ShipsAhoy508 Posted March 21, 2019 #1 Share Posted March 21, 2019 I'll be sailing on the NCL Sky Tuesday. The first port is Havana Cuba. I had to get a Visa. My question is will I be allowed to walk off the ship and spend a few hours exploring the island on my own or do I need to be on a tour excursion to exit the ship? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worldspan Posted March 21, 2019 #2 Share Posted March 21, 2019 Absolutely! Don't ask the line that question however, they will always lie to you and tell you that you are required to take one of their tours. Heard you could get off on your own from so many people and finally went on Nordic Empress last fall with 2 port days including overnight and got off on my own 4 different times! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myjillian Posted March 21, 2019 #3 Share Posted March 21, 2019 You have to go thru customs and exchange your money for Cuban money...then just go thru doors grab a carriage ride...walk about 5 blocks to your left and go to the market place etc. ...do your own thing...it's safe😎 enjoy ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruiser_1977 Posted March 21, 2019 #4 Share Posted March 21, 2019 I did not purchase an excursion. We wandered around on our own. My review is in my signature. You also don't "have" to exchange money, unless you want to buy something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShipsAhoy508 Posted March 21, 2019 Author #5 Share Posted March 21, 2019 (edited) Thank you all for answering my question. I am a good walker so I just want to wander around for 2-3 hours. I don't buy anything in any ports anymore so no need to exchange money. Will the ship and customs let me walk off carrying a bottle of water? Also, when I leave the ship I know I must have passport with me but do I also need my Visa? Edited March 21, 2019 by ShipsAhoy508 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megr1125 Posted March 21, 2019 #6 Share Posted March 21, 2019 52 minutes ago, ShipsAhoy508 said: Thank you all for answering my question. I am a good walker so I just want to wander around for 2-3 hours. I don't buy anything in any ports anymore so no need to exchange money. Will the ship and customs let me walk off carrying a bottle of water? Also, when I leave the ship I know I must have passport with me but do I also need my Visa? Yes, you need to present the passport AND visa to Customs and yes TOTALLY take water with you...Havana was hotter than anyplace I'd ever been....it's a really amazingly interesting place! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
softl Posted March 22, 2019 #7 Share Posted March 22, 2019 A little off-topic, and sorry to hijack a thread. But can one buy t-shirts in Havana? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbenjamin Posted March 22, 2019 #8 Share Posted March 22, 2019 Yes, but I wouldn’t recommend buying them. I bought two different shirts at the artisans market and they were so cheaply made they didn’t last a month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worldspan Posted March 22, 2019 #9 Share Posted March 22, 2019 22 hours ago, ShipsAhoy508 said: Thank you all for answering my question. I am a good walker so I just want to wander around for 2-3 hours. I don't buy anything in any ports anymore so no need to exchange money. Will the ship and customs let me walk off carrying a bottle of water? Also, when I leave the ship I know I must have passport with me but do I also need my Visa? I walked off with 2 large bottles of water as I had so many from foolishly buying RCCIs "water package" and I had no issue whatsoever. I used oldcartours.com for my 1954 Chevy convertible ride around Havana and the driver most appreciated the 1 large bottle of the 2 that I took with me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
softl Posted March 22, 2019 #10 Share Posted March 22, 2019 4 hours ago, pbenjamin said: Yes, but I wouldn’t recommend buying them. I bought two different shirts at the artisans market and they were so cheaply made they didn’t last a month. Thanks for the reply, and advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dar & Bob Posted March 23, 2019 #11 Share Posted March 23, 2019 On 3/21/2019 at 12:47 PM, ShipsAhoy508 said: I'll be sailing on the NCL Sky Tuesday. The first port is Havana Cuba. I had to get a Visa. My question is will I be allowed to walk off the ship and spend a few hours exploring the island on my own or do I need to be on a tour excursion to exit the ship? My sister and I were in Cuba in February. I would highly suggest a cruise with Blexie. I learned so much that I would not have known just walking around Havana. They were exceptional = stay as long as you want or don't. Also technically to comply with U.S. standards to visit Cuba, you have to do something, not that at present they are checking. I will just say being with a Cuban and getting a local perspective was absolutely awesome! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbyar Posted April 15, 2019 #12 Share Posted April 15, 2019 Did Blexie come to Havana for you? It looks like his tours start in Varadero. