redrum42

I booked the full day, small group tour through Turismo Maritimopacifico tours for Saturday Mar 30, but received an email the night before, recommending that I cancel the tour. As it was the Easter long weekend, the huge influx of locals going to the island made them delay getting onto the island till 3:30 that day, giving customers very little time if they wanted to get back to their ship on time. I was glad they let me know this situation, and cancelled for full refund. Hopefully try it another time.

I ended up strolling to the end of the pier that day, with no plans, and a street vendor offered a van tour to monkey house, crocodile river tour and Punterenas drive tour. $25 for tour, with $30 for river tour. Great value, and had a great time. Don't remember the name of the company.

thanks for the great review. Always good to get some feedback before making our own decisions.

Just completed the Feb 21 – 28 cruise and will list a few observations for cruisers still going this year. Thanks to other posters that have done the same and helped us in making some of the decisions in our cruise. This report is from wife and I, mid 50’s, no physical restrictions. Rather than go over boat specifications and other information that has been commented on in numerous posts, I will try to give you a sense what we liked or didn’t like during our cruise.

In listing our ages, first of all, let me say that there were almost no children on this cruise, probably due to being during the school year, thus most of the passengers seemed to be 50+. The exceptions seemed to be some travel agents who must get sponsored deals from their companies to go on these cruises. Maybe I should get a job like that, as most of these professionals that I talked to seemed to be able to bring family members along for cheap, and didn’t give me the impression that they had really been looking forward to coming on the cruise, rather that it was an employment obligation. I know this won’t speak to all travel agents, but at least all the ones I talked to on this cruise.

We boarded in MB, getting there 3 days early and staying at the Oasis at Sunset resort, which is minutes away from the cruise ship terminal. Great all-inclusive experience there. Did a couple of scuba dives with Kelly’s water sports onsite at the resort. A bit pricey, but excellent dives. There is a beautiful private beach for the customers at the Oasis side of the resort, with excellent snorkelling in the reef just offshore.

For boarding, checked in early, no line-ups, and were on board before noon. This was during the olympics, and Canada was playing US in the hockey semi-final, so I checked out sports bar on deck 8 to watch the game. Unfortunately, none of the 6 or 7 channels that were available onboard was showing the game, so I decided to get off the boat and back to the cruise port, as there was a small food and beverage stand in the terminal with a TV that had the approximately 40 channels available from Jamaica TV. I had a seat, ordered a Red Stripe beer, and asked one of two rather large Jamaican women, who were busy watching a soap opera on the TV, if they could see if the hockey game was on. She gave me a look that told me my intervention during the soap opera was NOT appreciated, scanned through 3 or 4 other channels with the remote, put it back to her soap opera, and told me “No ‘ockey, mon”. Maybe if I had told her that the Jamaican bobsled team was on TV, she would have made a more diligent effort at finding the proper channel.

Back to the ship, smaller than regular cruise lines. One small salt water pool on deck 9, rather cool, as it is refilled from the ocean daily. One hot tub on deck 5 aft at the rum bar. The aft decks 5-9 are all connected with exterior stairways, and are nice to get out of the wind while underway and watch the boat wake, or even star watch during the evenings. For bow vantage points, there is deck 10 and 5. I would highly recommend setting yourselves up at one of these places during morning entry to the Cuban ports, as most of them navigate very narrow entries, often going by magnificent fortresses that were placed for strategic defense of these cities centuries ago. Again, DON’T SLEEP THROUGH THE PORT ENTRIES, they are some of the highlights of the trip. I doubt that some of the larger cruise ships could navigate into most of these ports.

There were only 334 passengers when we boarded in MB, and one of the two dining rooms was left closed, as there were not enough passengers to have both open. As reported before, food was mediocre, but the service was excellent.

Entertainment was very good. The 6 piece band of Cuban musicians, Habana Moon, was extraordinary. They were teamed with 3 vocalists. Freddy, Lisbet and Hector. Freddy had an incredible voice, especially highlighted when he did some operatic songs. Lisbet was good, with full range. Hector was the weakest vocally, still good mind you, but with somewhat weak in the lower range. He make up with it, however, with stage presence, and Tom Cruise good looks that kept the ladies enthralled.

We saw all of the shows, including the ones that featured local artists from Cuba coming on board. Don’t miss these shows because you are ‘kind of tired after dinner’. They are all first class.

They also have the band and dancers playing at the deck 9 pool, along with dance lessons for the passengers. Take advantage of this, it's a lot of fun!

One surprise was an early show (6 pm) put on by Ronny, one of the restaurant staff. He has a fabulous voice, and you should definitely catch his vocal performance of mostly Elvis tunes.

