Havana confusion

We have a group of 10 that will be arriving in Havana on The Sky in early November. So overwhelmed with what we can or can not do. Personally I would like to do tours and such outside of the cruise line because of the cost. What are things that you could suggest we do as far as exploring on our own? And do most things fall under the People to People interaction? We are staying overnight so doing something in the evening is appreciated as well.

We just got back on Saturday. I was surprised how many people explored on their own. I heard one amazing trip a group took with an English- speaking taxi driver. It may be uncommon to find that though. On the other hand, our Carnival excursion was mediocre.

It's an amazing place. See the tourist spots, tour neighborhoods, definitely find real artisans. Have lots of single bills to give everyone, you'll need coins for the bathrooms, and bring your own tp and water.

Hi Rose,

We are going in two weeks, can't wait! How was the island? Did you see if anyone was touring with Blexie? Also, we are thinking of bringing toiletries and school supplies, do you know if people did that?

Have lots of single bills to give everyone, you'll need coins for the bathrooms, and bring your own tp and water.

Single CUC or $1.00 US?

Thanks,

Tom

You can certainly book a private tour. I recommend the Havana food tour, which you can find listed on trip advisor. I just returned from Havana and this tour was wonderful and the food was yummy. The guide, Ana, was a local and no questions were off limits. The other day I did a walking tour on my own, as old Havana is very walkable and beautiful. The Revolution Museum was very interesting. The Malecon was closed while we were there due to hurricane damage. This caused the hop on hop off bus to be cancelled (that was my plan A). Just keep a travel diary and try to spend money in privately owned businesses (there are some wonderful Paladares). The state owned restaurants are very inconsistent, I hear. I dined at Mojito, Mojito (awesome) and Nao (amazing ropa vieja dish). Mango and al Pirata were two great spots for Gelatto. You are going to have a blast!

Single CUC or $1.00 US?

 

Thanks,

Tom

Change money when you dock and ask the cashier for lots of small bills. Cubans don't really want dollars like in other Caribbean countries as they have to pay the same 10% penalty as you do to exchange. Everything is priced in CUC. Locals use CUP for busses, etc. but you wont be anywhere that will need CUP. Note that a CUC is roughly equal to $1, where as a CUP is approx $.04.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2493583

This should answer many of your questions. There are tons of pictures, and this guy detailed every step. There are tons of questions, and again, CT001 answered them all. GREAT info .... VERY LONG ... but informative.

Also, I used OldCarTours WITH a guide (Guide Nacho on day 1& Guide Yasser on day 2) and was treated like a princess! Rodrigo makes the reservations and happily answers all questions. I was a solo female traveler last May.

Once you dock be prepared to spend alot of time sitting around waiting to get off the ship. We docked Friday 10/06 at 1:15pm, an hour late.Those that had Carnival booked tours started debarking around 3. We had a private tour and got off around 4:15. Our driver left at 4 pm thinking we were no shows. We did hook up with a taxi driver with a guide. '53 Chevy PINK conv. Excellent. 2hrs for 100 cuc's. However, the gas and diesel fumes were pretty bad within the confines of the buildings and narrow streets. Overcast but low humidity. Saturday morning we walked around Old Havana by ourselves. Very interesting but very few shops.The humidity was almost too much to take. Havana is absolutely great.

Change money when you dock and ask the cashier for lots of small bills. Cubans don't really want dollars like in other Caribbean countries as they have to pay the same 10% penalty as you do to exchange. Everything is priced in CUC. Locals use CUP for busses, etc. but you wont be anywhere that will need CUP. Note that a CUC is roughly equal to $1, where as a CUP is approx $.04.

Would we be better off the exchange US money into Canadian money to avoid fees prior to buying CUC ? Do you think a private tour is ok ? Also can you bring back souvenirs ?

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There are web sites you can go to that calculate the exchange rates. You can figure what works best for you. Bring back as many sovernirs as you want. You are allowed one liter of booze and 100 cigars per person duty free. After that you are suppose to pay a small duty like $3 a bottle. However, when I went thru customs in Tampa I showed the agent my passport and he said welcome back to the US. Not one question as to what I brought back. Go to tripadvisor.com to find private tours. Opt for a convertible to see Havana then walk around Old Havana by yourselves the next day. It will get old quick as there are very few shops. Door front sovernirs and small bakeries were about it. If you want to eat at a local restaurant again

check trip advisor for a good one. But remember that alot of herbs and spices sre not avsilable. Hope this helps.

It’s just amazing to be there.

