On y va!

We are also Canadians and cruised around Cuba on Celestyal (at that time as My Cuba Cruise). All are required to pay a 'visa' when visiting Cuba. When we visited previously for a beach holiday, we had had to pay the 'visa' as an exit tax. Same thing because you cannot leave without paying it. One of the delays in setting up the initial cruises (before the Americans started to join the fun) was that Cuba was requiring the entry /exit fee be paid at every port. We circumnavigated and were at a different port every day and at sea every night therefore Cuba said we were re-entering. The final agreement with the cruse company was that for those of us who started and ended in Havana, we paid as we boarded ('left Cuba) and again after the one non-Cuba port (Montego Bay, Jamaica). The passengers who boarded and disembarked n Jamaica only had to purchase one entry visa. Such is life. I do not know about HAL's requirements for tours. That could be different because they are subject to USA regulations. My Cuba Cruise was Canadian and then sold out to the ship's company, Celestyal, which is Greek so we were had no restrictions.

Hello fellow cruisers. We're setting sail on Ruby Princess out of Seattle on Aug 19th I was told that formal attire for men was a dark suit or tuxedo. My husband's suit is grey. Do you think that would be acceptable? Thank you in advance.

No worries. As long as it is clean and neat, it will be fine. You will see a variety of levels of 'formal' but colour is not mandatory. A tie is a good idea.

You may want to consider Wind Star for a completely different experience. We did the Jewels of the Caribbean on the Wind Star, the original of their assisted sailing ships. Lovely time around the Tobago Keys. Small ship experience, excellent service, fun food. If you need the variety of food options and entertainment of a big cruise ship this is not for you. If you want laid back fun in the sun (excursions on small islands, play platform from which you can use their paddle boards and other water toys while ship is at anchor in a quiet bay) this is absolutely a dream.

Janet

We were in Buenos Aires in February and were very happy with their Free Walking Tour. There are actually 2 of them since there is just so much to see in this wonderful city. We did the morning tour which ended in Recoleta but ran out of time to take the afternoon tour because we took a couple of days to fly up to Iguazu Falls (also very much worth the visit!). The tours, as in many of the world's cities, are excellent for giving an overview of the city, or part of it, and for giving a different perspective. The guides tend to be students of various ages and interests. Ours was very politically and historically connected but also was careful to recommend museum and galleries which were worthy of additional attention. The tours are indeed free. You just show up and at the end of the tour pay what you feel they are worth. The website is http://www.buenosairesfreewalks.com/

Absolutely you can do Cuba by cruise now but the season is very limited. My Cuba Cruise, a Canadian company, books the Louis Cristal from mid December to late in March for 7 day circumnavigation of Cuba. We did it last year and it was wonderful. There is general CC roll call which was active last year and is active this year. You can start your cruise in Montego Bay or Havana. There is 1 sea day. Ports include Antilla (in the Holguin vicinity, Santiago de Cuba, Trinidad de Cuba (from which you can take a tour to Cienfuegos, and the Isle of Youth. The last is one of the best, most beautiful beach days you can imagine. The three previous to that are all World Heritage sites and absolutely rich with culture, architecture, music and nice people. the first, Holguin area gives a completely different sense of the agriculture and countryside....or you can go to a beach. The website is: http://www.yourcubacruise.com/yourtrip.aspx I believe there are also a couple of other cruiseships that stop at Havanna as one port on a Caribbean cruise...perhaps Thompson cruises. We know that others will jump on at least Havana, given the opportunity and it will be an excellent addition to the Caribbean market. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat!

Janet

Hi There everyone, it's exciting to hear all the positive feed back regarding Cuba Cruise! We just booked one out of Havana March 17th. Its been far too long since our last cruise and we can't wait.

 

Normally we try and do some exploring by our selves rather than ships excursions because it seems less frantic and we're free to spend time on things that interest us.

 

My question for those that have been on the ship already is

-Where exactly are the piers that the ship docks at/ tenders too?

 

any help is appreciated!