Wandering around the ship on the afternoon on our 2nd day, I went into the empty show lounge and saw they had a grand piano to the right of the main stage. Seeing no-one around, and being a keyboard player, I sat down and started playing some tunes. After half an hour, the bartender for the lounge came in to set up his area, and rather than being scolded for touching private equipment, I was encouraged to keep playing for him while he was working. Shortly afterward, Keely, an acrobat from Vancouver, and former member of Cirque de Soleil, came in to rehearse for her evening performance. She told me that they had a talent show that evening of passengers and non-performing crew members. Long story short, I agreed to sign up for the show. That evening, I found out that there was only one other passenger that would be in the show as well, and all the rest were crew members, with months of practice and audio visual support for their parts. The other passenger was a blues guitar player who was part way through his second week of back to back cruises and had arranged to play with the Cuban house band to back him up. So at the point that they called me onstage, in front of the packed theatre, I had started to feel a bit inadequate about the whole situation, but managed to stumble through a rendition of Burton Cummings ‘Own Way to Rock’ as befits my Canadian heritage. It was a lot of fun, and afterwards some of the band members commented to me that they had enjoyed my song, so that was kind of cool.

Ports and Excursions

Cienfuegos – I had set up a private tour to go for a scuba dive through Pototo, as there are none through the cruise lines. At the port, there was no one waiting for me, so I got talked into going out to the dive center with a hustler at the port. This was about a 20 km drive, and then I had to wait 40 minutes for the divemaster to come back in from his current dive. He could not take me for a dive, so it was back to town. The person who talked me into going out to the dive center wanted to appoint himself as my personal guide for the rest of the day, but I told him I preferred to wander around by myself. I got let off at the major square a short distance from the port. There is a street just off this square that cars are not allowed, only pedestrian traffic. This seems to have the best prices for shoppers on the entire cruise. If I would have known that at the time, I would have stocked up on more souvenirs. I also had an incredible mojito at a small family owned bar (seats 10) just off this street.

Brenda had booked the botanical garden and city tour, as she does not dive, and though she enjoyed it, she said there was a lot of walking in very warm weather, and was exhausted when we met back at the ship after her tour. This tour, although it ends up right off the pedestrian street that I had enjoyed my stroll through, did not allow tour participants to stray away from the tour to explore this.

Beach day at Punta Frances – Beautiful beach, get in early to get one of the rare shady spots on the beach. Turn left after you get off the pier and head toward the remnants of the old commercial pier. If the spots by the shade trees near the pier are taken, keep walking. You don’t want to be sitting in the sun the whole time there. And besides, if you are a snorkeler, the best spot is the ruins of the old pier, so it is better if you get a spot close to it. Snorkel along the broken access to the old pier, and if you make it all the way out, there are hundreds of large colourful fish, along with interesting shells to make it worthwhile. Most people don’t get out there, as it is a bit of a hike from the entry point from the tender.

Havana – Disappointed with the half day Havana walking excursion through the cruise line. Went to a fort on the other side of the channel. Didn’t get to go into the fort, but got herded into a cigar shop on the premise of stopping there for a bathroom break. 40 people waiting in lineup for one bathroom for men and ladies. There were no tissues, the toilet did not flush, and the sink did not have running water. (And there is a toilet on the tour bus!) This wasted about 40 minutes of the tour. Then rounded off to the bar where Ernest Hemingway had mojitos. Into a couple of small 2nd floor rooms, not enough seats for everyone so we had to stand the whole time. Served watered down mojitos that Hemingway would doubtless have thrown back into the bartenders face. Don’t recommend this tour.

There is a market just a couple of blocks from the cruise port, turn left after getting onto the main street. Lots of merchandise, and within walking distance. One personal anecdote from going to this market. We were tired after the full day, and decided to get a pedicab for the short distance back to the ship. The driver told us 5 cuc’s, which was kind of pricey, but we said OK. When we got there, I only had a 10 cuc bill and he said he didn’t have any change, hoping we would say just keep it. But this was an obvious rip off ploy, so I made him wait while I went into the port facilities and got the proper change for him. Lesson learned- if you negotiate a price, have the correct change to avoid complications later.

Holguin – did the Cuba Life tour. Highly recommended, tour guide grew up locally, wealth of information from the area, and also candidly answered off topic questions from the tour participants about private life in Cuba, politics, etc. The cuba cruise website says bring your bathing suit for the catamaran, that is a mistake, there is no catamaran. There is a beach at Guardalavaca, but most people stay at the market. I was one of the few that went to the beach (Brenda doesn’t need my assistance at the market) and did some snorkeling. Strong current, good visibility. Saw a lion fish, so if you’re walking in the water, be aware. The sting from their spines is very painful.

