CUBA - Norwegian SKY- Almost “LIVE” with Sungirl! April 23-27, 2018

Norwegian Sky CUBA - Almost LIVE with Sungirl - April 23-27 2018

Hello to the NCL Forum Peeps! I have not been over to see you since 2003. That’s a long while. I hang out mostly on the Princess, Celebrity, and HAL boards before a scheduled cruise.

My Dad and I had wanted to visit Cuba for some time. We looked at a lot of land tours, but decided a short cruise junket to Havana would be a good way to decide if we wanted to spend the big $$ and sign on for a comprehensive land tour.

When I analyzed Cuba cruise itineraries, my primary criteria was an overnight in Havana. NCL Sky was the only cruise that accomplished that goal. We booked two weeks ahead and had no problem finding a fair deal. This is probably due to the time of the year. Great time to travel. Right before kids get out of school.

This is my “almost live” review/thoughts on the cruise - ship and port (s). My normal disclaimer - life, food, entertainment are subjective. This is only my experience. I have lots of cruise/travel experience. I am somewhere between 45-50 cruises and I have wandered around the world by land. I have posted my photos/videos on my FB travel page - Fungirl Across America and Beyond. I don’t take myself too seriously and I live out loud on my page. I just returned from 3 weeks in Japan, so if you are interested in Japan travel, I posted tons of info/pics.

I flew United to Miami and spent a few nights on South Beach. It had been many years since I stayed in SoBE. Usually when I cruise out of Miami, I stay downtown at the Marriott. In SoBe, I booked the Marriott Stanton on Ocean Dr. Pricey, but very nice. A smaller, boutique type hotel oceanfront. A girl I met on the Princess board (TracieABD) came up from Key West to hang out with me for two nights. We had a good time getting acquainted. Stayed tuned on the Princess board for our planned cruise. I loved the Mexican restaurant, LoLo’s, that was on the Stanton property. Tracie and I had a fantastic French dinner at Otentic Fresh Food on Washington. Highly recommend. My Dad and I ate at Joe’s Stone Crab. I love that restaurant. I would go for the Key Lime Pie alone. My favorite menu items are the Conch Fritters and Crab Bisque. We Ubered to the cruise ship - $16. Easy.

NCL SKY

Day 1 - Embarkation 23 April Monday

Princess (Moi) has no status! Oh no! I new this was going to be problematic for me, so we waited till 1:30pm to arrive. Didn’t want to deal with the larger early bird crowd. I had to stand in line, oh no! I couldn’t march to the special Latitudes line. These regular lines get tedious when you are spoiled. Since the Sky is a smaller ship, things moved along ok. I think it took just over an hour from the time we arrived till we made it to the cabin.

I am a practical Princess, I booked the cabin that was the best value - the sail away outside guarantee. The difference between an outside and balcony was huge for a 4 day cruise. $499 vs. $949/pp. I did get an upsell bid offer for a balcony, but bidding is a ridiculous proposition for me. I want a flat price on an upsell. I bid the minimum $50/pp. Didn’t qualify. How was I going to live in a cabin without a balcony with my 79 yr. young Dad? Patience. Lots of patience. NCL assigned me 4211, the lowest level port hole outside cabin. No upgrade! How was I going to live in the bowels of the ship? How was I going to live without a minibar setup? Princess can do it! This cruise is open bar/unlimited drinks, so I was in good shape. I am thinking the ship could lose money on inside cabin prices with an all-inclusive bar package.

I pre-purchased Internet online. It was a 15% discount. I bought the unlimited package for around $100. I have forgotten the exact amount. It’s very expensive compared to the Carnival owned cruises. I think I paid around $14/day on my last cruise, Carnival something. Another good buy is pre-ordering bottled water. Anything you can pre-order will save you some $$$

I prepared myself before opening the door to the cabin. A few deep breaths. Did I really book a cabin without a balcony? What was I thinking? Here we go. I open the door and we have one bed! And no space. My dad said we would have to take turns breathing. I immediately pulled the beds apart and it instantly felt like a mini-suite. HA! The only way to travel in these cabins is twin beds. It opens up the space in the middle to move around. Unless you are a honeymooner, I suggest two beds!

Ok, I am over the initial shock of the cabin. We will need the Jaws of Life to get two well fed people in and out of the bathroom. The air conditioning was freezing and never seemed to changed, so no complaints about the cooling system. The cabin was worn, but I know how to set my expectations, so not a problem for me.

