Cruise Travel....

PORT OF THE MONTH:
CARTAGENA
Colombia's Historic Cruise Call is Currently Enjoying a Huge Resurgence

To say that Colombia’s Cartagena is a hot port of call is like calling a pot of Juan Valdez’s dark-roasted coffee black. The hot caffeine-fueled cruise-news numbers for Cartagena de Indias (the city’s official name) make it that obvious.

In 2008, more than a quarter-million cruise passengers visited Colombia--almost an 80% increase over 2007. The growth rate from 2006 to 2009 was 352 percent and Proexport Colombia, which promotes Colombian exports, foreign investments, and tourism for Colombia, estimates that a record-breaking 280,000-plus passengers visited Colombian ports in 2009 (most cruise liners call on Cartagena, but several also head to Santa Marta and San Andres).

More than 175 ships from varied cruise lines visited Cartagena in 2009--triple the number from 2006. Azamara, Celebrity, Holland America, MSC, Royal Caribbean, Seabourn, and Silversea are among the cruise lines now calling on the city. Newcomers in 2009 included Pullmantur Cruises' Ocean Dream and Celebrity Cruises' Equinox.

In-the-know travelers and book buffs from around the world have recently been discovering this port city of 1.2 million, where Nobel Prize-winning novelist and part-time resident Gabriel Garcia Marquez penned Love in the Time of Cholera (the novel is said to be set in the city). Film fans will also recall Cartagena as the setting for much of Romancing the Stone, the 1984 hit movie starring Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, and Danny DeVito.

Founded in 1533 on a wide sheltered harbor, Cartagena was once one of the richest ports in the New World. The high salt-bleached walls that surround the Old City were built to thwart pirates and privateers during the height of the Spanish colonial era in the 1600s (almost seven miles of these walls remain).

A UNESCO World Heritage site since 1984, the Old City preserves the rich history and culture of days gone by, while the rest of the seaport pulsates like a salsa party with trendy hotels and restaurants, designer boutiques, emerald shops, and sizzling nightlife. For fun in the sun, white sand beaches are nearby.

It’s little wonder that tourism is soaring in Colombia, with an average 15 percent overall annual rise in visitors in recent years, including many who have returned after first visiting by cruise ship; nearly one-fourth of the visitors originate from the United States. Colombia natives--and international stars--like musician Shakira and Food Network chef Ingrid Hoffmann sing the praises of their country.

With the hit book and show Simply Delicioso, Hoffman says of Cartagena: “It is a beautiful and sensual city that seduces you with the warmth of its people, their music, and their food. The Afro-Caribbean food is unique of only that region.” She recommends trying Arroz con Coco (coconut rice) and Bananos en Tentacion (bananas with Colombia’s red cola). She also recommends reading Garcia Marquez, saying, “The warm nights always take me back to his novels and their fantastic characters.”

Cartagena’s warm welcome to cruise ship passengers begins the moment they arrive. Cruise ships are met by palenqueras, beautiful dark-skinned women in brightly colored dresses balancing large bowls of fruit on their heads Carmen Miranda-style. More than 270 street vendors, tour guides, and taxi drivers in Cartagena have received training in customer service to generate consciousness of the importance of their jobs as hosts of thousands of international tourists in the city.

The first stop for many city tours is the sprawling Fortress of San Felipe. Built to protect Cartagena from various invaders and the largest Spanish-built fort in South America, San Felipe, dating to 1657, took more than 25 years to complete. Highlights include: thick fortress walls; strolling along well-worn ramparts where soldiers once marched; displays of historic arms; costumed interpreters (look for the friendly bugle player); and, outside, vendors selling their wares. Here and elsewhere, visitors will see Colombians proudly flying their tricolor flag: the yellow commemorates the country’s golden riches, the blue symbolizes the seas and oceans, and the red is for the blood of fallen Colombian heroes.

