My Cuba Cruise

[oneidealvacation]

?1: So I am thinking about booking one of the new balconies on deck 6 for next year and leaving from Jamaica. Can someone tell me which side of the ship would be preferred as far as approach to ports and which side of the ship would then be facing port side when docked?

 

? 2: My husband would like to visit a tobacco farm and hopefully watch an on sight person rolling a cigar. Does anyone know if this is possible and where? I saw a ship excursion that said something about cigar factory and rum but I'm not sure that is what he is hoping for.

 

?3: How easy is it to get an old car taxi and book them for a tour? Price?

 

Thanks!

 

Port (left) side is better with this route for seeing land occasionally while sailing. You'll want to be on the top deck on the approach into the ports as there's a lot of scenery on both sides to experience in the 3 Cuban cities. The ship did not dock in the same direction in each port this year vs last year, so the scenery while docked is more difficult to reliably predict.

 

The big tobacco growing area is in Vinales, west of Havana. I think the ship offers an excursion from Havana. If he just wants to see someone rolling a cigar, there is a guy at the rum/cigar/souvenir stop in Santiago at the former Bacardi warehouse who demonstrates cigar rolling.

 

Vintage car taxis are ubiquitous. Not sure of the price for a tour, but one-way rides are 10-15 CUCs for a reasonable distance within Havana.

[EmmasNana]

Port (left) side is better with this route for seeing land occasionally while sailing. You'll want to be on the top deck on the approach into the ports as there's a lot of scenery on both sides to experience in the 3 Cuban cities. The ship did not dock in the same direction in each port this year vs last year, so the scenery while docked is more difficult to reliably predict.

 

The big tobacco growing area is in Vinales, west of Havana. I think the ship offers an excursion from Havana. If he just wants to see someone rolling a cigar, there is a guy at the rum/cigar/souvenir stop in Santiago at the former Bacardi warehouse who demonstrates cigar rolling.

 

Vintage car taxis are ubiquitous. Not sure of the price for a tour, but one-way rides are 10-15 CUCs for a reasonable distance within Havana.

 

Thank you! He is into agriculture and really wants to see a farm. I was just reading about Vinales and it sounds like what he would want. Hopefully there is a tour that goes there.

[ONT-CA]

Fathom does not have a connection to Carnival Cruise Lines.

Fahom is a separate cruise line set up by Carnival Corporation, which owns and runs many cruise lines, including Cunard, P&O, Princess, Holland America, Costa etc., as well as Carnival Cruise Lines. Cruises by Fathom using Adonia have been planned and on sale for several months.

 

http://www.islands.com/carnival-setting-sail-cuba-heres-closer-look-ship

[tring]

http://www.islands.com/carnival-setting-sail-cuba-heres-closer-look-ship

 

No disrespect, but this is some sort of press release which refers to 'Carnival Cruises', which as a title does not exist. They are clearly referring to Carnival Corp, rather than CCL.

 

Adonia was, (and I think is still), sailing for P&O UK. Those of us who have used P&O previously got a mailing about this time last year about the future use of Adonia, so I have had an interest as the plans developed.

 

The article you have provided the link for is dated 'POSTED JULY 7, 2015' which was the time that they changed the original Dominican Republic plans to include Cuba.

 

The whole concept of a 'Volunteering opportunity' seemed strange to me at first, then I thought it was probably to get into Cuba. So I was surprised that they were initially looking at the Dominican Republic. When they announced they had got clearance to go to Cuba (a few months later), it became obvious that the Carnival Corporation had set up Fathom as a way of getting clearance to sail to Cuba.

 

I think you have mentioned previously sailing with Holland America, so you may understand the difference between them and Carnival Cruise Lines. They are under the same ownership (Carnival Corporation), but Fathom is not under CCL or even Holland America, but is a separate company set up by Carnival Corp. Sorry I was somewhat tired last night and not able to fully explain the situation about Fathom which you had not understood. There seems to have been very little publicity about Fathom, but as they are clearly marketing for the USA, it is perhaps understandable that we have not picked anything up in the UK and the same likely applies to Canada.

