kahlolin

I sailed with friends on the Sky in Feb.'14 and thought the ship was in excellent shape - our room looked brand new - carpet, beds, TV - also, the carpet in the hallway where our room was located was brand new. Wish she did other, longer itineraries, as she is a lovely ship, clean and well-maintained. :)

There is a tour operator in Calgary, Alberta who has negotiated with the Cuban government to operate week-long cruises around the island of Cuba. He leased the Greek ship "Louis Cristal" and these cruises began in Dec. 2013. My husband and I did this cruise this past January - we flew from Toronto to Montego Bay and boarded there, but had the option to also board in Havana. The majority of passengers were from Canada, Scandinavia, Britain, and S. America, but we did meet a few Americans on board.

It was a wonderful cruise, and having never visited Cuba previously, gave us a look into the life and culture of the island and its people. We thoroughly enjoyed it. The cruises are available again this winter - Dec. to March. The ship was small and old, but in immaculate condition, and the crew was fabulous. It turned out to be one of our favourite cruises to date.

Now we are looking forward to our next cruise to Maritime Canada on the Legend OTS from Quebec City in Oct. :)

We are very excited to be sailing on her to Hawaii next Saturday ........ and on to Vancouver. Promise to take good care of her while we are on board! :)

where to next? ............... great review of the Cuba Cruise ........... we agree, there was not one negative the whole week. In over 20 cruises we have done, it was very close to the best. Also a great way to break up this nasty SW Ontario winter! If anyone is "considering" this vacation, they should just book it! They won't be sorry. :o

We really enjoyed Emily & Arvin when they entertained on the Spirit in the fall of 2009 .......will be on the Sky next month and I was hoping either they or Amadeus would be singing there. :)

Seemeilen ................ would you by chance be flying to Montego Bay on Air Transat? They offer a bus transfer to the ship from the airport and back for $7 p.p. each way. The bus was waiting for us when we landed and the drive was very short. The bus was also waiting (same driver) when we left the ship a week later to take us back to the airport. Great service! :o

We loved the coffee on the Cristal - it was almost as good as what we brew at home! We are not Tim Horton's fans so believe it is much better than their coffee.

Yesterday we watched the cruise DVD which we bought onboard - it was excellent. It was tailored to our week on the ship and showed entertainment, onboard life, many crew members, the ports we visited, some excursions, and some of our new cruise friends. It is a lovely souvenir of our cruise. :o

retiring soon .............. there were 2 children (one I believe was a teenager) with their parents down the hall from us - not sure whether they boarded in Montego Bay with us, or in Havana on the 13th. They were very quiet. They are the only ones I recall seeing.

Retiring Soon ........... this is the first cruise in more than 15 years which we have done without my husband bringing along his wheelchair ..........he is more-or-less learning to walk again :o , so we did not book any of the excursions offered by the cruise line, we took local cabs in Cienfuegos and Santiago de Cuba, and a horsedrawn carriage in Havana. That was great! We heard that the "Cuba Life" tour in Holguin was very good - more than one couple told us that. We did not ride the life boats, but enjoyed those days at leisure on the ship. Oh, we were also on the Triton - a really nice little ship.

On y Va ........... it was so good to meet you, Janet, and Howard. I will be in touch by email .............

I am envious of those of you who are still looking forward to this cruise - what a delightful vacation you all have awaiting you!

Sweet dreams all :)

Kim Viktor ........... we really enjoyed your photos since we were on the ship Jan. 10 - 17. What a fabulous cruise! We have sailed on various cruise lines over 20 times, and we rate this cruise right at the top!!!!!!! Cannot say enough good things about the crew, the ship, our stateroom, the food - everything was wonderful. And ............. we met some of the nicest folks. Hopefully we have made some long-term friendships. :o Maybe ................ we will be able to repeat this wonderful cruise vacation again next year. :)

Well, two nights from tonight we should be sitting on the top deck of the Cristal, enjoying the warm sea air and the stars!!!!! I checked this morning and all the outbound flights to Florida, Jamaica, and Cuba left as scheduled from Pearson, so we are all ready to go. Cannot wait! :)

Saw a news item which stated that American diplomats are in trade talks with the Cubans in Havana right now .......... so things are bound to change very soon with regard to tourism in Cuba, we believe. I am very happy that we decided to take this cruise. We are so looking forward to a good time, and making new friends aboard. Imagine - a whole week away from ice and snow! Wow! :o

I know there are folks blogging - I will give my unprofessional views re. the cruise when we return.

On y va ........... good morning Janet - my computer isn't cooperating this morning.............. would you care to email me so we could perhaps make plans to meet on the ship?

kahlolin@gmail.com

When do you leave for WARM weather? We don't go until next Friday - I can't wait! :o

Try to keep warm ........ it is -16 here in London at 10:20 a.m. :mad:

Carolyn

Good morning to On y va ...... maybe we can connect - would be fun to meet you. We are also on the starboard side, obstructed view, on Deck 6.

