Mrsinsyder

Thanks for the review. Very helpful. Others on the boards have said you don't have to exchange US dollars. Do you agree? would you have been able to purchase with US dollars? I'm also doing the hotel Parisian. Other than taking a nap prior to the excursion do you have any other suggestions. I just noticed that NCL took the Tropicana and the Buena Vista social club off my possible excursions on 8/7/17 sailing. Any idea why?

We just left Havana and no one wanted dollars (and we interacted with tons of people). The one person who did take dollars from us charged us more to make up for the conversion penalty. Converting money is the way to go.

CTCruiser

Two quick questions. Were you able to use restaurant bathrooms without a purchase or are there public bathrooms in the Havana area?

Also would you be able to see the cannon demonstration at 9:00 pm from the ship? Thanks for your review.

Most bathrooms have an attendant that you can toss a CUC at even if you don't purchase something.

Can anyone tell me which side of ship is better to be on and why?

In Cuba !

Thanks

Starboard looks out over Havana and the malecon while port only looks at... the port.

Yes I imagine it will be very difficult. She left 57 years ago with me!! I've wanted to return but only with my mom. I know she will be very emotional!!

 

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If you plan to bring anything for your family, be prepared to get hassled, both by the ship and Cuban customs. The ship made us go to the guest desk to verify that someone in our party was Cuban born, otherwise you can't bring much off the ship. After that, Cuban customs held us up for about an hour thumbing through everything and just being generally difficult. The customs officer was friendly but his boss was making him check everything against a little manual of what you can bring it. It's also a valuation of $50 per person; he helped us fill out the form properly so that we didn't have anything seized from us.

We, too, will be visiting family in Havana while there and I'm sure we will see that same side you saw. I'm sure it will be especially difficult and emotional for my mom to see this but she is eager to go!!

 

 

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It will be very tough! My dad left 55 years ago and has not been back since. He couldn't even sleep Monday night! He was up on the pool deck staring at the sea all night.

Some pics:

I'm on the current Sky sailing reading this thread as Great Stirrup Cay was cancelled. The Cuban government seems to be doing a great job of fooling tourists into thinking Cuba has turned some corner in its government. Our tour guide was very sanitized as they all are, since the vast majority of them and taxi drivers work for a function of the government. My dad finally got one of them to admit that the pretty area near the port was where the firing squads killed thousands after the revolution. We were lucky enough to drive outside of the tourist area to get a glimpse of the real Cuba - people waiting in lines for bread, typical incomes of $24 US a month. We visited our family who weren't lucky enough to leave when everyone else did - it was a wonderful experience. It will be very interesting to see how or if Cuba continues to change as tourism continues to grow. I also have to chuckle a bit at how many passengers are sporting hats with the red star of communism on them (they're for sale everywhere).

We've had a great cruise so far and it's a great way to visit Cuba without having to worry much about the infrastructure since you can just return to the boat at any time.

If you are going to expect this kind of cultural accommodation, going to Cuba right now is probably not an appropriate choice for you. I, for one, am looking forward to visiting *before* the island is Americanized. I think it's a rather narrow world view to visit other countries and be upset that they aren't speaking OUR language.

Late but thank you for posting this :rolleyes:

I'd like to buy cigars when we visit but my relatives who live there say 9 out of 10 are fakes these days. I'll have to check out the shop you visited.

Why are people sorry when someone has a bad time? :confused: I am in no way sorry they had a bad time. I did not have any effect on the OP having a bad time whatsoever so I am in no way sorry.

Basic compassion and/or empathy, perhaps?

They will promote it because it's up to you to declare it [emoji482][emoji857]

 

 

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Yep, the same way some people think they can shop at Diamonds International and no one will know any better :p

You may wish to see if this cruise has a thread already in the "Roll Call" forum.

Typically 2L duty free but it varies depending on ports you go to.

136!

It's a short wait compared to my dad, who left Cuba in 1962 and has been dreaming of returning ever since. So excited to make the journey with him and to meet the family he left behind!! :D

Thanks for all the information. Many of you have put my mind at ease...

 

Regarding the "you booked in september on impulse, but didn't research it until now" questions, I wanted to say a few things.

Thanks to your husband (and you) for your service.

It's silly that you've even had to explain yourself, you've not been rude or snarky in any of your posts asking about the ship... the same cannot be said for some of the other replies on here.

They're not strict at all. Some people chose not to partake in wearing formal attire on our cruise and no one cared.

I'm not sure how using walkie talkies is being disrespectful to fellow passengers any more so than those passengers walking deck side or on the promenade shouting into cell phones to find the location of family/friends

This is also disrespectful to people around you :)

To be respectful of your fellow passengers... please leave them at home. Lioness' suggestions worked well for us and our friends when we cruised last month. Allure is a big ship but it's easy to find each other.

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Sorry :(

If someone does not pepay tips or removes automatic tips, then the crewmembers are "charged" the standard tip rate.

So what if someone doesn't tip them at all, or tips them less than the suggested amount?

We do the same (remove the gratuities).

I have a feeling that giving them the money in cash gives them a bit more discretion on how they share the money they get and/or how they report it to RCCL. Not my place to decide if that's right or wrong, nor am I saying it is what everyone does, but just an assumption.

We prefer to remove the gratuities so that we can compensate how we like, and now how RCCL divvies it out.

Did you go for dinner and it was free? Was on allure in oct and there was a fee for dinner.

 

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It's not open at dinner, it's Samba Grill then (Brazilian).

Skeet shooting off the back of the ship

Yass!! My husband doesn't even believe that was real.

I wouldn't pay 10x more than the rest of us for a menu on my pillow and a laundry string in the first place, but if those things were worth the money to you, I'm sorry you didn't get them. Better luck next time.

Post of the day.

I brought a hair dryer, curling wand, and steamer on the Allure this month. The only problem was that my Dyson hairdryer uses A LOT of power and kept powering off (it blew a fuse at the Aria in Vegas). I'd bring another one next time.

We just got off of Allure and it was free - ate there nearly every day.