 

I have been told the Canadian winter has not been too bad this year, so hope you are now on the way to some warmer weather. I know my Canadian relatives do not seem to fazed about the winters though - must admit at least your country is well prepared for cold weather, when what you would consider to be a relatively small amount of snow will bring things to a halt over here.

 

Cheers,

 

Barbara

Edited March 24, 2016 by tring
Clarification of meaning

[tring]

To add to my previous post, here is a link for Carnival Corp.

 

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=140690&p=irol-index

 

 

It mentions recently getting Cuban approval. However the cruises been on sale since USA approval was obtained last summer as I had said, so they must have been confident this would come. I do not understand the politics and am not sure others will either!

 

There are a number of Fathom roll calls going on the 'other cruise lines roll call section' and they have been there a while.

Edited March 24, 2016 by tring

[burm]

Thank you! He is into agriculture and really wants to see a farm. I was just reading about Vinales and it sounds like what he would want. Hopefully there is a tour that goes there.

 

The Vinales area is very beautiful and I would think that anyone interested in agriculture would find it especially fascinating. It is like going back in a time machine. You might want to consider staying in a Casa Particular there for a couple of nights after the cruise.

 

We took a day tour to Vinales (from Havana) with Pototo. It was interesting, to say the least.

 

Pototo also knows where to find all the best food in Cuba at very low prices. :D

[tring]

?1: So I am thinking about booking one of the new balconies on deck 6 for next year and leaving from Jamaica. Can someone tell me which side of the ship would be preferred as far as approach to ports and which side of the ship would then be facing port side when docked?

 

? 2: My husband would like to visit a tobacco farm and hopefully watch an on sight person rolling a cigar. Does anyone know if this is possible and where? I saw a ship excursion that said something about cigar factory and rum but I'm not sure that is what he is hoping for.

 

?3: How easy is it to get an old car taxi and book them for a tour? Price?

 

Thanks!

 

We were recently in 6011, which was a nice cabin and had a good view. Going in/out port could give views both sides though (esp Santiago de Cuba). So try to see both.

 

We did an overnight in a Casa in Vinales from our Havana hotel and still only had the time to see a sort of mock up of a tobacco farm as is visited on the trips. I had spoken to someone who had spent 2 or 3 nights in Vinales and they had gone on a horse ride to visit real plantations. The mock up was a small group of tobacco plants and a drying shed which was empty and a guy who was more interested in selling cigars than explaining anything about the tobacco production. The trips visit lots of places and you will spend about 2.5 hours travelling each direction, so I suggest you enjoy Havana whilst on the cruise and plan a return when restrictions ease (if you are from the US) when you could spend a couple of days in Vinales. Having said that, we were disappointed in Vinales village as it was very touristy, so not sure we would want to return. Not the experience we had hoped for.

 

Loads of American cars, so can easily take your pick - prices to be negotiated. Check the land based Cuba holiday forums for details of prices etc.

Edited March 24, 2016 by tring

[burm]

Here is the link to Pototo's website.

 

In Cuba you have to assume that nothing will ever go as planned. There are always problems! This was certainly true of our days with Pototo, but somehow our time with him always turned out even more interesting than expected. We gained an appreciation for the problems that Cubans face on a daily basis, and how their ingenuity and good nature overcomes these difficulties.

 

 

http://pototocuba.com/Pototow/

[EmmasNana]

Thanks all! I really appreciate it. I will check out potato's website.

[burm]

We did an overnight in a Casa in Vinales from our Havana hotel and still only had the time to see a sort of mock up of a tobacco farm as is visited on the trips. I had spoken to someone who had spent 2 or 3 nights in Vinales and they had gone on a horse ride to visit real plantations. The mock up was a small group of tobacco plants and a drying shed which was empty and a guy who was more interested in selling cigars than explaining anything about the tobacco production. The trips visit lots of places and you will spend about 2.5 hours travelling each direction, so I suggest you enjoy Havana whilst on the cruise and plan a return when restrictions ease (if you are from the US) when you could spend a couple of days in Vinales. Having said that, we were disappointed in Vinales village as it was very touristy, so not sure we would want to return. Not the experience we had hoped for.

