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Crystal to Cuba: Need Trinidad & Vintage Car Tour Info.


mlbcruiser
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Hoping we can visit Trinidad (for at least a short look-see if that's all there's time for) when our ship stops in Cienfuegos. Not sure how long it would take and if this can be done during the free time in the afternoon (for those of us who are expected to do the People to People tours in the morning) - ? Wondering if the ship will offer an excursion to Trinidad and/or if there will be opportunities once in Cienfuegos to pick up an independent tour and still make it back to the ship in time?

 

Additionally, some posters have mentioned doing vintage car tours independently when in Havana. I believe one can book these through the ship as well, though I get the feeling that tour will be one long procession (though I'm not sure). Can anyone shed any light on about what such an excursion generally costs (both through the ship and independently)?

 

Thanks for any info!

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The ship does offer a tour to Trinidad but that´s a 6 hour tour and you will not be able to do both (people to people tour and Trinidad). The ship leaves at 3 pm, all aboard 2:30 pm. So even with a tour in the morning there´s not enough time to go to Trinidad (I thinks it´s about an 1 hour drive or so).

 

Unfortunately I still miss my suitcase (at least it´s already in Munich but it won´t be delivered until tomorrow) and there I got my paper stuff. I think the vintage car tour was something like 59 or 69 USD pP. I remember some of our group did it on their own and it was more like 50-60 USD for the whole car (up to 4-5 people). Can´t say that for sure. But the cars are waiting outside the cruise terminal and it´s no problem to get one.

 

steamboats

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Steamboats, I appreciate this info! Didn't see it initially, as, for some reason, I haven't been getting reply alerts for a few months and forgot to come back to recheck this thread. (This has happened before but one day they seem to start again, so???) Anyway, now I am torn - Trinidad or Cienfuegos? Hmmm.

 

Thanks again for all the info. you've shared re: this cruise on these CC boards!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello, we did the Trinidad tour during last year's cruise. It was well worth the drive and cost. We enjoyed Cienfuego this year as well. I can't remember the cost though. We preferred the Trinidad tour more than Cienfuego. We did the Vintage car tour in Havana for $50 for 2 hours for up to 5 people. So get some friends and split the cost. We hired a car/driver that was across from cruise ship terminal in Havana (we have his name, email and number if you are interested). It was a cute pink convertible. I think you could negotiate a better price if you get away from the port terminal. The driver we hired spoke English well and drove us to some of the places we had seen during the ship excursions but also other places we hadn't seen., we esp. enjoyed the tour of the Hotel Nacional de Cuba.

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  • 3 weeks later...

When we were boarding the ship (Feb. 17), we began talking to a couple of people nearby. One of them was a guy who was going to be helping out on a tour for one of the groups on board (some other travel agency or something). I mentioned I hoped to go to Trinidad and asked what he thought about it. He said in his opinion, Cienfuegos was better - more modern and cleaner, and he said it was a long ride to Trinidad. I still thought I might prefer Trinidad. However, in speaking with various other passengers on the ship, it seems not enough people were booking many of the optional tours and were being cancelled. In the end, I just went with what was easiest (mostly for my husband's sake) and we did find Cienfuegos to be a nice town after all. However, I imagine I'd still have liked Trinidad. Wish there had been time to see both!

 

As for the vintage cars, you can walk right out of the terminal and will see them lined up across the street. The 2nd day in Havana we skipped the morning bus tour (as did several other people we found out at dinner) and were about to go wait for the hop on/hop off bus (just planned to ride it all around, wherever it went) but decided to ride in one of the convertibles. A guy standing just outside the terminal heard us talking and wanted to set us up. I told him we needed an English speaking driver and that we did NOT want to revisit Revolution Square, etc. We wanted to drive around Miramar and some other areas - see the embassies and neighborhoods, etc. I wish we had arranged our own ride. The driver was a very nice young man but his English was marginal. Thankfully I can speak a fair amount of Spanish, so between the 2 of us and my translating to my husband, we did o.k. Booking the vintage car trip through the ship will cost you at least twice as much per person as you will pay doing it on your own.

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  • 1 month later...
Hello, we did the Trinidad tour during last year's cruise. It was well worth the drive and cost. We enjoyed Cienfuego this year as well. I can't remember the cost though. We preferred the Trinidad tour more than Cienfuego. We did the Vintage car tour in Havana for $50 for 2 hours for up to 5 people. So get some friends and split the cost. We hired a car/driver that was across from cruise ship terminal in Havana (we have his name, email and number if you are interested). It was a cute pink convertible. I think you could negotiate a better price if you get away from the port terminal. The driver we hired spoke English well and drove us to some of the places we had seen during the ship excursions but also other places we hadn't seen., we esp. enjoyed the tour of the Hotel Nacional de Cuba.

Hello Wesnoon, I am interested in the Vintage Tour driver's information. Thanks.

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  • 1 month later...

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