csnow

Hi again!

 

Sandy ~ thanks for that hint, I think we all have those items at home but do they not expire?:confused: Toothbrushes are also easy to hand out if one wishes.

 

 

I honestly hadn't thought of checking for an expiry date on shampoo, lotion or soap. I know I use them for travel myself, and haven't noticed anything bad happen. I sure hope I didn't give out anything wrong!! You are right Jo, toothbrushes were also something they were happy to receive. We use electric toothbrushes, but still take the ones the dentist gives out after a visit for when we travel. We had some of those also.

Just wanted to wish anyone leaving soon a bon voyage! Wish we were going with you! I know you will have a great time.

One thing I didn't mention before. For some reason I have collected many of the tiny toiletries from the hotels we have stayed in over the years. I brought a big bag full of them with us, and asked the tour guide where it would be best to hand them out. My husband and I meant to save some for other stops, but I have a real hard time saying no, so gave everything away at the first stop. In hindsight, I wish we would have left some for other tours, but the guide said this was one of the poorer stops and would be very appreciated by them. We had soap, shampoo, and lotion with us. We were asked (by playing "charades" with them!) for these things many times on other tours.

Again, have a great trip!

Sandy

So you can purchase a ticket for the day right on the bus?

We bought ours on the bus when we boarded. Unfortunately, we were late boarding because it was the day we arrived in Havana so were only able to do the circuit once and were unable to "hop on and hop off" before they were finished for the night. Really enjoyed it though.

The nearest stop is at Central Square on the right of the big dome, just up from the ship.

We were able to catch the HOHO bus right outside the cruise terminal in january. They were pulling up as we were exiting.

Last season the daily bulletin read: "Elegant attire optional" and as reported previously only some passengers dressed in the style that other cruise lines refer to as "Smart Casual". We wore the guayabera shirt which in our opinion met the requirement while full formal wear might be considered uncomfortably out of place.

So true! I had on a short black dress and my husband wore a suit and we definitely felt over dressed. The guayabera shirt would have been perfect.

Hi all!

 

csnow ~ thanks so much for answering my questions. I thought the native

dance was hokey too but I joined in so I'd appear on the video. I'm never in the locations that are being filmed on cruises & often buy the tapes.:o

 

Jo, I also joined in, but not by choice-lol! I was sitting on the ground and the one who appeared to be the "head" or "chief" of the one tribe grabbed my hands and pulled me up. He wouldn't listen to "no thank you" and I was up and dancing before I knew it! It was kind of fun though, and they were so nice.

Hi all!

 

I think we'll probably do the HOHO bus so if anybody did it please let me know where you picked it up & how it was please.

 

Jo we did manage to catch the HOHO bus on our first day in Havana. We didn't make it off the ship until close to 4:45. We hadn't eaten since early morning so as soon as we boarded the ship we tried to find something to eat. That was around 3:00 and tea wasn't until 4:00, so as soon as we managed to grab some food we hurried off the ship and happened to walk out of the cruise terminal just as the last one for the day pulled up. It was well worth the money and wish we had more time to get off and on at different stops. If you go on it, be very careful if you are on the top and stand up. The hydro, power, and telephone lines that go across the street are very low. If you stand at the wrong time it could be bad news!! Also watch for the tree branches-they brush across the top right hand side at some points!

 

It seemed that after the first day in Havana the cruise company started extending the lunch time (buffet) for returning excursions. Not sure if someone complained about nowhere to eat when returning in the afternoon or if they have always done this. Maybe the time of our flight the first day was an abnormality, but there were 2 busloads from the airport and everyone was looking for somewhere to grab a bite to eat. Others have talked about easy check-ins, but that isn't what we experienced. We arrived at the airport at 12:30 and didn't get on board until close to 3:00. That isn't any worse than many other cruiselines, but I haven't read of others having to wait a long time to board for this cruise so thought I would let you know what we experienced. Maybe because there were so many of us arriving at once.

I have started making piles of clothes and getting together the small necessities.

I did buy myself one new top for a dinner and my MIL gave me a new one for Christmas, but everything else is my usual summer wear.

Trying to take less, mix and match and do double duty. I have good intentions. :rolleyes:

 

This may make it easier for you to pack. The dining room was very casual. I think we saw blue jeans on a few people every night. We brought dressier clothes for formal night, but I think fewer than 20% wore formal wear. I actually felt out of place. It was posted as a formal night but if I remember correctly it stated that it was only suggested. I don't really care and if I had known so few would dress up I would gladly have left our "good" clothes at home and had more room in our suitcases!

HI all!

