esanders64

8 minutes ago, Marykatesmom said:

 

Thank you for letting us know.  Although I haven't been to Belize, I've already been to Key West and Mexico a few times.

If you do decide to stay on the cruise, we recommend the Mayan ruins in Belize.  

We requested a full refund today, and the Viking representative was very cooperative.

Viking has officially changed the Cuba itinerary to Key West, Belize, and Mexico.  As we have visited all 3 of those destination before, we didn't see any value in going to them again on a Viking cruise.  If we do cruise with Viking again in the Caribbean, we'll likely look for a more enticing location, such as the Panama Canal.

We are booked on a February 2020 Viking Ocean cruise to Cuba.  I got off the phone today with Viking, as I was concerned that final payment is due in 1 week for a cruise that still has a TBA itinerary.  On the phone, they stated that the cruise itself is not cancelled, but they are still working through the itinerary.  They offered to extend the final payment to August 15th, and also said we can cancel for a 100% refund if we wish to do so.  I opted to extend the final payment, as we are really hoping they find a way to preserve some of the itinerary.  Political situations do have a way of changing, especially once we get a few months past the headlines.  Crossing our fingers...

Hi Wes - we used FerTours on our visit to Havana last year.  We highly recommend them!  I did a separate post on the Cuba board about our experience, if you are interested in more details.  

Hi - I second the suggestions from notamermaid, based on our Viking Danube cruise this past spring. In our 50’s, we were younger than most of the 150+ cruisers. The age difference rarely mattered, as most of the people are active adults, and there were plenty of opportunities to go off on our own.

Regarding time of day for excursions, you can almost always go off on your own earlier, then head back to the ship at whatever time the group is leaving. The ships almost always dock in the city center, so you can walk off and do what you please until the scheduled departure. We took advantage of an early morning break in Krems, Austria, doing an hour plus walk through the small town before our organized excursion to Gottweig Abbey.

Lastly, you may want to read through the multiple articles on this board that compare the various river cruise lines. Our spring cruise was our first river cruise, and it was very helpful to read those articles to understand what to expect.

Enjoy!

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Hi - although you have already reached out to 4 companies, I will add in a recommendation for FerTours, with whom we had an excellent customized experience in August 2018. They have been highly reviewed on this board as well as on Trip Advisor.

Whatever you end up doing, I’d be in favor of the company that is most responsive and willing to customize for your needs. What I liked about FerTours is that they answered all emails within one day, and were completely flexible about requests to visit certain places, including during the tour itself. After all, this is your day in Havana, so you should feel comfortable to customize except for the few places where there are government restrictions.

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If you are in Havana, we recommend Habana 61, about a 15 minute walk from the cruise ship pier. Reservations are recommended, as they only have about 10 tables.

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We used FerTours last summer for our cruise day in Cuba. 100% positive experience! I really liked that our guide was willing to accommodate any request we made, from what streets to walk down to which buildings to visit. In advance of our tour, they said they would book us lunch at the restaurant of our choice, and we were very happy with Habana 61. Hope you enjoy!

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Hi BRC6C - given that sandals are your normal footwear, I think you’ll be fine. Keep in mind that most people visiting Havana prefer to get around the city by walking, so you’ll want to be sure your sandals are comfortable enough to wear throughout the day, at times on uneven streets. The only possible exception I can think of is whether sandals are appropriate at a nightclub such as the Tropicana.

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Hi - in case it wasn’t clearer in the earlier responses, we saw no need to bring small USD bills. All of our cash transactions in Havana were done in CUC, and we were politely refused the few times we offered to pay for something in USD. As others have said, you do want to have a few 1 CUC coins for bathroom stops. Enjoy!

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I echo the comments in favor of local tour companies. We used FerTours when in Cuba last summer, and completely recommend them. They offer multiple tours and are willing to customize for your schedule. If your day allows, make sure to have them reserve a lunch for you at one of the many local palador restaurants in Havana. I wrote a separate review of our excursion in the Cuba board. Enjoy!

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I believe that “people to people” was discontinued following last year’s policy announcement. Support for the Cuban People is the recommended category to check off, unless one of the others applies in your case.

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I highly recommend FerTours. We used them last summer for our day in Havana, and were completely satisfied with the arrangements before and during the day. You can search for my full review in the Cuba forum. Have fun!

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This thread has been very informational! We will be on RCCL Empress of the Seas - June 18th cruise and I think we will book one of the Fertours excursions. Our friends' Travel Agent and RCCL directly have told us we must book through the cruiseline (we have booked day 2 - Hemingway's Havana through them) but apparently they cannot force you to stay on the ship if we do not book through them on Day One?

Hi kcparrothead - so glad to read of your upcoming trip and your desire to book through FerTours. We are among those who loved them, from our trip last summer on Carnival!

