Currently on the December 8 Insignia Cuba Cruise

Good morning! Today is a sea day between between Havana and Cienfuegos so I have a little time to post and answer some questions about Cuba. Since this is my first Oceania cruise I'll save my impressions about the ship until after the cruise.

Expect the unexpected. We docked in Havana almost 2 hours late because there was a ship in our berth that left past its scheduled departure and it was a very windy day and the Captain needed to wait for a second tug boat to help him dock. Because of that, some tours were shortened or canceled but they tried to accommodate people by rescheduling them for different tours or the same tour the next day. In our case, our tour Highlights of Havana (?) was shortened somewhat and returned to the ship about 7 pm. We had also signed up for the Parisienne show at the Hotel Nacionale which left at 8:30. I felt there wasn't enough time for me to have some dinner at the buffet and do the turn around so DH went and I stayed on the ship. He got back to the cabin around midnight.

It was relatively easy to go through Cuban immigration but we were sharing the pier with a larger MSC ship that seemed to be embarking and disembarking passengers at the same time. The line to purchase CUCS had hundreds of people waiting so we passed the line and went to meet our tour without buying CUC - figuring we could buy them the next day. Since there were only 12 people on the tour I think some people either canceled or never made the tour.

Most surprisingly, our guide told us the U.S. dollars were being accepted at some stores. And sure enough, the gift store in the El Moro fort took dollars. Do the math yourself, if you can when, you are making a purchase. We think we go a fair deal. BTW, We tipped the guide and driver in dollars which they readily accepted.

The weather in Havana was unexpectedly cool, windy and rainy. Think more South Florida weather than tropical Caribbean island. A cold front came across just as we arrived. We had wind driven rain and cold temps. The evening of our tour the waves were breaching the walls of the Malecon. It seems that some passengers were more prepared for cooler weather than others with jackets, scarves, etc.

We took a walking tour, Highlights of Colonial Havana, yesterday morning. It was still overcast, cool and breezy. A perfect day for a walking tour. We came back to the ship for lunch with all the best intentions of going out again on our own, but once we sat down that was it for us.

It seems that some people on the previous cruises were coming down with "tourista " stomach ailments. They are cautioning passengers when they are in town to only drink beverages that are in a sealed can or bottle and not to use ice. They also gave us a bottle of hand spray in our cabin. I don't know what's going to happen on our all day trip to Colonial Trinidad, lunch included.

The ship internet runs best early morning or late evening. I'll try to be back later to answer any questions.

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Not surprised by weather as I m in FL, and same weather here today and yesterday,,,its our winter,haha.So knew it would be similar.Many here actually LIKE it, since always hot and humid rest of yr.

Good tip re dollars,,,esp that guides accept them for tips. Usually don t buy much onshore anyway,,,more to lug back and have to many THINGS now.haha.

Love to hear about the shore exc. you take,,,gives us all ideas about what interests us.

Hope you like O ships and no one comes down with any bugs on your cruise.

Appreciate the time it takes to post ,,,and we sure love all the details.

Great post. Enjoyed hearing about your experience in Cuba.

Keith

Thanks for posting on your Cuban experience. Many of us are traveling there in 2018.

I’m not at all surprised to hear American dollars are appreciated and welcome.

Baggal, I'm also on this cruise and was going to post my thoughts along the way, so I hope you won't mind if I join in and share your post.

This is also our (my friend and I) first Oceania cruise and first time to Cuba. We brought Canadian dollars to exchange in order to avoid the additional 10% fee and it worked well. We only stood about 5 min at passport control and security check, but about 20 min to change money. This cadeca is honest, fair and modern so don't be afraid to change money here. If going out on your own after changing money, take the stairs to the right. If going on a tour, take the stairs to the left. Bathrooms to the left were all locked.

Since it was nearly 5pm, we decided to just wander around the area streets for an hour or so (til dark) then back to the ship for dinner. We loved seeing the locals and different shops/restaurants on the streets. We got a little lost but a very sweet lady told us how to get back. I only speak "Sesame Street" Spanish but could communicate well enough. The people are very friendly and interested in us.

