Cuba ,,,santiago de cuba

Hello, we are visiting Santiago de Cuba in January 2015 on a Fred Olsen cruise.

Has anybody any experience of visiting there on a cruise.

Appreciate any comments.

Thanks

HI all!

I've been there a couple of times the last time in Feb. on Louis Cristal's Cuba cruise, another time on a catamaran from our resort.

Be sure to be on deck for the entrance to the harbour, it's quite scenic & slow going. The fort which you could explore is on the starboard side. A busy street is a short walk from the dock & there are lots of places to walk or take a horse & buggy ride.

We loved our Cuba cruise so much we're doing it again in February. Does your ship go to other Cuban ports too?

~ Jo ~ :)

Hi Jo,

Thanks for the reply.

We only call in at Santiago de Cuba on our Caribbean cruise no other port of call in Cuba, but we overnight there.

We will probably take the ships tour one day and the evening trip to a night club/ show.

The other day we thought we would explore the historic centre by ourselves.

How safe is it ? We read that you are hassled very badly by the locals.

We are looking forward to Cuba, it is one of the reasons we decided on this particular cruise.

Take it easy .

Best wishes Paul

The other day we thought we would explore the historic centre by ourselves.

How safe is it ? We read that you are hassled very badly by the locals.

It's very safe. Yeah, sometimes you can get hassled but it's not that bad, but as long as you say "no", they will not bother you longer. Cuba is still very poor and locals like to get money by asking to guide you, selling counterfied rum, stolen cigarettes or just by bringing you to a private lunch/dinner place and get comission for it from the owner. But Havana is far worse then Santiago.

If you have a tour to go to "Parque Baconao", thats a very nice area with the old coffee plantation „Cafetal La Isabelica“, where you get a guided tour.

It's up in the mountain, so you get a great view over the region.

Enjoy it.

Thanks for that, appreciate your reply.

HI all!

Paul ~ I just asked DH who did walk around in Santiago de Cuba & he said nobody bothered him & it's safe. He did go to the city centre. When we stayed at the resort we wanted to go to the Tropicana show but it was over an hour from there over bad roads late at night so we never did.

Cuba is something special for sure. It's like a time warp with all those cars from the 50's & old buildings.

I've been there 7 times & look forward to sailing around it again.

~ Jo ~ :)

Hi Jo.....thanks again. That sounds encouraging. The Tropicana Nightclub is the trip from the ship in the evening, so I think we will be going on that.

It sounds really different.

Cheers and happy cruising .

Paul