Blexi Tour Question - Best Time/Car Type

Sailing out of Tampa on Majesty of the Seas.

Arrive Havana:

Thurs Sept 27 2:00 pm

Depart Havana:

Fri Sept 28 4:00 pm

Reached out to Blexi and he said "You could do the tour on sept 27th starting at 3pm and finishing at 9pm or on sept 28th from 9am to 3pm."

I'm kind of leaning to doing the 3 pm - 9 pm option. Then hitting some local bars for some live music and drinks, maybe! Two questions:

1. Has anyone done a tour with Blexi outside of the normal 10 am - 4 pm time? We're not big on museums or cigar factory so I am not worried if something closes at 5 pm. We just want to experience Cuba, soak in all of the sights, and enjoy the local culture. If we do the later tour the first day I was thinking we could do the Strawberry walking tour the next morning at 10 am
   
2. For $30 CUC more Blexi said we could get a convertible instead of a hard top. I'd prefer a convertible, but not if the heat, etc is still too much at the end of Sept.
   

If anyone has experience they chould share, I would really appreciate it! Thanks a lot.

We did a tour with Fer tours in a hard top and I was so grateful for the air conditioning . Havana is hot extremely hot and September will still be hot .

Sailing out of Tampa on Majesty of the Seas.

 

Arrive Havana:

Thurs Sept 27 2:00 pm

 

Depart Havana:

Fri Sept 28 4:00 pm

 

Reached out to Blexi and he said "You could do the tour on sept 27th starting at 3pm and finishing at 9pm or on sept 28th from 9am to 3pm."

 

I'm kind of leaning to doing the 3 pm - 9 pm option. Then hitting some local bars for some live music and drinks, maybe! Two questions:

 

1. Has anyone done a tour with Blexi outside of the normal 10 am - 4 pm time? We're not big on museums or cigar factory so I am not worried if something closes at 5 pm. We just want to experience Cuba, soak in all of the sights, and enjoy the local culture. If we do the later tour the first day I was thinking we could do the Strawberry walking tour the next morning at 10 am
   
2. For $30 CUC more Blexi said we could get a convertible instead of a hard top. I'd prefer a convertible, but not if the heat, etc is still too much at the end of Sept.
   

If anyone has experience they chould share, I would really appreciate it! Thanks a lot.

Toured with him from 10.00 am till 10.00 pm

We have the same itinerary on the Majesty but two weeks earlier. We decided to book Blexie on the day we arrive from 3-9 instead of the next day because we won’t feel as rushed on the first day. Since we don’t need to get back to the ship by a certain time that night, we can take our time with the tour and with getting back to the ship. Since it leaves port the second day at 4pm, I was afraid we’d feel too rushed on the tour and with trying to get through customs and back to the ship in time. And of course the cruise ship doesn’t wait for you unless you are on one of their excursions. It just seemed like we would be a bit more relaxed having more time for it on that first day - plus as it gets later into the evening and the sun is going down, the temperatures should be a bit cooler and more comfortable to be out in.

Sailing out of Tampa on Majesty of the Seas.

 

Arrive Havana:

Thurs Sept 27 2:00 pm

 

Depart Havana:

Fri Sept 28 4:00 pm

 

Reached out to Blexi and he said "You could do the tour on sept 27th starting at 3pm and finishing at 9pm or on sept 28th from 9am to 3pm."

 

I'm kind of leaning to doing the 3 pm - 9 pm option. Then hitting some local bars for some live music and drinks, maybe! Two questions:

1. Has anyone done a tour with Blexi outside of the normal 10 am - 4 pm time? We're not big on museums or cigar factory so I am not worried if something closes at 5 pm. We just want to experience Cuba, soak in all of the sights, and enjoy the local culture. If we do the later tour the first day I was thinking we could do the Strawberry walking tour the next morning at 10 am
   
2. For $30 CUC more Blexi said we could get a convertible instead of a hard top. I'd prefer a convertible, but not if the heat, etc is still too much at the end of Sept.
   

If anyone has experience they chould share, I would really appreciate it! Thanks a lot.

We are on the exact same sailing that you are. I was leaning toward trying to do the tour on day 2 because I wanted to see Fusterlandia (it closes at 4 pm). I was considering doing a walking tour on the first day through Freewalkingtourhavana.com since their afternoon tours start at 4pm (I felt like that might give us enough time to clear customs, exchange money, and walk to the tour meeting point. JCC 27, want to split a tour with Blexie?? LOL.

We are on the exact same sailing that you are. I was leaning toward trying to do the tour on day 2 because I wanted to see Fusterlandia (it closes at 4 pm). I was considering doing a walking tour on the first day through Freewalkingtourhavana.com since their afternoon tours start at 4pm (I felt like that might give us enough time to clear customs, exchange money, and walk to the tour meeting point. JCC 27, want to split a tour with Blexie?? LOL.

o state girl - It's my wife and I doing the tour and I believe the tour can only accomadate 3 people max in the car (besides the driver and guide). We should meet up for drinks afterwards though!

