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

[jenidallas]

Hi .. any comments on Old Car Tours? Did they have your reserved car? How was the driver/guide? Any info. would be a big help. Thank you! :cool:

 

They were great and we would use them again. My partner is working on a longer review for our website but yes, they did have our reserved car both days (day one was a sedan, day two was a convertible). We did not hire a guide for either day as we both speak Spanish and had a few specific things we wanted to do that we did not require a guide for at all. That worked out well and on day one, our driver was great about still answering questions.

 

On day two, we were the last to pick up our car and there was a guide hanging around still when we got there. He asked if we needed his services and we told him no. He told us he needed to ride along with the driver for the day so not to worry as we had not booked a guide. We ended up tipping him what we would have paid a guide anywaysnd he's the one who helped persuade the driver to take us off the more scenic planned path to see the grittier Havana we wanted to visit, which was quite a contrast for us.

[jenidallas]

For those who are interested in cars, these are the vehicles we had through Old Car Tours:

 

• We had this green sedan on day one.
  
• We had this gorgeous blue convertible on day two.
  

Their booking is a bit difficult to complete. You first have to pick out the tour that you want and then the car the you hope to take. You request that car and then wait to see if it is available for that day. We had to wait for their response to find out if A) they were actually available and B) they could also accommodate that choice of car. (We were not *that* particular about car!) We were definitely getting nervous at that point in our booking because we had already gone through the "email and wait" cycle with three other drivers who were all booked for our date already.

 

Hopefully as they continue to get busy and develop, they can develop the site to allow you to see the cars that are still available for a particular date or perhaps rank a preference for particular cars (as they do have MANY available!)

[jenidallas]

I wanted to update as well on the "back and forth' exchange we had up-thread on whether on whether or not it was possible to exchange directly from US Dollars to CUCs and back. I had stated it was not without doing "double exchange" and another poster insisted I was wrong because of information elsewhere on Cruise Critic for the Cuba port.

 

From the technical standpoint, we were BOTH correct.

 

For those who don't follow the math (or care) of currency conversion then YES you can walk up to the counter in the terminal, hand them US dollars and get CUC. And you can do the same thing on the return.

 

You will take about a 13% devaluation for doing so on the initial exchange from dollars to CUC because they will be first hitting you with the US dollars penalty when converting your currency to something else (Euros or Canadian dollars) and then they will be converting that to CUC. But you will not actually SEE any of that taking place... it will all be built into the calculation rate you see at the window and will happen quickly so what you see will seem like a quick easy "oh, I did this" transaction. Behind that calculation, both the government and the exchange took a nice cut.

 

On the first day, we converted Canadian dollars we had acquired at our US bank and the conversion sell based currency trade rates that day was about a 3% cut. On the second day, it was similar but with the US conversion penalty, they took a 13% cut.

 

If you exchange on the backend, the same thing will happen but they buy back rates are always slightly better in favor of the conversion agent (this is pretty much universally true no matter where you are exchanging which is why it is always a good idea not to pull out more than you need). We didn't have anything left to convert but did a quick conversion and it looked like the penalty was going to run us about 4% if we converted back to Canadian dollars or Euros or 14% for US dollars).

 

In my case, I would have converted back to Canadian dollars because I'm headed to Vancouver for another cruise later this month but if I hadn't, I'd have done Euros and then taken them home and redeposited at my local bank. One of the banks I use has a free currency service for certain account holders so I can pull out and redeposit foreign currency with no exchange fee/commission (whereas the norm you'll pay at a Travelex or via an ATM from many banks is 1-3%).

 

Not that it works for Cuba, but another good tip for other countries with extra currency - especially in small amounts - is to stop by a Starbucks before you leave, especially if there is one in the airport, and see if they can load the amount onto a gift card for you. Then load the gift card into your Starbucks account. :D Or if I have loose change or small bills, I stop at a drugstore in the airport and buy toothpaste, gum or other things I'd stock up on at home anyway.

[darienill]

Great info.

I'm trying to get a good idea about how much to allow to buy 15 real good cigars. $10 each? More?

Maybe Cohibas III ?

[CTCruiser001]

Great info.

I'm trying to get a good idea about how much to allow to buy 15 real good cigars. $10 each? More?

Maybe Cohibas III ?

The Cuba government sets the price for most shops in Cuba. If you Google 'YUL CIGARS' you will find a price list that is constantly updated...I found the prices very comparable in Cuba to this list.

 

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[hawkeyetlse]

We didn't have anything left to convert but did a quick conversion and it looked like the penalty was going to run us about 4% if we converted back to Canadian dollars or Euros or 14% for US dollars).

According to jimdalva's first-hand experience reported above (#477), there is no additional penalty for changing CUC back into USD (he changed 10 CUC and got US$9 and change, so he lost less than 10%).

 

You only get hit with the 10% penalty when you use USD to buy CUC. As the sign says in the OP's photo: "La compra de monedas convertibles con dólares E.E.U.U. se grava con un 10%." It's not applied to every transaction involving US dollars. But as you said, the rate is always worse in that direction, so you always lose some money converting back and forth (unless the rate changes significantly in your favor between the two transactions).

 

[corley05]

Great info.

I'm trying to get a good idea about how much to allow to buy 15 real good cigars. $10 each? More?

Maybe Cohibas III ?

I bought these 10 for 80cuc in a govt store.

 

Hope this helps. The bag on the right was 45 and the one on the left 35.

 

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[darienill]

I bought these 10 for 80cuc in a govt store.

 

Hope this helps. The bag on the right was 45 and the one on the left 35.

 

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NOW I'm informed and ready to buy. Thanks all.

