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Starting to think NCL will not cruise to Cuba in 2019

njkate

By njkate,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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njkate

njkate

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Bummer, been looking and they have nothing past Nov 2018.

Guess I'm going to have to go with RC or Carnival as they seem to be the only two main stream cruise lines with Cuba itineraries for 2019.

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Nashna

Nashna

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The cruises to Cuba have a lot of hoops to jump in the US and Cuba before they can be scheduled. I've noticed in the past that cruise lines have included a night or two in Cuba as part of an established cruise or have cancelled a lightly booked cruise to open up space to go to Cuba. After the President announced new restrictions on travel to Cuba in 2017, the demand lessened. Of course, he could change his mind on a whim, so who knows what will happen. I am also looking for January, 2019 options to Cuba and have noticed that the pricing is lower than in 2018.

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pizzalady1

pizzalady1

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The cruises to Cuba have a lot of hoops to jump in the US and Cuba before they can be scheduled. I've noticed in the past that cruise lines have included a night or two in Cuba as part of an established cruise or have cancelled a lightly booked cruise to open up space to go to Cuba. After the President announced new restrictions on travel to Cuba in 2017, the demand lessened. Of course, he could change his mind on a whim, so who knows what will happen. I am also looking for January, 2019 options to Cuba and have noticed that the pricing is lower than in 2018.

 

I jumped ships and went to RC for a 5 day cruise with 1.5 days in Havana. You might want to take a look.

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njkate

njkate

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I am booked with RCL for March 2019 but would cancel and rebook with the Sun for anytime April - May. I keep hoping for the 4 night Key West Cuba to become available.:ship:

That is what I'm hoping for as well but as another poster stated may have to jump ship as I don't want last minute, as air from the north east to Florida is still high in March all the way through spring break

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FlyingCruiser2

FlyingCruiser2

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I am booked with RCL for March 2019 but would cancel and rebook with the Sun for anytime April - May. I keep hoping for the 4 night Key West Cuba to become available.:ship:

 

We were hoping to go again in May 2019. Having done both RCI Empress and NCL Sun to Havana - I would RUN RUN RUN from the Empress. We were very disappointed in that whole cruise. Our trip on the Sun was fantastic though.

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Lorey2007

Lorey2007

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We were hoping to go again in May 2019. Having done both RCI Empress and NCL Sun to Havana - I would RUN RUN RUN from the Empress. We were very disappointed in that whole cruise. Our trip on the Sun was fantastic though.
We are booked on the Majesty but will cancel if the Sun dates become available for April or May of next year.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Forums mobile app

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FlyingCruiser2

FlyingCruiser2

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We are booked on the Majesty but will cancel if the Sun dates become available for April or May of next year.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Forums mobile app

 

Hopefully, Majesty is better - that's one of our favorite ships (missing the Monarch).

 

Cuba was wonderful, but Empress was a disaster - from printing Sea Passes wrong and their employees not understanding the Cuban wavier to getting luggage at debarkation. We left from a terminal on the north side of Dodge Island (where most of the ships docked) then returned to a terminal on the south end (next to their corporate hq) and had to then shuttle back to other side. I had seen this might happen by looking at the Port of Miami's page before we left and when I inquired about it at departure (I would have put my car in the arrival terminal's parking) was told we'd definitely be back to the terminal we left from.

 

I could go on and on - it was the most disorganized staff/crew I've we've ever dealt with (over 20 cruises on RCI).

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CruisingNole

CruisingNole

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We were hoping to go again in May 2019. Having done both RCI Empress and NCL Sun to Havana - I would RUN RUN RUN from the Empress. We were very disappointed in that whole cruise. Our trip on the Sun was fantastic though.

 

Having just got off the Sun a few days ago I must ask...what was "fantastic" about it? Food was mediocre, some of it plain awful, employees were not overly friendly and entertainment was a bust. The ship served its purpose, a cheap, quick getaway with an open bar but other than that, there wasn't much to write home about.

 

Granted, my most recent cruise was on Oasis so I know I'm comparing apples to oranges. But literally everything (food quality, service, entertainment) absolutely paled in comparison.

 

I've never been on Empress, nor would I, since the ship's almost 30 years old. Given it's low rating on Cruise Critic, it seems like a no-brainer to run from that rust bucket.

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victory2020

victory2020

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Dates are expected in the next week or two.

Please tell me you have inside information! I read earlier that dates were supposed to be announced June 1. Don't know if people realize but the Sky is scheduled to go to the Bahamas until April 29 2019, so no Cuba in March for it.

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softl

softl

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Please tell me you have inside information! I read earlier that dates were supposed to be announced June 1. Don't know if people realize but the Sky is scheduled to go to the Bahamas until April 29 2019, so no Cuba in March for it.
If I'm not mistaken, I believe the Sky does The Bahamas on the Fri-Mon cruise and Cuba on the Mon-Fri cruise, no?
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chrisc71

chrisc71

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Please tell me you have inside information! I read earlier that dates were supposed to be announced June 1. Don't know if people realize but the Sky is scheduled to go to the Bahamas until April 29 2019, so no Cuba in March for it.

 

 

I work in the industry and that is what Norwegian is telling us. Lots of demand for it.

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njkate

njkate

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Please tell me you have inside information! I read earlier that dates were supposed to be announced June 1. Don't know if people realize but the Sky is scheduled to go to the Bahamas until April 29 2019, so no Cuba in March for it.

That's what I had read as well, much past mid april it's too dam hot in Cuba imo

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jdvmd

jdvmd

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If I'm not mistaken, I believe the Sky does The Bahamas on the Fri-Mon cruise and Cuba on the Mon-Fri cruise, no?

We just did a four-night cruise on the Sky going to Cuba a few weeks ago. Overnight in Havana and over to Great Stirrup Cay.

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victory2020

victory2020

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Perhaps NCL is trying to negotiate docking times and days. Sounds like Cuba is getting busy and other ships may have taken up a lot of the days and ports. Time will tell.

I am thinking that also. We were on one of the cruises in April that were cut 3 hours short because RCL was coming in. Somewhere here it said that they have priority at the port. Their schedule came out a couple of weeks ago, so I'm hoping something will be happening soon.

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FlyingCruiser2

FlyingCruiser2

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Having just got off the Sun a few days ago I must ask...what was "fantastic" about it? Food was mediocre, some of it plain awful, employees were not overly friendly and entertainment was a bust. The ship served its purpose, a cheap, quick getaway with an open bar but other than that, there wasn't much to write home about.

 

Granted, my most recent cruise was on Oasis so I know I'm comparing apples to oranges. But literally everything (food quality, service, entertainment) absolutely paled in comparison.

 

I've never been on Empress, nor would I, since the ship's almost 30 years old. Given it's low rating on Cruise Critic, it seems like a no-brainer to run from that rust bucket.

 

 

My mis-type. We were on the Sky, not the Sun. Having never sailed NCL before we were from the Sky the experience you detail above, however were very pleasantly surprised. We had an Owners Suite on the Sky, and the Royal Suite on the Empress. The Sky folks couldn't do enough to be of service - the Empress folks couldn't have cared less.

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njkate

njkate

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Just checked and still no dates for 2019. If they don't post 2019 dates by end of month think I'm going to jump ship to RC.

Looking to go in March so air from NJ to FL will still be on high side if I don't book early enough.

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