Sunsher28

Great review. It sounds like it was a wonderful trip! We sail next week so I loved your breakdown of the food and excursions. We booked this trip because I have always wanted to visit Santorini.  Now I’m dreading it.  
 

We are taking the same excursion as you did in Florence. It sounds just like I imagined it. I’m excited to try their wine. How did buying a case work for you? Did you bring it back on the ship then check it with your luggage? Or are they shipping it for you? 

We have booked an excursion to Capri while in port in Naples. I am concerned that the excursion may be cancelled due to weather at the last minute. Any ideas for what we can do instead?  Are there taxis to take us to Sorrento or Positano?

Thank you so much for your honest and heartfelt posts.  We are doing a similar cruise in September. This is our bucket list trip and we are so excited. We booked 3 of our excursions through NCL based on length of tour and difficulty of travel to our destination (I.e. Capri). I am so sad to hear the disappointment you have felt on most of your tours with NCL. It has me 2nd guessing our decision. 

Happycrafter123 we have been on several cruises all to the Caribbean. We have never taken our passports/ ID with us when we go ashore in ports. I see on the dailies they mention bringing IDs when you go ashore. Have you needed them to get back on the ship? 

3 hours ago, Happycrafter123 said:

The wine and champagne options seem to be thinning each day, the last two nights at dinner they had to find substitutes for both champagne and wine we’d had at the beginning of the trip.  They seem to work hard to find reasonable substitutes.  I am curious to see what will happen by the last night.  This also happened on our last cruise, I guess inventory only stretches so far.

Are you encountering the same issue with wine and champagne at the bars too?

Thank you for taking us along on your trip. We will be there in September. 

1 hour ago, scubagirrl said:

None of these options would be quiet.   Blue Lagoon VIP would be the closest to what you are looking for. 

With 5 ships in port it will be quite crowded. 

 

Really?  I have read all the horror stories about the hours long wait at the dock to go over to Blue Lagoon, but I had hoped that Pearl Island wouldn't be as bad because they limit the number of people on the island. 

We are being re-routed to Nassau instead of Cuba. We were just there last year and said we’d never go back. Never say never!  We thought we’d try one of the beach excursions through RCL. We just want to sit quietly by the water and sip cocktails. There are going to be at least 5 ships in port that day. Which excursion would you recommend?  Blue Lagoon, Pearl Island or Balmoral Island?

Just now, josumello said:

Just got back from Majesty Cuba Cruise. Used Blexie tours which was excellent. The car we were in, a 56 beautiful Chevy  Bel Air, was privately owned by the drivers Uncle. 

Thank you. That’s what I figured. We are touring with him in a few weeks and wanted to know in advance so we could be prepared for conversations. 

Just curious. Who owns the cars that Blexie uses for his tours?  Is the driver the owner, or are they owned by the government?

2 hours ago, North Carolina Cruiser said:

price is up to 185.00 for a 5 hour tour

He quoted us $130 for 6 hours for our upcoming tour. Did he change it for you after you booked with him?

2 hours ago, Lorey2007 said:

We used Blexie Tours last week and our guide was Isbel. I must say he was the best guide we have ever had, we learned so much and saw so much my head was spinning.  He took into consideration my husbands walking condition and  had the driver backing down streets to pick us up. I gave him a list and in 6 hours we saw everything on it.  We also used Blexie tours for our pick up and return to Tropicana.  Isbel made the arrangements and when a different driver showed up he handed me a phone and Isbel explained the change and wanted to make sure we were ok with it. That driver made sure to tell us where and when to meet and since it was pouring rain after the show he came running up to us with umbrellas, which we had left in his car, then ran to get the car for us.   We had a 59 Chevy 4 door sedan with AC during the day and a 56 Ford Fairlane  4 door sedan with AC in the evening.  

Make sure to reach out a week or so before your tour to confirm your meeting place the government is not making it easy for these private tour companies.  We spoke to one couple who missed their tour because they were at the wrong meeting place.  This was a once in a lifetime port for us.   

We have a tour booked with Blexie in July.  You said you had a list of places to go to in your 6 hours. I’m curious how many places were on your list?  Did you take time for lunch?

1 hour ago, twobeautifulgirls said:

We just got off the Majesty and used Blexie in Cuba. Out tour guide was Rollie and he was amazing!! 

We are booked with Blexie on our June trip. Did your  tour include any walking tour of Old Havana or have they eliminated that option?  What did you visit on the tour? 

Living near the Canadian border I was thinking of exchanging some USD for CAN before we sailed. Does anyone know if I exchange CAN for CUC when I get off the ship, can I exchange any left over CUC for USD when we get back on the ship? Do they make you show ID when you exchange money?

We heard back from Blexie and our tour is confirmed. Jorge will be doing our tour. Our meeting area was moved as well.   The first part of our tour is walking.  The second part is a car tour. 

9 hours ago, EatonDoolittle said:

All is well with Blexie, we are touring with him on Thursday. Thanks to reading here, I emailed yesterday to confirm again.

 

They have moved the meeting place to  across the square and 3 blocks to the corner of Cuba St. Evidently the government does not want free enterprise at the St. Francis square, so they now have a separate spot for them to meet their guests.

 

He’ll send you a little map to get to the new spot, I can’t attach it, but it seems simple enough. 

 

Ill report back back if there is anything different. 

Good to know. He hasn’t responded to my e-mail yet to confirm our tour, but I’m sure he will soon.

Interested to hear how your tour was. Just curious are you planning to add any stops to your itinerary? 

5 hours ago, 2112 said:

By the way, the tour guide we ended up with was Daliced Garcia at Free Walking Tour Havana (http://www.freewalkingtourhavana.com). Again, this was by sheer luck. She was excellent, and took us to a school as we brought some school supplies to donate. Very flexible and knowledgable. She recommended a great restaurant at the end of the tour (Casa Roma 1860), and in the restaurant we saw a sign on the wall about the car tour. 

Thank you for the update and information about who you used as a backup 

Well, this is disheartening. I just emailed Blexie last night to confirm a tour in July. Did she happen to mention if the situation had been resolved? 

Yes I was referring to the market in Havana. I read it on earlier posts here on Cruise Critics. I researched it on google and saw that the website said it was  open daily. That is why I posted my question. I was hoping someone had actually been there on a Monday. 

We will be in port in June on a Monday. I’ve read conflicting information that the market is closed on Mondays.  Has anyone been there on a Monday that can help out with this question?  Thank you.