7/10
You WILL have fun on this bus. They kept the rum and soda going all trip long. The only thing I wished was that they served Agua Ardiente as well as rum, but that's a minor issue. The bus was awesome and a definite must-do for anyone visiting. The host kept the party animated an was very entertaining.
This is a must do!! This was so much fun!! Highly recommended!
Fun time with a bit of music culture history lesson that was sprinkled in between drinks, great music and great energy Highly recommend.
This was a great time! We had a great guide and had a lot of new friends by the time the night was over. The city is so beautiful at night! A must do in Cartgena!
great party
Did it on a Friday night. Quick way to see a lot of the city at night. We stopped at a couple locations and toured. We got to eat some empanadas and arepas for free..Rum and a fruit flavored soda mixer provided... drink fast though because it stops right before you end up at the nightclub. The night club had a good mix of english and spanish music. Do it!
We had a blast and the staff were all VERY friendly and entertaining!!!!!
You must do the chiva bus if you're in Cartagena! it's so fun, even if you don't speak Spanish just go and wiggle wiggle! unlimited Colombian rum and very live! Great way to meet new people too1
You have to do this, best party in Cartagena for tourist.
It was quite an experience I fully enjoyed every minute, made new friends and had a ball .what a way to celebrate life. I look forward to my next trip and party bus.
Great, fun tour... just remember to get a cab to the meeting point in BocaGrande as the Chiva bus does not enter the Old Walled City area. The Chiva bus will circle around a bit picking up more passengers, so be patient, get to know your fellow passengers. My Spanish is limited, but the tour lead speaks excellent English and so do the other passengers.. It was so refreshing to be the only American on the Chiva bus and Asian to boot... most of the Chiva bus passengers are Colombians visiting Cartagena for the weekend or from South America. There was rum and coke provided in the Chiva, you can drink all you want till the stock runs out. There were 2 stops, both were outdoor stops where there's live music, salsa dancing. The last stop would be at a local bar in the Getsemani area. You're free to stay at the bar, have the Chiva bus drop you back to your hotel in Bocagrande or take a cab back to your hotel. I ended up making new friends from the Chiva bus and we opted to have a few more beers at a local restaurant till 3am.... this is truly a fun way to get to know the locals and culture.
Super duper fun!! Loved, loved, loved it! Definitely have to do this if you go to Cartagena!
Really fun tour. Figuring out where to meet your tour guide and who's supposed to pick you up can be confusing and somewhat stressful which seems somewhat consistent from my experience when using Viator tours particularly in foreign countries. Overall though fun tour, fun guides although we seemed to ride around the same area for an hour for some reason.
Find night. Nice way to see the city at night.
This tour was amazing!
I would say this tour would of been more fun if we had some more drinks to pregame before the Chiva Bus tour. They give you minimal rum/coke and essentially you just drive around the city. They stopped the bus at one point in front of the old city walls and then after standing on the side of the street for 30 mins being swarmed by street vendors trying to sell you stuff, we got back on the bus to then be dropped off in front of 2-3 bars. If you walk about a block past where they drop you off, you'll find a Salsa bar worth going into otherwise the other bars just got crammed with tourist which eventually we had not choice to leave because it was crowded. After the difficulty we had waiting to find the bus, there was no contact information on the reservation confirmation page and we were just waiting and asking around at the hotel plaza, I wouldn't recommend it. I don't even know how were lucky enough to talk to someone who figured out what bus we were waiting for. I would highly recommend just booking through one of street vendors and having some drinks before you get on the bus!
THE BUS RIDE COULD BE A LITTLE LONGER ADDING MAYBE A BEACH VIEW
First of all, I think we got on the WRONG chivas bus. Not only did we initially drive around in circles dropping and picking up people and vendors, but it was like we were stuck with families that were not our own. This was a group tour with moms, dads, kids, grandma and grandpas, I dont know about you but it was not what we signed up for. After our drive around for circles we went to some small shopping mart where more peddlers would attack you like hawks. At which point we decided to was time to jet to a real bar by taxi. No this is not a bar crawl tour and no this was NOT fun. We were deceived and viator is usually trustworthy, you did us dirty in Colombia, Shame!
Do NOT book this through Viator. My friends and I booked this tour several weeks in advance. We tried calling both the regular contact number and emergency number for Gray Line to set up our hotel pick-up the tour operator listed on our voucher, and no one would answer. We finally decided to go directly to the meeting area since it was nearby. Once we got there, it was total chaos. There were several tour operators, and none of them were from Gray Line and no one knew what Viator was. A large group of other people waiting for the tour got on a bus right away because they booked through their hotel. When a tour operator finally showed up we assume he was from Gray Line, but it was so confusing that we still don't know he let us on the bus an hour later, so we missed a good chunk of the tour. This experience was so frustrating and unprofessional. If you choose to do a Shiva bus tour, book through your hotel or a local agency - DO NOT book through Viator.
Really not much of a tour, just rode around in an old bus with some rum and coke. Stopped at a few places of no interest and had to dance. Thought was a bilingual tour but we were the only English speakers, but that was OK. Difficult to put together an English tour as vast majority of tourists are Spanish speaking.
Malisimo, nunca contestaron en el teléfono de contacto.
Malisimo, nunca contestaron en el teléfono de contacto.
This was a huge disappointment of our trip. We were told to be at 7:45 pm in the lobby at the Cartagena Plaza because the tour would start at 8:00 pm. While we were waiting other guests were picked up by different chiva tour companies. By 8:30 we still had not been picked up, so the receptionist of the hotel called the local phone number of the local tour operator, but no answer. Ten minutes later we left, because there are many better things to do in Cartagena than sitting and waiting in a hotel lobby. The booking and payment was easy, even the communication via email regarding pick up information was timely, only the chiva did not show up, at least not within a reasonable time frame. Very disappointing. I will definitely request a return oof my advanced payment. Wish me luck!
DO NOT BOOK THIS TOUR! FIRST OF ALL, IF YOU ARE NOT STAYING AT THE BOCAGRANDE AREA, YOU MUST TAKE A TAXI TO THE CARTAGENA PLAZA, WHERE YOU GOING TO ENCOUNTER SOME VERY RUDE SECURE GUYS! NO ONLY THEY ARE RUDE, BUT THEY DO NOT KNOW ANYTHING! WHEN YOU ASK ABOUT THE "CHIVAS BUS", THEY LOOK LIKE YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT SOMETHING THAT IT DOES NOT EXIST! LOL! IN ADDITION, IF YOU INQUIRY AT THE RECEPTION, THE PERSON WORKING INSIDE DOES NOT KNOW EITHER! LOL. IT IS SAD, TO FIND OUT HOW LOCALS ARE SO NAIVE ABOUT THIS PARTY BUS! NONETHELESS, WHILE WE WAITED AND MANY OF THESE BUSES PASSED BY WHEN TRYING TO GET IN THE BUS, THE FIRST THING THEY SAY, IT IS NOT THIS BUS, POSSIBLE NEXT, ABOUT 4 BUSES PASSED BY NONE OF THEM KNEW ANYTHING,.! LOL. SADLY, WE WENT BACK TO THE HOTEL! VIATOR SHOULD ENSURE THAT WHEN PEOPLE (THE CUSTOMER) BOOK ANY KIND OF ACTIVITIES, HE/SHE SHOULD OBTAIN WHAT THEY PAY FOR IT. FINALLY, VIATOR REPRESENTATIVES IN OTHER COUNTRIES HAVE NOT BEEN THE SAME. VERY SAD TO SAY THIS, BUT ITS TRUE! YOU WILL FIND OUT THIS BY YOURSELF!