Cuban Cruise Review - May 1st, 2017 - The very FIRST Norwegian sailing!!!

After a bit of a wait - The pizza arrived! It was erm....different from what we were expecting. Alas, when in Rome...we dug right in.

We quickly discovered it to be parmesan cheese which they must have broken into bits and melted on our pizza. It looked strange but it was actually very good!

We enjoyed the pizza in the shade while listening to a little Cuban music – It actually worked out perfectly as we were able to rest a bit and discuss what was left to do before heading back to the ship before sail away!

While eating, a kitten walked into the store and rested for a while, presumably to get out of the heat. I thought it was cute how it sat watching the passerby's and didn't seem to have a care in the world.

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Our bill for the food and drinks was I believe 16.50 CUC$. Cheap! We quickly paid and left as there were many people waiting for seats in the shade.

We took a walk to the City Museum, which used to be the Governor of Havana’s Palace. After the Revolution, it was converted into a Museum.

Unfortunately for us, when we arrived, so did a very large tour. The cost to get in was 6 CUC$, but we decided to take a quick photo of the courtyard (beautiful!) and one of the visible rooms nearby before opting out of going into the museum.

Another reason to return someday!!

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Still looking for information on the Vinales Valley excursion. How much walking was involved? Thanks.

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I want to thank you so much for taking your time to post what you did. It was a running account of your day and life on the Sky and in Cuba. My husband and I are going on the June 5th cruise. So looking forward to it. This will be our second cruise in 48 years of marriage. Some times you have to live vicariously through others, and that is what we are doing until JUne 5

We decided to walk around some side streets and see if anything caught our eye – I kept snapping anything I thought was photo worthy. We walked through an area where some might feel is a sketchy part of Havana, but in all honesty never felt unsafe once. The locals and tourist alike were friendly and welcoming to one another. We walked past the Museum of Natural History and the Museum of Fine Arts, both of which looked interesting – Yet more reasons to revisit this city someday!

As it was getting later in the day, the DW and I decided it was time to start heading back to the ship – We have an unwritten rule to ALWAYS be on-board at least 2 hours before sailaway.

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I previously saved a few different bills of the CUC for easy memento – Something we do each new country we visit. Since I had a 1, 3, 5, & 10 saved back in the cabin, I quickly tallied what was left. I put aside a few more 10’s to see about trying to get a 20 CUC$ bill when we got back to the terminal.

With the last of the money we had, we strolled around and found a vendor not far from the terminal who was selling wonderful paintings (duplicates) of Cuba and some sights. We found a photo that had a similar car which we toured in the previous day with Roly and Hector – I asked the older gentleman who was selling it how much he was asking for it…30 CUC$. The DW and I laughed because that was exactly what we had left to spend, so we didn’t even try to haggle with him and agreed on his price. He was so appreciative and took a few moments to tell us a little bit about his family and Cuba while he wrapped our purchase in newspaper and tape.

We then made our way to the ship’s terminal, tired but satisfied with our two days spent in Cuba.

Back in the terminal, we found no line for the currency exchange. When we requested that we were trying to obtain a 20 CUC$ note, the teller was a little confused and kept trying to give us US dollars back…After a few minutes of speaking broken high school Spanish, she finally caught on and was happy to oblige, something I was concerned with, but found no reason to be. She took the time to rifle through the sack of 20 CUC$ notes for a nice clean bill…A few moments later, we were on our way back through the security and customs line. In no time at all, we got through and were greeted with the ships staff and officers welcoming us back with water cups and cold wash cloths. A quick few words with Tom the Cruise Director, and we were back on the ship.

As you can tell from the dirt and creases, smaller bills get much more use in Cuba...

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So, as for the rest of the review, do you remember the day we got on the ship and made a beeline to the excursions desk? That was to try and book any cabana’s left on the island. Since they were sold out, we added our names to the wait list – at the top of the list! – but never received a call from the excursions desk that they had a cancellation.

Since we had been to GSC so many times before, we decided not to bother with getting off the island and take the last day of our cruise to get some R&R from all the walking in the sun we did the previous two days. Four days really goes by pretty quick!

As for the Sky, she is an older ship and doesn’t have all those bells and whistles that some people like. For us, that is OKAY! – We much prefer smaller ships, which are becoming more a rarity these days of the huge ships being built by cruise lines.

Overall, our time in Cuba was great. We were very happy to be a part of the 1st sailing to this new destination and are already talking about when we might return. I want to wait in hope that Norwegian will add new ports around Cuba so we can see more of the island itself. We really had zero issues with customs or getting money exchanged which was our worry. We were also worried about finding safe food to eat, but it was really no different as if we visited another major city.

If you are still thinking about going, stop thinking and book your cruise right now! Cuba is changing rapidly and I anticipate things are going to start moving at a more rapid pace as the old generation gives way to the youth of Cuba who yearn for change.

