empress of the seas to cuba

[buzzy72]

I will be going to Cuba on the Empress of the seas on 8-26-17. I will be on their 4 hour excusion that leaves not much free time, Does anyone have any suggestions as to how much money to exchange for the local CUC while there? We are not much for shopping and a few souvenirs will do it. We also may stop for for lunch while there. Also, any suggestions for the amount of to tip the tour guide and bus driver.

[Snit13]

I will be going to Cuba on the Empress of the seas on 8-26-17. I will be on their 4 hour excusion that leaves not much free time, Does anyone have any suggestions as to how much money to exchange for the local CUC while there? We are not much for shopping and a few souvenirs will do it. We also may stop for for lunch while there. Also, any suggestions for the amount of to tip the tour guide and bus driver.

 

 

Much information on this subject on Carribean/Cuba thread. You might want to go there for your answer. Many who have already traveled to Cuba have posted information.

[starrcards]

buzzy 72, we are on the same Cuba cruise as you. We are planning to exchange $300 USD (net $261 CUC) BUT we have an excursion with Old Town Cars that will cost us $150 CUC. That leaves us with about $110 CUC for the afternoon walk about in Old Havana (lunch, rum, souveners, etc). We can always get more if needed but some previous visitors have said some palaces accept USD (surprisingly). Another good place for Cuba info is the Royal Caribbean Cuba Sailings group on FB.

[alfaeric]

On our recent trip- when we stopped for lunch- it ranged from 18CUC/pp to 36CUC- depending on what you wanted.

 

Drink costs are similar to the US- 5-10cuc per drink. There are a number of stops on tours where you may want a drink- for instance, the places that Hemingway hung out, or a place known for Mojitos.

 

Rum is very variable- less than 10cuc to well, well over 100cuc. Lots of variety.

 

We also stopped for snacks - again, prices were similar to US prices for tourists.

 

Our tour was pre-paid via Tour Republic, but we added some to it because it was long by an hour plus we tipped.

 

In the end, we exchanged $350 and got back about $50 (after exchange fees).

[buzzy72]

Thanks to all who responded.

[mikats]

Thanks to all who responded.

aren't you getting excited!! I'm on this sailing also and am praying for calm seas-- no rough seas on a small ship!

[M!N!MOUSE]

buzzy 72, we are on the same Cuba cruise as you. We are planning to exchange $300 USD (net $261 CUC) BUT we have an excursion with Old Town Cars that will cost us $150 CUC. That leaves us with about $110 CUC for the afternoon walk about in Old Havana (lunch, rum, souveners, etc). We can always get more if needed but some previous visitors have said some palaces accept USD (surprisingly). Another good place for Cuba info is the Royal Caribbean Cuba Sailings group on FB.

 

 

 

We are also doing a tour with Old Town Cars....how are you filling out the paperwork provided by Royal

It is a people to people type excursion but we booked on our own?? Just want to follow the rules :)

[starrcards]

We are also doing a tour with Old Town Cars....how are you filling out the paperwork provided by Royal

It is a people to people type excursion but we booked on our own?? Just want to follow the rules :)

 

I chose Part C (on page 2 of the form) and checked "Educational Activities, including people-to-people travel. We are doing our own walking tour of Old Havana in the afternoon. No RCCL involvement.

[alfaeric]

We are also doing a tour with Old Town Cars....how are you filling out the paperwork provided by Royal

It is a people to people type excursion but we booked on our own?? Just want to follow the rules :)

 

For our trip, we chose B, which is the individual P2P licence.

 

In hindsight, we would choose C- supporting the Cuban People.

 

One HUGE reason for that- if you look at the RCI papers, checking C includes A and B. So one is very covered by it.