VidaNaPraia

So while folks here spend print space debating legalities, the question gets answered in detail elsewhere:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g147271-i387-k10250819-Public_Beaches_close_to_Old_Havana-Havana_Ciudad_de_la_Habana_Province_Cuba.html

Road Scholar now has a multi-stop trip:

http://21305b.roadscholaradventures.org/?so=PEY-A-CUBA-FB

You asked the same question in post #11 on the other thread, and got an answer in post #12:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2501105

Before the changes last year, tour groups like Insight or Roas Scholar took US passport holders from the US to Cuba, and applied to OFAC for a license based on a planned, full time schedule of cultural (people to people) activities, That tour agency was/is responsible for seeing to it that participants fulfilled the criteria and for record keeping.

This seems roughly equivalent to what the cruise line does for those choosing to take their tours/excursions.

With the ability of individuals to travel under a general license, airlines and cruise ships provide transportation for passengers who wish to DIY. They do keep a record of the reason each passenger chose for travel under the 12 OFAC legal reasons/excuses.

Some of the required records are also held by the cruise line or ship. Cruise line and is ultimately responsible for conforming to the law.

Not responsible if you choose the "individual" option and DIY. As it has been explained on a thread of this forum, the cruise line allows the choice of their group or individual, under the people to people excuse. They, as the airlines, keep the record of which of the 12 excuses you choose, and provide transportation to and from Cuba.

I believe travelers should do their due diligence. There is plenty written about this on all the travel forums on Cuba, so it's a safe assumption that most are informed nowadays.

This is a situation where everyone departing from a US port or airport chooses to heed their own conscience.

Do what feels comfortable for you and let others do the same.

Since good intentions don't count, most who publish an itinerary, even if it resembles that of some organization, probably don't fulfill the criteria anyway. But there's no way to know, because no one is checking.

The beach is about 25 minutes away by taxi or bus. It is adequate, but not spectacular. The road there is unscenic highway. The town itself appears run down. And yes, there are chairs and umbrellas for rent. However, I would not waste my time on such a short stop over. There is so much to see in the neighborhoods of Havana. If you really want to cool off in the water, consider a few hours at one of the hotel pools with a day rate (usually around 20 CUC or less pp, most of which can be used for food/drinks). Or just do as the locals do and stroll on the Malecon (the iconic road along the harbor with the wall) to catch a cool breeze.

What is your thinking to stay away from the port? If you get just a block or so away from the most heavily touristed areas of Havana Vieja (which the port borders), you will see few tourists and many locals going about their daily life.

"More real Cuban life"? What does that even mean? "More real" than what?

Away from the couple of main squares and main shopping street in Havana Vieja, local life --real Cuban life---goes on undisturbed.

Vedado seems a bit more suburban, many large crumbling houses with gardens, some tree shaded side streets, but there are lots of B&Bs for foreign tourists and expensive tourist restaurants.

You will probably drive through the neighborhood on a classic car tour or the HOHO. You can go have a drink at the Hotel Nacional or get some ice cream at Coppelia.

If you want to get slapped in the face by "real" Cuban life, try barrio JesusMaria if you dare. Most wouldn't.

http://www.guije.com/pueblo/municipios/habana/jesusmaria/mapas/index.htm

I thought travel insurance for Cuba was part of RCCL offering. Guess I had better go back and check my paperwork.

Cuba requires that all tourists have medical insurance. Most US insurance companies do not cover you in Cuba. It can currently be purchased from Asistur at the airport at arrival. However, the US airlines provide this required insurance as part of the ticket price. This is what the cruise line must provide. It covers treatment while in Cuba (but there are no reports online that I've seen by people who've had to use it, so hard to judge effectiveness; Cuba has great doctors, hospitals for tourists, but may lack the most modern equipment and supplies). It does not cover medical evacuation to your home country in case of an ongoing, more serious condition.

So to exchange your extra Cuban $ back to USD at the end of the day do you pay the 13% fee again?

No, just the 3% transaction fee.

Try to anticipate how much you need for purchases of any kind for the time you will be off the ship. You can always buy some inexpensive souvenirs for folks at home with a small amount of remaining cash in CUC at the last minute, instead of standing in line to exchange back.

Here's a useful site, with a description of top sights, a list of good restaurants, and at the end, a walking tour:

http://www.7daysinparadise.com/smf/index.php?topic=6052.0

Enjoy.

Mechanical translation, literal translation

Fairly useless "translation" :rolleyes:

Good map though

That looks fantastic! I did notice, however, that there weren't many/any kids around. Is this something that would be better suited to adults? I'd hate for them to be super bored, but I'd also like for them to be exposed to this beautiful historical site. (They'll be 7 and 11 when we go in October '17)

I think you'd have to do some homework before departure from home, to give the kids an opportunity to learn about Maya culture, to give some background, some context, for what they will be seeing.

There are lots of YouTube videos of the Uxmal buildings they can watch beforehand.