 

 

I read your post to DH and he was astounded at how different your experience was to our own. We felt like the only foreigners in a time warp.

 

Even a washroom stop was interesting. When I told Pototo that I needed a pit stop, to my horror he pulled up in front of a private home and asked the owner if I could use her washroom. The lady was a very large black woman whose appearance, husky voice and deep belly laugh, and larger than life personality would have delighted any casting director. I was treated like a long lost friend and offered a Cuban coffee before we left. I appreciated the opportunity to visit a typical Cuban country home, which was like a tidy little doll house.

[tring]

I read your post to DH and he was astounded at how different your experience was to our own. We felt like the only foreigners in a time warp.

 

Even a washroom stop was interesting. When I told Pototo that I needed a pit stop, to my horror he pulled up in front of a private home and asked the owner if I could use her washroom. The lady was a very large black woman whose appearance, husky voice and deep belly laugh, and larger than life personality would have delighted any casting director. I was treated like a long lost friend and offered a Cuban coffee before we left. I appreciated the opportunity to visit a typical Cuban country home, which was like a tidy little doll house.

 

We did not want to go on a set trip as we wanted to decide how long we wanted were, but one night did not give us long. We arranged the casa and Connectando transfers via Cubanacan rep in our Havana hotel. There were some snags with our Casa, but that is how it goes with Casa's - overall an experience though that is not appropriate to go into here. Perhaps we did the wrong thing saying we wanted to see all sights in Vinales when we went on our local taxi tour. Did you get to a real plantation rather than the mock up that was with the slave cave complex? I have heard from a few people that the day trips do the same place as we did, hence my advice to the earlier question. I think you need to spend a couple of days there as you had suggested at a similar time to when I posted.

 

We have recently returned home and a lot of experiences are in our mind from this and a previous trip (6 weeks in all - 5 in hotels). By comparison to all our other experiences, Vinales village did seem touristy and our Cuban tour company rep in a hotel agreed Vinales is very touristy - there is a constant coach run of the 'attractions' and the village is full of cafes etc.

 

We had an interesting view of the medical services there though, as my husband needed them at 3 bases in Cuba - It is easy to see how different medical services are in Havana and places like Vinales, and between tourist medical facilities and local ones. Havana was the best, but not getting the treatment he would have had at home has probably left him to expect a much longer recovery time. He had shingles which went into his eye - luckily it looks like his eyesight will recover though.

[EmmasNana]

We are booked for March 31, 2017! Now to wait a year. I guess I will need to read this thread again.

[ONT-CA]

I read your post to DH and he was astounded at how different your experience was to our own. We felt like the only foreigners in a time warp.

Even a washroom stop was interesting. When I told Pototo that I needed a pit stop, to my horror he pulled up in front of a private home and asked the owner if I could use her washroom. The lady was a very large black woman whose appearance, husky voice and deep belly laugh, and larger than life personality would have delighted any casting director. I was treated like a long lost friend and offered a Cuban coffee before we left. I appreciated the opportunity to visit a typical Cuban country home, which was like a tidy little doll house.

 

How wonderfully vivid, burn. :D But for those who are only now finding this site I think it is important that they understand that you have the Spanish language. How we and most envy you that. And as a result it is anticipated that you might be received differently than we unilingual visitors.

 

As you have previously indicated, when visiting Cuba one must disregard all acquired misconceptions or prejudices and see the country with a totally open mind. I have compared my experiences with those of others who had taken the very same tour and yet the details I could relate to made them wonder if they were on a totally different tour. The object is to see what is there and why, not what aught to be there because...

Edited March 24, 2016 by ONT-CA

[burm]

We did not want to go on a set trip as we wanted to decide how long we wanted were, but one night did not give us long. We arranged the casa and Connectando transfers via Cubanacan rep in our Havana hotel. There were some snags with our Casa, but that is how it goes with Casa's - overall an experience though that is not appropriate to go into here. Perhaps we did the wrong thing saying we wanted to see all sights in Vinales when we went on our local taxi tour. Did you get to a real plantation rather than the mock up that was with the slave cave complex? I have heard from a few people that the day trips do the same place as we did, hence my advice to the earlier question. I think you need to spend a couple of days there as you had suggested at a similar time to when I posted.

