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Gay-friendly Havana


Bostonjetset
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I just returned from Havana on the Norwegian Sky and wanted to report back that it was very gay friendly [at least through the eyes of a visitor]. Whilst I cannot comment how it would be to live in Cuba as a gay man, I must say that from outward appearances it is one of the more accepting countries in the region. This may have to do with the fact that Castro's daughter is very gay friendly but nonetheless it is worth noting for anyone looking to visiting Cuba.

 

I always keep a trip journal when I travel so I can reflect back [and post reviews for CC upon my return] and I wanted to share one of my entries with the "family" on CC. The full review is on the Norwegian board [ https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2561336 ] if anyone cares to read it but I will post the comments I made about the drag show below.

 

"Once we arrived at the Hotel Nacional it was a short 5 minute walk to the Las Vegas Cabaret which apparently is famous for drag queen shows and male prostitutes. We were obviously there for the former though it was amazing to see how many young men were plying their trade along the sidewalk. Once inside we were seated right next to the stage. It was a great location but it was mostly because we got there around 11pm and the show didn't start until 1am! The waitress originally told us midnight but she was wrong. We were all pretty exhausted but we were already there and figured it is not something we would do again any time soon so we made the best of it. The show was actually really good and I was surprised at the number of abuelas there, most of whom were REALLY into it. Most of the show was in Spanish, with the two stars Imperio [allegedly "El Icon de Trans Cuba"] and Margot alternating, mostly by passionately lip-syncing Spanish songs but with a small amount of Spanish commentary/jokes as well. In between their numbers, two biological [at least we think] female singers did a couple English-language songs from Madonna and ABBA. All in all it was a great night even though we didn't get back to the ship until 3am!"

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So glad you had a great time. I am really envious! I did not make it to Hotel Nacionale when I was there in May. Partly because I was a solo female traveler and was reluctant to cab it by myself so late at night. I refused to give NCL excursion $$ .... all of my excursion $$ went directly into the hands of residents.

 

How was the damage from the hurricanes? Are they recovering?

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So glad you had a great time. I am really envious! I did not make it to Hotel Nacionale when I was there in May. Partly because I was a solo female traveler and was reluctant to cab it by myself so late at night. I refused to give NCL excursion $$ .... all of my excursion $$ went directly into the hands of residents.

 

How was the damage from the hurricanes? Are they recovering?

 

I also did not book any NCL excursions. They are way overpriced and most things can be done on one's own.

I did not notice much hurricane damage. I mean there are parts of the city that are crumbling but I was not there before the storms to compare so who knows. From an architectural viewpoint, some of the city appeared to be in a state of graceful decay if that makes sense. Much like some parts of Budapest. Sure, not everything was pristine but there was a beauty and authenticity behind it. I've seen much worse in the West Indies in countries that are allegedly "better off" from a US govt standpoint.

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I like that ... graceful decay. Yes, VERY apropos. One of the reasons I wanted to visit before the KFC, McDonalds, etc. were everywhere. The people are amazing. If I had the money, I would go back on a land vacation and stay for a month!

 

p.s. I grew up in Hyde Park, MA, but I'm not in New England anymore.

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  • 2 months later...

This is great to hear! My husband and I booked a trip on NCL Sun in August to Key West/Havana and we're really looking forward to it. I just read through your trip journal and it sounds like you had the type of experience we're looking for—educational, laid back, and cultured. Do you remember anything about the walking tour you did? I'm doing some research but would love to find what you guys did. It sounds perfect for us—active and engaged with local history and culture.

 

Our only other cruise was for our honeymoon on NCL from NYC to Orlando and the Bahamas. It was really just a party boat, which was disappointing (but provided some interesting people watching...). While we agreed with you on the Bahamas, I do have to say that Great Stirrup Cay was lovely. It's really just a sandbar that NCL bought and subsequently carved a beach into. Nothing is there except NCL's beach (and the accompanying bars and snorkeling equipment shacks). Neither of us is really a beach person, but we both really liked the opportunity to spread out off-ship and have an easy day in the sun. We hated Nassau—we found it gross and depressing, with the exception of a really lovely snorkeling trip we took—so this was a pleasant surprise.

