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They were tendered in both ports when we were there with them earlier this month.

Almost all the building have steps, sometimes several floors of the, and to get out of the cruise terminal there are 4 flights of stairs. There were 2 elevators one on either side of the stairs but only one of them was working when we were there. There are some places you would need to avoid all together. One would be Hemingway's house which has 2 flights of stairs to get to where you can look in the windows. Contact your tour guide and make sure he knows of your condition before you get off the ship.

We arranged for 2 days of tours with Fer 2 Havana tours originally and then had to alter our arrangements because Azamara changed their schedule and Fernando was very good at changing our 2 days to 3 days at the same price. We did an evening when the ship arrived and met our guide, Javier (Pepe), met us in the square directly across from the ship at 7 PM. He then changed plans as we had already eaten on the ship and we went to the Hotel National for a drink which has been in Havana forever and has been where all the famous and infamous people stayed. We had very good rum drinks there and enjoyed the ambiance before going on the cannon firing at the fort in a vintage 56 Pontiac hardtop with A/C and then to the Buena Vista Social Club.where we stayed for drinks and listening to the Cuban music. For the cover charge which I think was 30 CUC each we got 3 drinks each. I got Cuba Libre and Darlene had a beer and 2 bottled waters. The music was loud and we left after about an hour and 45 minutes. Our driver had waited for us and drove us back to the ship.
The next morning at 10 AM we met Javier again in the square and we did a walking tour of the four main squares of old Havana for about 2 1/2 hours, Then we had lunch at a really nice private restaurant that was a little expensive 80 CUC for the 2 of us with one glass of wine each. We both got a seafood dish with lobster, shrimp, fish and rice and veggies. We also each got a desert. The restaurant was totally full but many of the people there were from either other Fer Tours or other guides. Javier then met us outside and we walked to where we met our driver for the rest of the day in his 1953 red Chevy convertible. The car wasn't his but the owner had gotten too old to drive so he hired him to take care of the car and drive it. We had the car for 3 hours and saw a lot of Havana with an informative driver. He left us off at the ship at 4:30. Finally the next morning, our ship was in Havana for 3 days, Javier again met us in the square at 9 AM and we got in another old Chevy hardtop (1956) with A/C and went to Hemmingway's house, followed by a visit to the town where he kept the Pilar and his favorite bar there. Then we came back to Havana and went to Fusterland. This is an area of Havana an artist began decorating with mosaics and painting and included a visit to his house. If you have been to Barcelona and see Guidi's village there this is similar but maybe more colorful and tropical. Our ship was sailing at 3 PM so Javier and the driver dropped us off at 2 PM by the ship. These were great tours with a great guide, Javier, who is a psychologist in real life. The cost for the 3 days was $480 US which was a fraction of what similar tours thru the ship would have cost. If you are going to Havana give Fer Tours a chance to give you a great time in Havana.

We did a 10 day cruise on Azamara Journey and visited 3 Cuban ports, Santiago, Cienfuegos and Havana. We did overnights in all ports, including 2 nights in Havana. The Cuban people are great, friendly and basically really poor. Their average salary is $30 a month while they need over $100 a month just for normal basic necessities. We did a private tours for all 3 days in Havana and ship tours in the other 2 ports. The private tours were better. If you are from the USA get Canadian money before you go. They charge a 12% surcharge to change USA dollars so 1 US dollar is only worth 88 CUC. Some people will take US dollars and some won't.I plan on doing a full review on the cruise and our time in Cuba but I will say I was very happy with Azamara except for our ship arranged trip from the ship to the Miami airport which was a total complete foul up.

Have a great next cruise.

Hi,

What hotel(s) does Celebrity use for housing passengers before or after cruises from or to Buenos Aires Argentina? I've tried the Celebrity web site and can't find the into.

Thanks

Thanks for the replies but as it turns out my TA has talked with Celebrity and they will be able to put us in the same cabin for both cruises so no cabin change will be needed. Good news in my opinion.

