CountessP Posted July 14, 2018 #1 Share Posted July 14, 2018 I don't see any recent thread regarding time to complete Cuba immigration and exchanging money. I'm envisioning 1000 people getting off the cruise ship at the same time. I'm sure they've gotten efficient at doing it quickly, but can anyone give me an idea of how long this takes? Our cruise ship gets in at 8AM. If we get off pretty quickly, should we be ready to tour by 10AM? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenOfZoom Posted July 14, 2018 #2 Share Posted July 14, 2018 Was wondering the same, our tour is supposed to start at 9:30am. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
316tarheel Posted July 15, 2018 #3 Share Posted July 15, 2018 I don't see any recent thread regarding time to complete Cuba immigration and exchanging money. I'm envisioning 1000 people getting off the cruise ship at the same time. I'm sure they've gotten efficient at doing it quickly, but can anyone give me an idea of how long this takes? Our cruise ship gets in at 8AM. If we get off pretty quickly, should we be ready to tour by 10AM? It doesn’t take that long. We arrived on the Norwegian Sun in May and were on the streets of Havana by 8:30. Took very little time to get through immigration and customs. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IsaSweden69 Posted July 15, 2018 #4 Share Posted July 15, 2018 It took us only 30 minutes to get off the ship. We preferred to exchange money during our tour in a hotel lobby as the bank branch outside the termin was very crowded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flia Posted July 15, 2018 #5 Share Posted July 15, 2018 We were just there a little over a week ago. We took Royal Caribbean, and they let the people who were doing one of their excursions off first. Our tour wasn’t through them, so we didn’t get off until about 8:45 (we docked a little after 7, but it took them awhile to get cleared and start letting people off). It took us about 45 minutes to get through immigration and exchange our money, but the money exchange took less than 5 minutes. We were in a slow line, though; the other lines seemed to move faster. We were supposed to meet for our tour at 9 and ended up being about 30 minutes late, but our guide was understanding and accommodated us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wateron Posted July 15, 2018 #6 Share Posted July 15, 2018 We were just there a little over a week ago. We took Royal Caribbean, and they let the people who were doing one of their excursions off first. Our tour wasn’t through them, so we didn’t get off until about 8:45 (we docked a little after 7, but it took them awhile to get cleared and start letting people off). It took us about 45 minutes to get through immigration and exchange our money, but the money exchange took less than 5 minutes. We were in a slow line, though; the other lines seemed to move faster. We were supposed to meet for our tour at 9 and ended up being about 30 minutes late, but our guide was understanding and accommodated us. Did you check SFTCP & if so did RC hassle you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pitzel Posted July 16, 2018 #7 Share Posted July 16, 2018 If you have an independent tour, aim to get off of the ship as soon as you can. We were off around 8:15 and it took all of 15 minutes to clear immigration (3 people in line), customs (no one in line ahead of us) and money exchange (walked right up to an open teller). People who got off at the same time as the RCL tours had HUGE lines for each of these. Note that there will likely be 2 ships in port, so you may also have to contend with the passengers from the second ship who are also trying to get off and start their day. We ran into this on day 2 — it was remarkably quick to get through immigration once we had our passports stamped from day 1 (just waive our passports at the agent), but the line for money exchange on day 2 was quite long with all of the “new” passengers from another ship that had arrived that morning. We opted to exchange our money on day 2 at a cambio/cadeca just off of San Francisco square rather than wait in line at the cruise terminal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiverBlues Posted July 16, 2018 #8 Share Posted July 16, 2018 It took us only 30 minutes to get off the ship.We preferred to exchange money during our tour in a hotel lobby as the bank branch outside the termin was very crowded. Just note that a bank or cadeca exchanges US dollars at the official rate of U$100=87 CUC, but a hotel is free to exchange at whatever rate they like. There are cadecas and banks scattered over the Vieja neighborhood adjoining the pier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisegirl1 Posted July 17, 2018 #9 Share Posted July 17, 2018 Exchange had a LONG line but it went quickly. We were to meet our private tour guide across the street from the dock at 10:00am. During the Cuba talk, we were instructed to give at least an hour . We left the private excursion waiting area at 8:45 and were at the meeting point by 9:15. That means it took us just 30 minutes to walk off, go through customs, go through security, exchange money and walk across the street. enjoy M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wwinfl91 Posted July 17, 2018 #10 Share Posted July 17, 2018 Going to Cuba for the first time in November on Azamara's Journey, a smaller ship, 650 or so passengers. What site has how many ships will be in Havana, Santiago de Cuba and Cienfuegos? I had read the exchange rate was better if you were exchanging Canadian currency rather than US dollars. Does anyone know if this is true? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredZiffle Posted July 18, 2018 #11 Share Posted July 18, 2018 Going to Cuba for the first time in November on Azamara's Journey, a smaller ship, 650 or so passengers. What site has how many ships will be in Havana, Santiago de Cuba and Cienfuegos? I had read the exchange rate was better if you were exchanging Canadian currency rather than US dollars. Does anyone know if this is true? Thanks There are several sites that show port schedules. I like this one: http://ships.cruisett.com/schedule/ Unless you can buy CAN $ with no fees, it's usually not worth the effort to exchange your US $ ahead of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbradley1209 Posted July 18, 2018 #12 Share Posted July 18, 2018 Going to Cuba for the first time in November on Azamara's Journey, a smaller ship, 650 or so passengers. What site has how many ships will be in Havana, Santiago de Cuba and Cienfuegos? I had read the exchange rate was better if you were exchanging Canadian currency rather than US dollars. Does anyone know if this is true? Thanks But, if you have the Canadian dollars (or Euros), yes, the exchange rate is better. They aren't charged the 10% surcharge. For those currencies, you get 97 cents on the dollar. For USD, it is 87. chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiverBlues Posted July 18, 2018 #13 Share Posted July 18, 2018 But, if you have the Canadian dollars (or Euros), yes, the exchange rate is better. They aren't charged the 10% surcharge. For those currencies, you get 97 cents on the dollar. For USD, it is 87.chris For those currencies, the exchange rate varies, daily, so what you get depends on when you travel. The USD to CUC rate is fixed, officially by the Cuban gov't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbradley1209 Posted July 18, 2018 #14 Share Posted July 18, 2018 For those currencies, the exchange rate varies, daily, so what you get depends on when you travel.The USD to CUC rate is fixed, officially by the Cuban gov't. I have never read that. Thanks for the info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savllen Posted July 19, 2018 #15 Share Posted July 19, 2018 How many people did money exchange before there cruise? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rederob Posted July 19, 2018 #16 Share Posted July 19, 2018 Today CAD$131.70 buys US$100.00 (excludes any bank fees) Today CAD$131.70 buys 95.6CUC at a Cuban bank Whereas US$100.00 buys 87CUC at a Cuban Bank It gets a bit tricky when you add the bank fees: Let's assume a 3% bank fee, and an American exchanges into CAD$, so that :- US$103 buys CAD$131.70, which we know buys 95.6CUC And at a Cuban Bank US$103 buys 90CUC So today Canadians, or those changing into CAD$ will come out ahead on such money exchanges in Cuba. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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