Santiago – Went on a private cab tour in a 54 chevy with the venerable originator of this thread, Balloon Man, Alan, and his wife Chris. Interesting in the fact that the tour guide was not that fluent in English, and Chris, being fluent in Spanish, ended up being the interpreter for our tour. Visited the Morro fort, very cool. Not being a museum guy, I nonetheless really enjoyed the museum of the revolution. Very educational. The changing of the guard at Jose Marti’s tour was also a highlight. They took us for lunch at a local restaurant high in the hills with an incredlble view. The lunch was cheap, and very good. All in all, a very good tour.

Disembarkation at Montego Bay. This part was a joke. 175 passengers getting off the boat and 2 port personnel to process them. Leave yourself lots of time if you are catching a connecting flight out of MB after getting off the ship.

Final thoughts – Both Brenda and I thoroughly enjoyed this cruise. Not your typical party boat cruise, but as a culturally educational trip that also provides great downtime and entertainment, this was excellent. As mentioned by others, the beds are VERY firm so be prepared for that.

Hope this helps for future cruisers.

Frank and Brenda

Nice pics, retiring soon. Thanks for posting the link!

Thanks to all who have taken the time to get some feedback to those of us still waiting.

Retiringsoon, thanks for answering some of the questions coming your way.

Elpapa, nice review of your trip down and first day aboard. I too am going from Vancouver through Toronto, but we are going to Montego Bay, WestJet both flights, glad we are not using Cuban air....

Jinky - would like to meet up with your party when we get on at MB on 21st. We are cabin 7219. Where are your cabins? (If you don't mind letting us know)

Frank and Brenda

for those of you flying down, this might help pass the time.

The next time you find yourself on a plane, sitting next to someone who cannot resist chattering to you endlessly,quietly pull your laptop out of your bag, carefully open the screen (ensuring the irritating person next to you can see it), and hit this link.

http://www.thecleverest.com/countdown.swf

Hey Judy,

No we're all good for flights. Just wondering about the westjet vacation you mentioned. I couldn't find this cruise anywhere on westjet's vacation website. Sounded like you could book through them.

Also was wondering, is there any kind of ATM onboard that dispenses Cdn funds? Or can you get some from the guest services and put it on your shipboard account?

Thanks all who put in informative reviews of their trip. Just a couple of questions.

JO - You mentioned that a snorkeling excursion to the 'beautiful beach' was cancelled. Which city and excursion was this?

Also that the Vinales trip was cancelled due to insufficient numbers. Did those people who had booked these trips have sufficient time to rebook on other excursions?

JUDY - you gave some prices for the cruise through Transat and Westjet. What city were you flying out of? I am having trouble getting a quote on Transat, it says contact travel agent. I can't find mention of this cruise anywhere on Westjet vacations. Maybe not searching properly.

Thanks again to cooking, rollerblader, insider, retiring, and hlperez for their reviews for those of us still to go. Feb 21 out of MBJ for us. Working out of the Edmonton area currently, -22 here right now, going down to -29 tonite. :mad:

Counting down the days!

As a partial answer to my own question, I called Cuba Cruise about this, and they said, just explain that your additional coverage is through your credit card company. No extra paperwork is necessary, and the Cuba customs is familiar with this aspect of travel medical coverage.

Hello Chris and Alan, and Duhcar. Look forward to meeting you in Havana. It will be my wife Brenda and I getting on in Montego Bay.

One question, the website said that proof of medical insurance was required for entry into Cuba (or I think you have to purchase their insurance).

We have travel coverage through our MasterCard. How would we show proof of this, get a statement from MC? Print off our benefits? (anyone can do that and claim it was theirs).

Some on this thread who have been there must have had to deal with this situation. Any advice?

Hey everybody, I have been looking at this cruise for a couple of days now, and finally booked the flights for the departure from Montego Bay on Feb 21. I went to the Cuba Cruise website to reserve a cabin, but after you put in all the reservation info, it requires log in information, and doesn't really show you how to create a login identity. Doesn't look like the website is very well set up. ie - it says 28 cabins available for a certain category, yet only shows 10 of them. Oh well, I will call them tomorrow and see if I can get it all straightened out. (Have to, since the flights from Vancouver are now booked.....)

I have read this thread, and the recommended links provided to get additional information, so it looks like there is an overwhelming positive feedback on this cruise. Thanks to all for the great feedback. It will definitely help when looking at excursions, etc.

So we are getting on in Montego Bay Feb 21, flying in on Feb 18 to spend a couple of extra days there. Any one else on the same or overlapping trip, send a note.

See you onboard.