Have a great next cruise.

Hi,

We just booked a 29 day B2B. We had already been booked on the 14 day before cruise and now will be joining the 15 day back to the USA cruise. Our TA has warned us that this will require a cabin change as the cabin we have on the first 14 day is already assigned to someone else for the 15 day cruise.

We did a 22 day B2B Seabourn cruise a few years ago and had to change cabins after the first 12 day portion. Seabourn made it really easy as they showed up with a rolling hanging rack usually used for delivering laundry and moved all our hanging clothes that way in the morning after the new cabin had been cleaned. Then they helped us put everything we had in drawers and shelves into either our suitcases or in bins they provided and moved those for us. I know Seabourn is a 6 star cruise line and Celebrity may not be quite as upscale but has anyone had this experience on Celebrity and how was it handled? We will be in Sky Suites on both cruises which might made a difference.

Thanks for any help and have a great next cruise.

We were on Seabourn's Odyssey in 2010 and board a spa pass that allowed us access to a similar area but it was on the back of the ship on one of the upper decks. We were on a 21 day cruise that included a transatlantic crossing and we spent a number of sea day afternoons up there and usually were the only ones there. Then, they have changed this since, they used to have a hot tub right at the middle of the back of the ship and they would come up and serve you drinks while you relaxed in it.. We will be trying out the Sanctum area on our Cuba cruise as we have a continental suite.

Going to Cuba for the first time in November on Azamara's Journey, a smaller ship, 650 or so passengers. What site has how many ships will be in Havana, Santiago de Cuba and Cienfuegos? I had read the exchange rate was better if you were exchanging Canadian currency rather than US dollars. Does anyone know if this is true? Thanks

Thanks to everyone for the great answers to my questions. It sounds like my wife and I are going to have a great cruise experience. Have a great next cruise.:)

HI,

My wife and I will be on the Journey in November for a cruise to mainly Cuba. We are experienced cruisers having cruised on Celebrity, HAL, RCCL, Princess and Seabourn and a few others (see my signature for details). We are Elite on Celebrity so will start on Azamara with some points. We have booked one of the n1 suites on deck 8.

I have joined the roll call for the cruise but so far there aren't a lot of people signed up. We were hoping for more as we prefer smaller private tours as opposed to ship sponsored big bus ones.

From what I understand we will get "free" wine with lunches and dinners as well as some free before dinner cocktails using house liquors. I also see mentioned that there will be free bottles of liquor in the cabin for our use. Can a passenger request what is put in the cabin before the cruise?

I also seen where suite passengers can dine in the specialty restaurants for no charge. Is this correct?

I know there are 2 special dinner nights that people say you should attend. Can anyone explain what these are and how to find out what nights they will be on during a 10 night cruise?

I also saw where tips are included in your cruise fare which I like. If I get good service I will probably still tip especially my cabin steward or butler whatever they call who takes care of our cabin.

I have been on "R" class ships before on Princess twice and loved the size and feel of the ships. We also enjoyed our two Seabourn cruises again on smaller ships. So we are looking forward to the Azamara experience.

Thanks for any answers anyone can give on my questions and have a great next cruise.

Got my cabin assignment yesterday for our May 19 cruise. We booked a Superior Verandah (mini suite) on HAL's Rotterdam (cat BB) and got a Superior Verandah (mini suite)(cat AA) so we basically got what we paid for.

HI,

We elected to book our next HAL cruise, Journey to Norway on May 19 and booked a guarantee on a signature suite. We are 4 stat mariners and hope that will "guarantee" us a decent cabin. We still haven't received a cabin assignment although the 90 day pay or go deadline and come and gone. My wife is hoping they are going to bump us up to a Neptune suite but I would just like to know where we are going to unpack our suitcases.

What have other people experiences using a guarantee booking?

Thanks and have a great next cruise.

