My Cuba Cruise

[Liz54]

Can you tell us burm if the HOHO bus T3 stopped at the dock? From the Stars Lounge observation windows we could see one of these busses pass in front but were not sure if it was the T1 or the T3. Caught the T1 but couldn't find the connection to T3 and will do it at a later time. BTW we were the only passengers to use the Star Lounge to wait out our departure due to hotel check-in time. There were no services up there but a wonderful space to relax and get a final bird's eye view of Havana.

 

We stayed on board till lunchtime - reading and drinking coffee and socializing by the pool. The best disembarkation ever!

[retiring soon]

Hi all!

 

Janet ~ I completed the survey but didn't notice the new itinerary. I'm so glad I did the cruise last year & this year as that new itinerary is not appealing to me at all. I guess it could depend on the shore excursions but the new port just sounds like a diving spot. An overnight in Havana would be nice if one doesn't go in advance but I'm pretty sure we won't Cuba cruise again.:(

 

BTW I'm working on my review of the cruise but not getting anywhere fast!

 

Ron ~ could you please email me at jem 476 at yahoo dot ca, no spaces please? I have a question about a staff member that I don't want to post here. What do you think of the new itinerary, is another Cuba cruise in your future?

 

Have a nice day, it's getting a bit more springlike here finally.

 

~ Jo ~ :)

[burm]

Can you tell us burm if the HOHO bus T3 stopped at the dock? From the Stars Lounge observation windows we could see one of these busses pass in front but were not sure if it was the T1 or the T3. Caught the T1 but couldn't find the connection to T3 and will do it at a later time. BTW we were the only passengers to use the Star Lounge to wait out our departure due to hotel check-in time. There were no services up there but a wonderful space to relax and get a final bird's eye view of Havana.

 

According to the old map, it was the T1 that stopped at the bus terminal, but I am not sure if that is still accurate. We did go by on one of the busses.

 

The busses meet up across the Parque Central, one stopping one side, the other on the opposite. On both busses we stopped there for about 15 minutes.

 

I don't know how recent the changes were, but they definitely need to get their information updated. Cheque your ticket carefully to see when the final bus of the day runs - the old schedule is no longer accurate and current times were printed on by hand.

 

 

 

Someone's suggestion to carry a picture of the bus was a good one.

[ONT-CA]

I've just completed the survey and noticed that there is a new itinerary posted on the website. It seems that the ship will stay in Havana for two days and then sail down the west coast to Maria La Gorda, then Cienfuegos, Jamaica, Santiago de Cuba then a day at sea on the way back to Havana.

 

I'm not sure whether that will be better, personally I liked the idea of sailing all the way around Cuba. What does anyone else think.

Janet

 

Couldn't agree more. This was a bit of a shocker this morning for we too are in the booking stage. We were warned that the itinerary was changing but this is radical. The loss of Punta Francis was understandable but to be replace with this?

 

https://www.google.ca/maps/uv?hl=en&pb=!1s0x8f35090eb3e60b2b:0x44aec09e77c4bf60!2m5!2m2!1i80!2i80!3m1!2i100!3m1!7e1!4shttp://www.panoramio.com/photo/72460866!5smaria+de+gorda+cuba+-+Google+Search&sa=X&ei=ZlwAVdy_BcL2yQSXsoGYDg&ved=0CI0BEKIqMAs

 

What's the point, different sand? Little question this is to attract those of the home of the brave through a MB entry and with the overnight in Havana. But if it's a cruise you are after, in the warmth of the sun during the worst of our winter, then I guess it doesn't matter just where the ship goes or stops.

[tring]

We have recieved an email from Cuba Cruise with our booking reference and an answer to our question about functions in the lounge, (it seems some do go on until 1am). We have also now been told that the itinerary has changed - for the first time!

 

With a long hard thought we have decided to keep the booking for the cruise, as long as they agree to change our cabin for a couple of reasons. We now want a lower grade of cabin, so we will see how the company deal with that. They should be prepared to oblige considering the cruise was sold to us as a different itinerary and with later arrivals in a number of ports, which is why the location on the ship of our original cabin did not bother us. We live in a very quiet area so even a smallish noise transfer will be very disturbing to us.

