ukbballfan

Captains announcement…electrical problem with the generator that powers the engines…had to kill all power while being serviced…says we’re fixed and should resume shortl. 

Tv says 2 knots but we’re sitting still. There’s a large vibration every now and then but still not moving. 

Engine has went out…they are working on it but for now we’re just drifting about. We are on our way to the Falklands. 

Mauricio ~ Guide Santiago, Chile

Very friendly and reliable…used him in 2020 and will again this January……his WhatsApp is +56 9 9448 9509

Email   psmauricioescobar@gmail.com

I’m on the May 15 cruise and we weren’t scheduled for Sitka so it’s an even swap for us. 

Hearing that Sitka is replacing Skagway.

Looking like Sitka.

Michelle and her beautiful Beaver Dehaviland plane are first class. Loved the tour with her…landed on a lake and went ashore to watch bears playing in the distance.

erber...thanks for all the info! Can you tell me the level of dress for men on formal nights? Wondering if a suit would be needed.

We enjoyed our Amalfi coast tour very much! Our guide was very knowledgeable and went out of his way to make sure we had a great day. I’d definitely use them again!

Dont know about this particular tour but I do know you will find no finer man in the Caribbean than Thenford Grey.

We flew with Michelle, owner of Island Wings, with my mil who was in her late 60’s at the time and has some mobility issues. Michelle is great to work with and we had no problems but when you land on the lake in Misty Flords...you get out of the plane and walk on the floats to reach shore. You dont have to leave the plane but its a really nice part of the whole experience. Call Michelle and voice your concerns and make your decision then.

Harv & Marv will get you back to the ship in plenty of time.

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Michelle at Island wings in Ketchikan does a great job and has an awesome plane.

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Last July when docking in Amsterdam on a Gate 1 cruise we were about 500 yards from the central train station.

Not to add any confusion...but I strongly suggest you consider at least a day in Lucerne. It is so much prettier than Basel. The train system is top notch.

We sailed our first river cruise last year on the Rhine from Basel to Amsterdam with Gate 1. We were somewhat skeptical of what we were going to encounter due to the great price we had paid compared to the more popular lines, but we were pleasantly surprised...so much so we are doing the Danube with Gate 1 in July. The food was top notch and the mood was laid back. At the welcome aboard party we were quickly made at ease as they have everyone tell their name and where they're from and if they have travelled with Gate 1 before. The majority of cruisers were past Gate 1 clients...and I mean a lot were on their 10th-15th trip with Gate 1. I figured with that kind of loyalty they must be doing something right...and they were.

Loved your review! We're going the Empress of the Sea in August and plan on getting a JS on Deck 9. This will be our first time with a balcony room. Do you have any advise on which side of the ship may be better for enjoying our balcony?

For our 2 stops it didn't matter. In Costa Maya the back of the ship faced the port but there's not much to see there anyways. In Havana you are pulled in between two warehouses with the city straight ahead...best views are at sail in...although from the top deck you can probably see over the warehouses.

We did not take any cabin pics...they all tend to look alike after a few cruises. If you pull up a picture of the ship look at the front and you will see 2 very wide cutouts in the steel hull...those are decks 6 & 7...what I call the viewing areas. The windows you see are for the cabins. We were in 7002 and I would book it again without hesitation. The ease of getting out to take pics or just to get a breath of fresh air was worth worrying about someone looking in.

The all day tour with I Love Cuba was 200 CUC's for the 2 of us. We tipped the driver and guide generously as we felt they were well above the average . They might accept US dollars but you would have to ask Yosul.

My cameras were a Canon T3i dslr that I have had for a few years and love. I also carry a Nikon S9900 on my belt because it has a 40X optical zoom.

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We're on the May 20 sailing. Do they really take everyone's temperature??? Seems like that would take forever!

That's what they said and 3 doctors did come aboard but by jumping the line we never got ours taken and nothing was said in the terminal about it. I didn't think to ask our tablemates about it. They mentioned it was a scanner they would use so maybe that would be quicker.

First of "Go Cats!!!" #BBN. We are in the 5/20 cruise also. Really enjoyed the review and pics. Answered so many of the questions we have. Sounded like you just merged in with people on RCI excursions to get off the boat early. We are also doing a private tour first thing. What's your advise to get off early??

 

 

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I would hope RCL learned a lot from our cruise and the one leaving today, I think, so yours might be better organized. We simply hung near the center stairs in the atrium and jumped in at the first opportunity. I would also venture to guess that after reading reports from previous cruisers your cruise will have a lot more people doing private tours themselves.

Simply wonderful review. The pictures were excellent.

 

Did you see the "small elevator" many have mentioned? I believe we will be able to make it down the stairs but going back up will be a major issue. We always use the elevators when we sail to get from landside to ship and back.

 

Others have reported that we must take our own toilet paper/wipes for use off the ship. Did you find this to be true? Have had to do this in many countries we have traveled in previously (Mexico and China to mention two) so not an issue if we know.

 

Thanks for taking your valuable time to share so much helpful information with us.

