blooberry

I booked after June, did one short Azamara excursion and the rest private tours with Orlando, through Tour Republic. It was fantastic and Tour Republic was VERY helpful every step of the way.

No one checks anything when you leave the ship (other than your passport). It’s when you board for the first time — you fill out the form and indicate if you’re doing all ship’s tours or private tours. They don’t seem to care which you choose. Just keep a journal of all the educational stuff you did all day, and hang onto it for 5 years.

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Cabin Number 7037 - Veranda

Ship Azamara Quest

Month/Year sailed; November 2017

Would you choose this room again Y/N--Y

Is noise an issue Y/N—N

Our first Azamara cruise -- loved loved loved this cabin/stateroom/whatever. Incredibly quiet. Close to elevators.

In case anyone comes here looking for "what worked for me," here's what I posted in our roll call on our return:

We booked after June. For excursions, we booked one short one with Azamara, first day, first thing, to make sure we could get off the ship without any problems. The rest of that day, and the following day, were with a private guide we hired through Tour Republic, a Miami-based company. We had a few hours altogether between the two days for wandering, but really the best time we had was spent with the private guide. Interestingly, the guide for the first (ship's) tour, as well as the bus driver, were both government employees. Our private guide was not.

When we went to board the ship, at check-in we got a fairly unpleasant, dismissive agent (nice intro to our first Azamara cruise!). I had checked "support of the Cuban people," as I'd been advised on other boards and by our tour group. I showed him the receipt and itinerary from Tour Republic. He threw away the forms I'd filled out, and said I had to either choose 1. full time with Azamara excursions or 2. full time with private arrangements. I tried to explain that we had a little of both planned, but he didn't care -- just said "pick the one that fits." So I chose #2.

As others have said, customs was easy, getting on and off the ship was easy every time. The first time through customs you hand them the visa that Azamara gave you and they stamp your passport (yay!). After that they just look at your passport when you come and go.

We kept a journal and took lots of pictures. I'll keep a copy at the ready for five years if we ever get asked about it, but I really doubt that will happen.