Aliza

We were looking for someone who would communicate and answer questions in a timely way before we got to Cuba.  Duramis is it!  She's amazingly well educated on history, art, culture, Cuban history etc,  well-organized and flexible.  Part way through the tour, my husband wasn't feeling well and she just rolled with the punches, we returned him to the ship and went on.  She totally personalizes the tour for what you want.  

Check her out at her Facebook Genuine Cuba page or by her name on Facebook.  Also www.genuinecuba.info and I got fast detailed email responses at duramis@nauta.cu

Duramis is also a great photographer and is willing to take professional photos if you'd like for $50 extra.  We went home with a micro SD card with 311 photos.  Some were things we didn't get to see since we cut short our tour.  Would definitely use Genuine Cuba and Duramis again!

I absolutely want to thank everyone for their great suggestions and ideas. Now, please don't shoot me, but we did not end up using Blexie. I know that he has absolutely fantastic reviews on his tours, but the weak link is the communication.

It took Blexie 8 days to respond and that was after I resent the first message. Then he specifically ignored my question about a later tour start time and gave the typical "start at 10:00 am" answer, even though our ship doesn't arrive in Port until 10:00! Talk about frustration!

I know everyone states there are communication issues with Cuba and I can most certainly understand that, but other tour operators are responding much more quickly. Perhaps those of you there using Blexie could suggest he find a new way/person etc to communicate more quickly? I know I'm not the only person who has had communication issues although others of you didn't.

A plus is learning that if you want a convertible, with Blexie it's $30 more, which is fine since you know up front.

Now........who are we going with? A shout out to Hurlymcgurly who suggested this:

Duramis Carrillo Sosa and she is a professional photographer also so we got some wonderful pictures for a great price too! She is totally fluent in English, French and of course Spanish. She works with Genuine Cuba and you can email her at duramis@nauta.cu

I contacted Duramis one afternoon and had a very specific, detailed answer the next morning in in my inbox using great English. I sent off another email and had an answer to that one in a few hours. What we'll have is a tour starting at 1:00 pm which will be totally customized to us. I expressed an interest in meeting the people of Cuba and she will have lots of interactions for us and has even offered to take us into a Cuban home if we're interested. Total cost for the three of us with some fairly tricky customizations due to some of our health issues is $120 for three of us: my husband, myself and adult granddaughter. We are also going with the $50 extra for her doing lots of photos for us. (We're pretty lousy with our phone cameras.) She has a facebook website for Genuine Cuba if you're interested in checking it out.

I will update to Cruise Critic after returning from our cruise on October 30. It's fantastic to have a place with so many helpful fellow cruisers.

I've been waiting nearly a week to hear from Blexie. If I don't hear back after a second try, who would be your second choice tour for approximately the same price?

In October the NCL Sun arrives at 10:00 so we asked for a noon or 1:00 pm tour without lunch. Do you suppose that's a problem?

Open to other suggestions for a fun and educational time. Cuba is the one port we are most excited about on this cruise.

Hi Everyone,

 

So I am a vegetarian and may be going on a cruise soon. We are looking at the conquest and the glory. I see both of them have the guy's burgers and the blue iguana, and was wondering if they offered vegetarian options, such as black bean burgers or rice and black bean burritos? Any other knowledge or tips for the rest of the cruise would be appreciated too! Thanks!

Carnival Sunshine had a veggie burger at Guys. Does anyone know how vegetarian is on the Splendor?

We'll be first time Curacao visitors in May and would love to get an overview of the island. Unfortunately my dh's health is up and down and I know I can't go with a long 6-8 hour tour because he usually can't last that long and you never know from day to day so can't reserve ahead. In port 1 pm to 10:00 pm.

Any tour operators when you walk off? I assume they would be out of the pier area, perhaps across the bridge? Recommendations? Ideas? Can you rely on taxi drivers for a tour? Approximate cost?

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

Aliza