Member Reviews Home > Member Reviews > FlaParrotHead's Port Reviews of Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, Puntarenas (Puerto Caldera), Cartagena (Colombia), Grand Cayman
FlaParrotHead's Port Reviews of Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, Puntarenas (Puerto Caldera), Cartagena (Colombia), Grand Cayman Carnival Paradise cruise in December 2011
Our first port and my first of two (scuba) dive ports on this sailing. I booked though the cruise line, which I frequently do not do. This dive operators were professional and planned well. While there were both beginners and advanced divers on this excursion, they did a good job of giving our advanced group the room to roam and to see a little more than the beginning group which was appreciated.
Again, another first time port for us and the excursion (privately booked) was well run and allowed us to see much of this port. While I would have enjoyed the opportunity to Whale Watch - we were slightly ahead of the season, so another trip into the area will certainly be needed down the road.
Our first time to anywhere in Costa Rica and this was also a great port and (privately booked) excursion. While a little more action into the Rain Forrest would have been nice - we knew what we were getting ahead of time. When there again, we might try something a little more challenging.
Of the five ports on this cruise, four were new to us. Cartagena was by far the most impressive and interesting. We booked our own excursion with several other travelers and it could not have done any better. We had no concerns about our safety as we explored many areas of this fascinating city. Being in a smaller group and on a smaller bus, I believe that we were able to get to some areas that other (larger) groups may not have been able to. While the vendors can be very pushy - we would never let that bother us and would negotiate when interested in something that they had and avoid contact when not. Our tour guide also did a great job and keep them "in check" if they crossed the line or pushed too hard.
There is never a bad day diving in Cayman -- that is not possible. We had a great dive through the cruise line with Don Foster's which has a great operation on the Island and our dive (8 divers) was well managed and in picture perfect conditions.
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