Cuba Paradise June 29th

Here is a review of the Carnival Paradise June 29th sailing from Tampa to Havana Cuba

Embarkation in the Port of Tampa was a breeze we had all our paperwork filled out including our travel affidavit. they collected the affidavit gave us our visas and we were off to the captain's Club to wait for boarding. In the boarding area there was live music free Cuban coffee and cigars. We were called to board at 11 a.m. With the rest of the diamonds, and VIPs. Once aboard even though she's an old girl the ship was in really good shape lots of beards from Carnival wear on this trip making sure that the first trip to Cuba was what we expected as customers and what they expected as the corporation. We did have a chance to talk to several of them they were very nice and explain the lot of what it took for this to happen.

Your standard first day aboard Lido was busy with food and music and lots of conversations between new friends about this historic Journey

Once we arrived in our cabin we received an American and Cuban flag with a special sailing pin for the inaugural cruise and we then headed to the main show Lounge for a Cuba talk with the cruise director Jaime Dee and several other members of the carnival team from fathom. They explained what to expect money exchange tipping and other information What made this unusual was the talk was before the muster drill.

The muster drill was about 4pm after the drill there was a typical deck party with a more Cuban theme and everybody prepared for the first night of dinner.

We had late seating for dinner in the Destiny dining room 10 too table everyone we sat with every night was very nice and we had great conversation. The night we stayed over in Havana they had open seating dinner till 930 because of tours and other events . Over all the food for the trip was good for brunch to dinner. I am not going to get into a lot of food details because the main part of this review is the Cuba experience.

Arrival in Havana

As we got closer to Havana the deck was very busy with people waiting to take pictures of the fort as we pulled into the harbor. Lots of excitement and music and we kept seeing John Heald on the deck doing his live feeds .

We docked finally about 11:15 took a while as we learned from both captains on the ship the water is very shallow (yes 2 Captains) and slowly people were allowed to go ashore (ONE OLD GANGWAY)

Some notes. The process is very slow. They had people who bought carnival tours in two lounges. If you were doing your own person 2 person you had to collect a letter the morning of arrival and then they will let you off. (No priority for VIP guests that were on thier own tour). The process of getting everybody off the ship probably took a little over 5 hours and I highly recommend if you're doing your own tour not to book it till after 2:30-3:00. Carnival will continue to improve on this getting passengers off the ship. As was discussed at the Diamond Event

After walking off deck M we arrived at Cuban customs . The line moved pretty fast. We presented our passports and visas. They took our pictures and we were done . We did get our passports stamped and that was the way they could tell we had already passed through customs. Every time we got on and off the ship they did look at our passports and we had to have out bags scanned both ways.

Once past security it was off to the money exchange. It's very easy to do and please check what you think will be the best exchange rate for you. If you see the US dollar you loose 13%. All other forms of currency you loose the 3% transaction fee only. The type of CUC you want or (Kook) has monuments on it this is the higher value currency.

We walked out of the termal and wow it was like traveling back in time the old buildings and cars were a sight to see

We made our way to the Russian Orthodox check to meet out tour .

We worked with Old Car Tours in Havana. They were highly recommend on trip advisor. We built a 5 hour tour that took us to many of the sights of Havana and gave us time to learn about the history of the country from our guides and in conversation with local shop owners and people on the street .

We had a 1954 Chevrolet convertible with a driver and a English speaking guide. This company has a great website and let you choose the length of tour you like and the type of car. We felt safe doing this after reading and going over all the travel rules of person 2 person as we understood them. The tour was amazing we learned so much about the country and how hard times are for some. During our tour we saw several old forts , the history of the Cuban miss crisis including pieces of the US Navy plane that was shot down. We had the opportunity to just sit back and see the sights which as pretty as some buildings were other were very degraded and needed repair. Construction in some areas was going on with newer buildings being built. The detail on some of the old city buildings were unbelievably incredible. During our tour we stopped for cigars ar Cueto Tobacos for run and cigars. Just like NY we negotiated price to try and get the best deal average price of cigars can be from 5cuc to 20cuc. You can buy cigars from whoever as long as your not reselling then as per the travel affidavit. Rum was cheap between 7 and to Cuc per bottle

After seeing a lot of sights it was off to lunch in a newer location close to the ship called Draquecìtos bar restaurant . It has air-conditioning which worked ok. As for the meal we had the house special drink , home made empanadas lobster and a pork dish . The food and people were as good as any 5 star restaurant in the states. After all was done we did eat with our guide and had great conversation with the owners. We were allowed to sign the wall in the place and our check was 53cuc for all. We gave the waiter a 12cuc tip which he was very great full for and than offered us all shots of free rum .

