Private Cuba tours

[aloveforwander]

On 12/14/2018 at 5:36 PM, cruisingschool said:

We are leaving on our Royal Caribbean cruise in a week. We are in Havana for two days. We booked a ship excursion for the first day. We have nothing arranged for day 2 in Havana. Can we just walk around on our own?

Absolutely - you may just walk around in town. Have fun!

[SBKathy]

We recently cruised to Cuba from the US (American citizens).  We arranged for a private tour.  Fer Tours provided the proof we needed that they were not on the US State Dept "blacklist".  There was no problem leaving the ship to meet our guide outside the pier entrance.  In fact, we know a number of people from our ship who toured Havana, Ciefuegos and Santiago de Cuba completely on their own.  But we felt we had the best experience with a private guide and driver.   

 

FerTours in Havana and Cienfuegos

Our group of 4 friends reserved two consecutive days of touring in Havana and a third day in Cienfuegos with FerTours. We were on an Oceania cruise and made our own arrangements for excursions. Fernando gave us options and we selected was we wanted to see. The first day we began at 9:00 am for a classic car tour including the old city, Ernest Hemingway's home, lunch at a great local restaurant (El Cocinera), a visit to Fusterlandia, the National Hotel and Revolutionary square in an air-conditioned classic car (1955 Chevy). Our guide took us back to ship around 5:00 for a rest and dinner but returned at 8:00 pm to take us to El Morro for the cannon ceremony before taking us to a show of the Buena Vista Social Club, which was the highlight of the trip to Cuba. We got back to the ship at 11:00 pm. The guide would have taken us to a restaurant for dinner but we wanted to freshen up. 
Day two started with a walking tour of Old Havana and its 4 oldest squares. After a great lunch at Dona Eutimia, we had a two hour ride along the was in a classic convertible along the Malencon and up to the fort to see the statue of Christ before retiring us to the ship.
No detail was too small for Fernando to arrange. Our meeting places were clearly identified, our guide, Alex, was a teacher before becoming a guide. He told us so much of the history and current day life in Cuba. Our driver was also very capable. 
Keep in mind that the average teacher in Cuba earns about $30 a month. Tip generously. Your private tour will cost less than $50/person/day - a bargain when compared to ship excursions that run from $130-$200 per day to be driven around in a big bus, instead of a classic convertible.

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Date of experience: December 2018

[edk]

My wife and I recently returned from an Oceania cruise to Cuba. We spent 2 wonderful days in Havana with Manuel with Fertours. He took us everywhere we wanted to go and provided expert commentary.  We spent the first day in a 1954 Chevy sedan and rode for 2 hours on the 2nd day in a beautiful, red 1952 Chevy convertible. We enjoyed lunch each day in a Paladar chosen by Manuel. Meeting Manuel each day was easy and he made sure that we had a good time and saw the sights that were of interest to us. And the price was much, much less than the ship charged.

Edited December 31, 2018 by edk
clarity

[edk]

My wife and I recently returned from Cuba on the Oceania Sirena. Yuri with CubaGuider was our tour guide in Cienfuegos, Trinidad,and Santiago de Cuba. He did an excellent job showing us all the sights and making sure that we were comfortable and safe. The ship changed from tendering to docking at Santiago de Cuba and moved the departure time up an hour. We were able to easily communicate with Yuri via email and he made all the logistics work. I highly recommend him for your touring needs.

[ggrocks3]

We sailed on the Empress OTS Dec. 2018.   We booked last minute and were quickly accommodated by Fernando at FerTours.  The Havana tour was great and our guide Yacmel was outstanding.  She even traveled 2+ hours to meet us in Cienfuegos.  However, if you want to save a bit of cash, Cienfuegos can be seen by just a walkabout from the port or a $5 CUC open air tram that circles the port, town, etc. Can't wait to come back to Cuba.

[NeighborGeek]

My wife and I just returned from a cruise to Havana aboard the Carnival Paradise.  We arranged our tour through Blexie (blexie100588@gmail.com), and were very happy with the result.  

 

Our guide was the beautiful Yinela, but she asked us to call her 'Ji'.  We spent the day riding in a gorgeous gold colored '55 Chevy Bel Air.  Ji was amazing, she spoke English better than many Americans and knew an incredible amount of detail about the sites that we visited and their place in Cuban history.  I would absolutely hire her again in a hearbeat.  

 

If I had to name one thing I would change about our tour, it would be that it was too fast.  We saw all of the major sites of Havana, but each was only a brief stop or a passing mention as we drove by.  However, the blame for that lies completely at my feet, and not on our guide.  She asked first thing in the morning if we had anything specific we wanted to see and do, and she was more than willing to deviate from the 'standard' itinerary to take us wherever we wanted.  I hadn't done any research though, and didn't know what I wanted.  If I had it to do over again, I would take the time to decide in advance on specific things we wanted to see or do.  I have no doubt that had I done so, we could have spent more time focusing on the sites and activities we were most interested in.  

 

Still, no matter how prepared I was going in, I don't think one day in Havana could ever be enough.  I'd love to go back again for a couple of days, even a week or more, and get to know the city and it's people a little better.  Maybe someday. . .