 

Grace

We did not note elevator but was told it was incredibly slow. Stairs are about 15 feet wide with a hand rail down the center.

YES, take your toilet paper!

After returning to town we went to the Nacionale Hotel. This is where all the big names stay while in Havana. Our guide said she had met Danny Glover and Jamie Lee Curtis there. We came here for the views and to shop for cigars and rum. We had stopped by a cigar factory but it had been closed. Cigars were about 10 CUC'c each for Montecristo's and Cohiba's were about the same. Rum varied in price but was from 7-20 CUC's depending on age.

By this time it was about 3:45 and we needed to be back onboard by 5:30 and we still needed to pick up some souvenirs. Our guide took us to the market about 600 yards from the ship and helped us navigate the many stalls. We found t-shirts for 12 CUC's and hats for 8 CUC's. They were of surprisingly good quality. We then had our driver drop us off in front of the terminal and we each received a hug and we thanked her for a most amazing day. We headed back up the 42 steps and through security. Surprisingly our rum was not taken to storage...I guess since just about everyone had bought rum and it would have taken a lot of manpower and a huge room to hold it all.

We hurried to our rooms to shower and then to dinner. The MDR was again buzzing with everyone telling their stories. Our waiters both were lucky enough to have gotten to go ashore for a couple hours and they were as excited as we were. There was a nice farewell performance by the dining staff and we said our goodbyes. We then went to the show which was a comedy/stunt performance. The guy was great and we laughed till we cried. I have to say this cruise had the best entertainment of any cruise we had been on. We took one last stroll around the Empress picking up our photos and then headed to the cabin to pack. We always do self disembarkation and it went smoothly. We were up at 7:00 and out of our cabin at 8:00. We went through the terminal and got in the long line for immigration. You no longer have to fill out the little blue forms and things went quickly. We were not asked about cigars or rum. Once outside I called QLS and our van was there in 10 minutes. We decided not to eat on the ship as we had a couple hours to kill at the airport before our flight.

All in all it was a very good cruise. The food in the MDR was above average, the crew was excellent, and the entertainment top notch. I wasn't sure about sailing on such a small ship but I would do it again tomorrow. I guess if we had a complaint it would have been the food in the Windjammer but a mass buffet is a mass buffet. I hope this wasn't too long winded...I just wanted to give out as much info as I could as we had so many questions before we left. For perspective, we are a couple in our mid to late 50's and this was our 23rd cruise. Feel free to ask anything about the cruise and I will try to answer. Here is the compass from the last day.

Next up we headed to an area called the Jungle...which appears to be Havana's green space. Here we saw a bunch of men playing baseball, and after crossing a small river, we saw something you just don't see everyday. Now I must warn you a couple of these pics could possibly be disturbing to some.

The man in blue is a Santeria priest performing a cleansing ritual. It was done by sacrificing a chicken...whose blood was dripped all over the person in the water. Santeria is a religion our guide said was sweeping the country. Apparently when Fidel came to power he outlawed all religions so most of the 8.8 million Cubans born after 1960 had no exposure to religion. The Catholics were the first ones back and others followed but the vast majority have no religious affiliation. If you see people on the streets dressed all in white you will know they are making the conversion to the Santeria religion. They must wear all white for 1 full year. This, I would say, is similar to the things that occurred in the old testament of the Bible.

Next up we headed to the suburbs of Havana to an area called Fusterlandia...a kind of folk art neighborhood where an artist...Jose Fuster started putting tile mosaics on his house. This has now spread throughout the neighborhood. It will remind you of some of Gaudi's work...especially if you have been to Parc Guell in Barcelona.

It was an interesting place to see but if you're short on time I would skip the 25 minute drive out to it.

Next up was the newer part of Havana including the Capital Building which was modeled after ours...as well as a few other nicer buildings.

As we were walking our guide pointed out a local bank and we went in to exchange some money. I was surprised they were open on a Sunday and our guide said they are usually only closed on Mondays. This took about 10 minutes and you have to show them your passport. No matter where you exchange you will get 84 CUC's for $100. There are 2 different monies in Cuba...one for tourists and one for locals. Always make sure you are given change in CUC's as they are much more valuable than the regular peso. You can tell them apart as the tourist CUC has a monument on them while the regular peso will have a persons picture on them. As far as I know you can not get them anywhere but in Cuba as they are not on an International exchange.

By this time it was around 11:30 and we were getting tired of walking so we headed to our waiting car and she was a beauty...a 1956 Bel Air in mint condition.

We decided it was time for lunch and we went to a palladar that the guide used frequently. A palladar is a family run restaurant...opposed to one run by the government. These had been allowed since 2011 and were almost always in the families house. . The meal was very good and for two of us each having a three course meal with a beer was 42 CUC's. This place accepted US dollars and it was converted to $48 We wanted to save our CUC's for shopping later.

After lunch we headed out to Revolution Square...the place all the big speeches are given. Across the street there are two buildings with images on them, one of Fidel's good friend and the other his revolutionary counterpart Che Guevara