A Day and Night in Havana

Our tour via Blexie waswith Elvis. He did an outstanding job weaving history, politics, social issues,architecture, common life, and pop culture into our day. We had severalprovoking discussions about things spanning the Revolution, the Bay of Pigs, housingin Cuba, the Cuban Missile crisis, Socialism and Communism, the authority Cubangov, favorite pop items like music, baseball etc. Our tour included agood deal of walking and we also had a gorgeous classic car (white and maroon)and a very polite driver.

Among the places wesaw were

-Walkthrough old Havana,

- Walkthrough the 4 main squares in the old city to see the Cathedral and mainmonuments and historical sites.

- Fort,People's House/capitol, Drive along Embassy row.

- Drivedown the malecon towards Fusterlandia which is an entire neighborhood coveredwith mosaic tiles. Walk Fusterlandia

- Visitthe Plaza de revolucion to see the square where Castro gathered millions andthe Pope visited.

- Lunch - ropavieja at Habitania 100 CUC (soup/ropa viejawith rice/beans, flan, beer, coffee, bottled water and heavy tip)

- Popped into to see"Hemingway’s" hotel and also at "his" bar, Floridita. Toocrowded to stay

- Stopped to do a Rumpurchase/Cigars purchase/Coffee purchase. Very thankful to have help withthe purchase.

We had hoped to see insidethe cigar factory however they were on break (vacation- August)

Tour was 130 CUC plus tipextra

We had dinner reservationsat Vista Mar http://www.restaurantevistamar.com/en

We ordered too much food--the server -while cordial- did not advise us well. The mixed seafood (lobstertail/shrimp/fish and octopus) was enough for 2 per order. The shrimp wassmall/boiled (not grilled), the tiny octopus was poached in oil (not large andgrilled). So something got lost in translation. The food was excellent even ifwe were surprised by its method of prep and it didn't look like pics I had seenonline. However it is Havana and we were served what they had. Thestarter/salads are HUGE meal sized. So we could have ordered less. The bill:including starters, entrees, mojitos, 7 yr rums, coffees, bottled water andgratuities was 210 CUC for 4

We hadplans to go to the Fabrica de Arte Cubano (bar)after dinner. Then plans to do a pub crawl in Old Havana later in the evening.

The plan was to catch acab. However Elvis was able to secure us a car/driver for the evening from6:50pm til 11:30pm -- who would take us wherever we chose and would wait forus. It was a great choice and we were glad to do it. Elvis explained that afterhaving such a great day he felt it important to keep us safe... and withsomeone who could be trusted to get us back to the ship on time.

As it turned out--when wearrived at Fabrica de Arte Cubano we found out it was"teen"/youth night! And so we needed to make other plans. Wewere grateful to have a car/driver with us

I had the list of barsmapped out for the bars -- and our driver spoke with the otherdrivers--

and then advised us thatseveral of the choices were not good ones. Especially one

Unfortunately we ended upat Sloppy Joes which was NOT what we wanted in style etc.

The driver was doing hisbest to find us something appropriate—We stayed at Sloppy Joes for a few rumsand beers. (We know that Elvis had discussed taking good care of us and keepingus safe and so the driver did do a good job with that!)

From there we had thedriver drop us off close to Floridita just so we could walk down Obispo back tothe port. Along the walk we had hoped to find an open bar/jazz. Itis important to note that Havana is DARK at night. The buildings are notwell lit. There are few street lights. We were in Miramar for dinner andthe roads to the Fabrica was poorly lit. Around Fabrica was so poorly litit is a bit frightening. And the road back into Old Havana was so sodark.

Walking the streets --theyare were dark and smelly. The sewer/urine is bad during the day and seems worseat night. Certainly the stench at the ship was coming from dumping intothe water.

We (over 50s) went back tothe ship a bit disappointed with "pub" offerings and the dark smellystreets. I asked Guest Services about the smell INSIDE the ship and they toldme it was “Havana” and they have the issue every time they dock there. (think across between propane and septic)

HOWEVER our 20 somethings (determinedto party in Havana) met up with some other young adults from the ship, grabbeda cab and went back out to a club in Miramar sometime after midnight. Oneof the other pax had a "list" of hot spots that only get startedafter midnight

They paid 180 CUC forbottle service (extra CUC for the Red Bull) and were out til 5am...