When our agent originally booked this for us with Air Transat, she was told that we can book excursions through their office, or wait and do it on the ship. As hubby has some issues (very bad back, recent knee replacements), we thought it best to wait. We often just wander around near the cruise port taking in a few sights, or take a taxi ride around the area. Maybe we can meet up and do that together. Long bus treks on bumpy roads are not very inviting. It will just be nice to get away from the cold and snow for a week. :)

Til the 10th!!!!!!! Happy New Year!!!! Carolyn

Just wondering .......... does anyone know if they will accept Canadian $$$'s for taxi's, tips, etc. or is it mandatory to exchange our money? I assume we would be able to tip in Cad. $$$'s on the ship (room steward(ess), waiter(ress) ???????? :rolleyes:

Beautiful photo of the Westerdam!

We did 14 days on the Eurodam in November, and the captain allowed access to the forward decks for the passengers as we sailed into the harbour in San Juan, PR. It was lovely, an unforgetable experience. We have had this only 3X previously, on the Zuiderdam as we went through the Panama Canal on a partial transit, also on the Zuiderdam on a full transit, and on the Volendam as we sailed through the Inside Passage in Alaska. The captain must make the decision to allow this or not ??????

Good morning On y va ........ how exciting that our cruise days will overlap, as we will board Jan. 10 in Montego Bay :o - we are from London, Ont. The ice storm missed us completely, we just had some snow fall where we live.

Wish someone who has sailed on the Cristal already would post some reflections about their cruise experience. Nevertheless, we are looking forward to this little escape from winter in SW Ontario! We are going with open minds, look forward to making new cruise friends, and plan to really enjoy ourselves!!!!!!

Happy, healthy 2014, everyone!

We have had about a foot of snow fall here in SW Ont. the past 2 days .......... all the more reason to look forward to Cuba! ;) Can't wait!!!!!

Can't wait to read the first reviews about the Louis Cristal and the first cruise around Cuba ........ we are anxiously awaiting our turn - Jan. 10. Thanks to all of you for the information and comments in this site. I, too, was watching the progress of the ship - until is wasn't there any more! I guess it wasn't my inept use of the computer which caused me to lose the ship! :)

I am sailing on the Sky 4 days in Feb. with friends and am curious to know what changes they are making ........ we love the Spirit and also wonder if there are any similarities in the 2 ships. Can't wait for our cruise! This will be my 5th with NCL ...........

Thx for giving the link to the Cristal on You-tube, ONT-CA. I enjoyed watching it, and I know we're going to have a great time on the cruise. Have the days counted!!!!! :)

Hello Crown Vi ............ I read on this board that Air Transat was partnered with this cruise company and asked our TA to call them ............... they had all the information, we booked everything, they even offered to book the shore excursions and drink packages. We decided that it was easiest for us to do everything through them - flights, cruise, transfers. I did find the Cuba cruise info when I searched their website once, but couldn't find it the next time I looked. But their agents do have all the information.

Hope this helps you ........ at the time, their site offered flights to Varadero and Montego Bay, but the agent said they aren't doing the Cuba flight, just Montego Bay.

Thanks for the welcome, "Balloon Man" - we are booked on the Jan. 10 cruise, boarding in Montego Bay. We were told that we need to carry proof of medical travel insurance, and will have to pay $25.00 each - an "entry fee" so to speak, for Cuba. We do not fill out any any online forms, and just show your passports at the dock to board the ship. With Air Transat, transfer to the dock, and return to the airport on Jan. 17 is $7 p.p. The airline provides a full package, and we can even book our shore excursions through them.

Now that all this work is done, I am really looking forward to this cruise. I welcome any more info. anyone has to offer. ;)

Me again ........ Air Transat flies only into Montego Bay at present - we will fly out early the morning of the cruise from Toronto - $7 pp for transfer to the ship. We just paid a deposit to the airline and one for the cruise. We liked what Air Transat had to offer, having done a cruise package with them previously. We feel confident, as we always book through our trusted TA (a TICO company) and she has never steered us wrong in nearly 10 years of cruising booked through her company. We have cruised with 5 major cruise lines since the 80's and are looking forward to this as an interesting alternative. We expect it will be similar to cruising on the Triton and the Bolero, which we did in the 90's ......... laid back and casual. It will be a nice experience and the opportunity to see a country which is not available to many folks - a change from the usual - although we also love "the usual"!!!!! :)

Our TA spoke directly with the company in Calgary - there is lots of interest and they are busy. She got us prices for the whole fly and cruise package from Air Transat (flies into Montego Bay, which suits us) and we are able to get the stateroom of our choice so we are going to book for Jan 10. Cannot go later as I have another cruise (a girls' cruise) in February. The whole Cuba cruise is Cad. $'s and the food, etc. is all shipped from Canada. Now that we have decided to go I am excited about it. Hope to meet lots of great fellow Canadians and cruisers from Europe, Britain and Scandinavia, perhaps. Hopefully this info. may help some of you readers.:o

We are interested in doing this cruise with friends and our TA in Ontario has forwarded us all the information ....... we are going to see her this week about it. We want to cruise in January from Montego Bay as it is easier to get flights to that destination ........... I will follow upwith any more info. she can provide. :)