newcruiser1956

I don't eat that kind of stuff, I always walk the stairs and I do not gain weight.

Yes lots of little tent booths with shirts, bags etc... I bought several items in that area. There are no "shops", there are several right outside of the secured area. You MUST have your ship card to come back into that area if you leave it and when your excursion van comes in we had to show them then also. I did go outside the area to a couple of shops, no one bothered me. There was police presence and I suspect that is why no one approached me.

I spent all day in Havana, no one followed me around. When I returned to the ship no one asked me where I had been, if I had purchased anything, I showed my ship card when I came into the terminal, showed my passport, Put my purse through the detector. That was it. Back on the ship.

I wonder if some getting questioned are getting questions from the ship verses Cuba? I don't think Cuba cares, they just want you to come to the island and spend money.

Depends on where you go, there are not tons of restaurants in Havana. My guide took me to a very nice place to eat local food, I am a cheap eater so my meal was under $10 ... depending on where you go, figure 10-15 per person with tip.

Tell your guide the most you want to spend and he will figure it out :)

Exactly, their internet is very spotty and very expensive. It can take a few days.

You booked in advance, yes?

Yes, he has several guides and drivers.. He has to arrange to have them all there to meet you.

I used Blexi, 6 hours tour for up to 3 people in old car, will take you where ever you want in cuba, $130

I was solo, saw much of the real cuba, we got away from the parts where the tourist were. The guide spoke excellent English,

It was worth it :) Not sure if link is allowed here, ... google havanatours blexie you will find him.

Need to vent just a bit....

 

 

Six months ago (Jan 2018) I booked our 5th & 6th Ocean cruise with Viking. Iceland's Majestic & South American cruises. Bought trip insurance (1st time to purchase it) on both trips.

The South American cruise is Dec, 2019, currently a year and a half from when I write this.

 

 

After thinking about and discussing with wife we considered canceling the S.A. trip. (We got a child starting college....) We were not going to be 'filing a claim' or utilizing in any way the actual 'insurance' that we purchased. This was strictly a voluntary trip cancellation.

 

 

Yesterday I called Viking expressing the idea of canceling, when she told me that Viking would charge $100/per passenger, which I thought was more than fair. Then she told me our entire insurance premium of $1,838 is non-refundable. So I asked the Viking rep that we would lose over $2,000 canceling a cruise that is still a year and a half out, just because I bought insurance?

 

 

Her answer was "That's correct".

 

 

I will be the first to say this is all out of my area of expertise, and maybe I'm looking at this in a completely wrong way. But in my simple mind here is how I see an analogy. If I purchase a home and at the same time I also purchase insurance on this home. And the insurance I buy is a 24 month policy that I pay in one lump sum on day 1.

 

Six months later I sell this home.

 

Would I not be entitled to a return of principle (or a refund) on the remaining, unused 18 months of insurance considering that I'm no longer the owner of this asset?

 

 

 

 

I think that is pretty standard... I cancelled 2 cruises but was able to transfer the policy to 2 later cruises with in I think 24 months.. But there was no refund.

We are booked in January on the Sunshine on the 5th floor. Can anyone tell me if the smoke from the casino can be smelled in the cabin area? I didn’t even think of that when booking. I just thought of the convenience to the 5th floor activities. 🤦🏼*♀️

 

 

I was on the 4th floor and yes in the stairwell we could smell it and some smell down the halls but it was not terrible. The casino was on the 7th floor.

Boy that was not my experience for food at all on NCL. There were vegetarian dishes swimming in oil, There was fruit that was out of season, you could not get bananas. Their veggie burger is vegan. I struggled to eat on there. Caveat, I only ate the buffets, I did look at the menus for the MDR and did not see a thing I would be willing to eat. For the record, I am a plant based vegan.

AWESOME!! Ive been trying to figure out if/where they adult only area is. Do you remember which deck or how to find it?

It is actually right next to the other pool ... you have 2 pools and hot tubs. One is marked adults only. Not sure on a regular cruise if that would be respected. On the Cuba cruise, there were very few children.

Too bad you don't eat in the main dining room. You sound like a fun table mate.

LOL I tend to call it like I see it... gets me in trouble occasionally :)

I know it’s hard to believe, but I have never had a Guys burger😳. Maybe in October. Are there any “tortilla chips” to be found or will the Blue Iguana fry up a few tortillas to go?

They have a good veggie burger too, Wish Blue would stay open later. They have a tortilla bowl that is really good, just break it up to smaller pieces.

