Live from Cuba!

Marina has just arrived in Havana. FDR is on board, as you might expect, and he has issued a delightful letter in which he describes why today is so special to him.

There is a substantial array of day time and evening excursions. We have a private guide for the day and hope to see a good many of the sights, sounds and flavours.

The initial views from the ship are of a cosmopolitan city that is distinctly crumbly and faded. No surprise there then!

Will post more later.

Thank you, Noggins! so appreciative of any feedback you can provide, as your time permits, of course. we're on next sailing and can hardly wait!

would also like to know about wifi connection onboard while in port.

ENJOY!

Looking forward to posts and photos, also details about guide and sites.Want to do this in near future.Have fun.

So happy for FDR finally his dream of going back to Cuba on one of his ships came true

I am sure it will be a tearful reunion for him

Enjoy

Lyn

Keep the posts coming! We sail on Marina on March 31 and will be in Havana for two days - can't wait!

Great. Can you also tell us how they are doing money exchange? Do they change on board? Is it better to bring dollars or euros for convesion. Have a great stay.

Enhorabuena Sr. Del Rio!

Great. Can you also tell us how they are doing money exchange? Do they change on board? Is it better to bring dollars or euros for convesion. Have a great stay.

This information is for US citizens only.

If you have Euros left over from previous trips to Europe, take those with you to get a better exchange rate on CUC (Cuban tourist peso). However, if you have no Euros -- if you have to first convert your US dollars to Euros, and, then, convert your Euros to CUC, I wouldn't recommend that approach. You are unlikely to get a rate that justifies that extra conversion. If you have a special banking arrangement that allows you to exchange currency for free or a rate approaching the preferred exchange rate, you might want to consider the extra effort. However, few of us have a financial arrangement that saves enough money to bother with the extra effort of an intermediate conversion.

Try to focus on the newness and adventure of the trip to Cuba and gloss over the surcharge for converting US currency.

On Marina in Havana today 09 Mar 2017. Our cabin is on port side of ship. This morning, there were about 12 news and camera crews covering this historic event. Yes, Frank del Rio is onboard,. He gave an early morning press conference to the reporters, at the terminal building when he disembarked, which we could see from our cabin balcony. He read a length statement, I guess in Spanish, but I could not hear it. Then he took questions from press. Overall, a wonderful cruise thus far.

Noggins, we will be in Havana in December. Can you give us the name of your private guide or a website? Always good to have tour options. Thanks!

Congratulations to FDR for his dream finally coming true :). I can imagine just how happy and fulfilled he feels.

Marina has just arrived in Havana. FDR is on board, as you might expect, and he has issued a delightful letter in which he describes why today is so special to him.

There is a substantial array of day time and evening excursions. We have a private guide for the day and hope to see a good many of the sights, sounds and flavours.

The initial views from the ship are of a cosmopolitan city that is distinctly crumbly and faded. No surprise there then!

Will post more later.

Ok, a long day done.

Firstly, well done Frank for getting this done. Every ounce of effort put in to this paid off - for us, anyway.

In summary, if you want to visit somewhere unlike anywhere else, have an enquiring and flexible attitude and travel to experience new things then come here. If you need everywhere to feel like home and with a Starbucks on every corner then don't come here!

We found a web site offering private tours and it proved to show the ups and downs of doing your own thing. It involved a convoluted walk through the city for half an hour to reach the b&b that operates the tours. If we hadn't known it was a safe city we might have had a few anxious moments as Google's routing didn't care about the neighbourhood! We found the place after no wrong turns. But it quickly became clear our tour booking had been overlooked. But they quickly recovered the situation and hauled in a guide, car and driver.

So, we had a 1950 Chevvy, a chauffeur quality driver and a delightful guide for the whole day for 150 cuc pp.

Any snags? Well, the guide spoke perfect Spanglish and our skills with that language are not perfect. So there may have been a few things we missed or misunderstood.

But we saw masses - both on foot around the city and in areas well beyond the city centre.

You couldn't help but conclude that the Cuban people need some help to improve their lot. The accommodation many live in is shocking and the system of rationing staples was startling.

Let me wind back a bit.

