Firstin87

Rederob, thank you for the photos. Looks like a lot to browse and see.

Victory2020, thank you for the pricing information.

All the info is very helpful and we appreciate your help.

Thank you, mgsdu, for the information. Helps to get some idea of how much cash to exchange. We'll also exchange USD for Euros before we leave to save a bit on the fees when exchanging to CUC.

I'm disappointed that there may not be anything to bring back for the kids but t-shirts. I was hoping for something more unique from Cuba, but... we'll see...

Hi,

We are going to Cuba in October and are wondering how much cash to bring for shopping in Havana. We will, of course, buy some rum and a box of cigars to give as gifts when we get home, but I'm wondering what other items people have brought back and what they cost (in either Cuban currency or US dollars).

We know baseball is big in Cuba and hope to find old (1940's - 50's) baseball cards there. Did anyone see anything like that, by chance?

Thanks in advance,

Cyndy

I also thank you MUSIK07 for the helpful information on the Hampton Inn. We will be staying on a Sunday night, pre-cruise, in Oct. After a long flight, we want to eat dinner someplace casual. Are there casual restaurants near the Hampton Inn Bricknell?

Thanks to everyone for your help. We'll be docking on a Friday morning, which hopefully has less traffic than a Monday. Having priority disembarkation and only carry on luggage that we'll keep with us should be big time savers.

Warmwind - from what I've been told on this thread, your 1:35 flight should be no problem at all. I'm glad this thread could be helpful to you, too.

thanks for the help. I booked the 11:10 a.m. flight home. Really looking forward to visiting Cuba.

Thank you for replying so fast! We'll have priority disembarkation, so we'll get off the ship early and quick. I assume the Port of Miami is well organized with disembarkation, so that will help, too.

I love your name, 4Cats4Me, by the way! I've only got one cat and I love her dearly.

Thanks!

Hi,

I know this type of question gets asked frequently and I did a search, but don't see anything for my flight time.

Our Cuba cruise on NCL docks at 7:00 on a Friday morning in Miami. I'd like to book an 11:00 a.m. flight. Since the airport is half an hour from the port, that seems like it wouldn't be a problem, but I know better than to assume anything and thought I should check with experienced Miami cruisers.

thank you!

Firstin87

Hi Stitchcreek,

We are staying at the Hilton Riverside for a few days pre-cruise in Feb. I just called the hotel and found that for $2 per bag, we can store our luggage there when we disembark. I would guess that many hotels near the port provide this service, so you might want to check with your pre-cruise hotel, as well.

Have a great trip!

Firstin87

Good idea to look into. I hadn't thought of that. We are going to NOLA the end of February for 3 days pre-cruise (NCL to Cozumel and Costa Maya). I'm going to call the hotel we're staying at and ask them if they'll hold our luggage for us the day we disembark.

Hmmm... going to a random person's voicemail doesn't sound legit. Even if you're calling during off hours, you should get a businesses voicemail. Added to your not getting a response to your use of their Contact Us form makes me wonder if they are even still in business.

Think I'll pass on using them and come up with another solution. Looking like renting a car on our own for a few hours might be the way to go.

We are in NOLA in March on NCL. Dock at 8:00, flight leaves at 3:30, and we don't want to spend the day at the airport. We're spending 3 days in NOLA pre-cruise, so will have seen the French Quarter and ridden the St. Charles Ave. streetcar. We're hoping to do some kind of private tour or short tour that morning without dealing with our luggage. Has anyone used the advance check in link above more recently than last August? I wonder how secure your luggage is. Also, when you get to the airport and they ask if anyone has had access to your luggage other than you, we'd have to say "yes" and deal with having our luggage searched and maybe delayed.

Also, although unrelated to this thread, if anyone knows of a private tour for 2 people, please let me know.

Great narrative. You sound like someone we'd love to bump into on the ship. Laughing so hard about you not remembering the Welcome Aboard Show. Can see how that would happen.

Thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed review. Dealing with misdated photos must be a real headache and its nice of you to go to so much work to help the rest of us.

We're planning a Panama Canal cruise on the Sun in the future.

Looking forward to hearing more details and especially seeing the Dailies. We are going to Cuba on the Sun in Oct. and are happy to have this possibly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the country. I've heard nothing bur positive things about visiting Cuba.

Thank you. I feel better about booking during Halloween week. Hope you enjoyed your cruise. I assume you went on NCL's Sky. We're going on the Sun.

thank you. that's just what I wanted to know. Glad we'll be comfortable going next year. Hope you enjoyed your trip!

Thank you so much. We booked our Cuba trip for Oct. 29 to Nov. 2, 2018. Since you were just there, can you tell me what the weather was like? We're from California and I'm always curious about how humid it is on the "Atlantic side".

Hope you aren't having a hard time recovering from the trip. Returning to real life is such a letdown after a cruise!

Thank you so much for your help. Having a better sense of time makes planning a lot easier.

Thank you, JohninDC. As I'm learning more about the port area, maybe renting a car for our disembarkation day (Fri.) and doing some sightseeing before a later flight would be a good idea. We are flying home to California and most flights are later in the day.

I reread my original post and realize I forgot to include our disembarkation time of 7:00 a.m.

Thanks again!

Hi,

We are fine tuning a trip to Cuba on NCL out of Orlando in Oct. or Nov. of 2018. Not being very familiar with the area, I'm wondering what time those of you who have disembarked at the Orlando port would recommend as our earliest flight time from Orlando International Airport. How fast is the disembarkation process and going through Customs? I think the drive to the airport is an hour, is that correct?

Thanks for your help!

Cyndy

Firstin87

Hi,

My husband and I are considering going to Cuba next fall (Oct. to Nov.) and are trying to decide what week would be best. We'd do a 4 day cruise on NCL Sun (it will be our 5th or 6th NCL cruise) that runs each week from Mon. to Fri. The week of Oct. 29-Nov. 2 puts us in Cuba on Oct. 31, Halloween. Does anyone know if and to what extent Cuba celebrates Halloween? I'm wondering if Havana will be more crowded that day, are there parades or anything that will make it harder to get around the city, will it just be a gigantic block party (like Mardi Gras in New Orleans) or will it pretty much be a day like any other?

Thanks for the help!

Cyndy

Firstin87

Thank you so much for taking the time to create and post this! We're going to Costa Maya in March and this is so helpful!!

Thank you for writing such a complete history of what we'll see. So thoughtful of you to take the time to post this. We're sailing from NOLA in March and are spending a few days exploring the city (mostly the French Quarter) before we sail. I'll print this to take with us.

We are sailing from NOLA in March and are also staying at the Hilton Riverside. There's a threads about this hotel and getting to the cruise terminal in both the Gulf Coast Departures forum and the New Orleans forum. I asked about taking the Riverfront streetcar from the Hilton Riverside to the port and was told that it is only one stop away. Another poster said that you can bring your luggage without being a disruption to other passengers on the streetcar, too (I'm glad someone thought to ask that). So, if you don't want to walk, the streetcar at $1.25 would be less expensive than a cab.

Enjoy your trip!!

The Omni is a bit further away from the French Quarter than the Hilton Riverside. The Hotwire discount is around $20 a night, so we'd just book direct with the hotel for that little savings. According to the map, we'd have to walk 2.5 blocks to the same streetcar stop that is right outside the Hilton Riverside. But the Omni is about $75 less per night, so....now we've got more thinking to do....

One thing I noticed about the Omni hotel chain is that they publicize a "good night's rest" policy that the hotel is to be quiet from 10:30 p.m. on. Great idea.