[sparty1]

the Sky does not dock parrallel to shore, so cabins on either side have a view, but prefer Starboard as you can see activity on the malecon also. Can also see 2 castles in the city while coming in to dock in the morning. The further aft you are, though, the further your sight is from the views. Make sure you are up in time to see the ship's approach to Havana before docking! El Morro is on your left at entrance to harbor, and the old part of city with other 2 castles is on your right. Great sail in!

[Sea_Legs38]

Thanks guys for the cigars posts.

 

 

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[marcyjane]

If anyone following this thread goes on the sky in the owner's suite please let me know if you have photo's and how you liked the cabin and butler. As we have booked the owner's suite # 8201 for our Cuba 2018 cruise. Thank you in advance.

[herdingdogmom]

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.

Thank you so much for all the wonderful pictures and information. We just booked for July. I read through everything, but have two questions I didn't catch the answer to.

 

How do we notify NCL we want to obtain the Visa through them? Is it on the affidavit form? I couldn't add it online myself when I made final payment. Did you pay the $75 pp in advance or was it added to your account on board?

 

Does the Sky have iconcierge? From what I can find, it may be the only NCL ship that does not have it.

 

Thanks again to the OP and all the contributors.

[NW Pacific]

I booked for July 3 cruise. Put 24 hour hold on. Called NCL with a few questions, said I wanted to buy Visa through them. It was then added to my booking cost. Pd. in full next day, Visa charges show up on confirmation email. I am not sure but would think you need to call NCL and have Visa charges added and you need to pay in advance.

[whtbearfan]

Thank you so much for all the wonderful pictures and information. We just booked for July. I read through everything, but have two questions I didn't catch the answer to.

 

How do we notify NCL we want to obtain the Visa through them? Is it on the affidavit form? I couldn't add it online myself when I made final payment. Did you pay the $75 pp in advance or was it added to your account on board?

 

Does the Sky have iconcierge? From what I can find, it may be the only NCL ship that does not have it.

 

Thanks again to the OP and all the contributors.

 

 

NW is correct, give NCL a call and let them know you need to pay for your Visas. It'll show up in your account under payment. Then you just have to fill out the affidavit online.

 

 

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[herdingdogmom]

Thanks NW and whtb, I'll give NCL a call to add the visa request and payment.

[darienill]

I just got an email of the affidavit form with instructions. I am one month out for our June 19 trip.

[getmeout]

Hi there, sorry I didn't see your question before but here I am! :)

 

I am in fact from the Netherlands and tried to arrange for a visa through NCL. They couldn't get it organised at the time I spoke to them on the phone (about 2 months ago?) but from what I understand they are able to do that now. For a moment we contemplated going to the Cuban embassy in NYC (we're flying out to NYC for a week first, then a few days in Miami and then the cruise) but that would take up a lot of time that would be spend better elsewhere.

 

We had to find another solution so we contacted a few companies over here that arrange visas but because you need a different visa when you travel to Cuba from the US that proved to be difficult. I managed to find a company that could arrange them at last, they're called cubavisa.net and they are a Dutch company. From what I understand they also ship internationally so they could also help you out. The visa is valid as long as it's the PINK one. The one you need "from the rest of the world besides the US" is green. I checked back with NCL after we received the visas and send them a photo and they confirmed that they are the correct ones.

 

Hope this helps! :D

 

PS. This is the link, I looked it up for you: https://www.cubavisa.net/en/product/blank-pink-visa-for-cuba/

 

Many thanks Yunah, it looks like NCL are able to sort the visas. I'm glad I didn't buy the non-US version from the agent (the agent that NCL actually advised).

[holdon216]

For those just off the Sky. Do they supply bath robes in the cabins? Thanks

[sparty1]

For those just off the Sky. Do they supply bath robes in the cabins? Thanks

We did not have one in the outside(OV)cabin, but when we upgraded to balcony, we had robes.

[lkcous]

If anyone following this thread goes on the sky in the owner's suite please let me know if you have photo's and how you liked the cabin and butler. As we have booked the owner's suite # 8201 for our Cuba 2018 cruise. Thank you in advance.

 

 

Hello! We booked this cabin for our girls trip! we are leaving July 24th! i will post a review :)

[marcyjane]

Hello! We booked this cabin for our girls trip! we are leaving July 24th! i will post a review :)

 

Great can't wait to read your review & photo's too. Have a fun and a wonderful cruise. Thanks:D

[jenidallas]

We did not have one in the outside(OV)cabin, but when we upgraded to balcony, we had robes.

 

We had two robes in our outside (OV) cabin. They were also in our cabin when we cruised in a comparable cabin on Sky last year if I recall correctly.

[newcruiser1956]

I can whole hearteningly suggest that if you are willing to do a bit of research and are willing to blaze your own trail, go with a private tour vs. using the cruise line’s excursions. You will save money and get a much much more personalized day tour.

 

Thank you for your wonderful review! Could you please share with us how you found this private tour? Maybe contact info for him? Sounds like you had a great time :) Thanks!!

[CTCruiser001]

Thank you for your wonderful review! Could you please share with us how you found this private tour? Maybe contact info for him? Sounds like you had a great time :) Thanks!!

If you Google 'Havana Tours by Blexie' his website will have an email address you can reach him with. I don't want to put his address on the boards because that can be frowned upon.

 

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[CruiseGal999]

If you Google 'Havana Tours by Blexie' his website will have an email address you can reach him with. I don't want to put his address on the boards because that can be frowned upon.

 

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CTCruiser001, can you believe your thread is still alive and kicking? I am loving this. I can't thank you enough for all the info.. you provided. How in the world could you afford and get good connections to upload everything you did? I am really amazed.