We had dinner in the buffet then went on a ship excursion to the Hotel Melia Cohiba, in the Havana Cafe show room, to see the famous Buena Vista Social Club show (sing and dancing). It was a fantastic show! We each got a free drink and a plate of appetizers. The weather wasn't cooperative, though. Heavy rain, 30-40mph wind and rivers of water coming over the malecon seawall and running up the street. The bus was new and comfortable and took us on a different route back and we saw many sights.

Yesterday our ship tour was cancelled (we got $100pp OBC each) because of a water pipe breakage so we decided to walk to the area near the

capital where all the classic cars are parked and get a tour of Havana. We started by walking east down the street of the malecon and went into the Russiasn Orthodox church for a look and a few minutes of their service. Then took the small street at the church and into a residential area. Homes are anything from nice to falling apart! People were out walking around and socializing. We bought some souvenirs in a little shop which was the front room of their home. We then looked around a Pharmacy Museum which wanted a small donation and we bought skin cream there. Very nice people!! We came to a park where kids were playing and people relaxing - no tourists but us! There was a Catholic church there so we went in for worship service. Met 2 guys on the street who helped us find the cars. One said his father works in New Jersey. The other said, sadly, that he wishes he could visit the USA.

Got a great tour (1 hr for 40 cuc) in a 1957 pink and white Chrysler convertible. He took us right back to the ship.

I'll also share thoughts about this ship and Oceania later. Time to go get a facial now! :D

One thing I will say at this time about Insignia......I've never been on such a small ship and am quite prone to seasickness. I wear Seabands and and they've always worked. But from about 9am til we docked at 4pm, I was very sick and stayed in bed. The ship was rocking around way more than other ships I've been on. We are located about 3/4 of the way aft. I felt better after docking.

Last night, after leaving Havana, the ship rolled a lot most of the night. I stayed flat in bed. This morning I feel fine. We're not rolling as much, but hopefully I'm getting used to it.

We are also currently on the Insignia. The water was quite rough out of Miami, with strong winds and 11ft waves many ships would have the rocking, but with this small ship it was, of course, worse. Many people were sea sick. We were fine, but it was challenging to walk around deck in a straight line.

Note to those who are still curious, (talking to you Holly2) nobody was checking what you were doing when you got off the ship. Because of the late arrival, our tour of Hemingway's house was canceled so we just got off the ship and walked around old town. As I expected, Oceania treats you like an adult, so up to you what you do.

We were fortunately one of the first people off the ship so we only had to wait about 3-4 minutes to exchange money. Glad that we took the opportunity to do so, as the line was horrendous by the time we were done and I assume it got worse as there were still people on board by the time we were out on the street. We went to the Tropicana club Saturday night and that was fun, and interesting. You will get back after midnight so make adjustments as necessary. I knew that we would get a "welcome drink" but did not realize it would be 1/4 of a bottle of rum. Each table for 4 gets four cans of cola and a bottle of rum to share. I heard of others taking the bottle back to the ship.

To Holly2 and others who seem very concerned about what they can do here in Cuba......for Havana. you go through passport control which is a one-person-at-a-time process and a worker is sometimes there to tell you which kiosk to go through and sometimes you just go to which one you want. The first time, you hand them your Visa and passport. Do not talk to them, take off glasses and hats, hand them the passport and Visa then they will take your picture. Anytime after that, just hand them your passport, but remember to take off glasses and hats. They will only stamp your passport once.

Next, you go through security just like at an airport. Everything in a bin.

Money exchange is straight ahead. After getting CUC's (I wouldn't chance using foreign money - get CUC's), you're on your own!! No police, no big brother - no one at all! You go down a huge flight of stairs (there is a small elevator, but its not always working) then walk outside. Cross the busy street carefully at the crosswalk and you'll be in Plaza de San Francisco. You can wander down some streets on your own or quite a few gentlemen will be there to offer car tours, carriage rides or other transportation. I felt like I was in any city in the world - no one bothered us and actually I saw very few policemen and no military. We drove by the US embassy - the flag was up but no one was around.

