Carnival Paradise to Cuba- Fun Times, Cuba information

[jfbbarry]

Just returned from Havana on the Paradise.  Attached are the Fun Times, Cuba information and disembarkation information.

 

Note: After leaving the ship and Cuban immigration, stay to the left and go down the stairs to the Money Exchange- shorter lines.

You can also leave the ship and go on your own.  No one is checking if you have an excursion or not.  You may have trouble finding a taxi and the bus unreliable but no tour required.  There are no stores/shops by the port- a couple of very small souvenir shops can be found.  You can walk freely around Old Havana- not sure what works beyond.

 

Carnival day 1.pdf

Carnival Day 2.pdf

Carnival Day 3.pdf

Carnival Day 4.pdf

Carnival Day 5.pdf

Carnival- Debarkation.pdf

Carnival- Good to Know Cuba.pdf

[ricew001]

This is so helpful! Thank you. The Cuba board is not nearly as active as this board so thanks for posting. We are looking forward to our November cruise! Anything else we should know?

[mdsgu]

Take Euros or British pounds to exchange for the Cuban tourist money.  There is a 3% exchange fee regardless of what currency you exchange, but there is an additional 10% fee to change US currency.

 

Plan on paying cash for everything.  Credit cards won't work unless (and then it's a maybe) they are European.

 

If you want to do an excursion, book it independently.  The cruise ship excursions are horrifically overpriced.

[Jnew2176]

Awesome info! Thank you for sharing. Going in July!

 

How was boarding in Tampa?

 

Any issues finding seating poolside?

[JaniceB]

Great information and thanks for the tip about the Euro instead of american money.  My friends were on the cruise, can't wait to hear about their journey.  I saw some pictures of old cars but so far that is all.

[tallnthensome]

Thanks! On her in August to Cuba! 

[K&RCurt]

Thanks so much!

 

We will be doing this cruise in May.

[monykalyn]

Going on Sensation out of Miami in June, but this info is quite helpful! Thanks for taking time to post!

[riffatsea]

I think the Cuba board on here has tons of information about everything!

Not sure why you didn't find much there??

You need to do the math to see if buying euros or CAD and then changing again for CUCs gives you a better return than just using USA $$s despite the 10% fee. It probably will matter more if you are changing a lot of money!

[mdsgu]

1 hour ago, JaniceB said:

Great information and thanks for the tip about the Euro instead of american money.  My friends were on the cruise, can't wait to hear about their journey.  I saw some pictures of old cars but so far that is all.

 

Yes, you will see candy-colored cars from the 50s all over city.  There are even excursions to take a tour in one.  We did, and it was awesome -- 1955 Chevy Bel Air with air conditioning.

[May1cruiser]

We used Blexie tours, much cheaper than carnival. They customized the tour to our liking. He also dispelled a lot of the myths your hear about Cuba. On the second morning, we walked off ship and wandered around the small square, plenty of little shops and food and beverage. Felt safe the entire time and really enjoyed the visit.

[mdsgu]

2 hours ago, May1cruiser said:

We used Blexie tours, much cheaper than carnival. They customized the tour to our liking. He also dispelled a lot of the myths your hear about Cuba. On the second morning, we walked off ship and wandered around the small square, plenty of little shops and food and beverage. Felt safe the entire time and really enjoyed the visit.

 

Blexie is awesome.  I believe our all-day tour (from 9 to 4) was $137.  Lunch was extra; we ate at a private paladar and for four, with drinks and tip, it was $98.  Cuban rum can be had for cheap.  We felt safe the entire time -- my wife is fluent in Spanish, so that helped.  Our guide spoke better English than some Americans!

[JaniceB]

17 hours ago, mdsgu said:

 

Yes, you will see candy-colored cars from the 50s all over city.  There are even excursions to take a tour in one.  We did, and it was awesome -- 1955 Chevy Bel Air with air conditioning.

They must have too since I saw them sitting in a car. 

[riffatsea]

The Cuba board on this site has reviews of many many private tour operators.

Everyone seems pleased with the one they chose. I am going in November and have e mailed with 4 different private tour operators. It's funny that Blexie was the only one that barely answered my e mail with very little information.

Fertours answered with lots of info. Strawberry tours does free walking tours(including an evening bar crawl) and you only tip at the end whatever you think is fair + they also do private tours.

Havana Memories does private tours with photographer and you can either buy the photos or not.

There are many many more mentioned on the Cuba board.

[Anyislandwilldo]

We booked through Fernando Tours.  Our tour guide took my SD card and put it in his camera and charged me $20 to take all the pictures during the tour.  So worth it!!  Our guide was very knowledgeable and gave great explanations every where we went.  Cuba is a must see before it gets commercialized.  

[MistyRo76]

Thanks for sharing! We are sailing to Key West/Havana on the Paradise in April. We have a tour booked with I Love Cuba Photo Tours. I'm so excited to see Cuba! 

[Biglove1954]

Thank you for this great information. I"m leaving on Carnival Paradise,  September 14-19.  I'm just vibrating with anticipation. I'm glad I will not need a tour, I have friends in Cuba. I was worried about how to handle the visa and any other immigration formalities. Would appreciate any info you can give me.

[wemjam]

14 minutes ago, MistyRo76 said:

Thanks for sharing! We are sailing to Key West/Havana on the Paradise in April. We have a tour booked with I Love Cuba Photo Tours. I'm so excited to see Cuba! 

 

MistyRo76, I think we sail with you - April 27th?

 

Looking forward to Cuba too!  May I ask, do you have a web address for I Love Cuba Photo Tours?  I looked them up on TA, but I can't find a direct email.  I may check them out too as TA has them very highly rated too.

[MistyRo76]

2 hours ago, wemjam said:

 

MistyRo76, I think we sail with you - April 27th?

 

Looking forward to Cuba too!  May I ask, do you have a web address for I Love Cuba Photo Tours?  I looked them up on TA, but I can't find a direct email.  I may check them out too as TA has them very highly rated too.

You can check out their website - https://ilovecuba.webs.com/tours. The contact us page has email and phone info. 

 

We were originally on the April 27th sailing, but then they changed the April 13th sailing to basically the same itinerary. April 13th is our anniversary and it was like $300 cheaper, so we made the switch. I will say, they are already sold out for our sail date. I tried to add a few additional people from our group to the tour yesterday and they can't accommodate it cause it would mean adding another car. We have 14 booked with them already. 

 

Good luck! 

[MistyRo76]

On 3/12/2019 at 1:18 PM, jfbbarry said:

Just returned from Havana on the Paradise.  Attached are the Fun Times, Cuba information and disembarkation information.

 

Note: After leaving the ship and Cuban immigration, stay to the left and go down the stairs to the Money Exchange- shorter lines.

You can also leave the ship and go on your own.  No one is checking if you have an excursion or not.  You may have trouble finding a taxi and the bus unreliable but no tour required.  There are no stores/shops by the port- a couple of very small souvenir shops can be found.  You can walk freely around Old Havana- not sure what works beyond.

 

Carnival day 1.pdf

Carnival Day 2.pdf

Carnival Day 3.pdf

Carnival Day 4.pdf

Carnival Day 5.pdf

Carnival- Debarkation.pdf

Carnival- Good to Know Cuba.pdf

Do you happen to recall which night the Chef's table was? I assume they wouldn't do it when we are in Havana and not on Elegant night. So that leaves either embarkation or one of the last two nights. 

[jfbbarry]

I believe Chefs table was evenings 3-5

[tweety33]

Thank you for posting this! Much appreciated!!

I see no longer a drink of the day:(