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newcruiser1956 Posted April 15, 2019 #13 Share Posted April 15, 2019 I was with Blexie last year in Havana, and booked again with him next month in Havana again. Worth the money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dar & Bob Posted April 16, 2019 #14 Share Posted April 16, 2019 2 hours ago, abbyar said: Did Blexie come to Havana for you? It looks like his tours start in Varadero. Yes Raoul met us in the Square right across from customs. It was so simple. I can not say enough about our tour. It was informative, a perspective you can't get from a tour book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucinarei Posted April 16, 2019 #15 Share Posted April 16, 2019 On 3/21/2019 at 12:47 PM, ShipsAhoy508 said: I'll be sailing on the NCL Sky Tuesday. The first port is Havana Cuba. I had to get a Visa. My question is will I be allowed to walk off the ship and spend a few hours exploring the island on my own or do I need to be on a tour excursion to exit the ship? I'm on the Sky to Cuba in July... how do we obtain a visa? It was my understanding that we could purchase our visas prior to embarkation. Is this still the case? The FAQs on the NCL site are a bit confusing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wwwfla Posted April 16, 2019 #16 Share Posted April 16, 2019 Check Trip Advisor, Blexie is the Winner! One of the best excursions we ever have done! Our guide, Laura, was very personable, knowledgeable and passionate. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samstress Posted April 16, 2019 #17 Share Posted April 16, 2019 22 hours ago, Lucinarei said: I'm on the Sky to Cuba in July... how do we obtain a visa? It was my understanding that we could purchase our visas prior to embarkation. Is this still the case? The FAQs on the NCL site are a bit confusing... We filled out our visa forms prior to leaving home. You should be able to find them on your NCL.com site. The visas were in our room when we arrived on board. You will need these visas and your passports for the first time you exit the ship. They stamp your passport & from then on you can pretty much come and go as you please. We never saw any Cuban customs people at any station after the first night we were there! Here is the link to the information https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/freestyle-cruise/cruise-travel-documents#Cuba Cuba is probably one of the most interesting ports we've been to... Cheers, Sandy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucinarei Posted April 17, 2019 #18 Share Posted April 17, 2019 1 hour ago, Samstress said: We filled out our visa forms prior to leaving home. You should be able to find them on your NCL.com site. The visas were in our room when we arrived on board. You will need these visas and your passports for the first time you exit the ship. They stamp your passport & from then on you can pretty much come and go as you please. We never saw any Cuban customs people at any station after the first night we were there! Here is the link to the information https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/freestyle-cruise/cruise-travel-documents#Cuba Cuba is probably one of the most interesting ports we've been to... Cheers, Sandy Ah, yes! We filled this form out and submitted it- I forgot we did that! So we should be good if that was submitted? And then we pay when we check in at embarkation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samstress Posted April 17, 2019 #19 Share Posted April 17, 2019 9 hours ago, Lucinarei said: Ah, yes! We filled this form out and submitted it- I forgot we did that! So we should be good if that was submitted? And then we pay when we check in at embarkation? They (NCL) charged us as soon as we submitted the form. It showed up as a charge on my Credit Card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucinarei Posted April 17, 2019 #20 Share Posted April 17, 2019 3 hours ago, Samstress said: They (NCL) charged us as soon as we submitted the form. It showed up as a charge on my Credit Card. Oh. We have definitely not been charged by NCL. I guess I'll have to call them to see what else we need to do. I wish that page was less confusing. Thanks for all of your help! 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucinarei Posted April 17, 2019 #21 Share Posted April 17, 2019 I called NCL and purchased my visa- thanks for everyone's help! 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pghflyer Posted April 17, 2019 #22 Share Posted April 17, 2019 Guess I waited too long to jump on these Cuba cruises, seems like the US Government is going back to not allowing travel there.......not sure what that will mean for most these cruises. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-administration-announces-new-measures-against-cuba/2019/04/17/cfc2bc96-6132-11e9-9ff2-abc984dc9eec_story.html?utm_term=.89cb2fbe7402 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhinomike Posted April 17, 2019 #23 Share Posted April 17, 2019 32 minutes ago, pghflyer said: Guess I waited too long to jump on these Cuba cruises, seems like the US Government is going back to not allowing travel there.......not sure what that will mean for most these cruises. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-administration-announces-new-measures-against-cuba/2019/04/17/cfc2bc96-6132-11e9-9ff2-abc984dc9eec_story.html?utm_term=.89cb2fbe7402 Yes. I am scheduled to depart in less than two weeks on a NCL ship to Cuba. Does anybody know what this will mean for my trip? Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newcruiser1956 Posted April 17, 2019 #24 Share Posted April 17, 2019 I do not read anything in that that makes it appear to affect the cruises at this time. I am traveling there in 38 days :) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNCruzer56 Posted April 17, 2019 #25 Share Posted April 17, 2019 All non-relative travel to Cuba has been halted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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