Please, please don't be afraid! And even though we filled out those affidavits, no one wants them except Oceania. Just enjoy the friendly people and unique country!! I love it.

Back to the cabin after a day of not doing too much. We are really enjoying the lectures by the destination lecturer Sandy Cares. On the first night, instead of some sort of show, they had Sandy give a very informative orientation lecture about Cuba. Her other lectures are also very good.

The seas have calmed a little but I will say, like Go-Bucks, this is the smallest cruise ship I have ever been on, and the least stable so far. For what it's worth, I started taking Bonine the morning before I boarded and I take one before I go to bed every night. Last night at the show, all the way forward, I was beginning to feel unstable and came back to my cabin - midship on deck 4. It's worse on the upper decks.

For a variety of reasons, some having to do with being preoccupied with medical issues at home, we decided to just book the ship's tours. We have not been disappointed even though things didn't go quite as planned on Saturday. We took the "New Havana" bus tour on Saturday. It was only daylight for about half the tour, not to mention the wind driven rain, but the guide did his best. The walking tour of Colonial Havana was also good. There were 14 of us and the guide took us to 4 different squares where he told us about the important features of the squares and then we had about 15 minutes in each one. Then they took us to a "market" where locals were selling what looked like trinkets imported from China.

If you are a photographer, you will want to spend almost all your time in the Colonial part of Havana. It's just amazing.

I agree, with reasonable caution as you would in any city, there's no need to feel uncomfortable or afraid. During the day, the streets are crowded.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's excursion to Colonial Trinidad.

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Thank you all for posting. Hope weather improves. We are also 4 midship.

We have been to Cuba before - my only concern was Oceania lmiting

options. Glad that is not the case.

Enjoy the rest of the cruise!

Our bags are packed and we're ready go. It feels as though we just boarded. I'm still trying to process what we experienced this week.

The Colonial Trinidad excursion was my least favorite. A 1.5 hour bus ride to a smallish town. A word of caution - the streets are paved with river bottom stones that come from the Mississippi River and were used for ballast in shipping during Spanish rule. It's difficult walking unless you're wearing sturdy sneakers or shoes.

Santiago de Cuba has a lot of history and appears to be a bustling city. I really enjoyed the visit to a city I had never heard of before booking this cruise.

I'll be posting my thoughts on Oceania and Insignia as a newbie in a few days.

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Boarding tomorrow. First timer on Oceania. What do you wish you had known?

Any idea why there will be coast guard inspection?

Thanks baggal for your great observations. We're on a Cuba B2B on the Sirena in May and can't wait. As we usually don't spend any $$ when we're on an excursion or when we visit a port other than to generously tip the guides and drivers, it was great to hear the tour guides had no issue accepting US dollars. Saves us from bringing euros to exchange for cucs.

Any idea why there will be coast guard inspection?

If the USCG decides they want to inspect the ship they have no choice in the matter ..usually for safety reasons

If they are having an inspection & tell you not to come early to the port DON"T

We boarded Riviera on Dec 2nd & it was chaos

Apparently the USCG wanted the crew to do a full drill

we arrived at 12:45 & the lines were long & slow

I would wait until after 1pm

JMO

We too just finished the Dec 8 Insignia Cuba cruise. We waited until after the other ship unloaded their shore excursion folks before changing money. Only had two people in line ahead of us.

Oceana may want to mention that cigar stores are closed on Sunday and get your cigars on Saturday. The cigar store took USD. Loved the Tropicana show on Saturday night. We brought the qt of rum back with us. Will enjoy it with family at Christmas. I really liked the people-to-people events on two of the shore excursions. We had a flute concert of Cuban music performed by a team of young women who were professional and fantastic. We bought their CD that they were selling for $10 (yes they took USD). Haven't played it yet but they are selling it as a fundraisers and that was worth it. The Cutumba folkloro group in Santiago de Cuba was very interesting including the Santeria segment at the end. Both groups of artists were obviously very proud of their accomplishments as musicians and dancers.

