Havana port cancelled

Gleeful Girl, my DH and I booked this cruise directly with Oceania, so that is probably why they emailed me about the change to Havana. We have friends on the wait list, so for now, we will wait and see if there are any further itinerary changes. My biggest fear is we make our final payment (Oct. 15) and then they cancel all of the Cuba ports and make it a "Caribbean" cruise. We like the one week, Sunday to Sunday, aspect of the cruise as this works well with my DH's work schedule, and the timing in January is a positive. My DH does not have much interest in visiting Cuba, but agreed to this cruise because our other Oceania cruise was wonderful. We often do land tours, but for this destination we wanted the luxury (and food!) of Oceania along with a "taste" of Cuba.

They cancelled our 1 day visit & substituted St. Bart's. I guess we'll see the $75PP temp. visa removed from the final balance. If your trip is ALL Cuba, I would think they have to either offer a refund or something else satisfactory to you. I doubt they could make it a "Caribbean" cruise or just "substitute" different Caribbean islands.

They cancelled our 1 day visit & substituted St. Bart's. I guess we'll see the $75PP temp. visa removed from the final balance. If your trip is ALL Cuba, I would think they have to either offer a refund or something else satisfactory to you. I doubt they could make it a "Caribbean" cruise or just "substitute" different Caribbean islands.

Is there anything left to see in St. Barts after the hurricane? Most of the island was destroyed. Would look into this very closely as there could be nowhere to go when you get to shore. Not a good thing. Let me know if you hear that this is not true. :(:(:(

Is there anything left to see in St. Barts after the hurricane? Most of the island was destroyed. Would look into this very closely as there could be nowhere to go when you get to shore. Not a good thing. Let me know if you hear that this is not true. :(:(:(

If you’ve ever been to St. Barts you should know that it’s not like most other Carib. islands. If any island will be rebuilt quickly, it will be St. Bart’s.

There is a lot of money there and its rebuilding is not dependent on our government - unlike Puerto Rico.

St Bart's was back in business for the most part in November

They cancelled our 1 day visit & substituted St. Bart's. I guess we'll see the $75PP temp. visa removed from the final balance. If your trip is ALL Cuba, I would think they have to either offer a refund or something else satisfactory to you. I doubt they could make it a "Caribbean" cruise or just "substitute" different Caribbean islands.

Oceania has added a second day in Cienfuegos to make up for the lost day in Havana.

Thanks for the heads up. Our overnight in Havana for October 2018 still stands but will monitor the situation closely and make a decision before final. Yes, we could do a land trip for less $$$ but the plan was to do the circumnavigation. Time will tell.

Oceania has added a second day in Cienfuegos to make up for the lost day in Havana.

I liked Cienfuegos more than Havana (I liked Havana too), so I'd be happy with that. It's a fairly well-to-do city (by Cuban standards). We had a private car, driver and guide through Fernando Mora. Fantastic!

I liked Cienfuegos more than Havana (I liked Havana too), so I'd be happy with that. It's a fairly well-to-do city (by Cuban standards). We had a private car, driver and guide through Fernando Mora. Fantastic!

Hi! Would you have contact information for Fernando Mora? Does he have a web page? Many thanks!

Hi! Would you have contact information for Fernando Mora? Does he have a web page? Many thanks!

I don't have it with me here at work, but I'll post it when I get home. Our guide was Beatriz and she was so fun and peppy. Speaks beautiful English.

Is there anything left to see in St. Barts after the hurricane? Most of the island was destroyed. Would look into this very closely as there could be nowhere to go when you get to shore. Not a good thing. Let me know if you hear that this is not true. :(:(:(

Welcome to St. Bart's!! Your ship will return in about 6 months or so. In the mean time, grab a shovel & pick. You will have much work to do!

Welcome to St. Bart's!! Your ship will return in about 6 months or so. In the mean time, grab a shovel & pick. You will have much work to do!

I have read in the last few days that there is still a lot of work to do. Many of the 5 star hotels are still not open and it is hard to find what is really open. I see the beaches are fine but there should be more than that for us if we go there. A wonderful island but we should probably wait a little longer to make plans to go. :confused::confused::confused:

Hi! Would you have contact information for Fernando Mora? Does he have a web page? Many thanks!

In Cienfuegos, we used Fernando Hernández Mora to arrange our private tour.....fernando8205@nauta.cu. No website that I know of. Our all day tour cost: $50pp for a Guide + Classic Car/Driver and $10pp Lunch. He had some suggestions for places to see, but we were able to customize the day to include some added places we wanted to go. Beatriz was an awesome guide and so fun to be with. The local paladar where we had lunch had quite a nice selection and the food was very good.

