I Recently Had The Pleasure Of Traveling To Cuba Aboard Norwegian Cruise Line. The Ship Was Called Sky. This Country Is A New Experience. American Citizens Have Been Unable To Travel To Cuba For Over 50 Years. Therefore, It Was Important To Myself That I Experience Cuba First Hand. It Turns Out Much Of The Information Given To Us In The States Was Incorrect. So I Have Provided A First Hand Experience All About Cuba.
This First Thing You Hear About Traveling To Cuba Is That You Are Required To Participate In "People To People Travel". This Means That You Must Keep A Record Of Your Travels In Cuba. What Did You See Or Do. If You Book A Shore Excursion Through The Cruise Ship Than You Have Met The Requirement Of People To People Travel. At No Time Did We Have To Report To The Ship What We Did While In Cuba. We Were Told To Keep Our Records For A Period Of Five Years. The Government May Require Proof Of What You Did While In Cuba.
Havana Is The Largest City & Also The Capital Of Cuba. Cuba Is Home To More Than 11 Million People. The Government Offers Free Medical, Free College Education, Free Funeral Expenses And Free Food To All Of It's Residents. This Sounds Amazing However Everything Is Rationed & This Gives The Government More Control Over The People.
Most Of Cuba Is In Ruins. Most Of The Buildings Destroyed. However The Government Has Recently Started To Repair Cuba. There Was Alot Of Construction Throughout The Country. Cuba Is Required To Keep The Original Building. They Are Not Allowed To Destroy The Old Building A Then Build A New Building. Throughout Cuba You See New Buildings Being Built Around Old Buildings. Now That The Renovations Have Begun You See Many Nice Buildings & Houses Around The Area.
We Found That By Interacting With The Local People They Were Happy To Have Us In Their Country. We Heard Stories Of There Families. Stories Of The Nightlife. Stories Of Day To Day Living. Most Of The People Were Very Friendly. We Did Experience A Few People That Were Not Polite But That Is To Be Expected When Traveling.
We Departed Miami On Monday & By Tuesday Morning We Had Arrived In Havana, Cuba For An Over Night Stay. We Wished To Stay Longer However The Cuba Government Does Not Allow The Cruise Ships To Stay Longer Than A Day & Half.
Before Arrival In Cuba We Needed To Purchase A Travel Visa. You Must Have A Valid Passport Book Not The Passport Card. The Passport Must Be Valid For More Than Six Months. The Visa Was Provided To Us By The Cruise Line.
We Began Our Tuesday By Leaving The Ship. We Needed To Have Our Ship Key Card With Us At All Times. We Proceeded To Immigration. They Stamped Our Passport And Took The Visa That We Had Purchased To Travel To Cuba. Then We Proceeded To Customs. This Was The Security Check For Ourselves & Bags As We Entered Into Cuba. We Were Immediately Greeted By The Cruise Line Staff Taking Pictures.
We Then Proceeded To The Money Exchange. This Is Where We Exchanged Our US Dollars Into Pesos. We Found It Was Necessary To Travel With Two Different Types Of Currency. Some Of The Local People Wanted Only Cuban Pesos While Others Wanted US Dollars. The Local People Would Charge Extra Once They Realized You Had US Dollars. For Example We Were Quoted $ 10.00 For An Item. They Would Tell Us The Price Was $12.00 If We Were Paying With US Dollars. We Assumed This Was To Cover The Cost Of The Exchange Rate. Credit Cards Are Not Accepted Any Where On The Island. You Could Also Exchange Canadian Dollars Or Euros Into Cuba Pesos.
Then We Headed Down The Stairs And Into The Bus Area Where We Met Our Tour Guide. We Boarded Our Bus And Began Our Tour Of Cuba. We Saw Old Havana, New Havana, East Havana And West Havana. This Bus Tour Was Very Informative. We Learned About The Culture & History Of Cuba. Our Tour Guide Spoke English With An Accent. We Could Understand Him. Most Of Our Tour Was On The Bus Driving By The Local Sites. However We Did Stop & Walk At The " El Castillo De Los Tres Reyes Del Mooro" An Historical Fort. We Were Able To Do Some Shopping. At This Store They Accepted Pesos, US Dollars & Canadian Dollars. However They Were Not Thrilled About Figuring Out The Exchange Rate On The Money. This Store Offered Rum, Coffee And Cigars. We Drove By The National Hotel, The American Embassy, The University Of Havana & The Christopher Columbus Cemetery. We Were Able To Visit A 65 Feet Tall Statue Called " El Cristo De La Habana" Which Represents The Entrance To The Havana Harbor. This Statue Is Referred To As The Jesus Statue. We Traveled Through A Tunnel To The Beautiful Palm Tree-Lined Fifth Avenue. We Were Educated On The Cuban Architecture Which Demonstrated The Transition From Colonial To Modern Times. The Tour Returned Us To Our Terminal. I Was Impressed That The Driver And Tour Guide Did Not Ask For A Tip. However When We Offered A Tip They Graciously Accepted It.
We Proceeded Back To The Ship To Have Lunch. On The Return We Went Through Security And Immigration Again. This Time Was Much Faster Due To The Fact That They All Ready Had Our Visa On File & Our Passports Were All Ready Stamped.