Yes the weather was a bit rough at sea even with our room midship. It was surprisingly cool but then we went for the Cuba experience and not to sail the Caribbean sipping mojito's and lounging by the pool.

We went to all of Sandy's talks and really learned a lot. The two extra talks by the professor from William and Mary was a bonus. Though I am not an art film fan, the talks gave a very down to earth glimpse at Cuban people.

All in all, I really enjoyed Cuba.

Re.the Tropicana show,,,would you describe it, Singers and dancers with band. See you re not a drinker,or passed on rum,but I m not at all.If its better than a ship performance, may book it. Any details great.

Glad you liked cruise. Also, going to see Cuba ,not cruise per se.Nice to hear about shore exc.too.

Re.the Tropicana show,,,would you describe it, Singers and dancers with band. See you re not a drinker,or passed on rum,but I m not at all.If its better than a ship performance, may book it. Any details great.

It is an old style "extravaganza" with large cast of dancers and singers, many costume changes (some not covering so much), multiple stages (platforms), etc. Think Carmen Miranda

Lots of photos on the internet

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropicana_Club

https://www.cabaret-tropicana.com/en/

Re.the Tropicana show,,,would you describe it, Singers and dancers with band. See you re not a drinker,or passed on rum,but I m not at all.If its better than a ship performance, may book it. Any details great.

 

Glad you liked cruise. Also, going to see Cuba ,not cruise per se.Nice to hear about shore exc.too.

Quart of rum. 4 people. Do the math. Even if you enjoy the rum and coke, you should bring the rest of the rum back to the ship to enjoy. We were a group of 8 so we sampled one bottle and took the other back to the US.

This is a real cabaret performance. Nothing that you would ever get on a ship. The dancers and singers were awesome. The costumes were beyond vibrant. Cuba prides themselves on perfecting their arts. And they do that in spades. Sure, you could get a similar review in Vegas but you can see that the dancers and singers at the Tropicana give it their all. The 3 tenors and opera interlude was TO DIE FOR! Totally awesome. Yes, in memory of the pre-Castro Havana, and beautifully performed.

i know this is a 648 to 1 chance but what the heck. I was the magician entertainer on that Cuba cruise and I met a fellow, Jim, who's company made small metal parts. He gave me his contact info but, like a muppet, I lost it. Does anyone recall meeting him and have any info, I promised to email him...

Martin

i know this is a 648 to 1 chance but what the heck. I was the magician entertainer on that Cuba cruise and I met a fellow, Jim, who's company made small metal parts. He gave me his contact info but, like a muppet, I lost it. Does anyone recall meeting him and have any info, I promised to email him...

Martin

If you really believe in Magic, you should be able to read it wherever it is (or make it “magically” appear) :D

Sorry - I couldn’t resist.

I hope someone will be able to help you.

i know this is a 648 to 1 chance but what the heck. I was the magician entertainer on that Cuba cruise and I met a fellow, Jim, who's company made small metal parts. He gave me his contact info but, like a muppet, I lost it. Does anyone recall meeting him and have any info, I promised to email him...

Martin

Up your sleeve?

Behind your ear?

In your top hat under the unbelievable amount of colorful scarves!

Sorry, cruisemagican I could not resist. Truly no offense intended as I do enjoy magic and would have been second row at all your shows.

As penance I searched Insignia's Dec 8 Roll Call for "Jim" hoping I could get you a little closer but no success. I hope you do make contact.

It may be worth posting on the roll call though as some people may be still subscribed to it and even if he wasn't on the roll call someone who was on it may know him. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2460466

Thanks for the niteclub info and links, can look and see for myself.But sounds like a nite I would regret if I passed on it. Hope its casual, not planning on pack ing fancy stuff,,,dress slacks and fancy top,ok.I hope.

Thanks for the niteclub info and links, can look and see for myself.But sounds like a nite I would regret if I passed on it. Hope its casual, not planning on pack ing fancy stuff,,,dress slacks and fancy top,ok.I hope.

Casual dress for the show.

Casual dress for the show.

Unless you are in it :D