After lunch it was back in the car and we began to see some of Cuba 5th Avenue as they call it we learned about the education system and the medical coverage provided to the residence. We were impressed to learn that education is all free and you can go as far as you want and school even to become a doctor and the government pays for it all. Just sitting and looking at the buildings was amazing stopping along the way for small history lessons and conversation with people.

Please remember parts of the city are dirty with garbage piled on the corner and other signs of poverty but all and all everyone was very nice and happy to see Americans in the country .

In the end we are glad we did our own tour. We paid 200cuc for the car and the two guides we did tip them 50 cuc which we have learned was very generous. They dropped us off right by the ship and we continued on our own in search for a local bar . Remember people who street perform and work in bathrooms like tips.

We found a local place almost across from the ship and we had 2 mojito for 8cuc and I was able to smoke a cigar and listen to music. It felt good knowing hopefully some of the money we spent went to local people .

Notes bring bottles of water and snacks we did see several places that sold bottle water which was ok to drink I did not have any issues also we did not have issues with the food. We did bring butt wipes with us but all the places we went had ok bathrooms. Small bills and coins we're good to have in Cuc for tips of locals. Many places did take American money at a little higher price

Coming back on the ship was a bit of a pain because the amount of liquor bought was close to 1800 bottles and the collection took a long time and it was done on the pier. Took about a hour. Remember their is only one gangway for on and off so it takes time be patient and Carnival will work to tweek this system. We had conversations with several from the home office that were on this trip about some things

The rest of the trip was very nice. Some good shows as always. They did a Cuba deck party with cigars under the stars which was well attended. Lots of good music and fun.

All and all a good trip with small speed bumps and we were expecting that. Carnival did a great job at explaining the rules as they understood them . As I always suggest do your own research because the rules are going to change

Last notes we did walk to a lot of local shops and bars. It was warm but no warmer than any other southern Caribbean island

People again were nice know Spanish class will help a lot .

Today's exit was longer than normal cause of the amount of booze bought and people had to claim also they scanned all passports but no customs forms. Just take time and enjoy the trip of you go.

Feel free to comment and say not nice things it's expected in social media I will try to answer your question and add more as I can. We are on a back to back so I will have some time.

Did you hear if cruises to Cuba will continue? I just heard that government employees are not allowed to travel to Cuba.

As of now it is going to be driven by the US to make decisions

Thanks and thanks for the trip report!

Jdfireman: Thank you for this detailed & descriptive review. It makes me and my husband want to go now more than ever! :D

I heard that the rum is limited to two bottles to bring back, is this correct? Thanks for your review.

In another post pre cruise when someone was posting about the preparation for this cruise, there was a mention of a visa for the fee of $75. Did you have to pay the $75 or did Carnival pay it?

You mentioned other currencies only lost 3% while US currency lost 13%. So we are better off bringing Canadian dollars ( which is much lower than the USD )?

Thank you for your review

 

Here is a review of the Carnival Paradise June 29th sailing from Tampa to Havana Cuba...

 

Feel free to comment and say not nice things it's expected in social media.

Thanks for the review and the laugh! :')

Great informative review! I went last month on a different line and your information was spot on. I loved Cuba and can't wait to go back.

In another post pre cruise when someone was posting about the preparation for this cruise, there was a mention of a visa for the fee of $75. Did you have to pay the $75 or did Carnival pay it?

 

You mentioned other currencies only lost 3% while US currency lost 13%. So we are better off bringing Canadian dollars ( which is much lower than the USD )?

Thank you so much for your interesting report. Enjoy your cruise! :cool:

Awesome review...we cannot wait to go and hope the travel to Cuba continues...

Can you clarify the excursion situation? My pvp told me when I booked two weeks ago that no excursions were required (through Carnival or otherwise). John Heald's live fb thing from yesterday implied that you can't get off the ship without having an excursion arranged. I know we are supposed to do a p2p thing, but was hoping to just get off the ship and find a driver/guide to show us around.

I was on this cruise. For us, you could arrange your own "tour" to comply with the P2P requirement and didn't have to have a Carnival excursion. Now, going forward to when the Trump rules are written and take effect, things could change. When I returned to the ship after the daytime "top 10 of Havana" tour (Heald was on my bus), one of the ship's excursion managers was in front of me. He said that they are looking at the Trump changes as likely requiring everyone to have an official tour to go ashore (meaning one booked with Carnival", and he was worried about how they will be able to accommodate that if true, because of the number of people they'd have to manage, buses, etc. The answer right now is, "nobody knows" what will happen two or three months from now when the new rules take effect. We were in Cuba under the original Obama rules.