 

We have recently returned home and a lot of experiences are in our mind from this and a previous trip (6 weeks in all - 5 in hotels). By comparison to all our other experiences, Vinales village did seem touristy and our Cuban tour company rep in a hotel agreed Vinales is very touristy - there is a constant coach run of the 'attractions' and the village is full of cafes etc.

 

We had an interesting view of the medical services there though, as my husband needed them at 3 bases in Cuba - It is easy to see how different medical services are in Havana and places like Vinales, and between tourist medical facilities and local ones. Havana was the best, but not getting the treatment he would have had at home has probably left him to expect a much longer recovery time. He had shingles which went into his eye - luckily it looks like his eyesight will recover though.

 

We did see a real tobacco farm and did not see the "slave caves" or complex. What sort of complex?

 

In fact, our stop at the tobacco farm was unscheduled - we stopped there due to car problems. :)

 

Ouch to the shingles in the eye. How painful that must have been! I had the vaccine but DH did not and he got them on his lower back. That was bad enough - I can't imagine having them in a far more sensitive area like eyes or, shudder, groin.

 

I have to admit that I am intrigued about your Casa experience. Our first place had a broken water pump one day (4 plumbers worked half the night to jury rig replacement parts) and our landlady was unhappy because her neighbours expected her to pay the entire bill, seeing as they considered her rich because of her tourist business. Once again, the experience gave us insight into what it is like to live in Cuba.

[burm]

How wonderfully vivid, burn. :D But for those who are only now finding this site I think it is important that they understand that you have the Spanish language. How we and most envy you that. And as a result it is anticipated that you might be received differently than we unilingual visitors.

 

As you have previously indicated, when visiting Cuba one must disregard all acquired misconceptions or prejudices and see the country with a totally open mind. I have compared my experiences with those of others who had taken the very same tour and yet the details I could relate to made them wonder if they were on a totally different tour. The object is to see what is there and why, not what aught to be there because...

 

I should point out that Pototo's English is quite good. My husband does not speak a word of Spanish and got along very well with him. But you are correct - the ability to communicate certainly has enhanced my pleasure in travelling to Latin American countries.

 

You are so right that we all see the same things differently. I have been on ships that I thought were very nice but others complained that they were dirty and showed signs of wear. There are many people who seem to relate the quality of the cruise with the amount of wear they see in the ship's carpets. LOL The Louis Cristal was a very good example of that.

[tring]

We did see a real tobacco farm and did not see the "slave caves" or complex. What sort of complex?

 

In fact, our stop at the tobacco farm was unscheduled - we stopped there due to car problems. :)

 

Ouch to the shingles in the eye. How painful that must have been! I had the vaccine but DH did not and he got them on his lower back. That was bad enough - I can't imagine having them in a far more sensitive area like eyes or, shudder, groin.

 

I have to admit that I am intrigued about your Casa experience. Our first place had a broken water pump one day (4 plumbers worked half the night to jury rig replacement parts) and our landlady was unhappy because her neighbours expected her to pay the entire bill, seeing as they considered her rich because of her tourist business. Once again, the experience gave us insight into what it is like to live in Cuba.

 

Slave cave - just a typical walk through tourist experience showing how run away slaves lived in caves. Everything was walk through, or in the case of the Indian Cave, 'ride on boat through'. It is the only way they can cope with the number of coaches turning up. We were later in the day and travelling independently, so we could steer clear of most of the crowds and queues. It also meant we missed the tourist talks that are given to the groups. It was high season when we were there - I suspect that would have made a difference as well.

 

Casa - To be fair, Cubanacan rep surprised at our experiences. She had told us someone would speak English, but they did not, so we relied on a translator my husband had downloaded to his phone - it worked. It was a block of flats rather than what we had been shown - not really a prob, as it was clean. Water worked, (though shower electrics looked iffy). Food OK. Owners daughter came in later in the night and dealt with the cash side of things and asked us to pay then - no prob. She spoke very sharply and made it clear we needed out very early the next day as another couple were coming for breakfast the next morning and to stay the following night. We managed to stay until about 9.30am and shared breakfast table with new people. A neighbour then kindly took us to the local clinic - required medications not available in international pharmacy, but Doctor said, 'The lady from our casa can get them for us'. We returned to Casa and the lady refused to help with medications. Just got bad vibes of the casa really, rather than any real probs.

 

The doctor managed to get two other ladies to help with medications - whole issue took about 2 hours, including a very long wait at the local's pharmacy - so we feel very sorry for the locals re medical facilities, (or not), and extreme gratitude to the ladies who helped us.

 

Shingles - it is usually by waist or on head and can easily make someone blind if goes in the eye (I knew this). With modern medicine standards it is normal to be given high doses of aciclovir orally for one week, which it seems will deal with the infection and shorten any long term effects. That was not obtained anywhere in Cuba, including on the ship, but we were sent straight to an opthalmologist next day in Havana who said the virus had only caused conjunctivitis at that stage, so opthalmic aciclovir creme into the eye would save his sight by preventing further spread. He got a secondary bacterial infection during our time in Cuba and lots of ups and downs with symptoms during our stay. He had some strange treatments, some of which seem to be from about 50 years ago when you search the net. Es Cuba as they say.

 

Disappointing the doctor on the ship did not supply the aciclovir tabs. I presume a lot of the problem is supply of medication and I doubt Cuban medical practices are the same as ours. He saw an opthalmologist here yesterday who thinks the virus and bacterial infection have now cleared. Looks like pain and irritation could still continue for about 6 months, but he now has some painkillers that are specifically for pain from the nerves and they are helping.

 

Overall - Despite illness, still enjoyed our holiday, but spent longer doing cafe and bar crawls rather than running around everywhere. Got a good Cuban experience all the same.

 

Our Cuba Cruise - Will do a review, but will be a week or so before I get round to it as we need to set up a new computer as our current system will not be supported for updates from end of month.

Edited March 24, 2016 by tring

[burm]

Despite illness, still enjoyed our holiday, but spent longer doing cafe BOverall and bar crawls rather than running around everywhere. Got a good Cuban experience all the same.

 

 

 

I am glad that you were still able to enjoy your holiday in spite of illness and grumpy landlord.

 

However, you deserve a "make-up" vacation once your husband totally recovers. :)

[ONT-CA]

...However, you deserve a "make-up" vacation once your husband totally recovers. :)

 

Perhaps something within reach of NHS.

[oneidealvacation]

No disrespect, but this is some sort of press release which refers to 'Carnival Cruises', which as a title does not exist. They are clearly referring to Carnival Corp, rather than CCL.

 

Adonia was, (and I think is still), sailing for P&O UK.

 

The new Fathom cruises to the Dominican Republic will begin on April 10. It looks like the ship may currently be in dry dock in the Bahamas in preparation for the rebranding. As it turns out, I received an opportunity earlier this week to participate in a special program on the May 8 sailing, so I will be heading back down to the islands sooner than expected. This will be my first time in the Dominican Republic and my first experience on an R-Class ship, so I'm really looking forward to it. I've been interested in trying an R-Class ship ever since I enjoyed the smaller ship experience on the Cuba Cruise last March. This time around I'll finally get a balcony :) The "social impact" activities actually sound interesting as well.

 

With modern medicine standards it is normal to be given high doses of aciclovir orally for one week, which it seems will deal with the infection and shorten any long term effects. That was not obtained anywhere in Cuba, including on the ship, but we were sent straight to an opthalmologist next day in Havana who said the virus had only caused conjunctivitis at that stage, so opthalmic aciclovir creme into the eye would save his sight by preventing further spread. He got a secondary bacterial infection during our time in Cuba and lots of ups and downs with symptoms during our stay. He had some strange treatments, some of which seem to be from about 50 years ago when you search the net. Es Cuba as they say.

 

Disappointing the doctor on the ship did not supply the aciclovir tabs. I presume a lot of the problem is supply of medication and I doubt Cuban medical practices are the same as ours. He saw an opthalmologist here yesterday who thinks the virus and bacterial infection have now cleared. Looks like pain and irritation could still continue for about 6 months, but he now has some painkillers that are specifically for pain from the nerves and they are helping.

 

:eek: OMG. That sounds awful :( Here's to a speedy and full recovery!

[ONT-CA]

This taken from the internet this evening:

 

A bus carrying German and Austrian tourists crashed in the central Cuban city of Santi Spiritus, killing two people and injuring 28 others, local media reported, citing officials.

 

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Tourists were traveling from the eastern city of Santiago to Trinidad on Saturday, when a trailer carrying a container ran into an overpass and then collided with the bus, the Escambray newspaper said.

 

The bus driver and a German tourist died on the spot, according to the news outlet.

 

Six passengers remain in critical condition, it added.

[tring]

I have finally completed my cruise review and had it published.

 

As there has been a delay due to our prolong stay in Cuba and our computer replacement, the review is a distance down the page, so I am putting a link here.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=530166

 

As I have mentioned we always book cruises for their itinerary, choosing the more unusual destinations and the smaller, less visited, ports. Hence we tend to travel on ships of a similar size and age as the Crystal and I have compared this cruise to those cruises, rather than treating it as a very different experience. I may well take a very different view to US travellers from that perspective.

Edited April 6, 2016 by tring

[oneidealvacation]

I have finally completed my cruise review and had it published.

 

As there has been a delay due to our prolong stay in Cuba and our computer replacement, the review is a distance down the page, so I am putting a link here.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=530166

 

As I have mentioned we always book cruises for their itinerary, choosing the more unusual destinations and the smaller, less visited, ports. Hence we tend to travel on ships of a similar size and age as the Crystal and I have compared this cruise to those cruises, rather than treating it as a very different experience. I may well take a very different view to US travellers from that perspective.

 

Sounds like we ended up at different muster stations after all. Last year -- when I was in 6102 -- the station was the same as yours, the open section of the bow on Deck 5. This year I was assigned to the Deck 5 dining room. Watching people dragging the life vest straps along the tables that were already set for the evening was less than appetizing...

[tring]

Sounds like we ended up at different muster stations after all. Last year -- when I was in 6102 -- the station was the same as yours, the open section of the bow on Deck 5. This year I was assigned to the Deck 5 dining room. Watching people dragging the life vest straps along the tables that were already set for the evening was less than appetizing...

 

Yes, the drill seemed particularly strange compared to other ships.

 

Thanks for wishing a speedy and full recovery for my husband. Overall I think he is on the mend. The pains and prominent tingles are still there, but he is learning to live with them, so it is not affecting his life that much and they are diminishing bit by bit.

 

Adonia

 

I wish you enjoyment on this venture. In November 2006. this was the ship for our first cruise - then Swan Hellenic's "Minerva II" and we were on board for 26 nights from Madeira to Barbados with a full two weeks up the Amazon, which was an amazing experience. Swan include trips, so in that two weeks we did and saw a great deal. They have academic speakers as well but no photographers, shows or quizzes etc. - just a real travel experience. I have not seen an Amazon itinerary anything like that since then.

 

The ship then became Royal Princess for a number of years and we returned to it as Adonia with P&O. That was a sad return though as P&O had commercialised the experience with photographers, the normal cruise ship entertainment and, (horror) set sittings for dinner with the self service only open three days of our 17 night cruise. Hopefully your experience will be much more like our original experience on that ship, which still has a place in our hearts.

 

Cheers,

 

Barbara

Edited April 6, 2016 by tring

[KandCsailing]

I was impressed that the senior crew did a walk through of all the areas before we could leave the muster drill stations last year.

[ONT-CA]

I was impressed that the senior crew did a walk through of all the areas before we could leave the muster drill stations last year.

 

Yes, the review by the most senior officers did impress me also. After all they are the persons responsible.

 

When all is said and done, a muster drill is no more than;

 

When you hear this sound, come to this location. Bring with you your life vest and we will show you how to wear it.