There are a number of companies that you can pre-book tours on in Havana. We have been very happy with Tour Republic, which we have used for two trips to Havana- one of the tours being pretty much an all day tour in an old A/C equipped car. There are a number of companies where you can pre-pay the trip before you get there.

One should note, the announcement to change the rules was in June, which *should* have meant an update to the rules in September. That didn't happen, so the tour rules are the same as they have been.

And one can always use "support the Cuban people" so you are supporting the entrepreneurs.

As for the CUC exchange- I would suggest to do the math- it's pretty close, and I would only convert to Euro or $CDN if you had easy and cheap access to the conversion. And there's no need to convert back- go straight to $US. We did a weekend where we converted to 1000CUC, and were satisfied at the end that we stayed in $US (that was an independent 4 day trip).

And the time to get off the ship- plan for variable times. We were lucky back in July to arrive early, and when we finally got off, there were no lines. BUT the ship mentioned the delays that Maine76 experienced. IMHO, it's much easier to plan for a long time getting off than expecting to get off really fast. If you can, you can wander around a little while you wait for your tour to show up.

Were you able to customize your tour with Tour Republic? I'm assuming that is possible but I haven't seen many reviews of their tours, so I'm not sure. I'm looking at arranging a private tour for one of our days in Havana and didn't see one of their tours that exactly fit the bill for us. Thanks!

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Were you able to customize your tour with Tour Republic? I'm assuming that is possible but I haven't seen many reviews of their tours, so I'm not sure. I'm looking at arranging a private tour for one of our days in Havana and didn't see one of their tours that exactly fit the bill for us. Thanks!

 

 

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Yes, we were. My wife had the same worry as you- with the lack of reviews. But we took a chance, and really loved it. And now have a friend in the guy who did the tour (he owns a AirBnB that we later stayed at).

When at the Tour Republic website, start up a conversation. They will tell you more about it.

Yes, we were. My wife had the same worry as you- with the lack of reviews. But we took a chance, and really loved it. And now have a friend in the guy who did the tour (he owns a AirBnB that we later stayed at).

 

 

 

When at the Tour Republic website, start up a conversation. They will tell you more about it.

Do you mind sharing your guides name?

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Do you mind sharing your guides name?

 

 

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The driver was Ruben, the art gallery guide was Orlando (he only does tours in Spanish)- those were with Tour Republic.

Ruben also had his apartment on AirBnB, and the AirBnB tours were Claudia (walking tour of San Isidro) and Gelen (running tour).

You can read more details in my reviews-

Cruise to Havana

Weekend in Havana

I used to also have a review just for here in Cuba, but for some reason CC merged it. I thought port specific reviews in the port specific areas were supposed to happen. Guess not.

The driver was Ruben, the art gallery guide was Orlando (he only does tours in Spanish)- those were with Tour Republic.

 

 

 

Ruben also had his apartment on AirBnB, and the AirBnB tours were Claudia (walking tour of San Isidro) and Gelen (running tour).

 

 

 

You can read more details in my reviews-

 

Cruise to Havana

 

Weekend in Havana

 

 

 

I used to also have a review just for here in Cuba, but for some reason CC merged it. I thought port specific reviews in the port specific areas were supposed to happen. Guess not.

I had read your reviews, and thanks for sharing your experience! Ruben was the guide and driver? I think I found a tour by him listed on Tour Republic.

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I had read your reviews, and thanks for sharing your experience! Ruben was the guide and driver? I think I found a tour by him listed on Tour Republic.

 

 

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Yes, he was both. His English is pretty good, and will get better with time. The Impala is his car. Ruben mentioned to us that he's been giving tours for about 10 years. So he's driven a lot of people around Havana.

As you read, he took us all over the place, and we had a great time.

We just got back on Saturday. I was surprised how many people explored on their own. I heard one amazing trip a group took with an English- speaking taxi driver. It may be uncommon to find that though. On the other hand, our Carnival excursion was mediocre.

 

It's an amazing place. See the tourist spots, tour neighborhoods, definitely find real artisans. Have lots of single bills to give everyone, you'll need coins for the bathrooms, and bring your own tp and water.

Hi we just booked a private tour for nov 1 and nov 2 . I see you said bring lots of singles to give everyone . What is customary there for tipping on tours and etc . ?

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We booked classic car tours with Lino.Blanco1983@nauta.cu. We had a group of 8 and did a city tour in a 1950 Chevy convertible and a 1954 Buick convertible.

Lino and his friend Alain Santana showed us the sites that day. Another friend, Felix Martinez, showed us Havana last year.

If you want to see the sites and have a great time on a private tour reach out to Lino.