Just back from Havana

[wbrumel]

Took the short cruise on Majesty of the Seas to Cuba and Nassau.  The ship's public rooms are in remarkably good condition given its age.  Her crew are wonderful;  high morale, friendly, committed to service.  The cabin and bathroom, on the other hand, besides being cramped, are just way past their time.  Hopefully part of the dry dock renovation coming in early 2019.

Most importantly, I wanted to share my Havana experiences.  Contrary to the overwhelming impression RCI gives you in their documentation, you do not need to go on a ship sponsored tour.  Don't let the documentation scare you.  Just check off the box about helping the Cuban people and forget it.

 

Let me echo what others have said about the extraordinary experience we had with our Blexie-supplied tour guide, Romilio, whose nickname is "el profe" (the professor). Knowledgeable, interesting, flexible, articulate (his English vocabulary, syntax and grammar far exceeds that of my community college students), personable and inexhaustible. He was a pleasure to be with for the day as he showed us, with great pride, this wonderful, beautiful, exciting and musical city during our (4 hour!) walk around town and two hour drive in our '56 Chevy with air conditioning and expert driver. A great day. If you pay twice as much to go on a cruise tour with a few hundred others, I've got a bridge to sell you.

[Dave85]

Thank you for the report!  Looking forward to Majesty and Havana over here, and my private tour.   Thanks for confirming that they are the way to go.

[tybeelucy2]

Thanks for the post. We leave Sunday on the Empress. We are booked with Blexie, but a different guide (Raul). 

 

We booked a ship's tour for Cienfuegos. 

Edited December 5, 2018 by tybeelucy2

[Texasnee]

On 12/5/2018 at 1:00 PM, tybeelucy2 said:

Thanks for the post. We leave Sunday on the Empress. We are booked with Blexie, but a different guide (Raul). 

 

We booked a ship's tour for Cienfuegos. 

Have a wonderful trip! We had Raul as our guide and he is a great guy. Very knowledgeable. You will learn a great deal about Cuba from him. He loves baseball and the Astros are his favorite team. I attached a picture of Raul and our driver, Abel, so you’ll know who to look for. 

Edited December 8, 2018 by Texasnee

[tybeelucy2]

11 hours ago, Texasnee said:

Have a wonderful trip! We had Raul as our guide and he is a great guy. Very knowledgeable. You will learn a great deal about Cuba from him. He loves baseball and the Astros are his favorite team. I attached a picture of Raul and our driver, Abel, so you’ll know who to look for. 

Awesomeness!! Thanks for sharing!! 

[mandream]

On 12/4/2018 at 6:50 PM, wbrumel said:

 

Most importantly, I wanted to share my Havana experiences.  Contrary to the overwhelming impression RCI gives you in their documentation, you do not need to go on a ship sponsored tour.  Don't let the documentation scare you.  Just check off the box about helping the Cuban people and forget it.

 

Just curious - at check in, did the folks give you a hard time when you checked that box on the form?  

 

Mike

[Magnetchief]

On 12/9/2018 at 3:04 PM, mandream said:

 

Just curious - at check in, did the folks give you a hard time when you checked that box on the form?  

 

Mike

 

Leave the box empty and check whatever box they tell you to.

Don't even discuss it with them. 

 

On our last trip we had people arguing about what box they wanted to check off, then were re-writing the forms out again to comply.

 

 

 

[Magnetchief]

On 12/7/2018 at 8:18 PM, Texasnee said:

Have a wonderful trip! We had Raul as our guide and he is a great guy. Very knowledgeable. You will learn a great deal about Cuba from him. He loves baseball and the Astros are his favorite team. I attached a picture of Raul and our driver, Abel, so you’ll know who to look for. 

 

 

the same two we had.  

 

A great team.

 

 

[Texasnee]

1 hour ago, Magnetchief said:

 

Leave the box empty and check whatever box they tell you to.

Don't even discuss it with them. 

 

On our last trip we had people arguing about what box they wanted to check off, then were re-writing the forms out again to comply.