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This is great to hear! My husband and I booked a trip on NCL Sun in August to Key West/Havana and we're really looking forward to it. I just read through your trip journal and it sounds like you had the type of experience we're looking for—educational, laid back, and cultured. Do you remember anything about the walking tour you did? I'm doing some research but would love to find what you guys did. It sounds perfect for us—active and engaged with local history and culture.

 

Our only other cruise was for our honeymoon on NCL from NYC to Orlando and the Bahamas. It was really just a party boat, which was disappointing (but provided some interesting people watching...). While we agreed with you on the Bahamas, I do have to say that Great Stirrup Cay was lovely. It's really just a sandbar that NCL bought and subsequently carved a beach into. Nothing is there except NCL's beach (and the accompanying bars and snorkeling equipment shacks). Neither of us is really a beach person, but we both really liked the opportunity to spread out off-ship and have an easy day in the sun. We hated Nassau—we found it gross and depressing, with the exception of a really lovely snorkeling trip we took—so this was a pleasant surprise.

 

Thanks for reading! I'm glad you enjoyed the review. Havana was so wonderful and I'd love to go back someday. The people were so friendly and very proud to show their country to us. I posted the link to the tour we did. It was with Free Walking Tours.

 

http://freewalkingtourhavana.com/

 

I've found Norwegian and Carnival tend to attract more of a "party boat" crowd in general and thus neither are my line of choice but for Cuba I will admit I was very pleased with NCL. They did a nice job and the "all-in" price was a nice change for me. I don't drink much usually so don't normally care about free alcohol on vacation but when it's all included it makes for a relaxing time; no getting your card out for every drink and tallying up your charges at the end. Enjoy and do report back after!!!

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Thanks for reading! I'm glad you enjoyed the review. Havana was so wonderful and I'd love to go back someday. The people were so friendly and very proud to show their country to us. I posted the link to the tour we did. It was with Free Walking Tours.

 

http://freewalkingtourhavana.com/

 

I've found Norwegian and Carnival tend to attract more of a "party boat" crowd in general and thus neither are my line of choice but for Cuba I will admit I was very pleased with NCL. They did a nice job and the "all-in" price was a nice change for me. I don't drink much usually so don't normally care about free alcohol on vacation but when it's all included it makes for a relaxing time; no getting your card out for every drink and tallying up your charges at the end. Enjoy and do report back after!!!

 

Thanks!! This is hugely helpful. The tour group looks similar to a tour company I used when studying abroad in Europe that had free tours of different cities across the continent lead by American ex-pats. I loved them because we could tip well if it went well and had no guilt/financial loss if we decided to walk away and leave the tour if it was bad (which only happened once). I'll let you know what we think!

 

We only repeated NCL because of the price and timing of the trip—it happened to work with our busy schedules. On our first cruise we had assumed that because NCL is generally more expensive than Carnival that it might not be quite as party-oriented. But it was totally fine—you don't know unless you try, right? We'd love to do an Alaskan cruise while there are still glaciers to see, but that'll be a lot more expensive and require us to somehow find more time in our crazy lives!

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  • 5 weeks later...
Hey Bostonjetset, great review! I was just looking at Cuba trips on HAL and was wondering how fab it would be. . . . and now I know it can be a fun adventure! Thanks again!

 

I'm so glad you enjoyed the review! Cuba really is fabulous. I would love to go back someday soon. HAL has a roundtrip Cuba from Boston but it's 14 nights which is a bit much for me this year with all my other travel plans. If they offer it in 2019 I may have to seriously consider.

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  • 1 month later...
Thanks, I really enjoyed the full review. I would love take one of those Cuba cruises. Fantastic pictures [emoji106]

 

We sailed around Cuba aboard the Crystal during three consecutive seasons and although a cruise as apposed to a land tour is more appropriate for our age, had we been younger, a land tour would have been preferred to allow so much of what is offered to be taken in.

 

But I found this interesting. When on a shore excursion, a tour guide made a reference to something that prompted me to answer that I was gay. He paused for a moment searching for something to say and then asked "How long have you been gay?" I smiled and said "All my life". It took him quite some time to digest that which tells me that although being gay in Cuba is totally accepted, perhaps it is not totally understood

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