On to the most important place on the ship. My beloved BUFFET. I fondly refer to it as the Buff-ette. It’s crowded on the first day, of course, but manageable. I don’t cruise for food. I am so over it. All the cruise lines are basically the same. I can always find something I like. I have eaten myself silly around the world, I don’t need to stuff myself on cruises. I really liked how NCL had a separate soup and sandwich station. I absolutely loved the The Great Outdoor Cafe. Eating outside aft is my favorite thing to do. The tent gave lots of shade and flair. Off to a good start.

Safety drill is on deck. I much prefer the safety drill to be inside, sitting down. All the cruise lines do it differently. After the drill we start checking out the ship and finding our way around. Lots of venues, windows, bright and light.

We had dinner at Crossings, the aft dining room. Loved our view and server, Jennifer from South Africa. We both had Lamb Shank and it was the best meal of the cruise.

After dinner I donated to the casino and attended the Welcome Aboard show at 9:30pm. My dad is an early bird. He goes to bed to read and watch stock reports. He was a partner in a brokerage before he retired. I thought the Cruise Director, Philly Joel, was absolutely awesome. He was funny, natural, somewhat of a Queen, and had the dance moves. He is Filipino, thus Philly Joel. The song/dance group was really high energy and I enjoyed. I never miss a production show. Off to bed with Dad and Lola. Lola is Dad’s constant companion, the C-PAP machine.

Day 2 - Havana 24 April Tuesday

Good Morning Havana! We docked at 9am. NCL and the Cuban immigration cleared the ship quickly. We were processed and off the ship at 9:45am. Way earlier than I expected. You purchase your visa from NCL. You fill out a form online and your visited is presented to you at check-in $75/pp. You need CASH to convert to Cuban CUCS. No credit, no ATM, no debit. You DO NOT want your credit card number floating around anyway. If you are booking tours thru the ship, you will only need a few dollars for drinks, food, souvenirs. If you are booking a private tour, using taxis, hop on-hop off bus, or going to the shows in the hotels at night you will need CASH. Operators want American dollars, but I think it is illegal to use them. You are supposed to convert your dollars to CUCS. There is a money changing operation in the cruise terminal after you pass immigration. It’s large and can handle a lot of people. It’s .87CUCS to $1.

We get off the ship, get our money, and are ready to roll. I was so excited to be in Havana with my Dad. He had wanted to visit for a long time. Unfortunately our first day was a comedy/tragedy that is almost indescribable. Everyone had blame to share - me, my dad, NCL, and mostly the tour operator -

vintagecarstours.com

The Tour that went so Wrong! A very long, complicated, pathetic story. Since we had an overnight in Havana, it meant we had no hurried schedule for our day. My dad insisted we get out of town to the countryside. I researched the ship’s tour that goes out to the country and they offered the Pinar del Rio province tour which included the National Park of Vinales. It also included a tobacco farm stop, rum factory stop, and lunch for $200/pp. I phoned NCL pre-cruise to inquire about the excursion and the guy told me it was either sold out or not operating. He didn’t sound overly competent, but I went with it. I decided I would book the tour independently, for half the price. I could skip the tobacco and rum stops and add time wandering around the town of Vinales. That was a reasonable idea. My Dad loves the vintage cars. I decided to book a vintage car to drive us over 100 miles and 3 hours EACH WAY to Vinales. OMG, where was my head? Clearly up my a*s. An 8 hour day in a Vintage vehicle was one of the most miserable experiences of my life. It was second to a boat trip I took from Phuket, Thailand to the Similan Islands. Pure agony.

Let’s revisit this before I go on -

NCL told me the tour was not available

My dad thought spending a day in the countryside would be a good idea

I thought a vintage car would be fun

The reality of the situation -

NCL did run the tour and they did have space.

Spending a day in the countryside was the worst idea ever

A vintage car to travel to the countryside was the worst idea ever.