Embarkation in Miami was the easiest of some 30 cruises. We arrived at around 11am at the port and did not stop in a single line until we were on the ship (despite the additional process of filling out the Cuban visa). We sat down for a very early Terrace lunch at 11.30 and were in our PH room at 1pm with bags delivered.

The MDR has been so busy on both nights that we had to endure the hardship of being sent to Polo on the first night.

In Key West we winkled out the (to us) more interesting sights, including the Little White House.

Back to today. We were in the first half dozen off the ship, passed Frank and his group waiting to do interviews etc and passed quickly through an efficient looking immigration process. Then straight to money exchange. Forget 1:1 conversion with the $US! We got 392 cuc for $450....

To the question of WiFi - it works normally and our UK phone worked normally. We noticed one or two hotel lobbies had WiFi signs but it clearly is not widely available.

Hope this is of some interest / use.

Ok, a long day done.

Firstly, well done Frank for getting this done. Every ounce of effort put in to this paid off - for us, anyway.

In summary, if you want to visit somewhere unlike anywhere else, have an enquiring and flexible attitude and travel to experience new things then come here. If you need everywhere to feel like home and with a Starbucks on every corner then don't come here!

We found a web site offering private tours and it proved to show the ups and downs of doing your own thing. It involved a convoluted walk through the city for half an hour to reach the b&b that operates the tours. If we hadn't known it was a safe city we might have had a few anxious moments as Google's routing didn't care about the neighbourhood! We found the place after no wrong turns. But it quickly became clear our tour booking had been overlooked. But they quickly recovered the situation and hauled in a guide, car and driver.

 

 

So, we had a 1950 Chevvy, a chauffeur quality driver and a delightful guide for the whole day for 150 cuc pp.

Any snags? Well, the guide spoke perfect Spanglish and our skills with that language are not perfect. So there may have been a few things we missed or misunderstood.

But we saw masses - both on foot around the city and in areas well beyond the city centre.

You couldn't help but conclude that the Cuban people need some help to improve their lot. The accommodation many live in is shocking and the system of rationing staples was startling.

 

Let me wind back a bit.

Embarkation in Miami was the easiest of some 30 cruises. We arrived at around 11am at the port and did not stop in a single line until we were on the ship (despite the additional process of filling out the Cuban visa). We sat down for a very early Terrace lunch at 11.30 and were in our PH room at 1pm with bags delivered.

The MDR has been so busy on both nights that we had to endure the hardship of being sent to Polo on the first night.

In Key West we winkled out the (to us) more interesting sights, including the Little White House.

 

Back to today. We were in the first half dozen off the ship, passed Frank and his group waiting to do interviews etc and passed quickly through an efficient looking immigration process. Then straight to money exchange. Forget 1:1 conversion with the $US! We got 392 cuc for $450....

 

To the question of WiFi - it works normally and our UK phone worked normally. We noticed one or two hotel lobbies had WiFi signs but it clearly is not widely available.

 

Hope this is of some interest / use.

Did you exchange your money at the port?

Yes, the money exchange desks are just a few steps beyond the immigration booths. They will exchange back unused CUC too. We saw no other exchange facilities in town but it is entirely possible the banks have the facility. But I imagine there's a reason why there were multiple exchange desks in the terminal. (OK, I admit it could be to max out exchange profits!)

you said you were among the very first to disembark. how long after ship

cleared, were you off-ship/out of terminal, pls?

thank you for your helpful info.

Hi - from the time of the announcement that the ship was cleared to being off the ship was about 10 seconds! We were off at, I think, around 8.15. Maybe 15 minutes later than scheduled.

Hi - from the time of the announcement that the ship was cleared to being off the ship was about 10 seconds! We were off at, I think, around 8.15. Maybe 15 minutes later than scheduled.

wonderful! happy to hear that, hope we can do the same, as scheduled to meet private tour guide ca. 9am in front of cathedral, San Francisco Square, which, is my understanding just outside terminal. did you happen to notice or see an artisan market in same area? San Jose Artisan Market is supposed to be in same general area -- not a big deal, but if we do get off-ship as you did, would like to know what there might be to do there if we have time to wait before meeting guide.

again, so appreciative of help you are providing to all of us future cruisers, first time in Havana folks - my many thanks to you again!

wish you a delightful Day 2 in Havana et un bon voyage throughout remainder of cruise!