The question I have for you is, what in the world did you HAVE to buy during the 2 weeks that added up to over $2000? I could understand a few hundred on necessities and some inexpensive clothing, and they might have considered reimbursing you for some of that. However, when you submitted a bill for over $2000, the person who saw it most likely dismissed it out of hand for being so outrageous.

Did you not have any clothes in your carry on bag at all?

Thank you!! I was thinking the same thing!!

Email what you would like to do or just ask him where his normal trips go to

Someone else put the full tour on here, it is $130 for up to 3 people for 6 hours, he will take you all over Cuba and share the history of Havana with you. If there is somewhere else you want to go, tell him and he will take you there. He picks you up across the street from the terminal at 10 am and returns you to the terminal at 4 pm. You will be in a restored antique car, I went alone, it was $130 :)

Take toilet paper or tissues, many places do not provide it in public bathrooms.

Thanks for posting that :) I needed it for my records

In reality, he will take you where ever you want :) Do not forget to carry some tissues or TP, not all places have TP.

alana

I went to his Facebook page & I can't find any info on his "normal" tour or any info at all other than various posts but nothing about his tours.

Go to his website

http://havanatours.wixsite.com/blexie

I did a 6 hour tour with him last month, Great driver, great guide, took me where ever I wanted. We went off the path to see the real Cuba. The guide spoke excellent English and really knew his countries history.

Spoiler Alert.

The cabin steward(ess) is not making those towel animals just for you. They make them in groups and store them in their lockers. Then they rotate them amongst the cabins they service. If you fail to take the animals apart (most pax leave them intact), the cabin attendant recycles them by putting them in another cabin. Saves time and effort for the attendant. But it is an excellent way to spread viruses from one pax to another.

My first cruise I put them all on the window sill, I had the whole collection there. They did not take them and put them in another cabin... or atleast not mine.

Guy's burger is an upgrade?? They are the greasiest and worst burgers at sea . Upgrade lol

I like Guys veggie burgers. I was not real fond of my first cruise with carnival and did not see myself ever trying it again until I was on NCL. With carnival, there was food I could/would eat (I am a plant based veggie) between guys and the Catina I could find food, not so lucky with NCL. I canceled my Alaskan cruise with NCL and switched back to Carnival Just because of Guys.

Azamara advised us that we cannot take a private excursion, unless they are a US licensed tour company. Has anyone taken a tour not offered by the ship? We would appreciate any information that you could share.

Thank you!

 

 

I came back from Cuba last month, I booked a private tour with Bixby, Not a problem,

 

At the port all they care is you have a visa, I marked supporting the cuban people. Had a great time seeing the real Havanna away from all the tourists :)

 

Alana

We're on Journey for the November 10 Cuba Intensive voyage. I came across a post on the CC Cuba board that stated that everyone gets their CUC exchanged into USD before getting back on the ship. I was planning on getting Euros to exchange into CUC to avoid the 10% fee. I have read that you are prohibited from leaving Cuba with CUC in your possession. My question is, do they exchange our currency every time we reboard the ship or only when the ship is leaving that port? We will have 3 stops in Cuba with a stop in Grand Turk between 2 of the Cuba stops. The stop in Havana will be two days. If we have to exchange our currency every time we reboard the ship and they give us USD, it may be difficult to avoid the 10% fee.

When I left Cuba a few weeks ago no one stopped me and asked if I had in CUC money left. I exchanged it one time when I first left the ship that morning, I did go out later that evening and spent the rest of my cash while I was out.

I love them, one cube may have all my misc stuff (meds, first aid kit, plugs, fan machine, etc) one cube swimming things, one for underwear, one for clothes. takes 2 minutes to put them on the shelves or drawers and I am unpacked. I can very quickly find what I want with out digging through stuff.

She was there a few weeks ago when we arrived in Cuba. She left before we did on the Sky and saw another ship on their way in as we left. It was not a big deal having them there, It was not crowded with them there. We disembarked before they did in the morning and there was no one in the terminal as I exchanged my money. I saw their people coming out of the terminal later in the morning.

The aren’t denying she was ill. They are saying there is no evidence of food poisoning.

 

That is how I read it.

Agreed, food poisoning would have multiple people sick... Maybe what ever she ate just did not sit right with. (retired paramedic here)

For our next cruise I would like to rent a scooter for DW. The problem is, I don't know if I can talk her into using one. She can only walk very short distances before she is out of breath. For example, walking from the pub to the elevators is about as far as she can go without stopping for a minute.

I might have more luck getting her to use a wheel chair than a scooter. Can I rent a wheel chair for her to use all week on the ship? If I can, where do I rent these from?

Have you considered an upright walker, They have the new ones that you are not hunched over...they have a seat also if she gets tired she can stop and rest. Maybe the walker will help support her and help??