Potential Cuba Itineraries

I have not seen a thread on this although I imagine some of you have already received a survey from Celebrity Cruises that I got this weekend. It asked me for my interest on several different itineraries with Cuba as a port of call ranging from 4 nights to 14 nights. I took screen shots of the different trips. Here were the 4-7 night itineraries:

since we like the longer itineraries (and just got off the 14 night Eclipse this month), I gave the most positive scores for these three trips:

IMHO, Havana is not a one day or day and a half port if you are not going to other Cuban ports like Louis Cruises does.

This would be strictly a "check the box off the bucket list" trip. If you want to see Cuba, do a land tour or Louis, which does 5 Cuban ports in 7 days. Or wait for other cruises that circumnavigate the island.

Here's one that looks good. :-)

I would like to see Celebrity do an itinerary out of Tampa. I know that they don,t have a ship there now but it would be a great port for a Cuba cruise.

I would like to see Celebrity do an itinerary out of Tampa. I know that they don,t have a ship there now but it would be a great port for a Cuba cruise.

Seconded!

since we like the longer itineraries (and just got off the 14 night Eclipse this month), I gave the most positive scores for these three trips:

 

 

 

I want the third one! Overnight in Havana.

Sheila.

I like the 14 day overnight!

I would agree, it would be nice to have a couple of Cuba ports, but hey, I'll take Havana and 1 1/2 days as a start.

Also would do a shorter cruise.

My guess is cruise lines are drooling over this possibility. As a passenger/customer, I am interested. Want to see all the old cars! :)

An overnight would be a great opportunity to go to the Tropicana night show. Absolutely amazing!

The best beaches are in Varadero though so Havana is more of a cultural port.

An overnight would be a great opportunity to go to the Tropicana night show. Absolutely amazing!

 

The best beaches are in Varadero though so Havana is more of a cultural port.

How far is Varadero from Havana?

What would you do if you cruised to Havana and did do the overnight, say 10 am arrival to 3 pm departure the next day?

I need to start saving for this possibility! :)

How far is Varadero from Havana?

We stayed in Varadero last week and took a day tour to Havana. The drive took about 1.5 hours. Havana is an amazing city and I would love to go back. They are definitely working on repairing buildings right now but it was interesting to see it before things change.

Tourists are warmly welcomed and valued in Cuba. The Cuban people are truly lovely - very friendly and proud of their country.

I was born in Havana, and would like to see it again. 14 days with multiple Cuba stops would be great!

I was born in Havana, and would like to see it again. 14 days with multiple Cuba stops would be great!

Ditto Casique-

I'm in for any and all them.

Maria

Here's one that looks good. :-)

 

Agree! I found a few posts on the Ports of call-Caribbean sub-forum 'other ports', but have yet to see a review. Has anyone seen a review of this cruise?

since we like the longer itineraries, I gave the most positive scores for these three trips:

 

 

 

No contest, I wouldn't fly so far for anything less than 14 nights. I also have Curacao on my bucket list, as we couldn't get in due to high winds, Easter Monday '13.

Hi Mahdnc,

Thanks for posting the screenshots. Other than post cruise surveys, I rarely receive anything like this from Celebrity, so it's great that you posted.

Based on the options, it seems they are looking at options for all of their South Florida based ships - at least for now. Personally, if I were deployment planner for a day, I'd focus on 2 sets of itineraries for Havana - One, for the 4 or 5 night Connie sailings, and the other for the 11 night Equinox sailings, which appears to be one the weaker itineraries of Celebrity's longer sailings. I'd ditch the entire 11 night current itinerary, and make it a mix of eastern and southern caribbean with an overnight in Havana.

Aside from the above, my favorites were the 11 night C, and the 14 night C, with the overnight in Havana. 1 day in Havana does not seem like enough. With that said, if Havana port calls become reality, and gets Celebrity to change their minds, by keeping Constellation in Ft Lauderdale for the 2016/2017 Winter season, it may make sense for Celebrity to consider a short option as well.

Hi Mahdnc,

 

Thanks for posting the screenshots. Other than post cruise surveys, I rarely receive anything like this from Celebrity, so it's great that you posted.

 

Based on the options, it seems they are looking at options for all of their South Florida based ships - at least for now. Personally, if I were deployment planner for a day, I'd focus on 2 sets of itineraries for Havana - One, for the 4 or 5 night Connie sailings, and the other for the 11 night Equinox sailings, which appears to be one the weaker itineraries of Celebrity's longer sailings. I'd ditch the entire 11 night current itinerary, and make it a mix of eastern and southern caribbean with an overnight in Havana.

 

Aside from the above, my favorites were the 11 night C, and the 14 night C, with the overnight in Havana. 1 day in Havana does not seem like enough. With that said, if Havana port calls become reality, and gets Celebrity to change their minds, by keeping Constellation in Ft Lauderdale for the 2016/2017 Winter season, it may make sense for Celebrity to consider a short option as well.

I actually think the 11 day Equinox is better than the 10 day, but that's me. Ask a third person, you'll get a third answer.

If they cancel Connie's 16/17 plan that will be a disappointment for us as we have three cruises booked Nov 16. Guess we'll get decent OBC or something, but those are unique cruises we'd certainly miss. I think these are the only cruises we have booked where prices haven't risen, which means they aren't selling as well as others. Maybe they're not being promoted, but with almost everything else rising after opening, I guess it doesn't bode well for their early popularity.

They could mix in some shorter itineraries for Equinox, Eclipse and even Infinity which they've done a bit of already. When Edge comes out in 18, maybe about the same time Cuba opens to cruises, It will likely replace R election or Silhouette, on the "standard" east/west Caribbean itineraries which means one of those will be re-purposed. Count me among those who hope it stays U.S. based, but from a new port, like Tampa, NOLA, or in TX. More likely they'll dump an M-Class and shift everything around, adding more capacity in Asia/Australia. We'll see I guess in a year or so.

Happy sailing,

Jenna

An overnight would be a great opportunity to go to the Tropicana night show. Absolutely amazing!

 

The best beaches are in Varadero though so Havana is more of a cultural port.

Best beaches are Cayo Lago , white powered sand , blue clear water :D

Overnight or longer in Cuba would be wonderful.

since we like the longer itineraries (and just got off the 14 night Eclipse this month), I gave the most positive scores for these three trips:

 

 

 

thanks, for the cuba itineraries, and love all the organizational charts,

sorry we won't be sailing with you. we normally have lots of cruise plans, but

family obligations come first. thanks again.

IMHO, Havana is not a one day or day and a half port if you are not going to other Cuban ports like Louis Cruises does.

 

This would be strictly a "check the box off the bucket list" trip. If you want to see Cuba, do a land tour or Louis, which does 5 Cuban ports in 7 days. Or wait for other cruises that circumnavigate the island.

Agree. When Cuba opens up, I want to dwell for a while.

- Joel