4-Day Cuba (Overnight) & Bahamas from Miami - 2 full days listed but there's a catch

[yebba]

Does anyone have any information regarding the port times for this cruise (an option for all of the 2019 cruises through NCL)? I just got off the phone with NCL and am not totally confident she knew what she was talking about and "supervisors of supervisors" were confused as well. It's listed as "Enjoy two full days and an overnight in Havana..."; however, when you look at the itinerary, it's barely an overnight since the ship leaves at 6:00 a.m. from Havana (essentially meaning a sea day to get to Great Stirrup Cay). My (and theirs!) confusion is when you share a link about the cruise through the NCL website (through e-mail, twitter, FB, etc.), it lists the leaving time at 3:00 p.m. so not really "two full days" but a decent day and a half. Has anyone else seen this or inquired to NCL? If so, what did they tell you? I cannot imagine I'm the first person to ask and it's really misleading. And although implied, they'd be smart to mention the sea day. Looking for help or insight!

[victory2020]

I just posted about the 5 day on March 31, 2019. In April we were on the Sky & supposed to be in Havana till 5pm. Got an email that due to "maintenance " issues we would be leaving at 2pm instead. Issue was that RCCL ship was coming into port & apparently they have priority there.

March 31 cruise says we'll be in Havana till 5pm, but RCCL ship comes in at 8am. Port cannot handle both so I'm sure it will be cut short. Called NCL & no one knows anything.

They can change anything at any time.

[casofilia]

Our departure lists 3pm as the departure time on the second day in Havana; where did you get the leaving time as 6am? It is not uncommon to leave a port at 3pm having spent a "day" there from 7am.

[smithop]

I took the very first one in May 2017 and the second day departure was 2pm.

 

It does have to do with the limited docking, only 2 available.

 

There are a couple more docks under construction but who knows when they will come online, time moves very slowly in Havana.

 

 

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[QueenOfZoom]

Booked on Sky next month, shows a 6am departure from Cuba on Wednesday.

[Cruiser_1977]

Was just on the Sky, seems like same itinerary. Please see my thread...Daily for the Cuba part starts at post #11. We were in Cuba all day on Day 2 spent the night and were pulling out of Cuba the next morning (as planned). At least two ships came into the port next to us while we were there...

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2644413

[yebba]

Our departure lists 3pm as the departure time on the second day in Havana; where did you get the leaving time as 6am? It is not uncommon to leave a port at 3pm having spent a "day" there from 7am.

 

it's nice to see a familiar name! (HK to Tokyo in March/April!) :)

we're looking at april 22-26 and it lists 6 a.m. on the website; however, if you use the e-mail the link feature, it says 3 p.m.

Edited July 2, 2018 by yebba

[yebba]

I just posted about the 5 day on March 31, 2019. In April we were on the Sky & supposed to be in Havana till 5pm. Got an email that due to "maintenance " issues we would be leaving at 2pm instead. Issue was that RCCL ship was coming into port & apparently they have priority there.

March 31 cruise says we'll be in Havana till 5pm, but RCCL ship comes in at 8am. Port cannot handle both so I'm sure it will be cut short. Called NCL & no one knows anything.

They can change anything at any time.

 

Where do you find when the ships are coming and going? She did mention something about only 1 ship can be there at a time, but seemed clueless...which is why I came here!!! :)

[yebba]

Was just on the Sky, seems like same itinerary. Please see my thread...Daily for the Cuba part starts at post #11. We were in Cuba all day on Day 2 spent the night and were pulling out of Cuba the next morning (as planned). At least two ships came into the port next to us while we were there...

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2644413

 

It does look like the same itinerary so thank you for sharing. when you booked the cruise, was that the planned schedule? I know they can change their minds at any time, but I am curious. Were you able to do a day activity and a night activity organized through the ship?

[yebba]

I took the very first one in May 2017 and the second day departure was 2pm.

 

It does have to do with the limited docking, only 2 available.

 

There are a couple more docks under construction but who knows when they will come online, time moves very slowly in Havana.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

Hmm...so maybe it will change down the road? The cruise we're looking at is in April 2019.

[Cruiser_1977]

It does look like the same itinerary so thank you for sharing. when you booked the cruise, was that the planned schedule? I know they can change their minds at any time, but I am curious. Were you able to do a day activity and a night activity organized through the ship?

 

Glad I could help! Our itinerary did not change from what was advertised. There are options for both daytime and evening activities in Havana. You do not have to book any of them through NCL.

[casofilia]

Our cruise is the one before yours, Mar 18 to Mar 22.

[yebba]

lucky you if you do in fact get to stay until 3! it seems like that would be rare based on what others have said. we won’t be so lucky, but it is what it is. just have to make the most of it! we’ll make good use of the all-inclusiveness! cheers!

[smithop]

Hmm...so maybe it will change down the road? The cruise we're looking at is in April 2019.

 

 

 

We enjoyed it so much we are booked again for October, but this time its the 7 day on the Sun. Its only a one day stop, 10am to midnight.