 

csnow ~ thanks for coming back with your thoughts & excursion info. Wow you have been busy!:eek: Sounds like you had a good time on the cruise. Which 3 excursions did you do & how did you like them please?

Did you go to the steak house?

 

Kerri ~ good point. It does sound like they just joined CC to slam the cruise. I really liked the decor, decals & all. The store was nice too & everything's so close, just one floor down from us, easy peasy.

 

burm ~ I've ordered that book from the library but have 3 others to get through 1st!!

 

Ron ~ glad you cleared that up about the Jamaicans that boarded as that sounded bad!:eek: I never noticed a dignitary table last year, I'll have to look out for that.

 

Have a nice evening.

 

~ Jo ~ :)

We did Cuba Life, Panoramic Santiago, and Trinidad. Enjoyed the Cuba Life. It was our first tour, so everything was new. Loved the bus trip-it was interesting to look at the countryside and view life in Cuba. I agree with zebraprintsky about the Indian dance, not what I was expecting, but ok. Same with the nature park where Christopher Columbus landed. Our lunch was very good, and then they drove us to Guardalacava where we had time to visit the market and the beach which were both very enjoyable.

We did Panoramic Santiago and that was good. Liked all of this tour, but especially the mojito at a restaurant off the square! Wish I could remember the name of the place, but the best mojito I have ever had! We tried to walk around after, but so many people were asking for money or soap or lotion that we headed back to the ship without seeing anything. This wasn't the only place where people were asking for things, but the only place we were bothered enough to just head back to the ship.

Our last trip was to Trinidad. It was a long ride and we loved seeing the countryside on the trip there and back. Lunch was very good. It was a buffet style and had many choices and included a drink. Next we went to a pottery studio. Only one or two people bought from here that I noticed. It wasn't something I felt I needed or wanted to spend time at, but it was fine. Our guide took us to a Museum which was interesting and then a little walk around tour before going for a drink at a bar. After that we had time to wander around on our own before heading back. There wasn't time to see anything of Cienfuegos when we returned, and I almost wish we had spent our time here. It looked like there was enough in the town to keep busy for a while.

We didn't go to the steakhouse. We live in a rural area and get our beef from my brother-in-law's brother. I don't think you can find better beef anywhere so didn't bother spending money on it! We usually find the food at the main restaurants on all of the ships more than adequate for us.

We would appreciate being advised by anyone who had recently disembarked the Cristal whether the ship has been maintaining the "Two:)For:)One" Cocktail hour prior to dinner. If so, at what specified hour? Thanks.

Arrived in Florida late yesterday so just getting around to answering some questions now. There was a 2 for 1 cocktail hour, but I can't remember the exact time and our programs are still at home in Ontario! It was written in very small print and we missed it until the last night so didn't make use of it. Sorry I can't be more specific.

Sorry I haven't posted before now. We didn't arrive home until late Monday night. Since then we have had 5 appointments, hosted a 50th birthday party, and had my dad to dinner. We are also hoping to head south early tomorrow morning for a vacation so have been busy unpacking from our Cuba trip, and packing and organizing for our next trip! I am still working on washing sheets and towels from having the kids home for Christmas!

We really enjoyed our cruise. True, there were differences compared to previous cruises, but nothing to complain about. The ports were very interesting, and the staff were fabulous! Food was mostly ok, but I didn't have to cook or clean up, so no complaints!

We were on with a lot of TA's from different areas of Canada. Some were very impressed, others not as much. Most seemed to think it was a worthwhile cruise though as far as I could tell.

Others on here seem to have the answers to most of the questions asked. We did use our towels at the beaches we went to, although we understood that we would be responsible for them if they weren't returned. Sounds fair! Our cabin housekeeper, Sara, replaced the wet ones with dry ones for us without us even asking. She was wonderful-the best we have had on any of our cruises. Same with almost all of the staff.

We did have one problem. We booked 3 excursions with the company before we left. The amount had come off our cc and was showing on our online account with Louis Cristal. Luckily we had printed off a copy because they had no record of it. We almost missed our first excursion because of it. My husband went down the morning of the trip and asked if we needed anything to go on the excursion. The lady at the desk said we should have gotten a receipt the night before. When she looked it up, she said there was no record of us on it. It seemed to be up to us to prove we were actually on the trip. He had to run up to our cabin and get the print out to show we were signed up on it. We had about 15 minutes to spare. So if you have booked excursions before your trip, check to be sure you are on the list once on board.

Again, thanks for your help before we went, and sorry I haven't been back on here before now. I will keep checking for questions, but it may be a few days before I can reply.

