My Cuba Cruise Experience on Empress of the Seas 5-20-2017

Just off the Empress of the Seas (5-20-2017 cruise) with a stop in Cuba. Most of the following will have to do with my experience of what was involved with getting our Cuba visa through RCI, going through Cuban customs and returning to the ship. This is not a cruise review although I will make some observations at the end of this post. Many ship-specific posts with photos, menus, etc. are already on CC

Embarkation and the RCI Guest Certification for Authorized Travel to Cuba

You will either print out and complete the RCI Certification for Authorized Travel to Cuba form from the RCI website or you will need to complete the form at the embarkation table (along with the health questionnaire). This form has several categories that meet current regulations for visiting Cuba and you are to check the one that fits your visit. At check-in, you will be asked if you have a copy for your records; if not, the staff will make you a copy to keep, and it will be stressed to keep it for five years.

To obtain a Cuban VISA from RCI: Each individual will complete and sign an RCI form (becomes an invoice) that gives you three options,

1) pay RCI $75 for avisa (to be charged to your on-board account)

(2) you check off that you have obtained a Cuban visa, or

(3) you check that you do not have a visa and acknowledge that you will not be able to disembark in Cuba.

RCI staff will hand you a BLANK visa that you are tofill out later (instructions do arrive in your cabin). Please Note: If you make a mistake, you must get - and pay an additional $75 - for a new blank visa.

Cuba customs – Once off the ship, each individual meets the customs agent with passport and visa in hand. The agent will stamp your passport and take your photo. The visa (both completed parts are identical) is retained by customs. You will have your backpack, purse, etc x-rayed. Returning to the ship, you will have to go through x-ray and then present your passport to the customs agent for reentry to the ship. (If you purchased rum, the ship did not collect it; you could take your purchase with you to your room.)

There are 42 steps down - and only one elevator - to street level. Buses do not have lifts and most sights had stairs, do heed the warnings if you are not able to navigate without a walker as Cuba is not handicap friendly. I did notice one wheelchair being pushed to the elevator.

Money Exchange – We were told not to exchange funds prior to ourtour so as not to delay the tour departure and to exchange at the shopping mall(which ended up with much longer lines); however, noticed many did exchange forkooks as the port lines moved quickly. You find the money exchange, after goingthrough customs and x-ray, towards the end of the hallway, just before walking down the stairs.

Many cruisers ended upwith Kooks they didn’t spend; you supposedly can re-exchange. We used US$ for our purchases with no problems.

RCI6-Hour tour including Hemingway House – We had a 7:30meeting time in the theater. The busleft the terminal about 8:10 and returned around 2:45 (scheduled return was tohave been 2:30).

The drive to the various sites gave us a pretty goodtour through Havana and the nearby Cuban countryside. The main 4-lane highway was in pretty good shapebut the driving was a bit interesting as we also saw wheelbarrows being pushed,donkeys pulling carts and pedestrians all using the same stretch of 4-laneroadway. We were told many Cubans do notown cars; first because the government wants the public to use publictransportation and, second, the infrastructure currently couldn’t handle aninflux of vehicles especially within the city.

…Our first stop was at a Gaudi-like complex (withbathroom). Now opens at 9:30 – the tour companyhad us there at 8:45 thinking there was a 9AM opening. That lost 30-minutes impacted the rest of ourtour.

…We then visited the Hemingway house (you only lookthrough windows to the inside), the tower (with bathroom) has a great view andis where Hemingway wrote. There is anempty pool, boat and cat cemetery. Nicegrounds. Well maintained by the Cuban government.

…The next stop was a small shop selling cigars, rumand coffee. Other tour buses stopped atsimilar shops. Three cigars were $27.50(given a 50 cent Cuban coin back); didn’t price the rum or coffee.

…We were driven to Revolution Square for a tenminute photo stop. Lots of old cars -many convertibles - were parked at the square.

…We then went to lunch at a restaurant/bar, supposedlywhere Hemingway liked to order mojitos. It turns out two drinks were includedbut we didn’t know that until after being served with the first mojito(w/without rum). Many would havepreferred two beers/cokes rather than one mojito and one beer/coke. An extra beer was 3K or $4. Lunch was a roll, an appetizer of chips, dinnerplate with fish, thinly sliced beef and shrimp, plus shared dishes of beans andrice and a lettuce, onion, and tomato salad. Very tasty vanilla ice cream was served fordessert.

