Spending a night away from ship while in Port

[kennellypatrick]

We are going to Cuba on a one week cruise. We have arranged independent transportation and overnite hotel in Havana in order to go to the Tropicana night club. Will be returning to the ship the afternoon of the day prior to departure. Ship departs mid afternoon the next day. The ship will be in Cienfuegos.

 

Does anyone know the protocol  for notifying the ship of our plans? Could this be an issue?

 

Edited February 11, 2019 by kennellypatrick
Added information

[LHT28]

if you are overnighting in Havana   it is  a short ride back to the port after the show  why pay for  a hotel ??

[leaveitallbehind]

I have only experienced overnights in Bermuda where in that case, the ship's gangway is open 24 hours per day while in port and you can come and go as you wish - no notification to the ship required.  They scan your room card as you leave and return so they know if you are on or off the ship at any time.  You don't say which cruise line you are on, but I assume it would work the same in Cuba, or any other overnight port, with any of the cruise lines.

 

So staying off the ship overnight should not be an issue at all with regards to the cruise line - but to be sure I would check with the cruise line to confirm.  I am not aware of any specific requirements with notifications to any officials in Cuba, however, and maybe others can confirm that. 

Edited February 11, 2019 by leaveitallbehind

[leaveitallbehind]

57 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

if you are overnighting in Havana   it is  a short ride back to the port after the show  why pay for  a hotel ??

 

The OP is planning to stay overnight in Havana - not the ship.  They are saying that the ship will be in Cienfuegos, which is on the other side of the island. 

Edited February 11, 2019 by leaveitallbehind

[GeeDunk]

1 hour ago, kennellypatrick said:

We are going to Cuba on a one week cruise. We have arranged independent transportation and overnite hotel in Havana in order to go to the Tropicana night club. Will be returning to the ship the afternoon of the day prior to departure. Ship departs mid afternoon the next day. The ship will be in Cienfuegos.

 

Does anyone know the protocol  for notifying the ship of our plans? Could this be an issue?

Have your TA contact the Cruise Line to get permission IN WRITING.

Give a copy to the PSD so that they know.

Keep a copy.

 

My Son and I left the Ship, in Reykjavik, for five days, to tour Iceland.

We then flew to Halifax to rejoin the Ship and continue to NYC.

 

 

Edited February 11, 2019 by GeeDunk

[Schoifmom]

8 minutes ago, GeeDunk said:

Have your TA contact the Cruise Line to get permission IN WRITING.

Give a copy to the PSD so that they know.

Keep a copy.

 

My Son and I left the Ship, in Reykjavik, for five days, to tour Iceland.

We then flew to Halifax to rejoin the Ship and continue to NYC.

 

 

 

This is not quite the same situation, as their ship will be overnighting in the port as well.  They are not leaving the cruise and rejoining at another port, such as what you did.

 

@kennellypatrick, you are generally able to go back and forth to the ship (or stay away) as long as the ship is in port, as long as you are back by the final on-board time.  I would double-check with the cruiseline, since you are forking out quite a bit of cash to be able to do what you planned.

[LHT28]

Just now, leaveitallbehind said:

 

The OP is planning to stay overnight in Havana - not the ship.  They are saying that the ship will be in Cienfuegos, which is on the other side of the island. 

well they edited the post  after I posted my reply  there was no mention of  Cienfuegos at the time  or I would not have said it was a short ride back to the port

 

[leaveitallbehind]

1 hour ago, LHT28 said:

well they edited the post  after I posted my reply  there was no mention of  Cienfuegos at the time  or I would not have said it was a short ride back to the port

 

 

...and I didn't notice the difference as I only went back to the OP to check my facts before responding to you!   So that must have been after they added the info.  Your responses typically are on point.

[leaveitallbehind]

1 hour ago, GeeDunk said:

Have your TA contact the Cruise Line to get permission IN WRITING.

Give a copy to the PSD so that they know.

Keep a copy.

 

My Son and I left the Ship, in Reykjavik, for five days, to tour Iceland.

We then flew to Halifax to rejoin the Ship and continue to NYC.

 

 

 

As Schoifmom indicated, your situation was completely different and would not apply to the OP's plan as you left the ship in one port and rejoined the ship not only in another port, but another country - and not the next day but five days later after it had left the port you disembarked in.  Not even apples to oranges!

 

Leaving the ship for the night while in port while the ship is also in port overnight and rejoining it the next day in that same port is not an issue. Again, my experience has been in Bermuda, but we were with people who did exactly that and stayed at a resort with friends who happened to be there as well at the time.  No permission or notification was needed.

