My Cuba Cruise

[hlperez]

Hazel - I did leave my name and room number at the desk when we were in Havana. We were in 6000, the Presidential suite. Did you manage to board the ship? We never connected.

 

Hi Rikka,

 

Got your letter. I called you quite a few times, but was never able to get hold of you. We had a great time, hope you did too.

 

Hazel :)

[Love to quilt]

Is there anyone who started and ended their trip in Havana? Our itinerary says the ship arrives back in Havana at 10:00 AM. We have someone meeting us at the ship so we want to give them a time to meet us. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

[BC_Brent]

More great reviews, thanks everyone who is taking the time to share.

 

How is the ATM situation in Cuba, I've never been there. Is a canadian bank card good to go? Do you get CUC or cuban pecos?

[Rikka]

We're getting excited! We leave February 10th but will have 3 nights in Havana prior to the cruise. The couple we are travelling with like to eat late so we have chosen the late seating but earlier on someone said they weren't going by the seating times. Does anyone know if this is true? It would be nice to eat sometime in between their early and late seating time. Can you book your excursions when you get to the ship? We have booked some with our travel agent but thought we would like to make some choices once we were on the ship. Thanks for any help.

 

Just back from the cruise a few days ago. They are not doing the assigned seating at this time. It is open seating in the dining room. The times are posted in the newsletter every day. Usually can wander in anytime between 7PM to 9 PM or so. We tended to sit at the same table every night as the waiters got to know us in a very short time and remembered our names and little quirks. The staff was really great.

 

You can book your excursions on board and the staff at the excursion desk are very helpful. We did a couple of excursions and went off on our own in a couple of ports.

 

It is not a particularly formal cruise. There was one night ( the Captain's farewell dinner) when the suggested dress was "dressy" However, my husband didn't wear a jacket that night. He wore a shirt and tie but half the men in the dining room were comfortable in Dockers and golf shirts. The ladies dressed up a bit more as always. It was really nice not to have to pack a lot of dressy clothes if you chose. If you love to dress up - go for it. It is just that you don't feel uncomfortable if you'd rather not.

 

The buffet restaurant was closed for our trip as there were not enough passengers to justify keeping two restaurants open. All our meals were served in the dining room. Part of the dining room was set up for a breakfast buffet in the morning but you could also order from the menu at your table.

 

We did miss a 24 hour coffee station on-board the ship. You got complimentary coffee or tea at meals and afternoon tea but had to pay for it outside of those times. You could get your coffee or tea at any bar. We also had a couple of small bottles for water that we refilled from large bottles of water we purchased from any bar on the ship. For some reason the large bottles in the room were more expensive than the ones purchased at the bar.

 

Happy hour is posted every day in the ship's news letter. There are usually two Happy Hours a day - one in the morning and one before dinner. Drinks are two for the price of one at that time - but they have to be the same ie two beers, two martinis etc.

 

We brought pop onboard at various stops. By the way, diet ginger ale, or diet lemon lime is hard to find. We managed to find some in Mo Bay. I don't drink so diet lemon/lime with a slice of lime is my version of a cocktail!!

 

Enjoy yourself. We loved the cruise.

[Rikka]

Hi all!

 

where_to_next? ~ thanks for that gambling info. Did you happen to notice at the exchange place at Cienfuegos if they exchanged other currencies such as Euros & Pounds? We have a Euro account so I took some of those out rather than pay for US dollars. I'm hoping to change Euros into Jamaican dollars for the cab rides we'll need to the port & the Bird Sanctuary. Would that work in your opinion or would US be better in Jamaica?

 

Rikka ~ that sounds like a fabulous cabin. Is that the one you're having ONT-CA?

 

Thank you all for your helpful info which I'll soon be putting into practice!

 

~ Jo~ :)

When we were there the currency exchange booth was treating Canadian currency as par with the US. Since the difference is around 10 cents on the dollar, it made a lot of sense to exchange Canadian Currency on the dock.

[Rikka]

We have to keep negative critiques in perspective for, as you say, the author had a very poor beginning to their cruise. The two points that bothered me was the statement that the tap water aboard could not be consumed and one had to purchase bottle water. I have been on many ships and I have never heard of unsuitable potable water aboard. The other was the tissue disposal problem, which did not seem logical unless there was an extreme failure with plumbing. But no mention of these points has been made by any other passenger.

 

Hope you sail right through to Toronto for your flight because the forecast has absolutely nothing to do with reality as we have learned. It would have been nice meeting you both and showing you the Imperial balcony/deck. Perhaps you will meet the occupants on your cruise at dinner or elsewhere and hope they will invite you in for a tour.

 

While the water in the tap was perfectly safe to drink, the water on shore was not. We simply ere on the side of caution and drink bottled water most places we go. Sometimes the water is "safe" but it is different and we can react to that.

