jimdalva

We are doing the Front to Back on the Victory Jan 29 then Feb 2. Jan 29 will be the 2nd cruise after the Drydock, I hope they will be done.

The Carnival Victory is having an adults only cruise in early February.

Lets not forget that cruise ship pools (all pools really) are dangerous. Several people have drowned over the years, so water IS dangerous. Lets all be careful out there.

All lines are cutting corners to keep costs down. Eliminating one cleaning per day, to me , is easy to accept.

 

You can definitely tell the old geezers are posting away because, in retirement, you don't have a limited two weeks of vacation a year, or a business to run that you want to take a break from and enjoy yourself, not pretend to be saintly or FEMA workers.

I'm a retired old geezer, I didn't know that made me a bad guy,

Was it elevator related? That’s my only problem. Why on earth would you try to get on a crowded full elevator?

Its a 'City Mouse' vs 'Country Mouse' thing. A 'crowded full elevator' depends on what your use to back home.

We are on board, and will be happy where ever we go!

African or European?

I don't know that! KaBoom!

You have a choice , the monorail OR the ferry boat. Note: if the lines are long, the ferry boat moves more people per hour than the monorail.

Yes , many have had their vacations canceled, others will finally debark their extended cruises and find that their cars are flooded or washed away. BUT the people that live there have lost EVERYTHING. Lets remember that , and wish them well!

Is that like the Hop on Hop Off bus in Key West where you can get off the bus to do some sightseeing and then hop back on and go to another tourist spot for the one fee? Thanks

Yes, but we never felt the need to get off the T1 bus around the city, we had a great view from the top of the double decker bus.

We did get off the T3 bus at the beach, we bough a drink at the beach and re boarded the bus after its 20 min layover. If you want more time at the beach, the busses come every 45 min to an hour.

On my 2nd cruise I learned to see the deck steward first thing , and reserve my deck chair, in a good location, for the week, And a good tip insured a towel and Ice Tea or water would be waiting at my chair each morning.

That was more than 30 years ago, Ahh the good ole days.

Thanks everyone for the answers!! The first shuttle from our hotel (only about 1 mile from port) is at 9:45, that's the one I want to be on!!

Make sure you make a shuttle reservation early. Shuttle early time slots book up fast.

By the time we arrived at our hotel the day before, all the early shuttles were full.

We took a cab.

From what I understand, there are two HOHO routes. This longer one that is 10CUC (red line?) and another that is 5CUC (green line?). They intersect at one point, so for 15 you can do both routes and get to all of the sights.

 

I could be remembering this wrong... I've been processing a lot of Cuba info lately.

This is exactly right. The T1is $10 and the T3 is $5, they intersect at Parc Centro. The T1 is the city line on a red open air double decker bus. The T3 is a modern motor coach with A/C, and it gets on the highway and goes out to the beach.

The HOHO Bus is easy to find. Its a big Red modern double decker open air bus. On the side is written Habana Bus Tour. When you exit the terminal, it is Right there on the right of the exit. This is a major stop so the bus sits for 5 min or so.

We sat up top, front row and had a great view of the city for 2 hr. Ask for a map as you pay ($10 pp) so you can follow along. It seemed that at the end of the route we made a U turn, and returned the same route.

Also , private restaurants have popped up around town and they send people out to try to bring you in. When we tried to get into a famous bar that claims to have invented the Margarita and where Hemmingway drank, we could not, due to the over crowding and huge line to get in. Here a young women told us of a place down the side street where we could go for drinks. We followed her to a private home, nicely renovated as a Restaurant. Here over looking a busy street we (8 of us) had a wonderful 2 hr drinking and eating with music playing and a great host.

If your approached by private restaurant owner, don't be afraid to try it. O Yea, beers $2, mixed drinks $4, Appetizers $1.50.

Enjoy

One more tidbit....the certification form I scanned and emailed back to NCL has to be given to NCL when we check I to the cruise in Miami. Apparently this has caused confusion from some passengers at check in who did not bring the originally signed formed with them. So put that form in your travel docs and take it with you to the cruise check in desk.

We just returned from the May 8 Sky to Cuba, and having read your post, I had my affidavit ready, but the didn't collect it.

Also my Passport Was stamped in Cuba.

Thanks so much for all of this wonderful information. Does anybody have any beach advice? Thinking of visiting a beach on our second day. The only beach reference so far has been which bus to take. Thanks in advance.

 

 

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We did no more that look at the beach, we have been to many islands and sat on many beaches, so this trip beach time wasn't on our list.

However;

The T3 bus will take you to the beaches, but you have to take the T1 bus to get to the T3 bus. The T1 is $10 pp and the T3 is $5 pp. All fares are All day, round trip Hop on Hop off. I highly recommend taking Both routes.

On your second day a taxi would be best. We were offered a 2 hour ride for $30 many times. I sure you could set a time to be picked up or just make a deal for him to wait the several hours while your at the beach. Cubans make $20 to $40 a month, so you can make a deal for their whole day.

If I could do it over, I would Exchange More Money , I found myself worried that I would runout, you can easily change it back quick and EZ.

The Ship; The Sky. A mid size ship, showing a little wear but still a very nice ship. Don't expect any newer, bigger ship to call on Havana, the wont fit. The Sky was too big for the pier and at least 1/3 of her extended past the pier and out into the bay.

The all inclusive worked well. People posted here that they were afraid that waiter service would suffer because of this. NO, the opposite, waiters were plentiful and service was quick, and always with a smile. Service was good at the pool, the theater, the club and everywhere else.

Food; We found some very tasty food , and some just ok food. Just about the same as every other cruise.

