Cuba Questions- September, NCL Sun

[jdazzler15]

Hi All,

I am going on NCL Sun leaving 9/9/18 out of Miami. I have a few questions about the Cuba stop. I have read so much conflicting information. Any info would be much appreciated. Thank you!

 

1. Does it matter which travel affidavit you chose once getting to Cuba? I was told by NCL, most people pick "Educational exchanges – group people-to-people through Norwegian or other organization". Is that only if you take an excursion through NCL? I booked a private tour with Cubaoutings. Should I pick another one? Does it even matter?

 

2. Has anyone on here used Cubaoutings? What did you think? What were the highlights & what are must stop places for you?

 

3. How did you exchange to CUC and how much did you get when exchanging USD for CUC?

 

4. How much rum & cigars are you really allowed to take back with you?

 

5. How much did you spend for the day, not including tours? Trying to figure out the price of drinks, food, and souvenirs.

[sleepbestonships]

I have way over-researched the Cuba travel affidavit. You can only check People to People (educational) if you are using a tour that has a U.S. representative on the tour with you. If CubaTours is locally owned by a Cuban person, than you should check "Support of Cuban People" on the travel affidavit.

 

On the exchange, you get 1 CUC for $1, less a 10% penalty fee and a 3% transaction fee. So- you get .87 CUC per 1 USD. Some people recommend getting Euros and then exchanging those for CUC. My math using exchange rates at my bank today indicates I would save around $25 for each $500 converted if I do Euros vs. straight USD to CUC. Probably not worth it for most people. I just did this math in the Cuba forum (under Ports).

 

I don't have answers for your other questions. You might try the Cuba forum if you don't get a response here.

[Bostonjetset]

You are allowed to bring back 100 cigars and 1L of alcohol per person. The customs agent never even checked when disembarking but I suppose it’s better to be safe than sorry.

 

 

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[nednrom]

Hi All,

I am going on NCL Sun leaving 9/9/18 out of Miami. I have a few questions about the Cuba stop. I have read so much conflicting information. Any info would be much appreciated. Thank you!

 

1. Does it matter which travel affidavit you chose once getting to Cuba? I was told by NCL, most people pick "Educational exchanges – group people-to-people through Norwegian or other organization". Is that only if you take an excursion through NCL? I booked a private tour with Cubaoutings. Should I pick another one? Does it even matter?

If you're booking a private tour, the option to select should be Support for Cuban people.

 

2. Has anyone on here used Cubaoutings? What did you think? What were the highlights & what are must stop places for you?

We are leaving on next Monday and I have done research about places to go - we wanted to see Fusterlandia, El Morro, La Cabana and Hotel Nacional. There are alot of other places that we will go but these were our musts. We are also going to Revolution square, capital, the dark chamber, Havana Cathedral and all the plazas.

 

3. How did you exchange to CUC and how much did you get when exchanging USD for CUC?

I looked into exchange $1=0.87 CUC. I decided not to convert USD to Euro or CAD because my bank charges for the exchange of currency and saving $3.00 wasn't worth the effort for me.

 

4. How much rum & cigars are you really allowed to take back with you?

1lt of rum pp and 100 cigars.

 

5. How much did you spend for the day, not including tours? Trying to figure out the price of drinks, food, and souvenirs.

I have done some research although we have not been there -- We will be purchasing local art (20-40), cigars (200 CUC - 2 boxes of Romeo Juliet) and rum (40 CUC). Lunch at a paladar is 10 CUC per person, drinks are 2-6 CUC per drink, souvenirs like t-shirts 10 CUC, magnets 1 CUC each. There is a great link somewhere on here giving a link to prices of cigars and rum. I received the other costs from people who had come back from Cuba.

 

 

My responses are in red, hope this is the kind of info you were looking for.

[Milford57]

Just off the boat waiting for our flight...THEY DO NOT EVEN ASK ABIUT THAT SFCP... if u get off the ship late in Cuba not sure there is even an official customs officer on duty!! A bunch of females who run the terminal. Very interesting operation

 

 

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[jdazzler15]

Thank you all for your responses! I cannot wait for my trip. Still deciding if it is worth it exchanging money ahead of time.