IsaSweden69

On 7/5/2019 at 12:36 AM, cccole said:

Au contraire RJB,  many are still traveling to Cuba.  We are a group of 13 traveling from the U.S. in November and I use this forum for information.  I hope those who visit or have visited Cuba will still read this forum and contribute.  Thanks to everyone who helps all of us plan our trip.  Cherie   

www.havanacar.net

You can contact Stefano from the website or at havanacarcuba@gmail.com. He will reply you very quickly. If you are looking for someone to help you with a trip in Cuba...he is the guy !

Enjoy your Holiday in Cuba😉

I have been chatting on whatsapp with Stefano ( Havanacar manager)  this morning and he told me that they had to change the name of their agency on Tripadvisor from Havanacar to Hc tours Havana as many people were confusing Havanacar with Grancar which is a logo  all the classic cars with the license to work with tourists must have on both sides.

And for this reason they were getting many feedbacks  from people who did not use their services.

So the only way to stop this was changing the name.

So from now on if you want to read reviews about Havanacar on Tripadvisor  you should look for Hc tours Havana.

9 hours ago, Wideross said:

How could you send a deposit to Cuba?

We sent the deposit by paypal to their manager Stefano who is based in Florida.

They also proposed us to send a bank transfer to a US account, even online through something called Zelle,  but as we live in Sweden it was easier to use paypal.

It was really easy and few minutes after sending the deposit we received the invoice with all the other details about our tour.

17 minutes ago, wendyp247 said:

I’m going to Cuba on NCL . Can you buy the visa from the ship and take an independent tour. Wanted to take tour in vintage cruise convertible but too expensive from ship. TIA

You can definitely get a Visa from the ship if you wanna have a tour with a local company.

It should be Ofac compliant. We have used havanacar and I highly recommend them.

You can visit their website www.havanacar.net or contact their manager Stefano by email at Havanacarcuba@gmail.com.

Of course the cruise ship will warn you doing that as they try push you to buy their tours but you can be 100% sure that you can get a Visa from them and take a private tour.

We used Havanacar.net for a full day Vinales tour and a 6 hours Combo Havana City Tour ( 3 hours City tour in a classic convertible + 3 hours Old Havana walking tour with a professional English speaking guide).

Both tours were great. The two cars we used were amazing.

It was a real bargain considering the quality of service and also thst they were private tours rather than the expensive shared ones offered by the cruise.

Moreover their manager Stefano is based in Florida so it makes the booking process much easier.

I am recommending them to all the people I know!

You can contact Stefano from Havanacar.net

They offer private tours starting at the time you prefer.

Higly recommended!

We had 2 great tours with a local agency.

We applied for a Visa on our own checking " Support to Cuban People".

I don't understand why many people wants to get a Visa under the P2P category while is so simple to get one just checking "support to cuban people" avoiding all the problems.

Did you have the tour with Omar in the white and pink Buick ?

We had a 3 hours tour for 4 people in a convertible and the total price was 120 cuc.

We paid a 45 usd deposit by paypal and 80 cuc at the end of our tour.

I am going to book a City tour with them.

They asked to send a deposit to confirm the booking while the balance should be paid in cash directly in Cuba.

Is it normal to ask for a deposit?

We also paid a deposit and then the balance at the beginning of our tour.

Everything was ok.

A few months before our Royal Caribbean cruise, I contacted Stefano from HavanaCar to inquire about a private tour.

We were going to book two of the cruise line’s shore excursions — Best of Havana bus tour and Old Havana Walking tour. However, we definitely wanted to ride around in a classic car while in Havana to see some of the sights we missed on the tours.

Stefano came through and arranged a beautiful classic pink and white convertible for three hours on our final afternoon.

Our guide Hugo was prompt and easy to find at a prearranged meeting place in San Francisco Square. He was extremely knowledgeable about the culture and history of Havana and Cuba, and his English was superb. Our driver Omar was extremely pleasant and did a great job of taking us to see important landmarks of the city.

We are extremely grateful to Stefano for giving us some of the best memories of our trip.

I would like to bring things for the Cuban people, I read hair scrunchies, crayons and coloring books for children and shampoo and bar soap could be appreciated by the Cuban people. My other half says they are just fine, but I am reading they could use items, I want to bring things to them but is this against the rules of the cruise line (yes, I will have to call and ask them to)? Does anybody know of an orphanage there that I can bring things to the children?

