My Cuba Cruise

[ONT-CA]

Tendering at any time is a hassle and time consuming at best. The photograph of this beach clearly showed jagged rock at the water's edge. Complaints of the abundant presence of mosquitos, regular and sand flies with photos of bite marks to the body has us planning a comfortable relaxing day aboard the ship, taking in both the rays and personally delivered refreshments.

[Bryna123]

We are actually looking forward to seeing a natural beach that isn't fumed with pesticides. It may be too many bugs to really relax but I see it as making a smaller footprint.

Having this info from this forum before arriving is the key to best enjoyment for all. Love it!

[tring]

Tring. the weather/seas can change from day to day. On the first cruise of the season we boarded at Montego Bay and arrived on schedule at Santiago de Cuba and Havana even thoough there were rough seas on the Sea day. The rough seas continued and we were late getting to Maria La Gorda, Cienfuegos and Montego Bay. We we on the first launch at 10:30- (2 hours late) because we had an excursion in Maria La Gorda (we did not get to see what was promised in the description so we were unhappy) but the people who did not have an excursion had to wait a long time to get to the beach.

 

Thank you for that, must admit I did not expect a lot of rough seas in that part of the world in Dec, but perhaps it was just a tad close to the stormy season, so it may calm quite a bit by late Feb, although the sea can never be predicted of course. Sounds like we need plenty of patience and insect repellent for the beach stop.

 

Our main reasons for doing the cruise are the ports of Santiago de Cuba, which is new to us and Cienfuegos where we spent less than two hours on a land trip. We probably want to do these ports independently. We are wondering if they will stop us getting off the ship independently until all trip people are ashore, if there is a delay at the gangway in those ports, or can we just go to the gangway as soon as the ship has clearance? I can see you may not know that if you were mustering for trips, but if you do, it will be helpful as it may be better for us to take a trip in Santiago anyway.

 

It is a shame we are spending less time in those ports this year than they did last year. We booked very early before the new itinerary was published, but decided to go with it anyway.

 

Thanks again for all your input here.

 

Barbara

Edited January 10, 2016 by tring

[cirman52]

Just back from our 7 day Cba Cruise, rt Montego Bay, person to person.

Quick thoughts: Ship is nice & easy to get around, though some complained of having tiny inside cabins, very tight for 2. Food was just ok, meats were very tough. The buffet drink set up is crazy, you will see what I mean. Dining rooms, most of the tabels seat 10 & just felt very crowded. Drinks are watered down, staff was nice, some are cuban. DO NOT but rum or cigars at the stop in Santiago de Cuba, huge ripoff, wait till Havana. Our 2nd day in Havana, we blew off the afternoon people to people bus tour to go out on our own, no problems at all. Bargin with taxi drivers. But most important, enjoy Cuba, it is a step back in time.

[journeymore]

Just back from our 7 day Cba Cruise, rt Montego Bay, person to person.

Quick thoughts: Ship is nice & easy to get around, though some complained of having tiny inside cabins, very tight for 2. Food was just ok, meats were very tough. The buffet drink set up is crazy, you will see what I mean. Dining rooms, most of the tabels seat 10 & just felt very crowded. Drinks are watered down, staff was nice, some are cuban. DO NOT but rum or cigars at the stop in Santiago de Cuba, huge ripoff, wait till Havana. Our 2nd day in Havana, we blew off the afternoon people to people bus tour to go out on our own, no problems at all. Bargin with taxi drivers. But most important, enjoy Cuba, it is a step back in time.

 

Thanks for the update. Did you buy extra travel insurance or just the insurance offered by the cruise line?

[cirman52]

Thanks for the update. Did you buy extra travel insurance or just the insurance offered by the cruise line?

 

Just what was offered by the ship. ps, never was asked for proof of insurance or proof of the p2p charity donation ( payoff ). Saying that, I would STILL do it, don't take a chance.

[oneidealvacation]

Thank you for that, must admit I did not expect a lot of rough seas in that part of the world in Dec, but perhaps it was just a tad close to the stormy season, so it may calm quite a bit by late Feb, although the sea can never be predicted of course. Sounds like we need plenty of patience and insect repellent for the beach stop.

 

I can confirm the waters around Cuba were quite rough in late December, as we experienced a rough passage from Florida to Cozumel and then again on the way back from Haiti on the December 27th sailing of the Celebrity Silhouette. Hopefully the waters will be calmer for our cruise. Just seven weeks to go! :D

[ONT-CA]

cirman52, can you give us the name of the maitre d' ? We had Carlos last season and wonder if he is still aboard. Thanks

[camarodrivenrs]

Has anyone seen any taxis or any type of transportation around the Maria la Gorda landing point?

[bebe1234]

Can any of the US citizens who have done the P2P program tell me if Cuban immigration stamped your passport?

 

 

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[Bryna123]

Bebe1234 all the times we have been to Cuba, we had to ask for a passport stamp at the airport. Things change, but if you want, or don't want a stamp, just ask the person.