HI,

My wife, Darlene and me, Warren, just booked the Nov 10th Journey cruise and I set up a roll call that you can get to from the link below. We have been on a lot of cruises but this will be our first on Azmara. Hopefully you will go join the roll call and we will get others who are going to be one the cruise to join.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=55274389#post55274389

We are getting ready to book a 21 day cruise on the Rotterdam that goes up into Norway and back. Right now we have a hold on Cabin (min-suite) 7053. It is at the rear of the ship on the Navigation deck on the starboard (right) side of the ship. I have 2 concerns about this cabin. One is that it under a public area at the rear of the ship with chairs and a bar where it could be noisy early in the morning. I don't worry too much about late at night on a HAL cruise. Second concern is does anyone know where the designated smoking area is on the aft of the Rotterdam? The reason I am asking is I have talked with people who had cabins with verandahs that were under a smoking area on different ships and they complained that the smoke sometimes was so thick it made it hard to use their balcony. Anyway if anyone has had cabin 7053 on the Rotterdam or one of the other cabins around it and can give me any feedback I would appreciate it.

Thanks and have a great next cruise.

Does anyone know why Celebrity and RCL do NOT have any Norway or Iceland cruises scheduled in 2018? I thought they had done some in the past.

Thanks and have a great next cruise.

Does anyone know why Celebrity and RCL do NOT have any Norway or Iceland cruises scheduled in 2018? I thought they had done some in the past.

Thanks and have a great next cruise.

Hi,

My wife and I have taken over 30 cruises and are looking at a Norway cruise on the Journey this summer. We like good food, good wine and good company as well as interesting places to visit. Our cruise history below will show we have been on many of the different cruise lines with Celebrity and HAL being our current favorites as well as fond memories of our two Seabourn cruises.

We are wondering if anyone has any ideas on how we would enjoy Azamara and especially the Journey in a balcony cabin.

Thanks for your ideas and have a great next cruise.

They do have them but they are behind desks so you have to ask to use them and what they made me do was email them and then they would print the boarding passes but this was only after demanding they do it for me. I was not real happy with Viking cruises customer service.

We did a 15 day Viking cruise (which we would never sail on again) from Budapest to Amsterdam. We flew into Prague 3 days early and really enjoyed our visit there. We staying at the Hotel Intercontinental which is very close to the old Jewish quarter and the historic district. We were in walking distance to the Charles Bridge and there were all kinds of restaurants within walking distance of the hotel. We had the hotel get us reservations one night at Coda which is often rated as the best restaurant in Prague. The views, the food and the atmosphere were easily worth the price. I would recommend going to Prague first and then traveling to Budapest to join your cruise afterwards.

Have a great next cruise.

What does Celebrity charge for a 3rd person in a suite cabin?

I looked through some pictures of our trip and found the place. It is called "The Grocery" and it is more a sandwich or breakfast place than a restaurant but it had great poorboy's and other sandwiches. Here is the address:

The Grocery

2854 St. Charles Ave

New Orleans, LA 70115

Phone: (504) 895-9524

Here is a link on trip advisor if CC let's me post it.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60864-d1644491-Reviews-The_Grocery-New_Orleans_Louisiana.html

It is right off the street car line so it is easy to find.

Have a great next cruise.

I'm at our second residence and don't have my travel books here but I remember visiting Lafayette # 1 Cemetery which was interesting and having lunch at a restaurant there right off the streetcar line.

Here is a link to a walking tour that charges but with a guidebook or a map you probably could go to the same places.

http://www.tourneworleans.com/garden_set.html

I will try to remember the name of the small corner restaurant we ate in. They had great gumbo and poorboys.

Thanks for the reply. The tram may be our best option. I will check on the times it runs.

We have cruised a couple of times on Seabourn and a couple of times in suites on Celebrity where we ate in Luminae. I felt the food during these 4 cruises was the best I had ever had on my 37 cruises. We usually do a couple of specialty restaurants each cruise but eating in them for the whole cruise for an extra $29 a person a day seems like a good deal. We are traveling with another couple for an 11 cruise in February and if they are interested in doing it also maybe we will try it.