Cartagena

FORT LAUDERDALE, October XX, 2014 -- On October 29, 2014, JetBlue, the leading connection between Latin America and the United States for the past 14 years, will launch a new route between Fort Lauderdale and Cartagena, the picturesque colonial city on Colombia’s Caribbean coast. This inaugural flight will begin at The International Airport Fort-Lauderdale and end at the Rafael Nunez International Airport.

"JetBlue is pleased to offer our U.S. customers even more travel options by adding the Fort Lauderdale-Cartagena route. Cartagena is less than three hours away from Florida, making it a convenient option for vacationers or travelers who do business in Latin America,” said Giselle Cortés, director of Blue Cities for JetBlue. “JetBlue will continue to promote Colombia as a viable destination from the U.S. and strives to offer the best U.S. air service to the country."

The announcement was made by the popular website (http://bit.ly/17RgDOY) which every year grants awards in different categories to destinations, beaches, islands, restaurants and even vineyards ranked by users from 1 to 5 (the latter being the best score of all), after visiting them or making use of their services.

The 20th annual conference of the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) held in Cartagena has rekindled the enthusiasm in the Colombian cruise industry, as more ships, passengers and cruise arrivals will be expected in Colombia in 2014.

Held at the historic port of Cartagena on September 30th-October 4th, the FCCA's meeting gathered nearly a thousand attendants, including top company executives from the 15 FCCA member cruise lines that control more than 89.6% of operations in the world.

Four Colombian cities are included in the list of "Top 25 Destinations in South America in 2013" prepared by the tourism web portal Trip Advisor, a list that was based on recommendations from millions of internet users.

Cartagena, Bogota, Santa Marta and Cali were included, in that order, in the ranking that was published recently on the Spanish version of the popular website. It is part of a special report on "the best of 2013" that rates hotels, beaches and islands in Latin America and Spain.

Professional dancers and palenqueras (fruit vendors) with typical Caribbean fruit added rhythm and flavor to the inaugural embarkation of the Monarch of the Seas ship in Cartagena. The Spanish cruise line, Pullmantur, plans to use this ship to increase the number of passengers who go on their tours and to achieve this, every week, it will use Cartagena port as a boarding pier.

The Port of Cartagena is preparing for the arrival of the cruise ship, Monarch, next Saturday. Monarch is the a new ship of Pullmantur, a Spanish company, and it will cruise the Antilles and South Caribbean route weekly.

The ship will shove off from the Cartagena pier, which it will use as a point of embarkation to benefit more national and international tourists.

Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) president, Michele Paige, receiving a gift from Cartagena mayor Carlos Otero. They were accompanied by PROCOLOMBIA president, Maria Claudia Lacouture, and Sociedad Portuaria de Cartagena manager, Alfonso Salas.

A new service export line became evident in Cartagena after completing the Xpedition repair and remodelingworks; a ship that belongs to the Celebrity Cruises line, which selected the city, given its proven experience on this type of works, indicated PROCOLOMBIA.

The work was made and led at the Cotecmar shipyard by 300 workers, with the support of professionals from Poland, Germany, Italy, Greece, United States, Ecuador and Peru.

With a showing of folklore, traditional demonstrations and the best flavor of the Colombian Caribbean, Cartagena greeted the large group of Japanese tourists that arrived for the first time to the country on the prestigious cruise ship Asuka II, a ship that tours the world on a journey over 17 countries.

With a capacity of 960 passengers, the Asuka II is considered one of the highest-level cruise ships for its luxurious installations and the high profile of its users.