Monday, January 20, 2025

December 23, 2024 – Cartagena, Colombia – Overcast, MuggWy – 88F (98F Heat Index)

We don’t arrive in Cartagena until around 12:30 AM.

I should mention two things.  The first is that the whine we heard on the first night has not reappeared. Second, this is the first time we have arrived in this port in the daytime so we will see the approach and docking. 

The approach to Cartagena was gray, dense, humid, and warm.

After breakfast, we were out on Deck 5 for the sail in. I had my usual iced Café Americano.

The ship passed a few small islands and something that looked like a very old marina (I thought it was a prison at first, but the tower might have been a lighthouse).  Onward docked in the ugly commercial port that has always been our berth in Cartagena.
















To get into position, Onward did a 180 and backed into her berth.  Docked next to us was the fancy-shmansy Windstar Star Pride (300 passengers) a very nice looking ship.  








The port was very busy with containers being moved around – big ships, carrying hundreds of shipping containers, came and left with the help of tugs.  Cartagena’s condos were washed over with a gray haze as you can see in the pictures.  It was very humid. 

I have so many pictures of the condos or commercial skyscrapers that make up the skyline of Cartagena but since we were here, i added some more.









We had lunch on the Veranda.  Instead of getting a Beyond Burger or Tuna Wrap, I thought I would try stuff from the buffet. I took some Singapore Noodles (pretty good) and a salad from the salad bar. 

Even though it was pretty warm we spent some time on Deck 5; when it became too stuffy, we went to the Living Room for the A/C.  When we first got there The Fantastic Beats were doing a sound check singing “My Girl” but that was brief.  We stayed for both the general Trivia and the music trivia – the host was the bearded singer from the US and he did a great job of announcing the clues and keeping the interest high. 

Tonight is the iconic “Azamazing Evening”. The evening started off with the Azamazing Buffet in both the Dining Room and Windows Café. The Dining Room looked very crowded so we went to Deck 9.  I had Gazpacho Andalusia, which was much thinner (not pureed) like the Gazpacho I had on the other cruise.  The buffet was also slammed but we did get seats outside on the Veranda.  The line for food was very long except for the Vegan section. So, along with a Cesar Salad, I had the vegan Chipotle Stew along with Spanish Rice. It was pretty good and contained a different kind of Beyond Meat (more like beef chunks).  It was spicy – I ate a chipotle pepper and it brought heat.  Overall, not bad. After dessert and decaf coffee, we went to the Living Room.

Ellen checked out some of the actual books in the library section of the Living Room.















Tonight passengers will be treated to the “Carnaval de Baranquilla” at the Teatro Adolfo Meija.  We saw this show the last time we were in Cartagena on Azamara and decided we would opt out.  Besides, the last time we did this, there were no fireworks and that’s one of the things we like about these evenings. 

Passengers exited and boarded busses based on their deck location with Deck 9 going first.  Instead, we stayed in the Living Room and read our books.  Quiet and relaxing until the music came on.  Ellen asked them to turn the volume down and they did. 

Cartagena at night is always worth a picture.








Midway through the evening, the lights were turned out and it got real cold (did they turn off the heat to save fuel).  We went to the room at that point to “warm up”. 

We are staying in Cartagena overnight so no thrusters or engines to wake us up.

We didn’t hear any of the passengers returning from the festivities.

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