Don’t miss your window to step back in time and see how things used to be…This trip and some of the things we saw and did will stay with me for a lifetime.

Thanks for staying with this review and waiting for me to finish it. I will go back to the beginning to read through and try to answer any questions not already answered. I know there is a lot of confusing information about Cuba, and a lot of unknown – I went through the same feelings and am happy to try and share what we experienced. I am thankful for all other others who have taking the time to comment and answer questions as well – Thank you all! Happy sailings!

This review has been so extremely helpful in planning our trip on June 5th. Thank you and your wife for sharing this with us. I am now even more excited for this trip!

One more question for OP and anyone else booked on this itinerary: when did you book this trip? I'm wondering if some people booked at normal Sky prices and then were lucky enough to get "upgraded" to the Havana itinerary.

 

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We booked last October. We got notice via email that Grand Bahama and Nassau had been dumped and Cuba would be an over nighter. No extra charges other then the required visa :p

I like to think rules are made to be broken. :)

Don't encourage the masses lol.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this country still under communist rule?

Having traveled to Czechoslovakia and surrounds in 1989 (ok, a LONG time ago) and China 4 years ago, please, follow the rules.

Hopping off my soapbox now.

CT Loving this report, thanks very much for taking the time!

I know how exciting this is to many people. But those in law enforcement will not go toCuba as long as the harbor cop killers. Joanne Chesimard is a convicted cop killer of NJSP Trooper Werner Forester.

 

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True that. Thank you for honoring Trooper Foerster. Sorry to say, only those around NJ, Middlesex, Hunterdon Counties in 1973-84 will remember that. She escaped from Clinton Correctional Institution for Women, went to Cuba and was granted political asylum. Google Chesimard. She had documented militant affiliations.

This post may be deleted and that's ok, I don't want to break the forum's rules. :)

Cuba does look magnificent. The cars are cool too, the people seem wonderful. I would love to absorb the culture of the days from the 50's but I think I'll wait.

Absolutely no disrespect intended to those who do not know about this, and wish to visit.

I believe we did! When we originally booked at the end of last year there was no news about the Cuba sailings as yet. At some point during this year we received the news that our itinerary would change but we were not requested to pay any extra (as far as I'm aware).

Awesome to hear! I'm more and more leaning towards booking a January Sky cruise and then waiting to see if I get a Havana upgrade!!!

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Great review, thank you so much for taking the time to write it and include all those great pictures.

I previously saved a few different bills of the CUC for easy memento – Something we do each new country we visit.

Next time you go, collect a set of CUP bills. :)

I tried to get some of these but had a difficult time. But yes, definitely a reason to return!

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We just returned from Cuba on Sky May 8 to 12. A wonderful trip.

A few observations:

Customs & Immigration was EZ. The first day the ship used a # system , just like the tendering system. One member of our party went up to the lounge at 7am and picked up tickets for the entire group. We had #1 and were called to get off at 8:30, much earlier than was reported on the May 1 cruise, they had reported 10am.

Once off the ship we waited no more than 20 min at Customs & Imm. They see you 1 at a time NOT couples together. Next, 100 yards across the building and we lined up to change our Euros, and in another 20 min we had our 'kook' in hand. EZ! Contrary to what so one here wrote, We found No shops in the port that took US money!

After that First Customs and Imm. check, there was never a line to go back and forth to the ship.

On our last day the happily took back our leftover Cuban money and gave us US money, also No lines like the first day.

No one anywhere took US credit cards. But after paying some bills in Cuban Money we tipped wait staff, drivers etc, in US money and they were happy to take it. We were stingy with our Cuban money, afraid we would run out. US money, we had plenty, and tipped generously with it.

We found Many spoke English. Many met us with a smile and tried to sell something, like a Car tour, a Buggy Ride, or cigars. When we ventured Back, away from the tourist area and the beaten path, the smiles disappeared. We even felt unwelcome in one store where we bought a bottle of water.

The Hop on Hop off bus was a good value, and highly recommended. The T1 line stops right in front of the ship and is $10 Cuban, paid as you enter the bus. Its a 2 hour circle thru Havana, very good!

The T3 line stops at Parc Centro, its $5, and it gets on the highway and drives out to the beaches. Also very good and a little less that 2 hours. Then back to the ship on T1 Bus.

NOTE; T1 stops at Parc Centro, twice, once outbound (5 min from the ship) and again Inbound (2 hours around the circle back to the ship). Once you finish the T3 route make sure that you get on the right T1 that gets back to the ship in 5 min, OR you may find yourself doing the 2 hour tour again.

The Inbound T1 and outbound T1 stop on opposite sides of the same Parc Centro square, it EZ to see both stops, the square is not that big.

After that First Customs and Imm. check, there was never a line to go back and forth to the ship.

On our last day the happily took back our leftover Cuban money and gave us US money, also No lines like the first day.