We decided to tour on our own in Ocho Rios because we wanted to quickly escape back to the Island Princess if we were heavily harassed by the locals. Surprisingly, we encountered none of the well-publicized harassment nor none of the anticipated hoards of locals. We walked to the Taj Mahal shopping center about three blocks from the ship and got only a little pressure from cab drivers for tours. Ocho Rios was clean and the locals were very friendly and willing to take "no" for an answer.

What we didn't find were bargains. Oh, you could find a $5 white tee shirt with some generic wording and a splash of color but colored tee shirts were $10 up and the sales people didn't want to dicker. Likewise, there were no bargains in jewelery though we browsed a number of shops...the same shops we saw in Alaska and the Eastern Caribbean where you could dicker.

The worst gouging we found was at Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville where the cheapest item on the menu was a $12 hamburger. We decided to go back to the boat to eat. But, about a half block from the pier we found a little bar offering $2 Red Stripe Beer with some great taped Caribbean music so we ended our visit there.

In summary Ocho Rios was a pleasant stop and the only money we spent was for beer which was a whole lot cheaper than on the Island Princess.

Ocho Rios

Our second port on this cruise was Cartagena which I was interested in seeing because it was featured in the movie "Romancing the Stone." The movie featured a scene where the hero (Michael Douglas) got into a fight with the villain over a large emerald on the ramparts of an old fort. In that scene a giant crocodile bit off hand of the villain which held the emerald then slithered over the wall into a moat below. That scene was shot in Cartagena's Old City but it was difficult to tell exactly where. 

Cartegena's Old City is a "must see" for its historical and scenic value. Our party of six took an outstanding on-our-own four-hour long drive/walk tour of the Old City with Remy Bula (vanscartagena@yahoo.com), a swiss gentleman who married a Cartagena native. Remy's English was outstanding and his knowledge of Cartegena's colorful history was exceptional. He was essentially at our disposal for four hours and provided excellent insight into the culture and history of the city. The cost of the tour was a fraction of what we would have paid had we booked an identical tour on the ship.

We thought the value was so great and the tour so well done that we all chipped in for a $10/person tip for the day.

Cartagena (Colombia)

Large closet, tiny bathroom, medium balcony but no others in sight so very private. Located near aft public balcony overlooking stern of the ship.

There was no mention of a second package which allowed unlimited soft drinks of any kind up to a max of $7.It included a trip to a scenic garden where we could hear Howling monkeys roaring in the nearby rain forest; a roadside stop where we handled and photographed a sloth; several roadside stops to look at monkeys; a visit to a banana plantation; a river boat tour to view wildlife and a trip to a beach which we declined  because of the weather.

Island Princess Review

Great Way to spend Thanksgiving

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