My Cuba Cruise

[ONT-CA]

We use our BBQ this time of year for cooking steaks outdoors this time of year in Victoria, it should be about 10C again.

 

Doesn't all that rain put the fire out?:D

[wu687]

Doesn't all that rain put the fire out?:D

 

No rain in Victoria since monday, some fog north of the city, mainly sunny. We did have some snow in December, about 2mm.

[Liz54]

I am confused about our port stops and excursions.

 

As I think I understand it is is wise to book excursions before sailing.

 

I do not expect locals in ports to be standing around offering tours as they do in other, more traveled ports.

The excursions seem to me to be fairly expensive.

 

SO....Given that I have not yet had my new knee, but can manage an hour or two of walking, with rests, What to do?

 

Holguin? What is right at the pier? Can we just walk around?

 

Santiago de Cuba - Looks like we can walk. Correct?

 

Mo Bay - We have a plan to do the Great House Excursion

 

Cienfuegos/Trinidad. Have heard good things about Trinidad. Is there a shuttle that would drop off and pick up leaving us to walk around?

 

Punta Frances - I think this is a beach day. Am I right?

 

I know this info is right here on this very LONG string but I don't really want to read it all! Advice appreciated!

[KandCsailing]

No rain in Victoria since monday, some fog north of the city, mainly sunny. We did have some snow in December, about 2mm.

Did you feel the earthquake? Yesterday?

[wu687]

Did you feel the earthquake? Yesterday?[/quote

 

Tofino, up on the west coast of Vancouver Island had one yesterday, I think it was about 4.6, nothing felt in Victoria. Small earhquakes are happening all the time on the coast. What people in Victoria heard last night, which sounded like an earthquake was US Airforce jets, a type of EW F18, taking off from airbase in Washington State, over 90km away. We hear them if conditions are right.

[retiring soon]

Hi all!

 

Liz54 ~ take a look at the slides where it says slideshow on this link & it'll pretty much explain each port of call.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=1619

 

To answer some of your questions:

I booked all tours onboard the ship but that was with only 300 passengers then so that might make a difference.

 

Holguin is not right at the pier but about an hour away from Antilla. There's not much right at the dock & a very small town a short walk away. My tour stopped in the little town so some of us could exchange money.

 

Santiago de Cuba~ there's an interesting street just a short lane away from the dock.

 

Cienfuegos/Trinidad ~ you could probably walk to the main street of Cienfuegos, DH did. It's quite a nice place with statues, a theatre, flea market & a square. Trinidad is a an hour or more away so you'd have to hire a car or take the ship's excursion.

 

Yes Punta Frances is a beach day.

I'm hoping we're the only ship there this time as last time there was a British ship there so it wasn't as deserted as it could be. I had a coconut drink, dipped my toes in the water, rested for a few minutes then went back on the ship. I am not a beach person but if it's warm enough might try the water this time. DH went for a walk on the nature trail.

 

Hope this helps but do check out the link please as it's very helpful.

 

burm ~ great that your trip is getting so close. If yours is then ours can't be far behind.;)

 

Have a great weekend.

 

~ Jo ~ :)

[Liz54]

Thanks Jo. That's very helpful! It is gradually becoming clearer now!

[retiring soon]

Hi again!

 

Liz ~ glad it's becoming clearer.:D

 

I was just looking at cruise ship reviews (the new Quantum of the Seas only gets 35% approval rating:eek:) & see there are 4 new reviews for the Cuba cruise & the approval rating is 71%. Here's the link:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=269129

 

~ Jo ~ :)

[KandCsailing]

I guess I'm going to have to start at the beginning to understand what Cam is going on about. He's up to page 20 and going on about bowling shirts?

Is there a formal/elegant/dress up for dinner night on this cruise?

 

Sent from my SM-T310 using Forums mobile app

[David22]

It bugs me that we booked months ago at full price:eek:

 

, and i constantly get emails from this cruise line offering deals like free drink packages, etc

 

 

http://yourcubacruise.com/DatesPrices.aspx

 

It crosses my mind to cancell my tickets and then rebook right away with promotion codes

 

Like ones for free air fare:eek:

Edited January 10, 2015 by David22

[Liz54]

The free airfare is very tricky. Read the fine print. It does not factor in fees in many cases. When I did the math the "free" airfare was over $600 per person!! Admittedly this was back in the fall. Just yesterday I priced the one remaining cabin similar to ours on our cruise date and it was very close to what we paid.

I have decided not to read any more of these ads!

[wu687]

I guess I'm going to have to start at the beginning to understand what Cam is going on about. He's up to page 20 and going on about bowling shirts?