We have the same itinerary on the Majesty but two weeks earlier. We decided to book Blexie on the day we arrive from 3-9 instead of the next day because we won’t feel as rushed on the first day. Since we don’t need to get back to the ship by a certain time that night, we can take our time with the tour and with getting back to the ship. Since it leaves port the second day at 4pm, I was afraid we’d feel too rushed on the tour and with trying to get through customs and back to the ship in time. And of course the cruise ship doesn’t wait for you unless you are on one of their excursions. It just seemed like we would be a bit more relaxed having more time for it on that first day - plus as it gets later into the evening and the sun is going down, the temperatures should be a bit cooler and more comfortable to be out in.

That is exactly what I was thinking as well. Nice to know that great minds think alike! Thanks for the response. We are going to do the tour 3-9 on the first day and then perhaps do a walking tour the second day at 10 am through Strawberry walking tours. Can't wait!

We did a tour with Fer tours in a hard top and I was so grateful for the air conditioning . Havana is hot extremely hot and September will still be hot .

I think you are right - hard top is probably the way to go. Thanks!

o state girl - It's my wife and I doing the tour and I believe the tour can only accomadate 3 people max in the car (besides the driver and guide). We should meet up for drinks afterwards though!

They can take 4 plus the driver and the guide.

3 in the back and 3 on the front bench seat.

Hardtop, with AC

Just got back. Used Blexie our driver was Mary! She and the driver were wonderful! It is very hot so we did a hard top and loved it. You can fit 4 people in all the cars. If you don’t do a hard top then you will all be hot. We also did the Strawberry Walking tour. You will do a lot of walking. Make sure you get some of the 25 cent CUC coins as they call this the “pee pee coins” you will need one every time you use it. You will need towelet paper or small tissues when you use it too. I will be happy to answer any questions.

We just got back and used Blexie for two days of touring. So glad we had a hard top as it was so hot and it felt so good to get cooled off a bit. The first day we went to several different sights including Fusterlandia which was amazing. We did not go into any museums which was fine with us as we wanted to see the area for our first time in Cuba. There is a lot to see for sure. Our guide was Lester and he spoke really good English and really did a great job of telling us about the sights without overwhelming us. There were four of us and the driver and Lester (6 in all). The convertibles looked really cool but would have been way hot. They met us in front of the cruise terminal at 10 AM each day and we were finished between 3 and 4 both days. I think a tour later in the day might be preferable when it's not so hot actually. The second day we went to Ernest Hemingways home in the country which was so interesting and then finished our day with a walking tour of the UNESCO Heritage area. Nothing was that far and there were taxis everywhere so I don't think you would have to worry about being late getting back to the ship on time if anything happened. Getting back on the ship was quick and easy but could possibly take longer if there were several ship excursions returning at the same time. Although we bought CUCs at the cruise terminal we found that most places would take dollars as well. I didn't want to have to sell back the CUCs so when we ran out of them we just used dollars.

o state girl - It's my wife and I doing the tour and I believe the tour can only accomadate 3 people max in the car (besides the driver and guide). We should meet up for drinks afterwards though!

I believe that we are going to spend part of the evening in Havana at the Fabrica de Arte Cubano. It's kind of like an art gallery/bar/music venue all rolled up in an old factory building. I think it's around 2 CUC to get in. So we thought if we don't love the place, it's not much to lose.

Just toured with Blexie yesterday! THE BEST!

Just toured with Blexie yesterday! THE BEST!

Awesome! Can't wait for our tour. We're all booked. Hopefully a hurricane won't mess up our plans.

I believe that we are going to spend part of the evening in Havana at the Fabrica de Arte Cubano. It's kind of like an art gallery/bar/music venue all rolled up in an old factory building. I think it's around 2 CUC to get in. So we thought if we don't love the place, it's not much to lose.

That sounds like fun.

We just got back and used Blexie for two days of touring. So glad we had a hard top as it was so hot and it felt so good to get cooled off a bit. The first day we went to several different sights including Fusterlandia which was amazing. We did not go into any museums which was fine with us as we wanted to see the area for our first time in Cuba. There is a lot to see for sure. Our guide was Lester and he spoke really good English and really did a great job of telling us about the sights without overwhelming us. There were four of us and the driver and Lester (6 in all). The convertibles looked really cool but would have been way hot. They met us in front of the cruise terminal at 10 AM each day and we were finished between 3 and 4 both days. I think a tour later in the day might be preferable when it's not so hot actually. The second day we went to Ernest Hemingways home in the country which was so interesting and then finished our day with a walking tour of the UNESCO Heritage area. Nothing was that far and there were taxis everywhere so I don't think you would have to worry about being late getting back to the ship on time if anything happened. Getting back on the ship was quick and easy but could possibly take longer if there were several ship excursions returning at the same time. Although we bought CUCs at the cruise terminal we found that most places would take dollars as well. I didn't want to have to sell back the CUCs so when we ran out of them we just used dollars.