[moscowmark]

Bebe1234, They did not automatically stamp our passport, or anyone else's. We had to specifically ask for it. The person we got seemed surprised by our request, not for any legal, political, or bureaucratic reason, but because I don't think anyone had ever asked him for it before. He was happy to do so.

 

camarodrivenrs, The only transportation I saw was the tour buses. But that's because we stayed on the beach-side of the resort. Being a hotel/resort I would think that other transportation would be available somewhere, but the location is pretty secluded, so any drive might be a long one.

Edited January 14, 2016 by moscowmark

[woody73]

 

. . . all the times we have been to Cuba, we had to ask for a passport stamp at the airport.

 

 

. . . They did not automatically stamp our passport, or anyone else's. We had to specifically ask for it.

For those boarding in Montego Bay (and not going to the Havana airport), where can one ask for a passport stamp?

.

[ONT-CA]

For those boarding in Montego Bay (and not going to the Havana airport), where can one ask for a passport stamp?

.

As Santiago De Cuba is your point of entry into Cuba you will have to go through the immigration procedures there. And it is there that you have he opportunity to have your passport stamped.

Edited January 14, 2016 by ONT-CA

[bebe1234]

We're on our way to Orlando airport to board our Montego Bay flight. Hope to be on board in time to enjoy lunch later today. Thanks to all for such good information and advice.

Marcia

 

 

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[ONT-CA]

We're on our way to Orlando airport to board our Montego Bay flight. Hope to be on board in time to enjoy lunch later today. Thanks to all for such good information and advice.

Marcia

 

Bon Voyage Marcia. Remember, you are on your way back to the 50's... Hope you were able to pack a little something from that 55 Chevy so as to make some fortunate soul one very happy driver.

[bebe1234]

We have one extra suitcase with gifts for the Cuban people and lots of 55 Chevy parts. I hope they'll be welcome.

 

 

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[burm]

We have one extra suitcase with gifts for the Cuban people and lots of 55 Chevy parts. I hope they'll be welcome.

 

 

 

They will definitely be welcome, more than you every imagined, especially the car parts. I hope you are able to give them to the owner of a '55 directly to see the reaction. :)

 

I took several teddy bears, intending to give them to children, but it appears that the mothers were the ones who kept them. The women all loved them. I gave one teddy to a driver whose company we enjoyed tremendously, as a gift for his first grandchild, due to arrive within the next week or so. He was so happy, he hugged me and spun me around, laughing.

 

We also took several baseball caps, again intending to give them to children, but they all seemed to end up on adults. At least they made people happy.

 

I gave a bunch of baseballs to a group of kids playing in the street outside a school, asking the teacher to hand them out as prizes. Huge excitement. It was really neat.

[retiring soon]

Hi all!

 

bebe1234 ~ bon voyage & have a great time!:D Wow that's neat you have parts to take for the cars. They really need them & hopefully will be thrilled to receive them.

 

burm ~ sounds like you had a lovely experience with your gifts! Makes it so much nicer when gifts are appreciated.

 

Bon voyage to any others on this sailing!

 

Chimo!

 

~ Jo ~ :)

[burm]

We watched the 6th and final episode of Cuban Chrome the other night and are kind of in withdrawal. By the end, you really come to like the characters and are rooting for them to get their cars done in time.

 

For someone who does not care much about cars, I really enjoyed the series. It is about so much more than cars, it is about life in Cuba today.

[cirman52]

Can any of the US citizens who have done the P2P program tell me if Cuban immigration stamped your passport?

 

 

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Yes, our passports were stamp at the 1st port

[cirman52]

cirman52, can you give us the name of the maitre d' ? We had Carlos last season and wonder if he is still aboard. Thanks[/QUOT

 

Sorry, but no clue who he was, only used the dinning room 1 time

[ONT-CA]

A writeup regarding the cruise season in Cuba can be found at :

 

http://en.granma.cu/cuba/2016-01-14/guanahacabibes-on-cruise-ship-route

 

Other little tidbits of info are also found like Cuba has experienced it's hottest year since 1951

[Bryna123]

The few reviews on Cruise Critic for this season are not great. Regardless, after having been to Cuba numerous times at the all inclusive resorts, I think this will be a big step up in food and service. We are still very excited for the trip.

[ONT-CA]

The few reviews on Cruise Critic for this season are not great. Regardless, after having been to Cuba numerous times at the all inclusive resorts, I think this will be a big step up in food and service. We are still very excited for the trip.

 

We'll second that! Having stayed at the Occidental Miramar in Havana for a few days prior to boarding the Crystal, we were relieved to see the menu aboard. Negative dining comments are at times accompanied by positive ones about the fare deals achieved and some lucky enough in Canadian funds. Fares offered by other ships that but stop in Havana can be as much as ten fold. And today we received an email from our dining room waiter of last season asking us when we will be returning. It was with pleasure that we told him in one week.