Now let’s move on to the tour operator. Vintagecarstours.com. It gets really good now! I found them on a Google search. Checked them out on TripAdvisor. I actually got confused and thought I was booking Havanavintagecars. I booked with Enrique Ramos via email, the booking agent in Canada who takes a booking commission and passes the booking on to Yisset, the local operator. A young woman trying to build the business. Yisset contracts with drivers and guides. Yisset hired her “friend” to guide us. Her “friend” decided he didn’t want to guide the tour, so supposedly, without telling Yisset, he went and hired two guys off the streets to drive us and ‘guide’ us. My instructions were to meet the guide/driver in Plaza San Francisco directly across from the cruise terminal at 10am. There were two guys waiting for us holding a sign with my name. The guide, Carlos, looked like a gang leader thug. Eduardo, the driver, was a local taxi driver. Neither of them spoke any English we realized about an hour down the road. Eduardo’s vehicle was completely NOT roadworthy. No brakes, no suspension, no A/C, no seatbelts, one windshield wiper, bald tires, overheating. Why did we not realize this upfront? I am a complete idiot. We start down the road and Carlos was crazy. Very scary, intimidating, rude, aggressive. He knew three English phrases - “Listen to Me”, “What the F***?”, and “Mother F888er”. He was a thug off the street and had never guided anyone anywhere. They had no idea what they were doing or where they were going. I had my guide book/map so I was able to get us to the stops I wanted. They had no clue that we wanted photo stops, food stops, walking stops, etc. We got stopped by the police. I am not sure Eduardo had the correct papers, but they talked themselves out of it. The gas fumes coming from the floor of the cars were noxious, as well as the heat off the engine on the floor of the front seat. I prayed to GOD if we made it back to the ship safely, I would never make such a mistake again and always wear a seatbelt. We did get to see the Vinales Valley and the town of Vinales. The town of Vinales was charming. The valley is supposedly the most scenic area of Cuba. It all would have been ok, if we weren’t in a tin can with a thug. My Dad would asked a question and finally realized it was a waste of energy trying to communicate with Carlos. My Dad gave both of them his packed lunch and neither of them acknowledged it. I was too upset and nervous to eat anything. I was embarrassed and felt horrible that I booked this tour. I would have laughed my butt off if I wasn’t so scared and heartbroken for my Dad to have wasted the day under duress. At the end of the tour, I paid them the agreed amount. It was my choice to book the vintage car. I was scared they could involve the police and I wasn’t sure the tour was a “legal” way to tour. Not a sanctioned operator. We were so happy to be safely back to the ship. It was 8 hrs of h**l. I immediately went to the cabin and fired off an email to Enrique, my contact. He wrote immediately and apologized and refunded the deposits on Paypal. He then passed my email to the local manager, Yisset. She responds as well and agrees to meet me the following day with a full refund. She takes full responsibility and believes every word I said. It’s Yisset’s fault in the end. She passed the tour to someone who wasn’t trustworthy and thought she could get away with it. She knows I could slay her on the travel forums. TBC tomorrow.

We needed to regroup and salvage the day. We had a couple of options. The Colonial Havana Evening walk or a night out at one of the hotels for a cabaret/music show. Dad really wanted to hear music, I wanted to take the evening walk. The ship offered the Habana Cafe Buena Vista Social Club show at the Melina Cohiba for $165/pp. We did it on our own for $25 vintage convertible ride on Malecon, $20/pp cover charge including one Mojito, $15 appetizer/beer, $15 Taxi back to ship - $95 TOTAL. I didn’t like the show. Too loud and too much dancing. My dad was only interested in the musicians, not the dancers. Next time I will try the Tropicana Cabernet at Hotel National. The show started at 10pm. We arrived back to the ship at 11:15pm. After the stressful day we had, we were just completely exhausted. Tomorrow had to be better.

Day 3 - Havana 25 April Wednesday

I had originally booked another vintage car city tour with Enrique. I canceled, of course. We had three options - a ship tour, the HOP ON HOP OFF Bus, or hiring a driver off the street. I wanted my Dad to be happy, so I let him decide. Of course, he chose something I didn’t want, but I also didn’t want another disaster. He chose the ultimate city highlight tour, old and new Havana. I wanted the walking tour. You can’t see Havana without walking into the old section. Very bad choice for us. UGH! We are two professional world travelers making mistakes. The tour was beyond ridiculous. Good for people with mobility issues. I read the description of the tour thoroughly. The description did NOT match the tour. If they had described the tour accurately, I would have never signed on for a 50 minute cemetery tour. Complete waste of time for a first visit. We drove by sights so fast that you couldn’t see anything. I wanted to see the Central Train Station, which was listed on the tour. The guide refused to drive by. Probably due to traffic/time. Had we been able to do it again, we should have taken the walking tour of Old Havana. DO this tour FIRST, then venture out. We managed to have some time after the ship tour to explore the old town, but didn’t get to see a lot of the buildings and squares. There will always be a next time, but I don’t know if my Dad will feel up to it.

Back to Yisset at Vintagecarstours.com. She wanted to meet me at 1pm to refund my $$$. I agreed. My dad and I were afraid Carlos probably put a hit on us and we were almost scared to meet Yisset. I would only meet her at cruise terminal next to the police guard. I found her at 1pm and I got all my money back. She knows I am going to slay her on the message boards. I told her she was 100% responsible for the disaster. She did not dispute anything. She was only trying to do damage control thinking I might be sympathetic. She did get the money to refund me from the “friend” who did the bait and switch. I will never really know the truth. I felt horrible that they stole our day.