Excellent review; I am booked on the 9/25/17 Paradise to Cuba, so watching the changes closely.

I was on this cruise. For us, you could arrange your own "tour" to comply with the P2P requirement and didn't have to have a Carnival excursion. Now, going forward to when the Trump rules are written and take effect, things could change. When I returned to the ship after the daytime "top 10 of Havana" tour (Heald was on my bus), one of the ship's excursion managers was in front of me. He said that they are looking at the Trump changes as likely requiring everyone to have an official tour to go ashore (meaning one booked with Carnival", and he was worried about how they will be able to accommodate that if true, because of the number of people they'd have to manage, buses, etc. The answer right now is, "nobody knows" what will happen two or three months from now when the new rules take effect. We were in Cuba under the original Obama rules.

Thank you. I'm on next week's cruise. I'm still not sure if you have to have something set up before getting off the ship (someone said their pvp said you can't get off if you don't have an excursion already arranged, and that if your excursion is Saturday, you can't get off the ship on Friday).

Thanks for the review.

Thank you for the feedback.

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"...YOUR Captains Club to wait for boarding. In the boarding area there was live music free Cuban coffee and cigars. We were called to board at 11 a.m. With the rest of the diamonds, and VIPs..."

It was great to meet you "JD" and get you guys aboard! Thanks again for your "Super FD Service" and of course for this very insightful review!

Did you get to see the "World's Largest Cuban Sandwich at Sea?"

http://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/news-headlines/giant-cuban-sandwich-a-tasty-send-off-for-carnival-s-havana-inaugural.html

Hope this link works. If not, Google the words in quotation marks above.

Thanks for the review and details. I was wondering how the cultural experience requirement was being handled. I have a friend that cruised Fathom. Did they allow the ship's casino to be open while in Havana?

Hope you enjoy the second leg of your b2b.

Thank you. I'm on next week's cruise. I'm still not sure if you have to have something set up before getting off the ship (someone said their pvp said you can't get off if you don't have an excursion already arranged, and that if your excursion is Saturday, you can't get off the ship on Friday).

That was not true for our cruise and I think it will be the same for your cruise. We didn't have to provide any proof of what we were going to do in order to leave the ship. What you do while ashore is between you and the U.S. Treasury OFAC people, should they ever decide to audit your trip and want to see proof you followed the legal requirements to visit Cuba.

Did you get to see the "World's Largest Cuban Sandwich at Sea?"

 

http://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/news-headlines/giant-cuban-sandwich-a-tasty-send-off-for-carnival-s-havana-inaugural.html

 

Hope this link works. If not, Google the words in quotation marks above.

 

Thanks for the review and details. I was wondering how the cultural experience requirement was being handled. I have a friend that cruised Fathom. Did they allow the ship's casino to be open while in Havana?

 

Hope you enjoy the second leg of your b2b.

The sandwich was at the special reception they held on embarkation day for the local Tampa dignitaries, media and travel agents. The casino was not open while in Cuba. The ship's shops were allowed to open on the evening we were in port.

I still have several relatives back in Cuba and if you can afford the few extra bucks they do prefer the US dollar.

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Thanks for sharing your journey, JD. I'm still not quite convinced heading to just Havana at this time on a cruise ship is the best thing for my experience. But as time goes on, it may be the only way to go there. I see the reason or part of the reason now for the overnight--shallow waters and it takes too long to debark and embark. Can you imagine the Breeze or Vista there? Be a 2 night stay for you to get off for 5 hours.;p

For those wishing to read more than just the CITMA produced/vetted tourist stuff, pick up a copy of Mark Kurlansky's "Havana", either off Amazon or in your local library.

As far as current exchange rates, as I understand, you are only allowed to convert the CUC, Cuban Convertible Peso. The CUP, Cuban Peso, is used by locals and there's around 26 CUPs to a CUC. 1 US$ = 1CUC; 1 Euro = 1.13CUC and the Pound is around 1.30CUCs. The MX$ is about 5 centamos CUC. But you have the exchange tax on top. So yes locals prefer US$ because they can exchange or use them as equivalent to their exchange rate for CUCs so worth more It s the inverse for other currencies.

Waiting for good pictures and various tour descriptions.