Cartagena, Spain

Tuesday, April 2, 2024

We woke up in Cartagena, Spain today — the 5th day of our Sun Princess Cruise. This city has about 200,000 residents and is located on the southeastern coast of Spain. To be honest, I’d never even heard of this Spanish city before we booked our cruise, and I had a hard time finding notable landmarks or activities to do there. Cartagena is mostly known as a major port and for its Roman ruins.

Andi and I started our day with a workout in the cruise ship’s gym, and then the four of us went to breakfast at Horizons, the ship’s main dining room. Andi and I figured there was no need to rush off the ship since there didn’t seem to be a ton to do in Cartagena, and we might as well take advantage of all the offerings on the ship when it’s less busy.

Andi had been looking forward to trying the sit-down breakfast at Horizons because the Eatery buffet is always so chaotic in the mornings. Unfortunately, the menu offerings were a little disappointing. Apparently on port days, Horizon’s breakfast menu is paired down.

Andi and I each ordered the American breakfast with eggs, hash browns, fruit, and toast. The only other option available was an English breakfast with ham, baked beans, grilled tomatoes, and toast. Tory wanted an English muffin with cream cheese, and Aden wanted bacon & fruit, so our waiter put in a request for those items specifically for them. Our service was exceptional, even if the food offerings weren’t expansive.

Around 10:30am, the four of us made our way off the ship. Once again, the disembarkment process was a breeze. We walked right off the ship without waiting in line. It was another gorgeous day in the Western Mediterranean.

From the cruise port, the four of us walked into the city of Cartagena. You know when you walk into a new place and all the people stare because they can tell you’re not from around there? Yeah, that’s how we felt in Cartagena. The locals weren’t rude by any means, but this city wasn’t very touristy — definitely more of a Spanish blue-collar vibe, and apparently we stuck out like a sore thumb.

During the height of the Roman Empire, Cartagena was known as Carthago Nova, and was a coveted defensive port. As we learned during our time in Italy, the Romans were skilled engineers and pioneered many modern ways of living.

Andi, Tory, Aden, and I made our way to the Molinete Roman Forum Museum. There, we purchased €10 entrance passes which allowed us access to the museum, Roman Amphitheatre, Castle of Conception, and the city’s panoramic elevator.

First, we started by touring through the Roman Forum Museum. There were lots of artifacts on display such as plates, vases, and tools preserved from the Roman city of Carthago Nova.

It’s incredible to walk the very streets that the Romans did in those days. Some of the old roads even had cart tracks permanently imprinted on them.

An area Andi and I found most interesting were the thermal baths. We toured another bath house during our visit to Pompeii in southern Italy, but had only heard about the Roman’s in floor heating system. Here at the Roman Forum in Cartagena, the fireplace and stacks of stones underneath the flooring were still in tact giving us a better picture of how the heating system worked.

Slaves kept a continual fire burning in the fireplace which was connected to flowing water pipes underneath the floors of the bath houses. Rooms closer to the fire were hotter, obviously, and rooms further away from the fireplace were cooler baths.

Each Roman ruins site we visit paints a clearer picture of the way people in this time in history lived. It’s also interesting to note how large the Roman Empire once was; so massive that the empire once covered most of Europe, Northern Africa, and the Middle East (hence, why we’ve seen Roman ruins in Portugal, Spain, and Italy).

After the Roman Forum Museum, the four of us made our way toward the amphitheatre. Our walk led us through the Plaza de San Francisco. There were a few tourists gathered here having lunch at a cafe and taking photos of the massive ficus tree in the center.

Tory and Aden complained a lot as we walked through the city, though it was the perfect temperature for walking around today. I get that touring around Roman ruins as 10 and 12-year-olds isn’t the most exciting thing to do, but that’s what the agenda was for today in Cartagena. Neither Andi or I really appreciated their attitudes given how lucky they are to even be on this cruise.

We climbed quite a few stairs to reach the lookout for the Roman amphitheatre. The amphitheatre was built during the reign of Emperor Augustus when funds and equipment were provided for administrational, recreational, political, and social purposes. One of the most important buildings of the time was a Roman theatre to signify urban prosperity.