Mayan ruins have carved figures, so you could get them to use their imaginations to explain the meaning of what they are looking at while wandering around.

Bring something to keep them amused on the long bus trip to and from.

Thanks. The website will provide you with a lot of useful information, but you have to read it in Spanish, so far. Any questions, just contact us. Keeping in touch

Yes, some of the English descriptions of the numbered locations are not totally understandable. The words are in English but they do not add up to meaning.

Is it a good idea to get euros in US or just exchange there?

It really depends on how much money you plan to spend, the exchange rate on the day, any fees, and how much effort the transaction takes.

For example (rates from April 2017):

For U$1000, in Cuba, I would have gotten 870 CUC.

Note: This is the official rate fixed by the Cuban government on US dollars.

Note: There is no official government fixed rate on other currency, just world market forces at work.

Note: This includes the 3% transaction fee on any currency and the 10% penalty on US dollars because of the embargo.

Note: If you are staying in a casa particular (B&B), not on a ship, the owner can often get you a better exchange rate himself or with a friend.

For U$1000, Bank of America gave 888 Euros, including a 5% transaction fee.

888 Euros, in Cuba at the cadeca, gave 917 CUC

(1 Euro=1.05 or 1.04 CUC depending on which cadeca/bank/hotel at which the exchange was done).

So you've saved about 47 CUC on U$1000.

So you can see that if you plan to stay a while in Cuba and spend about U$1000, it might save yo ,maybe, the price of an additional night's stay in a casa particular or a couple of more expensive dinners.

If you are on a ship, visiting for a day or so, or overnight, it might nor be worth the hassle to save U$4 or so, if spending only U$100 or so.

You might be interested to know that the link in Post #3 is to the blog of Connor Gorry, a young American woman, resident of Havana, journalist, and owner of a funky little bookstore/cafe in the Vedado neighborhood (corner 24th and 19th). If you're looking around at mansions in Vedado, drop in for a cold drink and some reading material.

My best advice after more than one visit is not to get fixated on places, but to focus on meeting local people.

Oh, and in post #1, note that OP means FERRY terminal, on Sao Pedro between Calle Sol and Calle Luz. On the map, the wording is "lancha".

'56 Ford Fairlane?

When you open the links, they say.....

Tour 1 9 am to 6 pm

R3 9:30 am to 5:30 pm

However, I notice that a lot of the location numbers are bars and museums. Does this timing include a drink at each bar? Are bars your focus? How much time does it include inside the museums, or are you supposed to just walk past the building and forget the contents?

The other factor is the heat/humidity. At more hot/humid times if year, I struggle to get down the block, while at others, I can wander for hours.

Most importantly, sights in Cuba might not be the proper focus of a visit (not like Paris or London). IMO meeting and talking with Cubans should become the highlight of any trip, so wandering around at a leisurely pace to give time for this should be built into a visi, in preference to covering some list of supposed must-sees.

People need to do their due diligence. (Understand that there are 2 currencies and their visuals.)

And have some common sense.

If a menu in a little hole in the wall full of locals lists the price for a bowl of soup simply as "60", do you assume this is CUC (=60 dollars or 2 month's Cuban salary) or 60 CUP (=about $2.50) ?

And the bottom line is that especially if you are in Cuba for a short time, you are likely not to need CUP at all, or can use small CUC coins or notes for things priced in CUP.

 

CUCs have pictures of buildings/monuments.

 

The peso has pictures of people.

 

Which is why this visual makes it so easy to differentiate them.

You can easily walk back (to the pier most ships seem to be using) along the interior streets of the Havana Vieja neighborhood to "explore", or if the heat/humidity is too much, take a quick taxi ride along San Pedro (the road along the waterfront in Vieja) back to the pier.

It also may depend on which ship and therefore which pier. For example, the MSC Opera was at a pier quite close to the market.

IMO the market is huge and very repetitive. Maybe if you haven't yet seen the exact same old stuff in every street stall in Cuba, it would be more interesting. If you're looking for original paintings (not the same car scenes as everywhere) , there may be a few more than at other places.

Only one is called "peso" by Cubans, the CUP.

The CUC, pronounced and referred to as "kook", is yes, technically a "peso convertible".

Banks, hotel lobbies and cadecas also have air conditioning.

Certain times of year, September for example, are much hotter and more humid and therefore more tiring to walk around in Havana, than say March. But iif you require consistent air conditioning, Cuba may be difficult.

Am I reading correctly that you should exchange your USD for CUC once arriving in Havana? Where do you do this?

 

With so many people getting off the ship - is it crowded at the money exchange spots? Thank you.

For anyone not planning to get directly on board an excursion tour bus, there are about at least a half dozen locations (banks, cadecas, hotels) to exchange money within a few blocks of the pier in the Havana Vieja neighborhood.

The word to use to ask is CADECA. Any neighborhood resident can point the way.