Is there a formal/elegant/dress up for dinner night on this cruise?

 

Sent from my SM-T310 using Forums mobile app

 

From the Cuba Cruise pre-departure information, Dress code for dinner. "Everyone's style is different, we ask for dinner that no shorts are worn. We recommend Smart Casual dinning attire."

[ONT-CA]

I guess I'm going to have to start at the beginning to understand what Cam is going on about. He's up to page 20 and going on about bowling shirts? Is there a formal/elegant/dress up for dinner night on this cruise?

 

There is no formal night (I'm happy to say) But there is one evening where people go to a little more effort. At one point it was reported that the cruise had a "White Night". But that did not happen on either of our cruises. One evening however when the ship's bulletin called for "elegant" some of the ladies wore a nice cocktail dress and some of the men wore a light jacket/blazer or just a nice long sleeved shirt. In Cuba men wear a guayavera shirt for special occasions and this fits the elegant bill nicely. They can be purchased anywhere in Cuba but large sizes are hard to come by. It was in my search for a guayavera here at home where a sales clerk mistakenly referred to it as a bowling shirt. :D

[burm]

I guess I'm going to have to start at the beginning to understand what Cam is going on about. He's up to page 20 and going on about bowling shirts?

Is there a formal/elegant/dress up for dinner night on this cruise?

 

Sent from my SM-T310 using Forums mobile app

 

Kerri, you absolutely have to go back and read the part about the bowling shirts. It is priceless!

[burm]

Does anyone know if, arriving a week in advance, we could have a quality custom made shirt made for DH at a reasonable price?

[ONT-CA]

... It crosses my mind to cancell my tickets and then rebook right away with promotion codes Like ones for free air fare:eek:

 

What is the expression? "A bird in the hand..." Apart from any penalty you would be hit with in cancellation, there are costs in addition to what is shown for things like "free air". Net/net I don't think you would be much further ahead. Plus better the cabin you know...

 

Happy Hour deals are reasonable and less costly than per day charge for the Drink Card. Using it's full value would call for an awful lot of drinking and therefore a "free" drink card is hardly that when you factor in rehab...

[ONT-CA]

Does anyone know if, arriving a week in advance, we could have a quality custom made shirt made for DH at a reasonable price?

 

Wish I could help or hopefully someone at your hotel when you arrive but when the desk clerk at our hotel could not tell me where to purchase a guayavera when if fact they were for sale in the gift shop in the lobby of that very hotel, well all I can do is wish you luck.

[burm]

It bugs me that we booked months ago at full price:eek:

 

, and i constantly get emails from this cruise line offering deals like free drink packages, etc

 

 

http://yourcubacruise.com/DatesPrices.aspx

 

It crosses my mind to cancell my tickets and then rebook right away with promotion codes

 

Like ones for free air fare:eek:

 

 

If you were within the cancellation period, that would certainly be possible. I think that you will see that if you cancelled now, you would end up paying more. Check out the cancellation policies below.

 

Anyone booking my last cruise would have paid thousands more than I did, having booked early. Sometimes price changes work in our favour, sometimes they don't.

 

CANCELLATION CHARGES Cancellation requests must be received in writing by Cuba Cruise no less than 76 days prior to sailing date for a full refund. Requests received less than 76 days prior to sailing date will be subject to the charges outlined in the table below. No refund will be permitted if a guest voluntarily or involuntarily does not show up for their cruise or terminates his/her cruise in progress. Cruise contracts are non-transferable. Cruise date changes are considered reservation cancellations and are subject to the below cancellation fees. Cancellation requests must be received in writing by Cuba Cruise no less than 76 days prior to sailing date for a full refund less $100 administration fee pp. Specific terms for cancellation penalties listed below. Days prior to departure date Cancellation charge Up to 76 days Deposit is refunded less $100 administration fee per person. 75 days to 46 days 25% of the total cruise fare or the FULL DEPOSIT amount, whichever is greater, excluding non-commissionable fares (NCF). 45 days to 22 days 50% of the total cruise fare or the FULL DEPOSIT amount, whichever is greater, excluding non-commissionable fares (NCF). 21 days or fewer 100% of the total cruise fare including the FULL DEPOSIT amount, including NCF. CREDIT CARD POLICY - See more at: http://www.yourcubacruise.com/TermsConditions.aspx#sthash.xoqx4pbO.dpuf

[KandCsailing]

Thanks for the shirt and flormal information.

I googled the shirt name and Cam has a couple similar.

Regular dinners are no problem for us to dress for, I'll just have to decide on which dress to pack.