I then went to the shore excursion desk to complain about the ship tour. I showed them the description of the tour and it did not match the tour. The excursion desk employee agreed the description was inaccurate and needed to be changed. She gave me a 20% refund on each ticket. I was not happy. I asked for one ticket to be refunded. She said it was the best she could do and handed me the customer service phone number. I looked her in the eye and said I didn’t need the number. She and/or her supervisor had the authority to do whatever they seemed appropriate and she was causing me unnecessary work. I was mad.

I felt like I had screwed the entire experience up, but we definitely were able to get a feel/overview for Havana and Cuba. My heart was in the right place, but I just didn’t do enough prep or understand what to do. That’s what happens when you have been away all winter and you book last minute. Being with my Dad was the best part, but I so wanted to impress him with my normal home runs.

Since we had an early departure out of Havana, I thought we should try one of the specialty dining options. I love French food, so I talked my Dad into LeBistro. The food was just barely ok, and the service was terrible. Another bad decision. I am having a rough time making good decisions. We did go to Landmark Trivia and we won. No one is going to beat my dad and I on geography and travel. He has been around the world, including India and Bhutan. No prizes, however. That was a disappointment.

The productions show was a Motown/Pop theme. The usual thing. Four lead singers and 8 dancers.

Day 4 - Great Stirrup Cay Private Island - 26 April Thursday

I am thinking the only time I have visited the private island was on my second cruise in 1999. Was GSC open then? I was thinking it was the island of Eleuthera. I am so used to the Princess and Carnival private island days. GSC is way north of Eleuthera. My Dad is not a beach person. I had to almost beg to get him off the ship. I told him we had to have a beach photo. I was sure it might be our last opportunity. I love the island, but sharing the space with 2000 party people is not my idea of serenity. NCL does a good job with crowd control, tendering, and food on the island.

My Dad and I had our picnic lunch and he hung out for a while on the beach. We got the photo! Success. He went back to the ship and me being a sun goddess, stayed until the last tender. 5:30pm

We went back to the Crossings Dining Room to request our server, Jennifer, from the first night. They were very accommodating. I think there must have been a note in the system that we were unhappy with LeBistro. Our meal was average. I am so over the food, but I always want something special for my Dad. I only care about him being happy. I know he was somewhat disappointed in the food overall. He described it as upscale dorm food.

The last production show was a Pop though the decades theme. Very good. I enjoy the shows even if they are repetitive and cheesy.

They had the White Party, but I was too tired to check it out. Is that like a neon glow part they have on Princess and Carnival?

Day 5 - Debarkation - April 27 Friday

The most painless debarkation EVER! It was a Friday, and only one other ship in Port - the Carnival Victory. We did self walk off at 8:30am and there were no lines, no elevator issues, no breakfast issues, no lines for immigration, and no lines for a taxi. The taxi was the same price I was being quoted by Uber - $27 Flat Rate. I only wish every cruise was like this upon exit!

My thoughts on NCL. I am neutral. Don’t love it, don’t hate it. The Pepsi is close to a deal breaker for me, but not quite. I am a Diet Coke girl. I was impressed with crowd control. Not sure that was because I was on a smaller ship or not. The food wasn’t anything special, but I never go hungry. It’s the same on all ships for me, I find somethings I really like and stick with it. The pricing on board seemed out of range on the high side. The speciality dining was a la carte pricing. I am used to a flat rate. Internet was more expensive. I don’t have any elite perks, which I miss. The clientele impressed me because they were older party people and so well behaved. Everyone was polite and patient. I loved watching people have fun. Would I cruise with them again? YES Would they be my first choice? NO

Flying United out of MIA. Getting my status back today. I lost it on Feb 1 and it took me 3 months to reclaim it. Happy Dance.

If you have any questions, bring it on. I know everything😂😂 Bahaha. I probably have no credibility with my Havana screw ups!

Definitely sign on for a Cuba cruise. Everyone needs an understanding and appreciation of the people and country. These people are so poor. They have had zero opportunities under a Communist system. It is sad and depressing in many ways. They find joy in music, art, and family. Cuba is a lot more than cigars.

I did post some fun photos of the vintage cars, etc. Enjoy!

Thanks for the great review. I will be going on this cruise in July, though only one day in Cuba. I was trying to decide between tours and was leaning towards the walking tour. Your review has definitely helped me make my decision.

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rncruiser,

Glad you enjoyed my review and I could help. Definitely take an old town walking tour first, then venture out further. Do take a vintage car ride if time permits. You can look at my photos. They are fun. Enjoy your cruise! Sungirl

Good review KCSungirl!