Thanks for the reply. I booked the tour with a hard top instead of the convertible. Figure, we could do a quick one hour convertible tour the next morning if we want. I think the hard top with AC is definitely the way to go. Also, good to know that most places also take USD. Thanks for the reply!

Just got back. Used Blexie our driver was Mary! She and the driver were wonderful! It is very hot so we did a hard top and loved it. You can fit 4 people in all the cars. If you don’t do a hard top then you will all be hot. We also did the Strawberry Walking tour. You will do a lot of walking. Make sure you get some of the 25 cent CUC coins as they call this the “pee pee coins” you will need one every time you use it. You will need towelet paper or small tissues when you use it too. I will be happy to answer any questions.

Thanks for your reply. We are booked with Lauren as our tour guide. From what I read she is very good as well. How did you like the Strawberry walking tour? Would you recommend it? If so, do you know what the going tip amount is for the guide? I am still trying to figure out how much in CUC to exchange, but from what some people are telling me, some places do accept USD as well. Thanks for the 25 cent tip, I definitely will heed that advice :)

They can take 4 plus the driver and the guide.

3 in the back and 3 on the front bench seat.

 

Hardtop, with AC

Thanks for the reply. We booked the hard top with AC :)

I am booking Blexie for 2 days also. Most probably a convertable

First day get in at 1 pm

Second day leave at 5 pm on the MSC Armonia

My thought first date short intro to the city dinner at cafe driver take us to Tropicana show ans back

Next day full historic tout from 10 to 4

Anyone interest pm me we can split costs

Thanks for your reply. We are booked with Lauren as our tour guide. From what I read she is very good as well. How did you like the Strawberry walking tour? Would you recommend it? If so, do you know what the going tip amount is for the guide? I am still trying to figure out how much in CUC to exchange, but from what some people are telling me, some places do accept USD as well. Thanks for the 25 cent tip, I definitely will heed that advice :)

We were also assigned to Lauren from 3-9 on 9/13. I’ve read great things about her too but wish I knew just a little more about her like her age or could see a picture of her. I know they are supposed to hold a sign with our name on it when we get off the ship but it would be nice if I had a little better idea of exactly who I’m looking for. Hopefully it’s easy to find her. I’m really looking forward to this Blexie tour and my only fear now is the weather. It sounds like a lot is starting to stir up in the Atlantic and it would be awful if some major storms are in the area right when we’re going to be there. I guess that’s the risk we took booking during hurricane season!

We were also assigned to Lauren from 3-9 on 9/13. I’ve read great things about her too but wish I knew just a little more about her like her age or could see a picture of her. I know they are supposed to hold a sign with our name on it when we get off the ship but it would be nice if I had a little better idea of exactly who I’m looking for. Hopefully it’s easy to find her. I’m really looking forward to this Blexie tour and my only fear now is the weather. It sounds like a lot is starting to stir up in the Atlantic and it would be awful if some major storms are in the area right when we’re going to be there. I guess that’s the risk we took booking during hurricane season!

I know, based on some reviews that I have read, that she is a graduate student. This might be a picture of her: https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-f/0f/bf/d1/14/lauren-our-tour-guild.jpg

I know, based on some reviews that I have read, that she is a graduate student. This might be a picture of her: https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-f/0f/bf/d1/14/lauren-our-tour-guild.jpg

Wow! You’re good! Thanks! I’d searched for info about her and came up empty. I always like to have an idea of who I’m looking for or I end up creating an image in my head of what I think they may look like and then I end up looking for someone who looks nothing like what I’ve been picturing. I have read a few really positive comments about her so I’m looking forward to spending the day with her.

I believe that we are going to spend part of the evening in Havana at the Fabrica de Arte Cubano. It's kind of like an art gallery/bar/music venue all rolled up in an old factory building. I think it's around 2 CUC to get in. So we thought if we don't love the place, it's not much to lose.

If my Spanish is correct, it looks like the Fabrica de Arte Cubano is temporarily closed from Sept. 3 until Oct. 4...at least that is the info that was posted on their FB page. Just wanted to let everyone know so that they don't take a taxi there for no reason.

Where can we get the coins we might need to use the bathroom? How early should we book a blexi tour?

Where can we get the coins we might need to use the bathroom? How early should we book a blexi tour?

As you are leaving the cruise terminal, after customs, there is an area to exchange money. They will give you coins when you do your exchange for Cuban dollars.

I would book Blexie as soon as you can, as he does get busy.