RiverBlues

Plan sounds fine.

Just have in mind an itinerary for the 4 hour "tour", so you get in what YOU want to see and not just what the driver thinks is an overview. I would not necessarily expect off the street to get a driver/owner of car who speaks good English, although perhaps the ones who have the nicest cars (quality restoration and air conditioning) also have the guide skills to make enough to restore such a car. Expect most cars to be badly restored (for example, same cheap, shiny white plastic on seats and door panels) and the seats sprung out (uncomfortable, esp. after a couple of hours).

In a four hour tour, you should not only get an overview of the city, but get out to see Hemingway's finca and/or Fusterlandia and/or the Colombo cemetery. If you drive the "full" Malecon, you should be able to see the Christ statue across a narrow bit of water anyway, but enjoy the ferry ride. On night one, you might consider taking a taxi the short way through the tunnel to see the cannon firing at 9pm. Read up on the history of it. There are costumed soldiers, a period carriage, a craft market, the castle/fort and the cannon shot itself. Then you could go back to your bar hop or hit one or two of the music clubs listed on http://www.lahabana.com

If you think you like the idea of a coco taxi, try the bici-taxis as well while getting around in Habana Vieja. IMO, most crafts/paintings are very limited; the Almacenes San Jose market has what every shop on Obispo has, just more of it and a few more "original" (i.e. not the same ones of classic cars) but bad quality paintings. If you want actual art, look for the print making studios in Habana Vieja which actually have original art of decent quality. The majority of souvenirs and trinkets seem to be made in China.

The HOHO is quite adequate as an introduction to the city. There isn't a lot of traffic, as there is in some cities that have them, so they are efficient getting around. Narration is in Spanish, but you say that is not a problem for you, and you can't ask questions of a tape.

You don't get the hand-holding, the option to personalize the itinerary and, as mentioned, the interaction with a Cuban guide that the higher cost buys.

We took a tour operated by a cuban young woman (Duramis) and she spoke english very well. She knew about the “Support for the Cuban People” category and she designed our two day tour to meet this category. Just by taking her tour, we are supporting the cuban people and not the state.

 

We visited fusterlandia, 2 private paladares for lunch (1 ea day), old havana, the cuban Christ, el morro, house of cuban people, the capitol, revolucion plaza and a tabaco factory. .

Places like El Morro, the Capital, and the cigar factory are property of the Cuban government. You could argue that going there with a private tour guide fulfills the Support for the Cuban People category, but still......not completely accurate IMO to state that the tour "meets this category"., especially when any entry fees go directly to the Cuban government. (Luckily, it is very unlikely to ever matter.)

You get a visa for your entire stay. This applies to air/ground travelers as well as cruise passengers (even with multiple port stops) from any country, with any passport.

This tourist card/visa is emitted by thee Cuban government. They expect that anyone holding a TOURIST CARD is going to be a tourist. In reality, the cruise line is serving as a middle-man for these visas, as a "convenience" to might be another option.passengers. IF it weren't so unwieldy (Staff has been reduced by order of the US government, and the staff wasn't too efficient beforehand anyway.) to get them through the Cuban Embassy in Washington, DC, that might be another option.

The cruise line is confusing Cuban government requirements with US OFAC requirements, to the advantage of the cruise line and their expensive excursions.

If you plan to return multiple times, it might make more sense to pay $160 for the regular visa, which is good for 10 years.

Note:

The multi-entry e-visa for U$44 is good for 2 years. (total U$220 and 5 application processes for 10 years)

The "regular" and still-available multi-entry visa for U$160 is good for 10 years.

....so it depends on your plans which you apply for....

EDITQUOTE

Note:

The multi-entry e-visa for U$44 is good for 2 years. (total U$220 and 5 application processes for 10 years)

The "regular" and still-available multi-entry visa for U$160 is good for 10 years.

....so it depends on your plans which you apply for....

Anyone who has a vehicle and speaks any English is going to bill themselves as a "tour guide", not a taxi driver, and charge accordingly.

A good guide to contact is Rafa (donrafaguestsinrio.blogspot). A guide with a vehicle can show you some off the path places, and do so in a more efficient manner, so you can see more in the time you have.

If not, just get a regular yellow taxi to take you to the sights you want to see. The popular tourist sights always have taxis waiting for when you are finished.