We are at our hotel across from the airport. We left earlier today and took our time. Roads were good, but so much traffic! Jo, we live near Sarnia and even coming through London was busy, although nothing like Toronto.

We have never stayed at this Comfort Inn before, but we are impressed so far. Very clean and best of all, they had a bag of small candy bars waiting in the room. My husband was grinning from ear to ear! The front desk is very friendly and helpful, and there is a pizza place and a pub connected to the motel which makes grabbing a bite to eat very easy.

Can't wait for the warm weather!

Sandy

If we were just a bit more flexible in our schedule next week, we'd be on our way to Cuba. Less than 700pp all in. Wow!

 

It's def in our plans for Christmas next. 😃

 

Mo

 

 

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Too bad, it would have been nice to have someone from this thread on the same trip! I understand what you mean about schedules, this was the only week that would work for us.

Kerri-Thank you for the info on Doctor's Cave. I found out a lot from some posts here on CC, but hadn't seen that link. Very interesting. I was wondering why it was referred to as a cave.

Distant Traveller-Thanks for the review. You answered some questions we were wondering about, and helped to get us even more excited for this cruise. We leave tomorrow to overnight in TO before our flight on Monday. With the weather forecast for this weekend, I am glad we are going down the night before to catch our flight.

Jo-You are welcome for the question, but the thanks for the HOHO bus info goes to Burm for supplying the answer! I think we are going to do this, so will let you know how it goes when we return. I wish we had thought to ask about a map of Havana also. I am hoping there will be a tourist bureau somewhere, or maybe the ship will have something?

Once again, thanks!

Sandy

We called this morning and booked our excursions. A very friendly, helpful lady assisted us. We are thinking of doing a beach day when we are in Montego Bay. Doctor's Cave seems to be recommended on these boards. I am thinking it is easiest to grab a cab there and back. Has anyone been there before?

ONT-CA Thanks for the map of the area. It looks like a bit of a hike from the port to the Capital Building but I think we can do it. Should have lots of time to take plenty of rests!

Thanks again for all the help from everyone. You are a very friendly bunch!

If you are fit and have a good pair of walking shoes the town is yours. The streets and sidewalks in the old section can be rough walking though. To give you an example of locale, the ship docks a couple of minutes walk to a most beautiful Greek Orthodox church (to the left as you exit the terminal). As the ship comes into it's birth, you will be able to see the gold domed steeple. A goodly walk straight forward from the terminal, towards the Capitol Building, which predominates the skyline, you will come to the square surrounded by historical hotels and where one can further catch or drop the HOHO bus. But be prepared to be continuously distracted with the architecture, restored and yet to be restored, and the visual history of Old Havana. At times I felt like I was a charter within a historical novel.

Thank you. You have given me more of a visual to go on. It sounds a lot like travel in Europe. You don't notice how long you have been walking because of the beautiful and interesting buildings around you. The cobblestones and uneven walking surface can be hard on the body though!

Thank you for asking! I didn't know there was a HOHO bus in Havana.

 

http://www.accommodation-cuba.com/havana-tourist-bus.htm

Thank you for the link! I should have had the sense to google it!!

Thank you for the welcome Retiring Soon. You have supplied a lot of helpful info on this thread that I have found very useful. I have read up to page 13 and a lot of the in between posts from using the search engine. I will try to post after we return and answer any questions that anyone has.

We have decided to do the Cuba Life tour, Panoramic Santiago, and the trip to Trinidad if there is still availability. We tried to call to book, but understandably there was no one at the office. We are going to try again tomorrow since we read that it has to be done 48 hours before boarding. If not we will have to take our chances once we are onboard.

Does anyone know if there is a HOHO bus in Havana? We were thinking of using that and just walking around on our own. Is it possible to walk from the port to Old Havana, or will we need to take a taxi? Well, I had better keep reading!

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy new year!

Sandy

My husband and I booked this cruise just before Christmas, but I haven't had much time to look into the tours until today. Thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time to write about their experience. I am finding these cruise ports more challenging to find information for, but without this thread it would have been much harder. I started to read from the first post, but that was taking way too much time! I am thinking it might work better to just search for certain words in this thread instead.

We are on the Jan. 5th sailing, so I am going to be very busy these next few days. We had family staying with us until yesterday so today was my first opportunity to begin searching for tours, etc.. Is anyone else on this thread on the Jan. 5th sailing?

Thanks again to everyone for all the info provided here.

We are cruising in the new year and your reviews have really helped us in deciding what to do in the ports. Thank you so much for taking the time to post such honest, extensive reviews and posting such wonderful pictures. Your little girl is a darling! Thank you again.