We had been to Cartagena before
Thursday, the 26th of December, Boxing Day. Cartagena We were docked at Cartagena container port .The docking here is an odd set up, miles from the old town, and appears to be mainly to give employment to local taxi drivers
Before this, I had gone up for a swim, but the pool was closed having been refilled so I just enjoyed a Jacuzzi. Then breakfast at 8 am prompt in the marquee before setting off before nine for our classic car tour of Cartagena. The guide, Louis, on this was Mr Shouty and we could not understand most of what he was saying particularly on the bus where his microphone just echoed. He did not mention the classic cars in his resume of what we were going to do for the next four hours but this did end in lunch. However, when we got off the bus he confirmed that there were classic cars.
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We walked through the city gate and had a 30 minute walk which ended in a restaurant, an extremely nice restaurant, but here lunch was served by soon after 10 this seemed very very odd but it was a superb Plate of Colombian delicacies which we really enjoyed, plus a beer.
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We then set off walking again and eventually found the classic cars. Four guests squeezed into each of these and set off round the outside of the city walls for a 50 minute drive. We were extremely hot in the direct sun for 99% of this time. Our lady driver was charming , although her car was difficult to drive with a clapped out engine and gear box and David has his suspicions on the state of the brakes.
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After this, we were eventually walked back to the city Square outside the restaurant and told we had 30 minutes free time so we had a little wander and sat in the cathedral for 15 minutes or so soaking up its atmosphere with a service going on. Then back to Mr Shouty who by this time collected only about 15 of the original 40 punters to escort back to the bus pick up. We were dropped off one side of the garden which backed onto the port and then had a 10 minute walk through these and the subsequent distance to the ship where we arrived by 1.40. We changed quickly from our sweat wet shirts and went up to the Terazza exterior for a salad lunch which was most enjoyable. During this time, we could see the huge queue that had developed outside the Celebrity ship which was docked beside us, beyond, and thanked our lucky stars that we were not aboard that.
During the afternoon we watched the archaeologist who specialised in northern Peru on the television, a recording of the lecture he had given a few days earlier on the ship. This was most interesting and we will watch it again before we arrive in Peru. Chris also had a siesta and then went for a swim soon after five. David join up on deck 10 and we enjoyed a Curaçao Cocktail up there. We went on to the panorama lounge for a drink at 7:30 to hear the band playing there, but it was rather too loud and we soon adjourned to the gorgeous area just outside. Then we went to the Terazza and enjoyed our meal outside Although it had been raining the were several dry tables. We ended the evening up at the dusk bar in the hope of hearing the saxophonist, but she did not seem to be playing this night.
Friday, the 27th of December Cartagena. After breakfast and a wet Marquee restaurant breakfast , we ventured in Cartagena around 10 am. We got the shuttle bus from the ship to the port entrance and then got soaked particularly underfoot, as we walked through the miniature zoo . Once at the dock gate, David ordered an Uber to take us to a shopping centre where we hoped to get a lead to charge his mobile phone, having left the lead in Fort Lauderdale. Once at the shopping centre we tried two Samsung outputs plus a department store that was recommended with no luck for this lead. But then on the way back through the centre, we found a small counter in the centre of the passageway that sold all sorts of leads and we were able to buy not one but two leads for his phone: bizarrely was due to the fact that there was a minimum charge before they were able to use a credit card and we had no local currency so buying two solved the problem and they were not expensive!
We then walked some distance from the shopping centre to the old town. The rain had stopped, but it was still very wet underfoot at times. We spent an hour or so wandering around the old town before summoning another Uber back to the ship where we arrived well before 1 pm. We had lunch in the Terazza outside. This was very pleasant then I went for a swim before watching the recording of a lecture on Northern Peru.
At 4:15 pm we left the ship for an evening outing. Cartagena by night. We had a good guide Carlos for this and had a short walk along the wall before enjoying a cocktail on the roof of the Sofitel hotel. This was very pleasant and there was also three tapas which were pretty so so. After this, we boarded the coach again and drove through thick traffic for several minutes to get to the Convention Centre. Here again we went up onto the roof and had a margarita and two very good Tapas but unfortunately the volume of the music was even louder than at the Sofitel and it was impossible to have a conversation. but even so this we considered a successful outing.
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Back at the ship by just before eight we changed hurriedly and went down to the Atlantide restaurant for a quick meal before the ballet performance in the Venetian lounge. But this apparently had been cancelled with nobody telling us and was in fact a violin performance, very enjoyable except for the lighting which was just too much for my eyes. A really nice day aboard the Silver Ray.
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