Get to the the statue when it opens. You can take the train up or get a van in Copacabana that takes you most of the way up and connects with an official van to the top. Sugarloaf is nice at sunset. The lines there move quickly. You need a sunny day for both or the views are obscured, not always a guarantee in February. There are also other "vista points" in the Tijuca forest.

What exactly are you imagining as "some of the Jewish sights"?

There are 3 synagogues. The biggest is an uninteresting 1960s style building (like many suburban ones in the US). The folks there will arrange to open the sanctuary for you when you arrive, but the young woman who did so for us was very disinterested in yet another US tourist. Don't expect a welcome with open arms or any feeling of 'connection in the diaspora' or any thanks for a US Jew showing interest/solidarity. They do operate a kind of pharmacy and you do have a right to take a separate duffle bag full of medicine (30 pounds iirc) through Cuban customs to donate there.

There is another small synagogue in Havana Vieja that has kosher beef (a luxury reserved for the Jewish population) and is open daily afaik.

And the third in Centro is usually closed, except on shabbat. Not much to see.

If you can find someone with the knowledge to do a "Jewish tour" of the Colon Cemetery (as I've seen video of on YouTube), you could add that.

That's pretty much all I've discovered on several trips. If you can add anything you found while there, I'd be interested to hear for my next trip.

"Simple" Cuban restaurant food (as opposed to what a host might cook at home in a casa particular for guests) is NOT often very good. They suffer from lack of products available. There is, for example, no beef for ropa vieja at a price a "simple" restaurant (one where ordinary Cubans can afford to eat) could buy. Pollo for arroz com pollo at a hole in the wall in Cuba is often barely edible. Stick to the higher end restaurants, lest you be at best disappointed. There are lists of the good ones on http://www.lahabana.com (the ones with 5* there). You can find a good one for 10-12 CUC for dinner, certainly less than 20 CUC (unless you drink a lot).

You find quality original paintings at the studio of the artist. The shops and the Almacenes market mostly have stock paintings of the classic cars (and recently the quality of even those has suffered, as it seems everyone's tia and abuela has begun "painting" to make a tourist buck) and some poor quality "original" art. There are a couple of print making studios in the Havana Vieja neighborhood that have some interesting stuff, not cheap, but you can also watch prints being made if any artists are there. The sales people are very knowledgable about the individual artists in the gallery. And a high end craft store there too. There are a lot of low quality crafts for sale all over the touristy neighborhoods.

Most of the tourist shops have paintings of the classic cars. Try along Calle Obispo. If you are looking for quality art, though, you may have to arrange to go to an artist's studio or look for the couple of print making studios in Havana Vieja. There are also a couple of high end craft shops in Vieja. Otherwise, there is mostly junk, including most paintings at the Almacenes San Jose (IMO). Other souvenirs and crafts are largely not high quality.

What specifically does your tour include ( to eliminate those places) ? You can probably take a taxi out to see Fusterlandia in 4 hours.

Many of the restaurants have bands/singers (of varying quality). There are several Buena Vista Social Club shows. The nearest may be a short walk from the pier, behind the Saratoga hotel. Or you can look at the monthly listings on http://www.lahabana.com for other styles of music at other venues around town. It is easy and safe to take a taxi to them, and find one to get you back.

There is an exchange booth at the pier.

The fee to exchange any currency to Cuban CUC is 3% (and 3% to change back any leftovers at the end of the visit).

Note: Currency exchange rates fluctuate slightly every day.

There is an additional 10% charged on US dollars. So you get 87 CUC for 100 USD always and at every official cadeca and bank.

The "savings" in first exchanging dollars at home to either Euros or CDN dollars amounts to about USD$40 on USD $1000, not including any fees to do the home exchange and also your time and effort.

If you are not planning to spend that much (and on a short cruise stay, you should only spend a few hundred at most), it may not be worth it.

If you have Euros left over from a European trip, you may want to bring them along, however.

I agree with what pbenjamin has said above.

Cuba welcomes you as a tourist. Do not confuse their policies with those of the US.

The US OFAC is not and has not been checking/auditing any individual's itinerary who attests that s/he qualifies for an OFAC general license.

The cruise line may be simply trying to scare the uninformed into paying for their expensive tours.