I heard he might also arrange tours in Havana, but not 100% sure.

In Cienfuegos, we used Fernando Hernández Mora to arrange our private tour.....fernando8205@nauta.cu. No website that I know of. Our all day tour cost: $50pp for a Guide + Classic Car/Driver and $10pp Lunch. He had some suggestions for places to see, but we were able to customize the day to include some added places we wanted to go. Beatriz was an awesome guide and so fun to be with. The local paladar where we had lunch had quite a nice selection and the food was very good.

 

 

I heard he might also arrange tours in Havana, but not 100% sure.

This seems to be good info. and we will look into this for our Oct. cruise. Thanks a lot.

I just got off Regatta. While Regatta did skip a few ports and were delayed or shorted many ports due to medavacs, we did spend a full day in Havana on Saturday. Had a great tour with Havana Journeys. MSC did arrive in the afternoon was disembarking and embarking passengers for a new itinerary and staying overnight. It seems that way MSC takes up one of the docks quite often. Only 2 ships in ports at a time.

In Cienfuegos, we used Fernando Hernández Mora to arrange our private tour.....fernando8205@nauta.cu. No website that I know of. Our all day tour cost: $50pp for a Guide + Classic Car/Driver and $10pp Lunch. He had some suggestions for places to see, but we were able to customize the day to include some added places we wanted to go. Beatriz was an awesome guide and so fun to be with. The local paladar where we had lunch had quite a nice selection and the food was very good.

 

 

I heard he might also arrange tours in Havana, but not 100% sure.

Thanks so much for replying with this information! I was off line for several days but very happy to have this from you.

In Cienfuegos, we used Fernando Hernández Mora to arrange our private tour.....fernando8205@nauta.cu. No website that I know of. Our all day tour cost: $50pp for a Guide + Classic Car/Driver and $10pp Lunch. He had some suggestions for places to see, but we were able to customize the day to include some added places we wanted to go. Beatriz was an awesome guide and so fun to be with. The local paladar where we had lunch had quite a nice selection and the food was very good.

 

 

I heard he might also arrange tours in Havana, but not 100% sure.

Hi again! May I ask how you found out about Fernando Hernández Mora? I couldn't find any reviews on Trip Advisor under Cienfuegos and was hoping that others had written about him. Thanks!

Hi again! May I ask how you found out about Fernando Hernández Mora? I couldn't find any reviews on Trip Advisor under Cienfuegos and was hoping that others had written about him. Thanks!

I think you could be looking for FerTours, hope this helps.

I think you could be looking for FerTours, hope this helps.

I don't think they're the same. Their website says the owner's name is Fernando Horta.

Hi again! May I ask how you found out about Fernando Hernández Mora? I couldn't find any reviews on Trip Advisor under Cienfuegos and was hoping that others had written about him. Thanks!

Posts on Cruise Critic from people who were happy with his tours. :D

All the people who are affected should cancel their bookings. It is long enough for no costs. So Oceania should remark this very well.

Hi GoBucks,

Can you tell me where you went in Cienfuegos and which paladar you went to?

Thank you

Hi GoBucks,

Can you tell me where you went in Cienfuegos and which paladar you went to?

First, we walked around the "upscale" area with the palace-turned-restaurant and talked to locals, visited the palace and had a drink on the rooftop, then to the square with the Theatre Tomas and visited a church there, went to the Dolphinarium and saw a really good dolphin show, went to a small local beauty shop and had our hair trimmed, then walked a few blocks down to the little paladar (don't remember the name). After lunch, we kept walking down the street and stopped in a flea market then into a rum and cigar store. After that we walked on to a local drugstore and then to the Union Hotel. We looked around and went to the rooftop for a delicious Cuban coffee! The view was gorgeous and we could see the ship. It was then time to return to the ship.

We didn't plan much ahead except the dolphin show. Our guide took us to some places she thought were good and to places we expressed interest in. This is how we like to tour. Cienfuegos was my favorite Cuban port.

Having been there in March with Azamara it's worth having a tour booked for going to explore the city. You can explore on foot and it is OK, Do not be put off by the area immediately surrounding the port, the city square is very nice once you get there. However you should know in advance this is a VERY poor city.

Having been there in March with Azamara it's worth having a tour booked for going to explore the city. You can explore on foot and it is OK, Do not be put off by the area immediately surrounding the port, the city square is very nice once you get there. However you should know in advance this is a VERY poor city.

It's actually a fairly "middle class" city...not very poor.

Santiago de Cuba is the very poor city.

Hi Gobucks,

Thank you for the information. I will look into it.

Bernie