For many visitors, the magical ambience of Cartagena is best explored on foot. In the Old City, lovingly restored Spanish colonial homes with large wood-beamed balconies covered in bougainvillea line the cobblestone alleys. Towering cathedral spires cast their long shadows across leafy plazas buzzing with open-air cafes (and there's not a single Starbuck’s in sight). Horse-drawn carriages take visitors back in time as they tour the walled city hemmed in by ramparts and turrets.

Highlights in the Old City and nearby include the central Plaza de las Coches, Teatro Heredia (a stunning 1911 theater), the cloister of St. Peter Claver, and La Popa Monastery, a hilltop convent up a winding road with spectacular views of the city and the Caribbean from the city’s highest point. Back in the Old City proper, bustling Plaza Santo Domingo (with the oldest cathedral in Cartagena) or Plaza San Diego are among the popular places to find vendors selling sliced fresh fruit, chopped coconut, fresh pastries, and steaming shots or cups of Juan Valdez coffee. Plaza San Pedro Claver features famed San Pedro Restaurant, the Museum of Modern Art, San Pedro Cathedral, and a beautiful bust of the beloved priest San Pedro. Throughout the Old City, small bars and restaurants prepare tasty coco-limeades and mojitos, as well as light lunches of fresh snapper and plantains.

With it’s city history museum, cathedral, bank, and Government Palace, Plaza de Bolivar (including an equestrian sculpture of Simone Bolivar in the center) is well worth a stop. Also on most Old City tours the early-18th century Clock Tower is now the international symbol for the city. Locals and visitors alike also love to have a picture taken with the portly “Gertrudis,” a statue by Colombian-born artist Fernando Botero--whose fame skyrocketed when two of his corpulent sculptures were selected as focal points of the lobby of the new Time-Warner Center on New York City’s Columbus Circle.

Of course, one can’t visit Colombia without checking out the famed emeralds. Those in search of gorgeous green gems like those worn by Angelina Jolie to a recent event might head to the Joyeria Caribe, which offers the prestigious IQNET certification for quality. In the Old City, visit the family-owned Emerald Center or combine the emerald’s history with a museum visit and a purchase at the Museo de la Esmeralda.

Those who don’t have the budget or taste for emeralds will find Cartagena is also a highly rewarding place to shop for inexpensive handicrafts. Hand-stitched molas, nativity scenes, cotton hammocks, baskets woven by natives from the querreque palm, ceramics, and gourmet coffees are all good buys (there’s even a wonderful-smelling Juan Valdez shop right at the port).

Cartagena is quite waterlogged, so varied excursions by boat are quite popular. A cruise of the inner harbor is a great way to see why Cartagena has been a protected and popular port for centuries. The old and new city skylines stand in stark contrast.

Adventurers in search of more sea and sun will want to hop aboard a high-speed boat for a 45-minute trip to the Rosario Islands--a national park with nearly 30 islands that dangle like rosary beads in the deep blue sea. Along with great beaches, there’s also world-class snorkeling and scuba diving. Several lines calling in Cartagena offer trips out to the Rosario Islands as a shore excursion.

Know Before You Go

*Lines That Call: Vessels from the following lines are among those calling at Cartagena--Azamara Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, Crystal Cruises, Holland America Line, MSC Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Pullmantur Cruises, Radisson Seven Seas Cruises, Royal Caribbean International, Seabourn Cruise Line, Silversea Cruises, and Voyages of Discovery.

*Weather: Cartagena is a hot cruise port and it’s also pretty warm, humidity- and temperature-wise. Year-round average highs are typically in the upper-80s and lows are in mid-70s. The rainy seasons are April to May and October to November, with winter winds providing some cooling in those months. Cartagena’s geographic position makes it less prone to hurricanes, however.

*Money Matters: Credit cards are generally accepted in Cartagena, except at smaller shops and markets, and ATM machines are readily available in the tourist areas.

*For More Information: Contact your travel agent or Proexport Columbia (Cruise Travel Magazine), 601 Brickell Key Drive, Suite 801, Miami, FL 33131; or log on to www.colombia.travel.