Just ask your guide or driver.

They will take you to the closest school or orphanage ;)

It took us only 30 minutes to get off the ship.

We preferred to exchange money during our tour in a hotel lobby as the bank branch outside the termin was very crowded.

Sending deposits is illegal? I am planning on booking with "Locally Sourced Havana Tours" well reviewed on Tripadvisor & they require 10% deposit & full payment 7 days prior to tour.

If they are an authorized private company you can send the deposit without having to worry ablut anything.

Hope it helps ;)

I would agree that Stefano with Havanacar was very responsive. However, I would be very wary of any company wanting prepayment. He should have been upfront about wanting deposits when dealing with our group instead of throwing out that deal breaker after we decided to confirm our booking. Not only is sending deposits through Paypal or via bank account for Cuba tour illegal under US embargo laws, but there is no guarantee that you could ever get your money back should your ship cancel the port-of-call. There are plenty of reliable companies in Cuba offering tours without a deposit. It just is not worth the bother and the extra expense, as a Havanacar deposit in US funds comes with a 10 percent plus surcharge. Good luck to you, and hope it goes well.

We did send our deposit to confirm our booking with Havanacar.net. I think is normal to pay a deposit as almost all the most important companies ask for it.

Paypal which is a US Company doesn't process services or goods sold in Cuba due to the embargo, but it is not illegal to send a deposit if you are dealing with an authorized private company not listed in the ones banned to US citizens.

We simply sent our deposit through paypal as it was a transfer to a friend.

There is not any surcharge. Probably you don't know the official Cuc:Usd exchange rate which is 0.87 to 1.

It means 100 USD are 87 Cuc. It is the USD which is taxed an extra 10% from the Cuban government and not from them.

Stefano, the company manager , refunded us 40 cuc from the original deposit we paid as 2 friends from our group had to give up for health issues and it was not even expected as it was a last second waiver.

Good luck to you if you decide to choose a company which doesn't require a deposit. You are probably not risking your deposit but at the same time you cannot be sure that they will show up!

Few shoots from our tour

Who did you book with?

We used Havanacar. Their website is http://www.havanacar.net or you can contact their manager Stefano who is based in Florida on whatsapp at +13109623089.

Ask for Omar or Hugo. They are the best;);)!

Who did you pre book thru? Was that price per person or total per hour?

 

Thanks

We pre-booked a tour and the total cost for 5 people for a 6 hours tour ( 3 hours in a very beautiful classic convertible + 3 hours walking tour in Old Havana with an English speaking guide ) was 200 Cuc.

I think it was really a bargain considering the quality of the service we received.

Also we were able to pay the full amount in USD by paypal as their manager lives in Florida and the guide was waiting for us at the exit of the cruise terminal so we did not have to waste time in finding a driver or a guide and negotiating a price.

I also tried this website and it doesn't come up.

Try www.havanacar.net and ask for Omar and Hugo. They are the best 😍

We have had a great Vinales tour in a classic hardtop car with Alain from Havanacar.net.

You can contact them through their website or by email (havanacarcuba@gmail.com).

They also offer Havana city tours in classic convertible as well as walking tours but we have not used them in Havana as we had already booked our City tour from the cruiseline.

If you are staying 2 days in Havana I'll definitely suggest a trip to Vinales. It was an amazing experience.

Can anyone recommend a tour company that meets requirements to get off the ship without booking RC excursion? They only have 14 listed and several of those are cabaret shows.

 

Are there any tour companies that will take you to a beach for the day?

 

Also interested in classic car tour.

 

We have two full days and one night there.

We had a great experience using Havanacar Cuba! We only had one full day in Cuba and wanted to go horseback riding in Vinales so we had Havanacar Cuba drive us from Havana and back the same day (3 hour ride each way). We had such an awesome day! Our driver, Alain was so nice and knowledgable. He made a couple of stops at very beautiful places (like a gorgeous viewpoint by Vinales Valley, a mural, and some caves). The car was lovely and had very good AC (which you really need in Cuba!).

Before I booked the trip I communicated by email with Stefano who was also awesome and very professional - he responded to my emails quickly. I highly recommend this company - they are GREAT!!!!