1st time to Cuba and 1st time on RCL...

We cruising out of Tampa to Key West/Havana in September with Royal Caribbean(Majesty of the Seas) and have been trying to find the correct information about arriving in Cuba but we keep finding conflicting information. We have a few questions from anyone who recently cruised there and any assistance would be helpful! Thanks in advance!!

1. Are we required to have something booked before we get off the ship? or can we just wing it and walk around freely? We like to walk a lot when we travel and sight see so we aren't to keen on booking a driving tour for hours and shore excursions from the ship are expensive...

2. Can we use credit cards in Havana or will most places only take cash?

3. If we walk far away from the ship, are taxis/public transportation readily available to get us back to the port?

4. Are you allowed to buy cigars/alcohol and bring back on ship?any limits on how many souvenirs you can bring back?

Thank you Again!!!:D

You can just get off the ship and walk around but there is a large distance for some things so you will miss a lot by not taking at least a short tour or using the hop on hop off bus. It is very rare that they take credit cards . You need CUC's . You can change money at the the terminal .You can bring back 100 cigars and one bottle of rum per person.

You can just get off the ship and walk around but there is a large distance for some things so you will miss a lot by not taking at least a short tour or using the hop on hop off bus. It is very rare that they take credit cards . You need CUC's . You can change money at the the terminal .You can bring back 100 cigars and one bottle of rum per person.

There is no limit on the amount of rum, but may have to pay duty on anything more than one liter.

Thank you Sailor_Sally and

The hop on hop off bus sounds like what you need. You can get on outside the dock, ride a bit, get off and walk, get back on, then off, etc. until the bus route circles back to your ship.

Do a search of this Cuba tread for info about the hoho bus. Or Google for more info.