After Lunch We Left The Ship. Immigration & Customs Again. We Found A Cuban Gentleman With A Horse & Cart. For Ten Pesos Each He Took Us About 15 Minutes Away From The Ship To A Flea Market. He Agreed To Come Back In An Hour To Pick Us Up. The Flea Market Was For All The Locals To Sell There Products. We Saw Art Work, Souvenirs Items, Handmade Leather Bags, Wallets, Handmade Crochet Hats, Shirts And Bathing Suits. Wood Cars Which You Could Have Your Name Engraved On. Coffee Mugs, Shot Glasses, Wind Chimes & So Much More! The Locals Would Ask You In To The Booth. If You Refused They Stopped Asking. Most Of Them Were Bilingual Speaking Spanish & English. Many Of Them Negotiated On Prices. Very Nice Experience. In One Hour A Different Gentleman Stood Outside The Front Entrance. He Waited For Us To Come Out. He Said " Lady Your Horse Is Here". The Same Gentleman We Had Before Returned To Pick Us Up As He Promised. For 5 Pesos Each He Returned Us To Our Ship.
In Our Travels We Learned That If You Let The Local Person Takes Your Picture They Expect You To Pay Them For Taking The Picture. Be Aware Of This When Traveling Throughout Cuba. We Met Many People Wanting To Take A Picture.
We Returned To The Ship For Dinner. Immigration & Customs Again.
After Dinner We Left The Ship. Immigration & Customs Again. We Met Our Tour Guide Where We Boarded A Bus To Enjoy The Legendary Tropicana Cabaret. The Night Club Was Located About 30 Minutes From The Ship. There Was Dress Code For The Evening. Upon Arrival Our Tour Guide Paid For The Show. The Ladies Received Carnations. The Men Cigars. We Were Charged 5 Pesos To Take Pictures Of The Performance. However, No One Checked To Make Sure We Had A Ticket For The Pictures. Our Table Was In Front Of The Stage. Amazing Location. The Show Was Held In A Club Built In 1939, Surrounded By Trees And Located Outside. The Production Included Over 200 Dancers & Singers Performing Under The Stars. We Received Complimentary Bottled Water, Champagne, Rum, Coke And Peanuts To Enjoy During The Performance. Other Food And Drinks Were Available For An Additional Cost. The Performance Was Music, Spanish Singing, Costumes, Dancing And Lighting. By Far The Most Incredible Show Ever Seen And A Highlight Of My Cuba Trip. We Left The Ship At 9:00 PM And Returned To The Ship At 1:30 AM. Even At The Late Hour We Were Still Required To Go Through Immigration & Customs However It Went Quickly.
The Next Morning Wednesday We Awoke At 8:00 AM. Had Breakfast On The Ship.
Immigration & Customs Again. We Were Told It Was Not Safe To Walk Around Cuba. I Could Not Disagree More With This Statement. Walking Around The Town You See Roads Go On And On. Side Streets, Business & Houses. The Town Was Located Directly Across The Street From The Ship. We Walked Across The Street & Found The Local Shops Were Open. We Experienced Beautiful Parks, Local People Dressed In Authentic Cuba Costumes, A Lady Singing Opera In The Street Selling Flowers, Local Bands Playing Latin Music At A Restaurant. A Little Coffee Shop Serving Cuban Coffee Much Like Our Espresso For Only One Peso. We Found A Pharmacy, A Eye Doctor, A Photo Shop, A Bookstore & Museums Full Of Artwork. The Buildings Were A Site To See. The Architecture Is From Early 1950's. Cars From The Early 1950's Lined The Streets. Most Of The People Were Bilingual Speaking Spanish And English. We Had No Problem Communicating With Them. One Resident Gave Us Directions Back To The Ship. Very Enjoyable Day And A Great Way To Experience Cuba.
The Roads Are Made Of Cobblestone. Some Are Cracked. Wear Comfortable Walking Shoes.
After Speaking With Several Different Customers We Decided That Renting A Private Car With A Driver Was The Best Way To See Cuba. The Driver Is All Yours. A Total Of Four Hours. The Driver Will Speak English. They Take You To All The Sites You Wish To See. They Allow You Time To Get Out & Walk Around The Sites. You Can Request To Go To A Particular Place Or Ask The Driver For Recommendations Of Something To See. The Driver Will Not Ask For A Tip But Will Graciously Accept One.
When We Returned To The Ship. We Were Greeted By The Norwegian Cruise Line Staff. Offering Us A Cool Wash Cloth, Drinks And Playing Latin Music.
No Where In Havana, Cuba Was Internet Or WiFi Available. My Cell Phone Had No Service. We Were Told That The Water Was Not Safe To Drink. We Drank Only Bottled Water From The Ship. Toilet Paper Was Not Available In The Terminal Bathroom. The Bathroom Was Not Clean And Should Only Be Used In The Case Of A Severe Emergency. The Bathroom Was Clean With Toilet Paper In The Tropicana Club. This Was A More Upscale Facility. It Was Necessary To Carry Toilet Paper Or Tissues With You When Traveling In Cuba.
Throughout Our Cruise The Ship Played Latin Music, Served Cuban Food, Offered Cuba Souvenirs Including Rum And Cigars. The Cuba Experience Followed Us Back Onto The Ship.
We Departed At Noon On Wednesday. By Far An Incredible Experience. I Am Looking Forward To Returning To Havana, Cuba In The Future!
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