 

It was true that you were not supposed to place any paper in the toilets. We found that same situation in Greece when we were there. It didn't seem to be a major problem. I forgot a few times and the world didn't cave in!!!

[ONT-CA]

Thank you Rikka for this information. As you did occupy 6000, can you tell us if, when and how the hot tub on the balcony operates? Did you fill it yourselves or did the cabin steward control that. Also being so close to the bow, was the sailing rough?

[Rikka]

We filled the hot tub ourselves whenever we wanted to use it. The room steward showed us how to fill it when we boarded. The deck area is very private. No one overlooks the space. When the ship sails at night, you are asked to turn the deck lights out because you are just below the bridge. However, we sailed late 8n two nights and you don't need the lights on to use the spa in any case. Moonlight on the deck can be wonderful.

 

We had a bit of movement from the sea on two nights - leaving Montego Bay and returning. Otherwise, it was almost dead calm. There is always a bit more movement at either end of the ship. Believe me - it was a small price to pay.

 

 

 

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[Rikka]

I forgot to mention that face clothes are only provided to the suites on the 6th level. If you absolutely can't stand to be without one -take a couple with you! Don't plan to beg for one from your room steward. It didn't work for most of the passengers we talked to. This is a normal practice in some parts of Europe. We are used to tossing one into our carry-on whenever we head over the pond.

 

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[redrum42]

Hey everybody, I have been looking at this cruise for a couple of days now, and finally booked the flights for the departure from Montego Bay on Feb 21. I went to the Cuba Cruise website to reserve a cabin, but after you put in all the reservation info, it requires log in information, and doesn't really show you how to create a login identity. Doesn't look like the website is very well set up. ie - it says 28 cabins available for a certain category, yet only shows 10 of them. Oh well, I will call them tomorrow and see if I can get it all straightened out. (Have to, since the flights from Vancouver are now booked.....)

I have read this thread, and the recommended links provided to get additional information, so it looks like there is an overwhelming positive feedback on this cruise. Thanks to all for the great feedback. It will definitely help when looking at excursions, etc.

So we are getting on in Montego Bay Feb 21, flying in on Feb 18 to spend a couple of extra days there. Any one else on the same or overlapping trip, send a note.

See you onboard.

[retiring soon]

Hi all!

 

Just want to report that we arrived safely at our hotel near the airport

after quite a drive. ONT-CA,the 401 was closed at Deseronto so we were the only car going west on it for a while.

 

Flying out tomorrow morning & can hardly wait to start our cruise.

 

Thanks to all for your help.

 

Jo

 

 

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[ONT-CA]

Hi all!

 

Just want to report that we arrived safely at our hotel near the airport

after quite a drive. ONT-CA,the 401 was closed at Deseronto so we were the only car going west on it for a while.

Flying out tomorrow morning & can hardly wait to start our cruise.

Thanks to all for your help.

Jo

 

When we heard of the total disaster at Napanee we knew that you would be one of the few on the 401 headed West. In this case the bad weather worked in your favour. Glad all worked out well and have a wonderful cruise.

[Rikka]

Hi Rikka,

 

Got your letter. I called you quite a few times, but was never able to get hold of you. We had a great time, hope you did too.

 

Hazel :)

 

Wasn't it a great trip? I am really sorry we never connected. I kept looking for a message light on our phone and never saw one. Maybe it was the phone? We had friends onboard who tried to call us a couple of times and never got through either. I'm sorry we missed you. We had a wonderful time.

[Balloon Man]

Hello Red Rum. Chris and Alan from Bristol UK will be joining you, boarding in Havana on the 24th.

[DUHCAR]

Hello Red Rum. Chris and Alan from Bristol UK will be joining you, boarding in Havana on the 24th.

 

Us too!

[retiring soon]

Hi all!

 

Sitting here sweltering in Montego Bay!

I see what Kim Victor meant about it being expensive here. You're dealing in large amounts if you use Jamaican

dollars.

Tomorrow we've arranged a taxi to go see the hummingbirds before boarding the ship.

Saw white caps from the plane so hope it's not rough tomorrow .

Ciao

 

Jo

 

 

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[ONT-CA]

Hi all! Sitting here sweltering in Montego Bay!... Saw white caps from the plane so hope it's not rough tomorrow .

Ciao Jo

 

Glad you arrived safely. I'm afraid there is some inclement weather around Havana stretching well up into Florida. Not unlike what Aaron wrote about. But you will not be in that vicinity for a few days yet so hopefully it will be history by then.

[burm]

Glad you made it safely, Jo. I am nervously watching the weather here as they are predicting freezing rain for Saturday. We have waited so long for warmer weather and this is what we get!:mad:

 

It's snowing now - don't you feel sorry for us? :p

[kitzelover1]

I'm an American citizen but would love to do this cruise. Are you sure it's kosher if I board/depart in Jamaica?