Edited March 11, 2015 by tring

[ONT-CA]

Aboard the Cristal, one had to wonder at what numerical point do passengers of a separate language get to have information broadcast in their tongue. There were days when the English was followed by French followed by German followed by Spanish. Danny does a masterful job in doing so but it does get very tedious. Yes you can cut it off on the cabin phone but not in the dining room or public areas. To boot we were at the front desk with an issue and noted the daily bulletin printed in Japanese and yet another unrecognizable language. The ship began to resemble the final days on the Tower Of Babylon... We can appreciate the endeavours to keep everyone informed but I don't ever remember seeing or hearing or reading multiple different languages presented on any other cruise line. As I do not speak Spanish, when ashore in Cuba I do not expect the locals to speak English although appreciate when they do. But I do the best I can to make myself understood and to try and understand those who do not speak my language.

 

As to the multitude of translations aboard, best said in Aphasiatic Churchillian; never were so few owed so much by so many...

[Liz54]

When does the route change take effect. Good friends of ours boarded yesterday! Where will they be cruising this week?:eek:

[ONT-CA]

When does the route change take effect. Good friends of ours boarded yesterday! Where will they be cruising this week?:eek:

 

They will have the same route that we had, a complete rotation around the island. Lucky them. The new route only takes effect for the 2016 season.

[Liz54]

Thanks. Lucky them and us! I thought someone talking about it here was going this month. Phew!

[tring]

Our trip is next Feb/March.

 

Well, we are all sorted, cabin chaged to 6011. I think I would have possibly pulled the venture, but my huband presuaded me otherwise. I think he is right for one week out of a four week visit to Cuba, but we are still disappointed with the changes, especially the short days and early arrivals/departures from places like Santiago de Cuba and Cienfugos. The cheaper cabin will be further from any noise at night, (hopefully), and also leaves us with a bit more money in the kitty, so we may do an overnight trip to Vinales from our Havana Hotel and perhaps a bit more than we intended from Varadero.

 

We were annoyed that we were not told about the changes before we booked, but, I must say that we were impressed at how well the admin was sorted by email. Jane is a good member of staff.

 

Enjoy your hols everyone, and thanks again for the advice we have been given here ,

 

Barbara

[retiring soon]

Hola!

 

Wow welcome to page 100!!:D

 

Barbara ~ glad you were able to straighten things out to your satisfaction.

Is your cabin an XE? I wonder if an excursion to Vinales will be offered from the new port.

 

Ron ~ Danny is quite the talented guy speaking all those languages. DH, who is German had a little grin occasionally at his syntax but then he only speaks 2 languages so not that hard!;) I have trouble keeping my little bits of French & German straight!

 

Chimo!

 

~ Jo ~ :)

[tring]

Yes, our cabin is an XE and what was our first choice of location - just a couple of cabins away from the lifts, yet not too near the front (I get seasick anywhere). It also has cabins above, below and to either side. I am very fuusy about location on a ship! I know we were advised on those here and you kindly posted a couple of pics - thank you. We were poised to book one of those originally, but got carried away when we first booked and thought we would fancy some fresh air.

 

Suspect they will cart people off to Vinales, but it is a two hour road journey each way to Pinar Del Rio/ Vinales, which is the same as it is from Havana. We always fancied an overnight there so we will do that or a day trip from Havana.

 

We are going away Saturday heading for a cruise to northern Norway to (hopefully) see the Northern Lights. Reviews last year mentioned temps down to -27C, so we have done a lot of shopping!! Not the temps we are used to here! We have relatives in Newfoundland and Montreal, so I do understand what Canada is all about in the winter though. We are sailing from Liverpool (20 mins from home) to Montreal and back in May/June (28 nights) so hope it warms up a bit by then. We are on another small ship, so there are a quite a few unusual ports en route.

 

Retiremnet is great. Keep wondering about your name on here - can I assume you are retired by now?