While that sounds"cheap" compared to US club prices for bottle service--

--my guess is they paid fartoo much because they are Americans. Between cab/bottle service and such—our sonburned through several hundred CUC between Midnight and 5am. From the storiesthey shared--they had a blast...so it is what it is. Two of the group arrivedat the ship at 5:35am and a LINE of staff/security was there to greetthem!

Our two won't say what thelast two were up to between 4:15am and 5:35--I gather its isn't something youwant your mom to know. Thankfully our two were in before 5am (knocked on ourcabin door with the "all safe" signal)

We would go back toHavana.

We would definitely useBlexie's folks again (Elvis was great)

and we'd definitely geta car/driver for the night

AND we would get bettercounsel on places to go at night (after midnight).

Did your guide take pictures for you? Blexie told me to bring an SD card so our guide could take pictures for us...

Did your guide take pictures for you? Blexie told me to bring an SD card so our guide could take pictures for us...

We didn't know to ask--and had not brought an SD card. Some of us took pics with iphones. One used a film camera (black and white film) and a proper filter because of he strong sunlight

Thank you for all the great info! Your $100 CUC lunch was for 4, if understand correctly? We are touring with Blexie (Isbel) on our first day in Havana. We are very much looking forward to it!

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Thank you for all the great info! Your $100 CUC lunch was for 4, if understand correctly? We are touring with Blexie (Isbel) on our first day in Havana. We are very much looking forward to it!

 

 

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Yes. It was 20 CUC per person. which was a soup/ropa vieja with black beans/rice, flan and coffee. Included 1 beer. We ordered 3 small bottles of water and was at 84.50 I didn't know if service was included and our guide was out by the car/driver so just left the balance of 5 20CUC notes.

A bit "high" for what I guessed we'd spend and likely high for the local economy...however we had asked for a decent lunch to be part of the day--it wasn't far from the cigar factor/cigar buying and revolution plaza. So it worked out fine

BTW--when you get out of the terminal---cross the street into the little square/park at the St Francis church. Blexie and all of the guides (more than one company) are there with names. Very easy to find them.

We'd totally hire Blexie/one of his associates again. Saw far more/did more and covered more ground/learned A LOT and had some great conversations that we could not have done on our own.

Yes. It was 20 CUC per person. which was a soup/ropa vieja with black beans/rice, flan and coffee. Included 1 beer. We ordered 3 small bottles of water and was at 84.50 I didn't know if service was included and our guide was out by the car/driver so just left the balance of 5 20CUC notes.

 

 

 

A bit "high" for what I guessed we'd spend and likely high for the local economy...however we had asked for a decent lunch to be part of the day--it wasn't far from the cigar factor/cigar buying and revolution plaza. So it worked out fine

 

 

 

BTW--when you get out of the terminal---cross the street into the little square/park at the St Francis church. Blexie and all of the guides (more than one company) are there with names. Very easy to find them.

 

 

 

We'd totally hire Blexie/one of his associates again. Saw far more/did more and covered more ground/learned A LOT and had some great conversations that we could not have done on our own.

Thank you so much!

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Thank you for posting. We are using Blexie next week! Can't wait!

Thanks so much for the review- we are using Blexie next week and Isbel( Bil) is our guide. So so so excited!

The plan was to catch acab. However Elvis was able to secure us a car/driver for the evening from6:50pm til 11:30pm -- who would take us wherever we chose and would wait forus. It was a great choice and we were glad to do it. Elvis explained that afterhaving such a great day he felt it important to keep us safe... and withsomeone who could be trusted to get us back to the ship on time.

Was this cab/car a classic car? How much was it?

Hi Isbel,

Let us know how it goes! Have a great trip!

Bernie

Thanks so much for the review- we are using Blexie next week and Isbel( Bil) is our guide. So so so excited!

The plan was to catch acab. However Elvis was able to secure us a car/driver for the evening from6:50pm til 11:30pm -- who would take us wherever we chose and would wait forus. It was a great choice and we were glad to do it. Elvis explained that afterhaving such a great day he felt it important to keep us safe... and withsomeone who could be trusted to get us back to the ship on time.

Was this cab/car a classic car? How much was it?

Yes Classic car. 60 CUC for the evening

Yes Classic car. 60 CUC for the evening

Blexie has confirmed he will have a classic car for our round trip in the evening to the Tropicana show.

Can you tell me if the Sun was docked with the port or starboard side facing the port.