[gooch47]

I'd be careful about making sure CUBA wouldn't object.

[Heidi13]

On ships that overnight in port for 1 or more nights, staying ashore is not that uncommon. We did this during our last stop in Dubai.

 

However, being Cuba (we have never been), I would check the immigration & visa requirements, whether any additional requirements are triggered by staying ashore overnight. In Russia, to stay ashore overnight a tourist Visa was required, but have no knowledge of Cuba.

 

Before heading ashore, we would provide contact details to the Purser's Desk, so they could contact us if the ship's schedule changed due to weather, etc. We also advised our cabin steward.

[zqvol]

5 hours ago, kennellypatrick said:

We are going to Cuba on a one week cruise. We have arranged independent transportation and overnite hotel in Havana in order to go to the Tropicana night club. Will be returning to the ship the afternoon of the day prior to departure. Ship departs mid afternoon the next day. The ship will be in Cienfuegos.

 

Does anyone know the protocol  for notifying the ship of our plans? Could this be an issue?

 

As long as the ship is not moving overnight they don't care what you do. There is no need to notify them.

[CruisenOne]

 

6 hours ago, kennellypatrick said:

We are going to Cuba on a one week cruise. We have arranged independent transportation and overnite hotel in Havana in order to go to the Tropicana night club. Will be returning to the ship the afternoon of the day prior to departure. Ship departs mid afternoon the next day. The ship will be in Cienfuegos.

 

Does anyone know the protocol  for notifying the ship of our plans? Could this be an issue?

 

 

Suggest letting the Passenger Service Desk know your plans.

 

 

[leaveitallbehind]

1 hour ago, CruisenOne said:

 

 

Suggest letting the Passenger Service Desk know your plans.

 

 

 

Why? Not being rude, just curious to understand your reason.

 

 If there is an issue affecting you off the ship they won't send anyone looking for you to assist.  You would take the Port Agent contact information posted on the cruise ship port daily information for any personal assistance needed or to advise the ship of a delayed return. The ship staff will know that you are off the ship as mentioned previously as your ship card is scanned every time you leave and return.

Edited February 12, 2019 by leaveitallbehind

[cb at sea]

I would check with someone....the ship, Cuba...whoever.  This is not a place where you want to make a "boo-boo".

 

[K32682]

We did this in Iceland on a two day stop didn't notify anyone on the ship. The security people showed no concern that we had hand luggage with us. We did bring passports because they are sometimes required when checking into European hotels. I would definitely carry my passport in Cuba. 

[txflood33]

I did some googling simply because I found this topic to be interesting and to see how scary Cuba was. I found this article, which was updated this year, and has some amazing info...such as tourists are not allowed in without travel insurance or Americans are not allowed to use credit/debit cards. They also seem to charge a premium on exchanging US dollars to Cuban currency...10%

 

https://www.globotreks.com/destinations/cuba/40-things-know-before-traveling-cuba/

[John Bull]

We've overnited in port  number of times.

But not in Cuba.

And it's dangerous to just accept "no worries" from folk who haven't done it IN CUBA.

For instance in some countries a ship-issued visa isn't good for overniting in a hotel, in other countries you have to present your passport at hotels.

So I suggest you seek qualified opinion about overniting IN CUBA

 

BTW it's common courtesy to tell your cabin steward, and dinner companions if you're on shared traditional dining.

 

Super-interesting place, lovely friendly happy people

 

JB 

[leaveitallbehind]

6 hours ago, John Bull said:

We've overnited in port  number of times.

But not in Cuba.

And it's dangerous to just accept "no worries" from folk who haven't done it IN CUBA.

For instance in some countries a ship-issued visa isn't good for overniting in a hotel, in other countries you have to present your passport at hotels.

So I suggest you seek qualified opinion about overniting IN CUBA

 

BTW it's common courtesy to tell your cabin steward, and dinner companions if you're on shared traditional dining.

 

Super-interesting place, lovely friendly happy people

 

JB 

 

I agree, as referenced in my first response, that it would be a good idea to confirm any issues or requirements with Cuba.  I also agree that as a courtesy you can let your stateroom attendant, etc., know.  But as you, I , and many have indicated there is no need to notify or confirm with the ship's staff first.

Edited February 12, 2019 by leaveitallbehind

[CPT Trips]

17 hours ago, cb at sea said:

I would check with someone....the ship, Cuba...whoever.  This is not a place where you want to make a "boo-boo".

 

 

An on point post. 

As a pp implied when discussing Russia, the type visa for a sea may have specific conditions that preclude or limit independent travel.