 

Cheers,

 

Barbara

Edited March 12, 2015 by tring

[retiring soon]

HI all!

 

Barbara ~ great re the cabin, such a good location.:D You're just one deck away from all the fresh air you'll need!

 

Sounds like burm had an interesting trip to Vinales. Our 1st time in Cuba we stayed at San Antonio de los Banos, a little west of Havana & took an included trip to Vinales. I loved it & especially wished we could spend time at Los Jazmines which looked so nice there in the mountains.

 

I am retired & have been since Feb 2007. I was so looking forward to retiring when I joined cruise Critic I didn't give the name as much thought as I should have.:rolleyes:

 

Sure hope you get to see the Northern Lights! I've never seen them but would love to. Our lowest temperature this year was -30C so know what you'll be facing.

 

You sure have some great trips to look forward to... retirement is great!

 

~ Jo ~ :)

[KandCsailing]

We are going away Saturday heading for a cruise to northern Norway to (hopefully) see the Northern Lights.

Nice. I've seen the Northern Lights on the Canadian Prairies and even an hour outside the glow of Toronto. DH has never seen them though.

There are phone apps available that show the regions to see the lights during the year. Unfortunately we were in Alaska when the lights were not.

Edited March 12, 2015 by KandCsailing

[ONT-CA]

It appears that Cuba Cruise is looking at extending the season for cruises to the isle of Cuba. While we could see an additional month pre and post the current schedule, we would like to see comments from others on this idea.

 

Once the Greek Island season wanes and the Cristal is to be repositioned, why not first send her on to Montreal? She is the perfect size for this navigation. Arriving September and staying through the month of October she could offer a weekly “Fall Colour”cruises of the St. Lawrence and Maritime Provinces. Choices of Ports of Call can be made from the Gaspe, N.B, N.S. and NL, and the seven day cruise could culminate with the jewel, Quebec City, before returning to Montreal.

 

Upon the completion of these weekly cruises, a repositioning cruise from Montreal to Havana with calls at Bermuda as one example could commence the Cuban season at the beginning of November. As the Cristal cannot call at any USA port due to their current calls on Cuba, there should be no problem sailing to our Canadian ports. This would make the vessel available to us for a variety of cruises. Would you take a Canadian cruise out of Montreal? We would!

[Liz54]

It appears that Cuba Cruise is looking at extending the season for cruises to the isle of Cuba. While we could see an additional month pre and post the current schedule, we would like to see comments from others on this idea.

 

Once the Greek Island season wanes and the Cristal is to be repositioned, why not first send her on to Montreal? She is the perfect size for this navigation. Arriving September and staying through the month of October she could offer a weekly “Fall Colour”cruises of the St. Lawrence and Maritime Provinces. Choices of Ports of Call can be made from the Gaspe, N.B, N.S. and NL, and the seven day cruise could culminate with the jewel, Quebec City, before returning to Montreal.

 

Upon the completion of these weekly cruises, a repositioning cruise from Montreal to Havana with calls at Bermuda as one example could commence the Cuban season at the beginning of November. As the Cristal cannot call at any USA port due to their current calls on Cuba, there should be no problem sailing to our Canadian ports. This would make the vessel available to us for a variety of cruises. Would you take a Canadian cruise out of Montreal? We would!

 

Where do I sign up for this one??? GREAT IDEA. Send to CCruise!!

[broberts]

...

Once the Greek Island season wanes and the Cristal is to be repositioned, why not first send her on to Montreal? She is the perfect size for this navigation. Arriving September and staying through the month of October she could offer a weekly “Fall Colour”cruises of the St. Lawrence and Maritime Provinces. Choices of Ports of Call can be made from the Gaspe, N.B, N.S. and NL, and the seven day cruise could culminate with the jewel, Quebec City, before returning to Montreal...

 

With the restrictions on tp I doubt the ship will do well against the competition - Holland America, Royal Caribbean, et al.

[KandCsailing]

With the restrictions on tp I doubt the ship will do well against the competition - Holland America, Royal Caribbean, et al.