If our memory serves: Piers: Havanna: 1 block from old Havana. Just walk on (or off) and you are there; Antilla (Holguin): short tender to the pier, outside the small village of Antilla, controlled access, not many services but limited taxis outside the enclosed port area, a short walk, an hour or so to Holguin (someone on our cruise hired a taxi just to go around the countryside and was very happy with her day); Santiago de Cuba: dock in industrial heart of city. Taxis of all sorts available at end of dock....very aggressive entrepreneurs until you get 4-5 blocks away from pier, in the old city, then just enjoy!: Montego Bay pier is about 10 minutes to downtown shopping etc. Taxis available at pier; Cienfuegos longer pier some taxis available, downtown not walkable from the ship.. about 5-10 minutes by our bus; Isle des Jeunes tender. No services other than ship's facilities available.

In all cases, if you take a taxi, negotiate price before getting in. This also is an opportunity to judge if the driver has enough English to suit your needs.

Janet

Haven't gone yet, but have arranged for a driver, van and guide to go to Trinidad for 160CUC total for the four if us. Drive is maybe 1-1/2 hours each way so will go there first, then come back for dinner and to explore Cienfuegos as ship doesn't depart until 9pm that evening.

Just a note. We did the ship's tour to Trinidad. Yes about 1 1/2 hours one way. Our tour guide had the driver drive through downtown Cienfuegos and stop for 15 minutes in the central square because she felt it would be dark by the time we returned from Trinidad. She was right so we were grateful that she took the time to show us a bit of Cienfuegos first. The tour of Trinidad de Cuba was very full, with lots of walking on cobbled streets, some of which were uphill/downhiss....nothing onerous but to be aware.

Janet

I can't comment on excursions booked through TAs as we booked ours on board

Also coffee, my husband advises that the coffee he had at mealtimes was fine (but definitely not Tim Hortons but better than Starbucks for all you coffee drinkers who know what that means). They did offer espresso and other specialty coffee. That is all I can contribute.

Janet

They tailor the meal options to the cruise size. Our was very small so they offered only dinner in La Scala restaurant (open seating, usually 7-9 pm, but dependent on entertainment times as sometimes local entertainment came on board for a show before the ship sailed). There is always the Alberta Steakhouse and they also offered a limited menu at the Sports Bar, for a charge. We always chose the La Scala because we had such a good time (guests, wait staff) and reasonable to excellent food. They always offer 'afternoon tea' at the Traviata buffet from 4-5. You won't go hungary and the offerings at the tea made a very nice snack to tide you over to dinner. I assume with larger crowds, the mealtime options will change so you will have to see when you get there. All I can say for certain is that the staff will do everything to accommodate you.

Janet

Ours was a very quiet cruise. I heard there were several children on the Christmas cruise. I also saw 4 (about 8 years to teenagers) on our cruise who enbarked in Montego Bay. They had a blast dancing with Danny at the end of the evening show.

Hi Jo,

Here's where I say that Marie and her staff on the Excursions desk are doing an excellent job. The tours we took were well thought out and the local tour guides and drivers were very good. We did not do a cruise tour in Havana since we explored on our own for 3 days pre-cruise. At Antilla (Holguin) we did the Cuba Life tour and would happily recommend it to anyone who would like a taste (literally and figuratively) of the countryside around the Holguin area, without going to the resorts. It was a full day of history and seeing countryside and included visits to a small farm business where they showed us fresh brewing of coffee (with sample) then cracked a fresh coconut for each of us, (Hint...the cats love the milky coconut flesh!) a visit to an aboriginal village for a ceremonial dance (good fun, but no real content), an archaelogical dig/museum of an aboriginal gravesite (well done), lunch overlooking the bay where Columbus first set foot on the island etc and a visit to a farmer who has samples of all the fruit trees on the island. In Santiago de Cuba we wandered around on our own in the morning and then hired a taxi to drive us further afield. Fine for us but if you want a bit more structure and info on what you are seeing, you may want to either take one of the ship's tours or hire a taxi (check their English and agree on a price first) to take you around. The historic sites are a bit spread out. Warning, the port is industrial, perfectly safe, but a few blocks from the historical centre and those few blocks are full of very determined locals wanting you to hire them. A little more agressive than other places in Cuba. In Cienfuego, we took the ship's tour to Trinidad, an all day trip with again a long bus ride but it was worth it. We did stop in the square in Cienfuego so got a taste of that town before heading to Trinidad. The tour included a lot of walking on uneven cobbled streets but was not really difficult. The tour included a small museum, a special local drink, a visit to a great pottery place (we regret that we did not buy something there!). The guide and driver were again excellent, informative, approachable. In Montego Bay we chose to do the ship's bamboo raft tour...a lazy drift down a portion of a river. The ultimate of leisure, with a fresh coconut to drink and a foot treatment using the limestone rocks in the river. That's the end of the story. there were other tours we could have happily done but we were happy with what we did. Hope this helps.