Lynn

Hi. Yes, we expected that square to be very obvious but for some reason it wasn't. We didn't stop to seek it out but I'm quite sure it's there!

What was obvious was a very strong drains smell (not evident anywhere else, fortunately) that didn't encourage us to hang around...

This information is for US citizens only.

 

If you have Euros left over from previous trips to Europe, take those with you to get a better exchange rate on CUC (Cuban tourist peso). However, if you have no Euros -- if you have to first convert your US dollars to Euros, and, then, convert your Euros to CUC, I wouldn't recommend that approach. You are unlikely to get a rate that justifies that extra conversion. If you have a special banking arrangement that allows you to exchange currency for free or a rate approaching the preferred exchange rate, you might want to consider the extra effort. However, few of us have a financial arrangement that saves enough money to bother with the extra effort of an intermediate conversion.

 

Try to focus on the newness and adventure of the trip to Cuba and gloss over the surcharge for converting US currency.

I have a relationship with Wells Fargo and they have a currency exchange service. If you are converting 1000 or more, then they don't charge shipping. But less than that the shipping is $15.00. I had decided to get some Euros to avoid the 10%, which I had read on another thread was charged both to convert USD to CUC and then to convert back from CUC to USD. We are going to be going in October this year. Can't wait!

Alan

Anyone convert CAD to CUC at the port?

What was the rate ?

wonderful! happy to hear that, hope we can do the same, as scheduled to meet private tour guide ca. 9am in front of cathedral, San Francisco Square, which, is my understanding just outside terminal. did you happen to notice or see an artisan market in same area? San Jose Artisan Market is supposed to be in same general area -- not a big deal, but if we do get off-ship as you did, would like to know what there might be to do there if we have time to wait before meeting guide.

 

again, so appreciative of help you are providing to all of us future cruisers, first time in Havana folks - my many thanks to you again!

 

wish you a delightful Day 2 in Havana et un bon voyage throughout remainder of cruise!

Lynn

Lynn, I've been trying to do my research and looking at Google Maps. It shows that the Basilica San Francisco de Asis is pretty much right across the street from the Terminal Sierra Maestra where the cruise ships dock. There is a park looking area right next to it, but it's labeled Lonja del Comercio. The Almacenes San Jose Artisans' Market is a little ways away from the dock. Google maps says it's a 12 minute walk or a 3 min ride in a car. I'm going to try to post a link for you. Click here

Alan

Lynn, I've been trying to do my research and looking at Google Maps. It shows that the Basilica San Francisco de Asis is pretty much right across the street from the Terminal Sierra Maestra where the cruise ships dock. There is a park looking area right next to it, but it's labeled Lonja del Comercio. The Almacenes San Jose Artisans' Market is a little ways away from the dock. Google maps says it's a 12 minute walk or a 3 min ride in a car. I'm going to try to post a link for you. Click here

 

Alan

Hi Alan - thanks for sending link - it works! we may not actually have enough time, day 1, as we are scheduled to meet our guide at ca 9am so we'll probably just try to find the Artisan Market, day 2.

are you on the March 31 cruise? don't recognize your name as part of our 21 March roll call - ? or are you on one of the later Nov-Dec cruises? I'll be happy to report back. we'll be in Havana 22-23 March.

thanks for your help!

Lynn

Re: currency exchange - did anyone change euros for CUC?

Thanks in advance. We are on the March 31 cruise.

Hi Alan - thanks for sending link - it works! we may not actually have enough time, day 1, as we are scheduled to meet our guide at ca 9am so we'll probably just try to find the Artisan Market, day 2.

 

are you on the March 31 cruise? don't recognize your name as part of our 21 March roll call - ? or are you on one of the later Nov-Dec cruises? I'll be happy to report back. we'll be in Havana 22-23 March.

 

thanks for your help!

Lynn

Lynn,

Actually in looking for information about Cuba I found this thread. I'm actually booked on October 16 Royal Caribbean on Empress of the Seas.

Anyone convert CAD to CUC at the port?

What was the rate ?

From what I have read, the CUC is pegged to the USD. So it should be the same exchange rate as the CAD to the USD. Only the USD has the 10% penalty included.