Your credibility is based upon telling us like it is.

Don't ever change!

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Thank you Iowa Traveler. I will see you soon on the Princess board. Stay tuned!:hearteyes:

Thank you so much. Husband and I are going in November. We have a few issues to look at such as We are Canadian so we do need a Tourist Card/Visa although I can't tell you how many versions of YES OR NO I've encountered. We do need it and looking at getting it here at our Cuban Embassy in Canada. Appreciate your info. Amazing.

Thank you for your review, it was a pleasure to read. Your honesty is refreshing. We are currently checked in at the Marriott Stanton and are looking forward to our cruise to Cuba on Monday.

Really sad about your tours! Did you have to collect a ticket to get off in Havana the first day? If so, where did you go for it? I'm leaving this Monday.

sueplay - thank you. enjoy your cruise!

tomberly - thank you. Lolo's restaurant at the Stanton is great. Loved the salad for lunch on the beach too!

victory2020 - Yes, you do collect tickets to get off the ship. I believe it was in the Dazzles Club. I got there at 8am, no line and I was group 7. It went very fast. I think we just went down to the gangway, got off, and no one checked our ticket. Have a great cruise! :D

Hi KCSungirl, I'm a KC girl, too! (I live in Lenexa, but work in Leawood.) We are going to Cuba on the Sun in late May. Enjoyed your review. Sorry you had such a bad touring experience!

Hi Handc4me! You will love Havana. Enjoy your cruise.

Thanks so much for your comprehensive review, KC Sungirl. I enjoyed your comments and whitty remarks. And what a good daughter you are! Hope you and your dad continue to have fun! I'm heading out on the May 14th Sky trip to Cuba. Have been on the Sky twice before so I hope the negatives you experienced were a fluke.

Excellent, detailed review, thanks much!

Great review, thanks! We are going on the Sky for one of the Cuba cruises in August. (hot much?) I'm going to read every review for every vintage car tour on Trip Advisor! I really hope to avoid your experience. We will be a group of 9 (I know, herding cats...) and I don't want to fail with my excursion arrangements. I appreciate your evening excursion eval also, that will help with our arrangements too!

Thank you again for taking the time to share your trip!

I agree with everyone else! Great review I am headed on this in August!

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Thanks for your compliments! Everyone MUST do the walking tour in Old Havana FIRST. Then take a vintage car ride around. Easy to do on your own!

Happy Cruising!

Thanks for your great review...my daughter and I are going to Cuba on the Sun in a few weeks and we booked the Vinales Valley tour ! Looking forward to this even the bus ride.....LOL!

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Aturnee, It’s very scenic! Enjoy.

PS. You can imagine me in a vintage tin can with no AC or brakes!

OMG.. you are hysterical!! Well at least now I'm not going to book the Ultimate Highlight Tour. I sailed on Monday. I am only getting one choice, 2:30pm tour, so I am guessing the earier one is sold out. I would have done it earlier in order to go out on my own. SO I might just buy the Colonial night tour or whatever is called. There is not a walking tour offered on the NCL website, so I wonder if like you, this would be available once I get onboard. (where is my surprised emoji) I think $199 for the Tropicana Tour is a little too much, and I read somewhere that the show by itself is between $70-80 plus the taxi there and back.

So basically, I can get a disembarkation ticket in the morning even if I don't have the tour??

FInally, I cant find your Facebook page to see pics! :)

Hi Tony! You can do everything on your own. I would definitely get it at night if you are overnighting. Take the tour or do the Tropicana show on your own. Also so good restaurants.

You can also find the HOHO BUS right outside the cruise terminal. 😁

I have a question for you regarding lunch at Great Stirrup Cay. Is lunch included, or is there an extra charge? I am confused because I was looking at the pricing of the cabanas and it says that the price includes a $50 credit towards the cost of food on the island.

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We were there in Feb 2018. All food was included. Most drinks were. Patron was an up charge. (Which I had to have )

All food and drinks included on Cuba itineraries at Great Stirrup Cay. Not sure about premium brands, but I saw nothing being charged at the bar. The food is nice picnic fare. Nothing fancy. Basic burgers, hot dogs, jerk chicken, salads and a few desserts. No French fries!:eek:

Great. Sounds perfect

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All food and drinks included on Cuba itineraries at Great Stirrup Cay. Not sure about premium brands, but I saw nothing being charged at the bar. The food is nice picnic fare. Nothing fancy. Basic burgers, hot dogs, jerk chicken, salads and a few desserts. No French fries!:eek:

There is also the new street taco place. No charge!