Regarding policies around cruise ship tours, I can’t answer for RCCL, but I’m almost completely sure they will let you get off the ship and visit Cuba on your itinerary, rather than through their own tours. One area where you may want to check is if they will give disembarking priority to the people who have booked the cruise ship tours. When we had our Carnival cruise, they did assign earlier disembarking times to the people on the Carnival-arranged tours. But we were then allowed off early as well, just by showing them written confirmation of our private tour.

If you have the possibility, I would recommend switching your Day 2 tour of Hemingway’s Havana to a private one. You will likely see all the same things and more, for less money and in a smaller group.

Happy sailing!

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In regards to currency exchange, any advice on where and when to exchange? We are arriving on a Sunday late afternoon in Budapest, and we’re trying to figure out whether it makes sense to exchange at the airport, or wait until Monday morning in Budapest. For Sunday, we’re being taken straight to the ship, so I am guessing we won’t need Hungarian money until Monday.

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Habana 61. We loved our lunch there last summer. It is small so reservations are recommended. There are quite a few reviews on Trip Adviser.

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Hi - try to contact FerTours using the email link on their web site. Even though their site has a list of standard tours, they will customize. Let them know what time you are arriving, allowing an hour or so to clear customs and passport control. Good luck!

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Thank you all! We will go ahead and book on this activity on our own. And thanks as well for pointing out the roll call. We’ll post there too.

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Hello all - my wife and I are scheduled for the Viking Danube Waltz tour this spring, and we are seeking feedback on one of the activities we circled, the Lipizzaner Stallions in Vienna. What are the pros and cons of booking this excursion with Viking compared to doing it on our own?

Based on reading the excursion description and then looking at the Lipizzaner Stallion web site, it appears the tours of the riding school may be the same. The riding school offers about a one hour tour, which sometimes includes the horses practicing, if booked for the morning. The Viking excursion is 3.5 hours, and we’re guessing that the total time includes that same one hour tour of the riding school, along with extra time to get there, return, and stop at a Viennese cafe afterward.

My wife and I both speak reasonably good German and lived in Europe for multiple years, so we’re comfortable about our ability to navigate Vienna on our own. We also are fine with visiting a cafe on our own, rather than one that is part of an excursion. What we don’t know are some of the advantages the cruise excursion may offer.

Thoughts?

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From what I have been reading as well as a conversation I had with a Carnival representative last week, it appears the cruise lines will be allowing people to do private tours, as long as you acknowledge that it is your responsibility to verify what is or is not allowed. It appears that "Support for the Cuban People" is a good category for those activities. Of course, please check with your cruise line as confirmation.

And as long as we're talking about private tours, I'll add a recommendation for Fertours (fertours2havana.com). We used them for our visit in August, and were completely satisfied with the ease of working with them and the quality of our private tour.

Have fun!

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I agree with the point raised by frugaltravel. It appears that cruise ship passengers can still visit Havana outside of a cruise ship excursion, provided that they have confirmed that their activity meets the new rules. It looks like Royal Caribbean is making it clear that people without ship-sponsored excursions are responsible for this verification. It does not look like Royal Caribbean themselves will restrict people from leaving the ship, regardless of whether they have booked an excursion.

It does seem that the category of "Support for the Cuban People" could be used for some privately arranged tours. As pointed out by others, I suggest that people booking those tours validate the category with the tour provider.

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Despite what USA Today might say, there is no such thing as a "people -to-people visa". For US citizens travelling to Cuba there are two things, a visa (or travel card) issued by the Cuban government, and the affadavit required by the US government, wherein "people-to-people" is one of the options. Two different documents by two different governments.

Interesting to see the list of restricted businesses, in that it didn't include either the private tour company we used in Havana, FerTours, nor the restaurant we ate at, Habana 61.

As previous posters have remarked, the enforcement of these rules could be a logistical nightmare. I am curious to see how the cruise lines respond. I would be surprised if the cruise lines are willing to do any more enforcement than what what they are doing today, i.e. Requiring that passengers complete the visa application and accompanying affidavit.

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How do you know that? Because they told you so?

 

 

 

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Good question. I know that because we handed our money directly to our tour guide, at the end of the tour. There was no prepayment online, no credit card.

Since you are posting on this board, I assume you are interested in cruising to Cuba? If so, please feel free to read some of my other posts, or let me know if I can help you with questions. Best wishes!

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I'm curious to see how the other cruise lines respond to the announcement. As pointed out earlier, the big question is whether American can arrange their own itineraries in Cuba, booking through Cuban-owned companies. Or will all activities in Cuba have to be done through official cruise line excursions? We felt our experience this summer was much more meaningful with 3 of us being led by a Cuban tour guide. And it was meaningful to us that our money was going directly to the Cuban-owned company, not to a non-Cuban middleman.

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Hi WackyWayne - for our August cruise on the Carnival Paradise, we did enter the harbor from the bow of the ship.

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