Do we know if the ship has the same tp restrictions when it cruises the Greek islands or on the trans Atlantic crossing to Cuba?

 

I would take a look at cruising out of Canada, the larger cruise lines doing it are really expensive for what we've considered doing.

[ONT-CA]

With the restrictions on tp I doubt the ship will do well against the competition - Holland America, Royal Caribbean, et al.

 

Anal fixations aside, you seem to misunderstand the difference between demand and request and how the subject may apply more to the female passenger than the male. The issue really is solved for you in allowing you to do as you please. What your neighbour does or does not do is really none of your "business"

[ONT-CA]

Where do I sign up for this one??? GREAT IDEA. Send to CCruise!!

 

I have been assured by Officers aboard the Cristal that every word of this site is read and digested by the company, (which is nice to know).

[Liz54]

Good! I LOVE the idea of staying entirely in Canada and skipping the US and their $$s!

As for the TP issue, I misunderstood for the first half and the WC worked fine.

Less than 100% compliance works for me!

But I have a real cottage....

There is a verse, but it might not be in good taste here:eek:

[broberts]

Anal fixations aside, you seem to misunderstand the difference between demand and request and how the subject may apply more to the female passenger than the male. The issue really is solved for you in allowing you to do as you please. What your neighbour does or does not do is really none of your "business"

 

It is sad to see that some consider concerns for basic hygiene in the negative.

 

What you are implying is very much different from what I have gathered reading this thread.

 

You seem to suggest that there is no restriction in flushing used tp. Is this in fact the situation? Does the ship not ask passengers to discard such in a waste bin?

[tring]

I would also be interestd to have complete clarification on the toilet paper issue. Normally a request to place it in the bin means that the plumbing system cannot handle it and the loo could get blocked - is that the case or not? Having a loo that does not function would be more of a problem.

 

A fly cruise going to the smaller ports on the St Lawrence would have been of interest to us as it would be quite different to the itineries done by the bigger ships, (that is what we are doing from the UK), and I also suspect the more adventurous UK person. However, I do not believe anyone, (including ourselves), would give it the slightest of thoughts if there was still any sort of suggestion of toilet paper in the bin. Even if you do not have to conform in your own cabin - what about the public loos? I think Cuba is a special case in that regard as travelling around is not easy, unless on a rigid trip.

 

Someone asked about Greece. Greece is very well know over here as having that as a normal situation - their public drains cannot handle toilet paper. So if the clientelle is Greek, that would be a complete no issue.

 

The newer large upmarket hotels in Greece are OK and presumably make their own arrangement for sewage disposal. Some older outlets in central towns or remote areas in other southern European towns have problems like that, but I assume that is a more local problem, prehaps just within that property or village. It is becoming much less likely to come accross such outlets though.

[Liz54]

As far as I could determine, the loos worked perfectly. There was a sign above the loo of a hand with paper and a red line through. I assumed this meant no paper towels, sanitary products etc. I therefore flushed toilet paper with no difficulty for at least half the cruise. Subsequently I read somewhere that it referred to toilet paper. Then I began to use the bin but not always.

At all times the WC worked perfectly paper or no.

[retiring soon]

Hi all!

 

Ron ~ sounds like a nice itinerary for Cristal but not something I'd be interested in, having done a 14 day Canada/ New England from Quebec City & Bermuda cruises

 

Liz ~ does the verse have the words yellow & mellow in it?;).

 

Kerri ~ you lucky hot dog having seen the "Lights".:D I clip out & have bought pictures of them but never seen them. Somebody on my Alaska cruise reported seeing them & said the captain didn't make an announcement about it. Guess he didn't want to wake folks!

 

Here are the latest reviews about the Cuba Cruise from TA.

http://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowTopic-g1-i10703-k6858809-Louis_Cristal_Cuba_Cruise-Cruises.html

 

I'm still working on mine for Cruise critic, but then I'm still working on my photo book from my November cruise & should get started on our taxes!

 

Have a nice weekend!

 

~ Jo ~ :)