 

Sent from my SM-T310 using Forums mobile app

[David22]

What is the expression? "A bird in the hand..." Apart from any penalty you would be hit with in cancellation, there are costs in addition to what is shown for things like "free air". Net/net I don't think you would be much further ahead. Plus better the cabin you know...

 

Happy Hour deals are reasonable and less costly than per day charge for the Drink Card. Using it's full value would call for an awful lot of drinking and therefore a "free" drink card is hardly that when you factor in rehab...

 

Yes

 

Thanks all for the great info and advice

 

And laughs:)

[David22]

If you were within the cancellation period, that would certainly be possible. I think that you will see that if you cancelled now, you would end up paying more. Check out the cancellation policies below.

 

Anyone booking my last cruise would have paid thousands more than I did, having booked early. Sometimes price changes work in our favour, sometimes they don't.

 

CANCELLATION CHARGES Cancellation requests must be received in writing by Cuba Cruise no less than 76 days prior to sailing date for a full refund. Requests received less than 76 days prior to sailing date will be subject to the charges outlined in the table below. No refund will be permitted if a guest voluntarily or involuntarily does not show up for their cruise or terminates his/her cruise in progress. Cruise contracts are non-transferable. Cruise date changes are considered reservation cancellations and are subject to the below cancellation fees. Cancellation requests must be received in writing by Cuba Cruise no less than 76 days prior to sailing date for a full refund less $100 administration fee pp. Specific terms for cancellation penalties listed below. Days prior to departure date Cancellation charge Up to 76 days Deposit is refunded less $100 administration fee per person. 75 days to 46 days 25% of the total cruise fare or the FULL DEPOSIT amount, whichever is greater, excluding non-commissionable fares (NCF). 45 days to 22 days 50% of the total cruise fare or the FULL DEPOSIT amount, whichever is greater, excluding non-commissionable fares (NCF). 21 days or fewer 100% of the total cruise fare including the FULL DEPOSIT amount, including NCF. CREDIT CARD POLICY - See more at: http://www.yourcubacruise.com/TermsConditions.aspx#sthash.xoqx4pbO.dpuf

 

 

And thank you as well:)

[p598738]

I don't want to pay the 10% involved in changing US in Cuba. My best thinking is to buy Canadian with US dollars here in the States. Now I can swap the Canadian for CUCs in Cuba. With the favorable exchange rate I think I effectively get 1 CUC for each US dollar. Comments ?

 

Also, can I offset my account on the ship with my leftover Canadian dollars before departure ?? Thanks.

[ONT-CA]

I don't want to pay the 10% involved in changing US in Cuba. My best thinking is to buy Canadian with US dollars here in the States. Now I can swap the Canadian for CUCs in Cuba. With the favorable exchange rate I think I effectively get 1 CUC for each US dollar. Comments ?

Also, can I offset my account on the ship with my leftover Canadian dollars before departure ?? Thanks.

 

Yes, you are correct in that the CUC is based on the US dollar although not exchangeable without the 10% penalty. So for example you convert one $1.00 US and receive, say, $1.20 CDN. With that $1.20 you can purchase one CUC.

As some people choose to pay their ship board account in cash there should be no reason why you could not pay off part of your account as long as the ship have a bonafide credit card from you for any balance.

Edited January 12, 2015 by ONT-CA

[retiring soon]

HI all!

 

This weather is making more even more excited to get away!

 

Ron ~ do you remember what electric plugs are in the cabins? The lady who's going on the Feb 2 cruise called with a few questions & that was one of them. Her DH has a CPAP machine & she wants to bring a curling iron.

 

Today I see that our cruise has 54 cabins available, the one before 75.

Another one I checked in Jan. only has 30 something.

 

Have a good week.

 

~ Jo ~ :)

[ONT-CA]

...Ron ~ do you remember what electric plugs are in the cabins? The lady who's going on the Feb 2 cruise called with a few questions & that was one of them. Her DH has a CPAP machine & she wants to bring a curling iron. ~ Jo ~ :)

 

There are both 110Volt and 220Volt outlets. Assuming she is in SI then there are both outlets on the credenza where the TV and telephone are located. At the desk, which is more like a vanity with a large mirror and a portable hair dryer, there are again both outlets. On the right side of the bed there are both outlets and a telephone but only a 220V on the left. There is only one 220Volt in the washroom which prevents us from installing our night light, a must in preventing night disturbances. So we carry an international converter which we then use in the washroom. There is also a permanently installed hair dryer in the washroom. No outlets on the deck.

 

Can't comment on other cabins but assume all have both types of outlets