[ONT-CA]

I'm an American citizen but would love to do this cruise. Are you sure it's kosher if I board/depart in Jamaica?

 

I wish I had a definitive answer for you but until I board next week and speak to those US citizens aboard I can only speculate. The rule as we understand it is no trading. If you purchase the cruise from this Canadian company and buy their land tours and do not purchase anything in or from Cuba you should meet the conditions. With this fantastic 2 for 1 sale on right now I bet this is causing some consternation with US cruisers itching to take advantage of such a deal.

Edited January 31, 2014 by ONT-CA

[doublebzz]

I'm an American citizen but would love to do this cruise. Are you sure it's kosher if I board/depart in Jamaica?

 

The following quoted from a recent article in the N.Y. Times:

 

"Embargo-Flouting

 

This is not a method that we recommend. Hundreds of Americans — maybe thousands — go to Cuba every year by flying through a third country, usually the Bahamas, Mexico or Canada. Cuban immigration officials, eager to welcome visitors and their dollars, rarely if ever stamp American passports, so it is possible to have an unrestricted visit. But it’s not a wise idea. While traveling to Cuba is not itself illegal, the moment you buy your first drink, you’ve broken the law. Paying for anything at all means that you’ve violated the embargo and risk fines of up to $250,000. And if you lie to United States customs officials to hide your trip to Cuba upon re-entry, you will be violating a whole different set of federal laws that have nothing to do with the embargo. Tourists are rarely penalized for violating the embargo — the Obama administration has focused its enforcement efforts on businesses — but those bold or dumb enough to try to smuggle home a few Cuban cigars shouldn’t expect to get away without a hassle and some serious legal bills."

[Rikka]

There were Americans on board our cruise last week. We are Canadians but flew to Jamaica from Phoenix. On our return to the US, you are asked which countries you visited. They don't care that we were in Cuba but I am not sure what your officials would say to an American citizen. I certainly don't recommend not telling the truth on a customs and immigration form!.

 

Isn't this all rather silly? I think the government should have better things to do than tell us where to go on vacation.

 

What a waste of time and energy. If I could only visit countries where I agreed with their politics - I wouldn't be able to go very many places!

 

 

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[elpapa]

Hello all,

We saw the piece by Aaron in the Sunday Vancouver Province. 2 for 1!!!! Can’t beat that! So by Monday morning we had booked a deck 7 room for a Feb 10 departure from Havana. This was the only date that fit our February schedule. Then came the air fare issue. Seems like the usual booking sites we use on the web did not know about Havana, Cuba. (CheapoAir, Expedia, Booking.com) Havana, Florida, Havana Tennessee, yes they knew about them. American based? Don’t know. Anyway we finally found a flight using Flight Hub. We fly Vancouver Toronto on Westjet then Toronto Havana on Cubana Air. Coming back, we go via Cancun.

We have booked 2 extra nights at the end of the cruise in Havana and we are in the process of arranging things there.

Now some questions:

My wife wants to know how dressy the ladies get. I’m happy with smart casual and no jacket or tie but what has been the experience? I know the web site dubs the cruise as casual.

Currency. What have you found? I’ve read that US currency carries a 10% surcharge on exchanges while Canadian currency is exchanged almost at par. Do you carry lots of Canadian bucks ashore or are there ATMs near the dock that will work to get CUCs?

Excursions: Once I had my booking, I went back to see about booking some excursions. Can’t seem to find a way to do this on the web site. Anybody else find this? I know I can book them on board or even by phone now. Just curious. Also, anybody find a real good one or anybody experience a really good do-it-yourselfer?

Rikka said that there is no early or late seating for dinner time. You just arrive at your convenience. IS this still true?

Anybody but Aaron try the premium restaurant? Was it worth the extra $39 per head that I read somewhere?

What time is the evenings entertainment? Do they have 2 shows per night or just 1?

Anybody else interested in some do-it-yourself touring and sharing, let us know. In spite of what Aaron enthusiastically suggests, some of their tour prices are a bit steep for us to do one in every port.

Thanks all for any answers !!

 

Gord and Carol

[redrum42]

Hello Chris and Alan, and Duhcar. Look forward to meeting you in Havana. It will be my wife Brenda and I getting on in Montego Bay.

One question, the website said that proof of medical insurance was required for entry into Cuba (or I think you have to purchase their insurance).

We have travel coverage through our MasterCard. How would we show proof of this, get a statement from MC? Print off our benefits? (anyone can do that and claim it was theirs).

Some on this thread who have been there must have had to deal with this situation. Any advice?

[redrum42]

As a partial answer to my own question, I called Cuba Cruise about this, and they said, just explain that your additional coverage is through your credit card company. No extra paperwork is necessary, and the Cuba customs is familiar with this aspect of travel medical coverage.