Currency and cuba questions

[Cruisegirl6]

We will be cruising to Cuba in three weeks and have a few questions:

 

1- Converting usa dollars to cuc, did you find it be a long line and very time consuming?

2- What is the best time to get off the ship with having less long lines? Do most people get off as soon as the ship docks?

3- Upon exchanging money at the cruise port there, has anybody encountered the machines running out of cuc currency?

4- Have you found an authentic good restaurant close to the pier?

5- We hired Blexie tours, two tour guides as we are 5 adults, any experience with them and did they take you somewhere to have lunch, if so, how was the lunch?

6- I don't know much about cigars, but would like to bring back some for family and friends, any recommendations of brands and where to purchase, and will I have a limit or any trouble bringing them home?

7- Our ship leaves at 4pm what time do you get back to the ship? Blexie wants to get us back at 3:30 but we are thinking more on 3pm (they picking us up at 9am)

 

Thank you.

[Cary Cruiser]

If you read some of the prior posts, and do a search you can find answers to all of your questions

[Tapi]

1-The Line to exchange money wasn’t long. We may have waited 5 minutes Max.

 

2-If you try to get off the ship immediately after arriving, you will need to wait. On our cruise, we were queued inside the main theater and then we were left off the ship in small groups. The customs area inside the terminal is HOT and humid, and it’s a slow process. Good news is that once you’ve gone through this process, you won’t have to do it again if you’ll be getting off the ship multiple times. They’ll just check your passport for the stamp.

 

3- No. They had plenty.

 

4-La Vitrola was highly recommended but we didn’t make it. We did have dinner at O’Reilly’s 304 and lunch the next day at La Moneda Cubana. Both provided excellent food and service. At La Moneda Cubana, we were able to pay using US dollars.

 

5-We didn’t use Blexie but we booked our classic cars through Old Cars Havana. We were able to pre-select the specific cars we wanted on their website. Excellent 3 hour tour perfectly coordinated.

 

6-One of the stops on our tour was at a cigar shop. The shop attendants were very helpful in selecting some cigars based on tastes and budget. We walked out with some Cohiba’s. This shop also accepted dollars. No trouble bringing them home. Just declare them with the US customs agent upon your return to the USA.

 

7- Be back earlier than that! The lines do get backed up getting back on the ship. You go through an x-ray machine, a customs checkpoint, and then through another x-ray machine once onboard the ship.

 

 

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[megr1125]

Tapi, thanks for the tip that it's HOT :o and humid in the terminal! Not that it makes me happy, but it's great info!

[Cruisegirl6]

Tapi thank you for that info!

[cpayne]

Any idea what the exchange rate is for CUC to US $?

 

We will be in Cienfuegos first before we arrive in Havana. Will we be required to go thru customs upon arrival at both locations?

 

 

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[victory2020]

Any idea what the exchange rate is for CUC to US $?

 

We will be in Cienfuegos first before we arrive in Havana. Will we be required to go thru customs upon arrival at both locations?

 

 

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I believe we got 87CUC for $100. I'm sure you will have to go through customs at each port.

[pbenjamin]

The exchange rate is even, i.e. the CUC is equivalent to the USD. However, there is a 10% surcharge (retaliation for the years of embargo) and a 3% exchange fee, so the result is .87 CUC to the dollar.

[mdsgu]

We will be cruising to Cuba in three weeks and have a few questions:

 

1- Converting usa dollars to cuc, did you find it be a long line and very time consuming? No, it was actually much faster than going through customs.

2- What is the best time to get off the ship with having less long lines? Do most people get off as soon as the ship docks? We got off as soon as possible to make the most of our time in Cuba. There were lines, mostly at customs, but they move quickly.

3- Upon exchanging money at the cruise port there, has anybody encountered the machines running out of cuc currency? There are no machines -- they have actual people. Never saw them run out. They have shoeboxes (literally) full of cash.

4- Have you found an authentic good restaurant close to the pier? We ate at El Canonazo, just across the ship channel. Very good and very reasonable. Look it up on Trip Advisor.

5- We hired Blexie tours, two tour guides as we are 5 adults, any experience with them and did they take you somewhere to have lunch, if so, how was the lunch? Very good choice! That's who we hired. Our guide was Yoly, and her English was absolutely flawless. She had already made our lunch reservations at El Canonazo, so that should be no problem for you. (Lunch is separate from the price of the tour.)

6- I don't know much about cigars, but would like to bring back some for family and friends, any recommendations of brands and where to purchase, and will I have a limit or any trouble bringing them home? Cohiba, Romeo y Juliet, the usual suspects are available. The prices are no better than you find in Grand Cayman. You won't have trouble bringing them back.

7- Our ship leaves at 4pm what time do you get back to the ship? Blexie wants to get us back at 3:30 but we are thinking more on 3pm (they picking us up at 9am) Most lines want you back on the ship an hour prior to sailing, but check with your particular line. Our ship didn't leave until 8pm, but our tour went 10am-4:30pm. They drop you off directly at the terminal. You'll need time to change back any leftover cash and make it through customs. Again, the money exchange will be quicker than customs.

 

Thank you.

 

...

Edited August 9, 2018 by mdsgu

[Cruisegirl6]

Mdsgu hello and thank you for the help. Question, I read we should not eat or drink anything as the water is not healthy there, wouldn't that apply to the restaurant that you mentioned?

[mdsgu]

Mdsgu hello and thank you for the help. Question, I read we should not eat or drink anything as the water is not healthy there, wouldn't that apply to the restaurant that you mentioned?

 

We did not run into any problems. We had a mojito at La Bodeguita del Medio and a daiquiri at El Floridita. We also had iced tea and mojitos at El Canonazo. Honestly, we didn't give it a second thought. I think we bought some bottled water at Fusterlandia, too.

[Tapi]

We ate two meals ashore, had plenty of mojitos, bought some bread from a bakery, ate ice cream from an ice cream shop, and ate churros from a street vendor. Nobody in our group of 14 family members got sick.

 

 

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