nashna said:

We will be in Cartagena on our January Edge cruise.  We are considering taking the Hop on/Hop off bus via Celebrity.  We wanted to take the Catamaran/Walled City Tour, but it is listed as strenuous.  We are seniors who regularly walk two miles.  However, reading the many "hot and humid" comments, we don't want to get stuck on a tour.  The Hop on option includes transportation from the pier and it appears that it would give us the flexibility that we need.  Would love to hear from someone's recent experience.

 

We’ve also looked at this tour and couldn’t for the life of us work out why it was listed as strenuous. We don’t understand what would be strenuous about getting on and off a boat.

 

If anyone has done that tour, how long were you on the boat?
We want to maximise our time in the old town and don’t necessarily want to spend too long cruising.

 

We don’t really like tours, much prefer to do our own thing, however I’m getting increasingly uneasy about what I’m reading.

Aggressive vendors, people jumping in your taxi, not easy to get a taxi back.

We really don’t want the hassle so will get a tour for this port.

[elbodans]

I did the HOHO bus in Cartagena last month. There was nothing hop on hop off about it! It was basically a drive to the old town, a walking tour that everyone was STRONGLY encouraged to take, and then an additional 90-minute tour around in the bus. From what I heard from others on my tour, if you hopped off there was never an option to hop back on again. Taxis were plentiful. 

I wrote about my experience here: https://www.suitcasescholar.com/2023/01/10/pirates-of-the-caribbean-cartagena-by-cruise-ship/

[TraDav]

On 1/8/2023 at 6:13 AM, The Med said:

 

We’ve also looked at this tour and couldn’t for the life of us work out why it was listed as strenuous. We don’t understand what would be strenuous about getting on and off a boat.

 

If anyone has done that tour, how long were you on the boat?
We want to maximise our time in the old town and don’t necessarily want to spend too long cruising.

 

We don’t really like tours, much prefer to do our own thing, however I’m getting increasingly uneasy about what I’m reading.

Aggressive vendors, people jumping in your taxi, not easy to get a taxi back.

We really don’t want the hassle so will get a tour for this port.

 

[TraDav]

I’m feeling the same way as to what I’ve been reading and feeling concerned as to what we should do. I’m thinking staying with a large tour group is probably our best option to feel safe