 

We took a tour on the first day, then went to the evening show. The second day we just walked down the malecon then back through town, we were exhausted so leaving early was not a big deal the second day.

 

We will probably do the self guided walk this time now we are familiar with Havana. We are active seniors so long walks are preferred to sitting in cars or busses and being herded like cattle.

 

We walked Avenida de los Presidentes, it was very touching to see the school kids playing in the park that runs down the center of the avenue, their schools have no playgrounds. We want to take some gifts for the kids, like sports equipment.

 

We bought a paper from a senior, I gave him 2 CUC, you would have thought I gave him a $100 bill. They have no social security to speak of, he told us he gets 25 CUC a month to live on.

 

 

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[QueenOfZoom]

We enjoyed it so much we are booked again for October, but this time its the 7 day on the Sun. Its only a one day stop, 10am to midnight.

 

We took a tour on the first day, then went to the evening show. The second day we just walked down the malecon then back through town, we were exhausted so leaving early was not a big deal the second day.

 

We will probably do the self guided walk this time now we are familiar with Havana. We are active seniors so long walks are preferred to sitting in cars or busses and being herded like cattle.

 

We walked Avenida de los Presidentes, it was very touching to see the school kids playing in the park that runs down the center of the avenue, their schools have no playgrounds. We want to take some gifts for the kids, like sports equipment.

 

We bought a paper from a senior, I gave him 2 CUC, you would have thought I gave him a $100 bill. They have no social security to speak of, he told us he gets 25 CUC a month to live on.

 

Which day tour did you do?

[smithop]

Which day tour did you do?

 

 

 

We did a city tour with Old Cars Havana. We chose the hardtop, glad we did because the sun/heat was fierce and the car has aircon. We saw quite a few sunburned touristas coming back.

 

https://www.oldcarshavana.com/english

 

 

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[WAHMto5]

We just did this cruise a couple of weeks ago and it was overnight, left the next morning at 6:00am as you stated. We also went through the same thing as this was the first cruise my husband booked (as a surprise anniversary gift) and thought we would have 2 days in Havana due to the wording on the advertisements. Luckily he told me a couple of weeks in advance so I was able to call and figure out that it was really only 1 day. We would have loved to have 2 days in Havana though!

[victory2020]

Where do you find when the ships are coming and going? She did mention something about only 1 ship can be there at a time, but seemed clueless...which is why I came here!!! :)

I just go to an online cruise agency where all lines are advertised & do cross checking of the itineraries. You can see which ships are there that way. I did the same for our cruise 2 months ago & saw RCCL had a ship coming in the same day we were there so when our time was cut short I wasn't surprised. It appears that 2 ships can be in port but usually the second one will be a small 500 to 600 passenger

[yebba]

We just did this cruise a couple of weeks ago and it was overnight, left the next morning at 6:00am as you stated. We also went through the same thing as this was the first cruise my husband booked (as a surprise anniversary gift) and thought we would have 2 days in Havana due to the wording on the advertisements. Luckily he told me a couple of weeks in advance so I was able to call and figure out that it was really only 1 day. We would have loved to have 2 days in Havana though!

 

thanks for the reply! how was the cruise?! i’ve done some additional digging and it looks like this itinerary only has one date in march where the ship leaves at 3:00 p.m.. i’m glad (like you) we’re figuring this out beforehand! :)

[victory2020]

thanks for the reply! how was the cruise?! i’ve done some additional digging and it looks like this itinerary only has one date in march where the ship leaves at 3:00 p.m.. i’m glad (like you) we’re figuring this out beforehand! :)

The cruise was amazing! We loved thee ship, great service! I loved Havana and so did my husband. He hates to fly but will do so to go back to Cuba. We did private tour with Havanajourneys. $100 for all day tour for 1 - 3 people. Half walking, half driving. They will take you anywhere you want to see.

[casofilia]

If you want to check what is in Havana you could use either of these websites.

 

Mike

 

https://www.cruisetimetables.com/cru...vana-cuba.html

 

http://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/ha...19-03#schedule

[sailingskyward]

This is an annoying and predictable issue, in my view. Cruise ships schedule ports months and years in advance, yet on multiple NCL bookings I've had, they offer 2 full days in Havana (for example, arriving at 8am and departing the following day afternoon) but after final payment NCL sends a message "due to unforeseen circumstances we must adjust the schedule." Now those two full days in Havana becomes a Noon arrival and 6am departure the next morning.

 

So what they're saying is that on multiple occasions, they planned two full days in Havana and then right after final payment they need to reduce the time in Havana? Seems awfully coincidental... and very strange the port time isn't lengthened... always reduced.

[yebba]

Did anyone else notice the 5-day cruise offered in April?  It gets into Cuba at 8:00 p.m. which would give adventure seekers the opportunity to get off the boat and experience the nightlife which we would have absolutely done.  I'm really disappointed as we would have chosen this cruise instead of the 4-day option we're booked on.