Janet

Hi All,

We were on before the internet was fixed on-board (6-13 Jan) so my thought to post from the ship was put on hold, and then a bit of a vacation in Varadero after. Everyone is reporting in just what we would say....what a great way to spend a week! It accomplished what we wanted...to get to know several different parts of Cuba in one voyage, with our hotel moving with us and great service and staff. In all fairness, it is not likely that we will ever get the personalized service that we did on the cruise (3 staff to each passenger), this being the lowest week of the winter travel year. Both passengers and staff became a bit of a family, some of whom will extend beyond this cruise. (It was great meeting you Caroline! and Orv). Having said that, the wait staff (including wine stewards) in the restaurant were excellent, both friendly and skilled. The entertainment was perhaps the best ensemble that I have seen with only one weak spot, the magicians-cum-comedians. Danny, the Cruise Director is excellent..full of energy and joy and keeping everybody organized and happy. We were a little disappointed at the hours for the pool and hot tub (closing at 7 pm). The ship is small but everything is easily accessible. Boarding and Disembarking was very easy but then, with so few passengers it would be hard to get that wrong. You'll be able to let us know if it changes as the ship fills up. Interestingly, your ship-board account is cleared (either charged to your credit card or you pay it up with cash) twice; once at each cruise start and end port (Jamaica and Havana). As well as being an easy way to manage to disembarkation ports, I suppose that helps a bit with cash flow for the cruise line but it also spreads out the expenses for us too. :). all in all, would we recommend the cruise? Absolutely! Would we do it again? Probably, the only real reservation being that there are so many other places to see and things to do. Happy travels everyone!

Janet

Hi Carolyn,

Sounds like you may be right above us! Maybe to connect we can agree to meet at a time and place. I could make a dinner reservation for the day you board (or day after if you prefer). Need to decide which restaurant.

As for touring I think my husband is leaning to doing some towns just exploring ourselves so yes it would be fun to do together.

If you are interested in the dinner thing, let me know your preference for day, time and restaurant and we'll set it up.

Janet

Thanks to everyone for all of these helpful tips and the two reviews!

Janet

Hi kahlolin,

Good to know we'll 'know' someone on the ship. We should try to connect. We have an obstructed outside suite on the starboard side (to be able to see Cuba as much as possible) of deck 5.

Have you considered excursions? We have looked at the list but haven'e settled on anything yet. Our TA has indicated that we just book on board but I am sure that if I could log into My Cuba Cruise page, we could do so on-line, as we do with other lines, .....but we cannot log in because you need the e-mail address that booked the ticket and that was the travel operator. It is not a huge issue but I will be interested to know if we could have done some pre-planning. We are hoping just to do informal exploring in some of the ports. We've done privately organized with other cruises but haven't done too much research this time. The timelines have been short.

Janet

Yes we have been to Cuba before, a week in Varadero and day in Havana. We are excited to be going back to the capital, such a great city, full of atmosphere and interest. Also excited to see the other areas of Cuba. I had been trying to figure out which to go to (Santa Maria or Cienfuego) and then the Cruise popped up as a great 'taster'. The big thing is how safe we feel to wander around and how friendly the people are.

We got a little freezing rain but nothing like Toronto et al did. We had 40 cm of snow; a few electrical outages, but really it was not much different from many other storms we've had most winters. I checked temps in our Cuba ports. It is much hotter than the last time we were there, although same time of year. Guess I'll have to revise my packing list!

Janet

Hi All,

My husband and I are booked on the Jan 6th sailing, after a couple of days in Havana. One week to go, Yeah! We are from Ottawa (although born and bred Albertans) and booked in November. Then came Christmas. Getting back in the groove and with all our e-docs in hand are ready. We are staying in Varadero for 4 day post cruise. If I get a chance, I'll post a few lines mid-cruise to let you know how it goes.

Janet