Over time, poverty and abandonment of the city led to this entire area being overgrown and virtually hidden from public view. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the amphitheatre was covered by a humble neighborhood that over the years had become one of the most depressed and deteriorated areas of the old town. It wasn’t until an urban development of a regional crafts center in 1990 uncovered the remains of the Roman theatre. Building of the shopping center was halted and moved to another area of town, and excavation and preservation began of the Roman ruins then took place.

Today, it’s quite impressive to see the city of Cartagena built up around the Roman theatre. Next to it, a modern-day outdoor theatre venue exists as well as ball fields, businesses, and residences. The Roman amphitheatre was quite literally hidden in the city until recently.

There was an actual museum we could have visited with our passes, but Tory and Aden were throwing major tantrums about going any further. It was quite embarrassing, actually, to listen to our two kids complaining about walking when dozens of elderly people around them were managing to get around without any issues. Andi made a deal with the kids that we’d visit the Castle of Conception and then ride the panoramic elevator down to the port area. After that, we’d be done touring around Cartagena and could return to the ship.

The castle was fairly lackluster except for the view of the Roman theatre (which we’d already seen), and of the port. We made a quick walk-thru and watched a short video before making our way to the elevator.

In hindsight, we should have started at the castle and taken the panoramic elevator up to the castle to avoid having to walk up the giant hillside, and then visited the Roman ruins & museum in the lower part of town. Oh well. From this viewpoint, we could see the ruins of an old bull-fighting ring.

At the bottom of the elevator, we made the 10-minute walk back to the cruise port terminal and boarded the Sun Princess. Once we were back on the ship, the four of us changed into our swimming suits and headed up to Deck 17 to have lunch and lay by the pool. Once again, the ship was pretty empty of people which made laying out in the sunshine all that more enjoyable.

Andi, Tory, and I picked Lido Tacos again for lunch today, and Aden ordered a hot dog from the burger station. Aden swam all afternoon again, and Tory and I laid by the pool while Andi returned to our stateroom to work for a while.

We couldn’t miss out on an opportunity to have ice cream sundaes from Coffee & Cones again.

Around 5:00pm, Aden, Tory, and I returned to our stateroom to find Andi working there. We took turns taking showers, and watched the Sun Princess navigate its way out of the narrow port channel. This ship is the largest in Princess’ fleet and was seriously impressive to see how well the captain navigated the way out to open water. Pilot boats on each side of the ship assisted.

For dinner, we decided to eat at one of the Casual Dining restaurants on the ship. The Irish bar, O’Malley’s Pub, hosts live music in the evenings, and offers a limited dinner menu. The pub isn’t very large, so it was fun & intimate to listen to the Roving Ramblers play while we ate. The four of us shared a scotch egg and hot artichoke & crab dip to start, then I ordered a burger for my meal, Andi & Aden had wings, and Tory ordered shepherd’s pie.

One of those Princess photo booths was outside O’Malley’s and the photographer convinced us to take more photos. I could barely keep a straight face (maybe it was the two glasses of wine with dinner!), but I kept picturing how goofy we probably looked posing in front of the glittery screen.

A magician put on a show tonight in the central piazza of the ship at 7:00pm, and Tory was determined to watch it. All three levels of seats were completely filled, so the kids squeezed into a spot on the floor while Andi and I stood off to the side. I wasn’t very impressed with the level of entertainment; the magician was more of a clown than anything, and kept fumbling his tricks. He blamed it on the ship moving (and maybe that was difficult when juggling), but wasn’t he a professional performer?

Aden wanted to go to the Tweens Club, so we sent him on his way while Tory, Andi, and I made our way to the Movie Under the Stars on Deck 17. Every evening, the pool area transforms into a movie theatre with soft cushions on loungers, warm blankets, and freshly-popped popcorn. Tonight’s movie was called A Man Called Otto starring Tom Hanks, and it was kind of a strange movie honestly. Very sad ending. Cool to watch the movie outdoors on the big screen though!

When we returned to our stateroom, we saw that Augustine, our room attendant, left Tory and Aden another towel animal. This time, he made them an elephant that was very cute.

We are underway again tonight, making our way to the Balearic Island of Mallorca, Spain tomorrow.