…Had 30 minutes (not the hour due to the 30-minute openingdelay at Gaudi) at a covered mall with lots of handcrafted items (leather purses,humidors, wooden carvings, t-shirts, trivets etc.). This building was probably an old warehouse –now full of mini-lanes lined with tiny shops up and down the rows. There was a money exchange with a long line –offer US$ and they will probably be accepted with the 13% conversion. No pushy sales persons - very pleasant aftermany Caribbean port and Labadee experiences.

We purchased this shore excursion (midway in ourbooking process). The staff realizedthey couldn’t meet the scheduled tour as offered once the arrival/departuretimes were in place. Thus, some shoreexcursions were modified and repriced. Wehad an 8-hour tour booked at $199 (the early bookers paid $109. The later you booked the tour, the pricejumped from our $199 to $230). Once theyrevised this tour, it was repriced to $149 offering either the Hemingway Houseor the Cemetery. Other tours seemed togo as purchased without the price fuss.

My husband wanted to visit Cuba and I went along(after all, Key West was a stop and he wasn’t willing to drive there}. I, personally, don’t plan to return and myhusband said in a couple of years. Others, from what I observed/overheard on board, couldn’t wait to bookthe overnight trips. (Just received a HAL email and they have additional stops and overnights ready to book.)

The Empress of the Seas – observations

Yes, she is tiny but she holds up well. MDR and Lido had good food and service. The in-house productions were well done -enjoyed the bands and entertainers as well. Seems a bit understaffed in the bars (frequently took 10-15 minutes to place a drink order in Boleros and another ten minutes for delivery – only mattersif using your D/D+ voucher - you might time out).

We had an oceanview stateroom and had the beds separated as there is one large bedside table instead of two small ones. If the beds are together, the table is placed at the foot of the bed under the TV. If separate beds, the table fits between the beds giving you somewhere to place your stuff (we also used the shelf area under the window). There were six drawers (plus two skinny ones, one held the dryer). The old-time fixed hangers where you place the hanger into a slot are in the double closet.

A great cruise overall.

great information

Thanks for posting your observations which included much helpful information for those of us scheduled to sail in the future. Glad you enjoyed your trip.

A thought just occurred to me while reading your posts. You said you go thru x-ray when you got off ship. Is it the same as in US ports? I have been instructed by my doctor not to go thru scanner at cruise/air ports because of my pacemaker. I always get a pat down. Do you think I will have an issue when getting off ship in Havana? My husband also requests a pat down for medical reasons. Will have to ask on the CUBA boards how to request a pat down in Spanish.

Thank you for all the great information!

You said you paid for items in cuba with US dollars? We are hoping to bring Rum home. Will they accept $ for rum? We are doing the Old Havana Walking Tour and they go to rum factory and hoping to buy it there.

Snit13 - can't answer about a Cuban X-ray. Sorry.

Cruising'- our little shop would take US$ rather than lose a sale. We didn't buy rum, but as we only had $, I assume we could have purchased rum as well as the cigars. Lots of bottles were going off the shelves.

Thanks for your informative report.

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You are welcome. I was looking through all the ship reports before our cruise and wanted to pay back with info I felt would help others.

Thanks for the info! I wondered what the process was like and know I know. :D

BonVoyage

Dawna

Anyone know if mimosas are free in the MDR still? Are they still doing 10 drink tickets?

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Anyone know if mimosas are free in the MDR still? Are they still doing 10 drink tickets?

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Yes to both questions - we didn't find out the mimosas at the buffet were complimentary till dinner the second night!

Thank you! We have been considering a drink package since beer prices have gone up so much, but with my bottles of wine and free mimosas I should do alright!

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Embarkation Lido lunch also offered four trays filled with shrimp at the all you could eat buffet. First time ever on an RCI ship. My husband - and lots of other cruisers - were very happy, if the filled plates were any indication of 'shrimp love".

Only ever seen unlimited shrimp, mussels, crab legs etc (stuff I don't eat) on Princess cruises.

Empress does seem to try to raise the bar higher than the mega-ships. I was a fan of the breakfast brunch buffet - huge difference from other RCI ships.

Thanks for the info - I would love to take one of the short cruises to Cuba.

X-rays won't hurt your pacemaker...a metal detector WILL!

Is there a Roll Call for the Empees of the Seas. For some reason, I can't find one

Is there a Roll Call for the Empees of the Seas. For some reason, I can't find one

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=258

I enjoyed reading your thread. Thanks. I hve to mention that I do find RCI's "dynamic pricing" now applying to excursions to be somewhat annoying.:rolleyes: