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My Cuba Cruise

Balloon Man

By Balloon Man,
in Cuba

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ONT-CA

ONT-CA

Posted
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What may be interesting on these cruises is that when we embark in Havana there will be those passengers who have just enjoyed three day aboard the Cristal having boarded at Montego Bay. Then, when we arrive at Montego Bay they will disembark and we will be the "seasoned" Cuba cruisers for the newbies coming aboard. Very different passenger configuration and mixture which should be interesting

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insider1649

insider1649

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Retiring soon - you mentioned that you had taken a tour of Vinales on a previous trip. Did you do this on your own or with a tour bus? I am thinking of hiring a private tour guide for this tour. He comes highly recommended, even on trip advisor. I was just wondering what your experience was.

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retiring soon

retiring soon

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HI all!

 

insider1649 ~ no we didn't do this on our own. The tour actually came as part of our Magna package on our 1st AI trip to Cuba back in 1997. This one week vacation was $799 p/p & included 4 all day tours when the air fare was $449 to Havana. What a bargain!!

 

If a person gets a good review on TA it'd be enough for me. We don't leave port 'til late so there shouldn't be a problem getting back. We got back to our hotel at 7:45 so it was a long but interesting lovely day. I kept a trip diary so have more info on what we did/saw if you're interested.

 

Leaving tomorrow to go on 2 cruises so probably won't post 'til the 19th.

 

Ciao

 

~ Jo ~ :)

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insider1649

insider1649

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Thanks for the input Jo. I think I will go ahead and book the private tour. It sounds like fun as he drives a 1957 Chevy station wagon. It seems to have a very similar itinerary as the ship tour but without the crowds. He is looking for 2-3 more people to join us if anyone is interested. Send me a message for details if you're interested.

Have a great cruise Jo.

 

Lynn

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insider1649

insider1649

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Thanks for the photo ONT-CA. It kind of makes it seem real when you have a visual. I am very excited to see this amazing city. I have booked our private tour with the guide to see Vinales as well (great prices) and booked the CUBA LIFE tour in Holguin as one of the ships excursions. So much to see!!! :D

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jinky

jinky

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Hi. What are tou guys doing about excursions on the cruise? I hear you have to book so many days before it departs and I`m not sure what the infrastructure is like there. Where do you think it best to go with a boat excursion adn where can you sort something out at the port? Are there ports where we are so far away from anything we need to go with the ship? Any views?

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ONT-CA

ONT-CA

Posted
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Hi. What are tou guys doing about excursions on the cruise? I hear you have to book so many days before it departs and I`m not sure what the infrastructure is like there. Where do you think it best to go with a boat excursion adn where can you sort something out at the port? Are there ports where we are so far away from anything we need to go with the ship? Any views?

Apart from allowing any of the kinks to be straightened out of a new venture like this, by booking latter in the season one can learn from those that preceded us and I hope many will share their views and experiences of their tours. Our main concern is how physically demanding any of these tours might be. There are calls for good sturdy footwear, which is indicative. But I can’t see any locale not having some sort of private and perhaps less physically demanding alternative, especially now with the relaxation of control on free enterprise. So those aboard the inaugural sailing and those immediately following, any and all comments will be most appreciated.

While visiting south of the border, I mentioned the upcoming cruise being put together by Canadians. One person jokingly said, “Wow, seven days of ‘Excuse me’, ‘I’m sorry’, ‘Thank you’, ‘I beg your pardon’”. He concluded with the thought that any and all none Canadians will disembark with a new word added to their vocabulary…that of “eh?” A good laugh. Had to pass that on.

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retiring soon

retiring soon

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Hi all!

 

Just waiting to go on my next cruise so have some free wifi at the hotel.

 

Thanks for the visual ONT-CA & the website. That should be helpful.

 

I don't know what we'll do on the Cuba cruise but think we'll go to the Tropicana show in Havana.

 

Until the next time I get free wifi.

 

Jo

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

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Love to quilt

Love to quilt

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I've never cruised before except on the Yangtze River. Not a fancy ship at all. We are booked for the Havana departure on Feb 10th. We are flying from Vancouver to Toronto to travel with our friends from Ontario. We'll have 3 nights in Havana, then the cruise. When we arrive back in Havana we drive to Varadero for a week at an AI. Hopefully we'll hear before our departure some good insight into what tours to take etc.

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ONT-CA

ONT-CA

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Welcome to Cruise Critic "Love To Quilt". Delighted that your first posting is about our Cuba cruise. We too will be sailing on Feb 10th and anxiously await feedback from those who will precede us. Your continuation of the Cuba adventure is a great idea and one we had considered. But we chose instead to stay aboard for a second go around to capture anything that we felt we missed on the original sailing. It was only after we had booked our flights with Air Canada did we come upon offers by Cubana Airlines out of Toronto. They have only specific dates of travel and one would have to build their flight to and their stay in Cuba accordingly. But it is ideal for those who wish to remain on the island for an extended stay and certainly less expensive.

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Liz54

Liz54

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I just discovered these cruises yesterday on line. My husband is very interested in the non AI Cuba. I love to cruise. This looks like an ideal combination. I read the cruise reviews for the company and they aren't exactly glowing, so it will be important to manage expectations. We are seriously considering this for February 2015 and will be looking for detailed reports from all you pioneers!!:)

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ONT-CA

ONT-CA

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... I read the cruise reviews for the company and they aren't exactly glowing, so it will be important to manage expectations...

 

Have to agree with the expressed concerns about Luis Cristal and find "manage expectations" a great expression. However two major situations should be taken into consideration; food and service. As reported the food is a direct supply from Canada including the availability of the Alberta Steakhouse. Also, the ship's passenger service will not be European but Cubano and knowing the Cubans we should be very pleased.

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Liz54

Liz54

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Yes I did notice that! Anyway its the itinerary. Usually when I cruise the Caribbean its more for the sun and the ship! Plus, I have NEVER gone hungry on a cruise ship. I often travel with a woman who runs a top end restaurant in Ottawa. She is also always happy with the food. "Managing expectations" is from her. She often says the food is great considering food storage, cooking for 3000+ people etc. And she orders her meals with that in mind. Wise woman!

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insider1649

insider1649

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Welcome to the group LovesToSew. Glad you have joined us. :)

I also did a river cruise, on the Nile River. It was amazing but like you say, the ship was certainly not like any luxury cruise liners we see here. The Louis Cristal appears to be a nice ship; smaller than most but I think that may be a good thing. I really like the idea of having Canadian food on board. I guess that can be a concern while traveling in Cuba.

We will be onboard January 24-31 so I'll be sure to let you know how it all went and about my excursions. So far, I have a private tour booked in Havana to go the Vinales and one of the ships excursions called Cuba Life in Holguin. Pre-cruise we are spending 2 days in Fort Lauderdale and 2 days in Montego Bay with some excursions there as well. Very excited for all of it.:D

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Love to quilt

Love to quilt

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As a newby to this board I'm trying to figure out how it works. We leave on the Luis Cristal from Havana on February 10th. I can't seem to figure out how the Roll Call works. Maybe it hasn't been done for the 10th departure. Can someone please help? Also someone made a comment that we could track the Cristal's voyage to Cuba but the link didn't show on this site. Is there a way of private messaging people like Trip Advisor has? Thanks for your help.

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