Cabins were small but OK, the bed was very comfy. We saw our cabin Stewart only once on the last day. He didn't introduce himself at the start of the cruise as usual, but he did a good job, so no big deal.

Entertainment was very good. They had 3 bands, Latin band, Islands band and a top 40s band. Lots of music lots of dancing. Carnival and RCCL need to step it up here, NCL beats them hands down.

The comic was good, and he performed in the main theater, Carnival and RCCL need to take note, their small comedy clubs are always filled to capacity and have to turn people away.

They also had a piano bar, but we never stopped there, but others seemed to enjoy it.

The Cars;

The late model cars you see each day you could count on one hand. These were, a new cherry red Toyota Avalon, And a few black Mercedes.

Next you have old Communist Block Country cars, very small and boxy.

Then of course they have the Old American Cars, that are kept alive with Soviet parts. Almost all are Taxis. One fellow cruiser told me his Taxi driver was a doctor, who earns $40 a month at the hospital, but can earn that in one day with his taxi. He said his car was passed down from his grand father to his father and now to him.

Some cars look beautifully restored and painted, and some look like they were painted with a brush. These old cars came with lots of chrome trim, but many have lost it places over the years and there is no way to replace that.

In general , other in mid town, there are empty roads. Not many cars, but lots of buses. Other than mid town. Not many people. On the bus ride out of town to the beach, we saw apartment building after apt building, empty. We went thru and entire housing development with 100 or more houses, once owned by rich Americans, now all but empty. The bus driver said that they are for rent, but we counted maybe 6 that were occupied. All of this guarded by manned gates and police station. More security and police than residents.

At check in I offered my affidavits, but they didn't want them , they said, "you keep those'.

My general impression of Cuba is that its crumbling, but clean. At first you see it as a dirty city, but you will see cleaning crews sweeping up the garbage and the do a pretty good job. What they don't clean up is the crumbled concrete and stone, which is falling from every building. They will tell you that this building or that building are being renovated, but very few actually are. Everywhere you see empty buildings, some gutted down to the bare walls. You can see in the front and out the back. Buildings that are occupied have Not been painted or had major repairs in over 50 years. The city is held together with 'spit and glue'.

I saw two kinds of buildings, Old Spanish buildings, more than 100 years old. And the Art Deco Resort Hotels built by the Mafia, just before Castro came to power.

Did they take both halves of your tourist card on the first entry? Did they stamp your passport (and inspect it each time you went in and out after that)?

Is the exchange rate for changing back to USD simply 1:1 (minus 3-4% fee), with no 10% penalty in that direction?

Yes they took Both halves of my Visa and Yes they stamped my Passport.

After the first inspection , all others took 30 seconds, with No lines. EZ

I changed back $10 Cuban and received $9 and change US ( sorry I didn't count the change, just put it in my pocket) Also with Smiles and No lines after the first morning.

The 2nd day we took a Horse and buggy ride. Four people, $20 each for two hours. Where the Bus took us to see the pretty face of Havana, the Buggy ride took us to see the not so pretty everyday life of Havana. Here we saw depressing every day life of people who did Not seem to appreciate us looking at them as if we were at a zoo.

Our driver was very friendly and spoke English. I told him That I wanted to buy cigars, and he took us to the 'Cigar Exchange'. This was a once Stately building which had fallen into disrepair. Only a small corner of the first floor remained occupied by this Cigar shop where They showed me a box of Coheba's for $172. Cuban, and my driver said 'don't by here, I will take you to a better place to buy'.

At the next stop we were able to buy a box for $80. Once again I was being stingy with my Cuban money when he said Ill take US money just add $10 for the exchange and penalty , so I gave him $90 US and we were both happy.

The Hop on Hop off bus was a good value, and highly recommended. The T1 line stops right in front of the ship and is $10 Cuban, paid as you enter the bus. Its a 2 hour circle thru Havana, very good!

The T3 line stops at Parc Centro, its $5, and it gets on the highway and drives out to the beaches. Also very good and a little less that 2 hours. Then back to the ship on T1 Bus.

NOTE; T1 stops at Parc Centro, twice, once outbound (5 min from the ship) and again Inbound (2 hours around the circle back to the ship). Once you finish the T3 route make sure that you get on the right T1 that gets back to the ship in 5 min, OR you may find yourself doing the 2 hour tour again.

The Inbound T1 and outbound T1 stop on opposite sides of the same Parc Centro square, it EZ to see both stops, the square is not that big.

No one anywhere took US credit cards. But after paying some bills in Cuban Money we tipped wait staff, drivers etc, in US money and they were happy to take it. We were stingy with our Cuban money, afraid we would run out. US money, we had plenty, and tipped generously with it.

We found Many spoke English. Many met us with a smile and tried to sell something, like a Car tour, a Buggy Ride, or cigars. When we ventured Back, away from the tourist area and the beaten path, the smiles disappeared. We even felt unwelcome in one store where we bought a bottle of water.

We just returned from Cuba on Sky May 8 to 12. A wonderful trip.

A few observations:

Customs & Immigration was EZ. The first day the ship used a # system , just like the tendering system. One member of our party went up to the lounge at 7am and picked up tickets for the entire group. We had #1 and were called to get off at 8:30, much earlier than was reported on the May 1 cruise, they had reported 10am.

Once off the ship we waited no more than 20 min at Customs & Imm. They see you 1 at a time NOT couples together. Next, 100 yards across the building and we lined up to change our Euros, and in another 20 min we had our 'kook' in hand. EZ! Contrary to what so one here wrote, We found No shops in the port that took US money!

After that First Customs and Imm. check, there was never a line to go back and forth to the ship.

On our last day the happily took back our leftover Cuban money and gave us US money, also No lines like the first day.