 

 

 

I totally agree. Just check what they tell you to check and you’ll be good to go. The process is totally easy. It’s too bad people get so stressed about Cuba. It was really easier than going through TSA at the airport. 

[mandream]

4 hours ago, Texasnee said:

I totally agree. Just check what they tell you to check and you’ll be good to go. The process is totally easy. It’s too bad people get so stressed about Cuba. It was really easier than going through TSA at the airport. 

 

I understand it will be easy if I check the box they tell me to - but all things being equal, I would prefer to be honest and check the box that corresponds to what I actually plan to do.  I'm wondering if they still hassle you if you try to check the box for SOTCP.

 

Mike

[Cary Cruiser]

I was amazed how easy Customs and Immigration was when we returned to Miami (on Oceania Sirena).  Immigration guy just looked at our passports, made a little small talk, didn't ask any questions, and we were cleared in under 5 minutes, including the time we had to wait on line.  Easy peazy.

[CruiseNovice2013]

Thank you! We're heading to Cuba in January. Our ship arrives at 8 a.m. one morning and leaves at 1 p.m. the following day. We're planning to book a tour with Blexie on the first day, but my husband's bad back won't permit a four-hour walking tour... I'm trying to find out from Blexie if it can be a car tour all day, with walking just here and there in between stops. Do you think that would be possible? Also, if we want to leave the ship on the second morning, do we need to book a specific tour, or will it be possible just to leave the ship and wander around on our own? Thanks so much for your guidance!

[Texasnee]

It sometimes takes Blexie a few days to respond to an email. Since your husband won’t be able to walk around the squares for the first part of the tour, you might want to think about driving out to Hemingway’s house instead. Our guide (Blexie Tours) told us that they do go there but it’s not part of their regular tour. Hopefully, Blexie will be able to accommodate you one way or the other. And NO you don’t have to have a tour of any kind booked to get off the ship. Just exit the ship and do whatever you want. 

[wbrumel]

On ‎12‎/‎9‎/‎2018 at 3:04 PM, mandream said:

 

Just curious - at check in, did the folks give you a hard time when you checked that box on the form?  

 

Mike

Absolutely not.  Just asked if we had a pre-arranged tour.  

[wbrumel]

On ‎12‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 3:27 PM, Magnetchief said:

 

Leave the box empty and check whatever box they tell you to.

Don't even discuss it with them. 

 

On our last trip we had people arguing about what box they wanted to check off, then were re-writing the forms out again to comply.

 

 

 

Agreed.  I think they all go into a shredder anyway.   It's all about the $75.

[Cary Cruiser]

5 hours ago, wbrumel said:

Agreed.  I think they all go into a shredder anyway.   It's all about the $75.

The form has nothing to do with the money you pay for the Cuban visa.

[mandream]

6 hours ago, wbrumel said:

Absolutely not.  Just asked if we had a pre-arranged tour.  

 

Good to know. Thanks. 

 

Mike 

[shirleygr]

I want to add I have had good response times from Blexie using messenger. If you are not getting email responses I suggest you try using messenger instead. We are booked with his colleague Jorge for our July cruise. 

[sjb317]

On 12/11/2018 at 9:47 AM, Cary Cruiser said:

I was amazed how easy Customs and Immigration was when we returned to Miami (on Oceania Sirena).  Immigration guy just looked at our passports, made a little small talk, didn't ask any questions, and we were cleared in under 5 minutes, including the time we had to wait on line.  Easy peazy.

I was surprised at that,too.  The agent barely glanced at our passports, said welcome home, and waved us on.   Our last 5 cruises have been like that but I thought they might be a little more diligent since we were returning from Cuba. 

 

Sherri🙂

[sjb317]

On 12/9/2018 at 3:04 PM, mandream said:

 

Just curious - at check in, did the folks give you a hard time when you checked that box on the form?  

 

Mike

I had filled our forms out prior to checking in and the agent just glanced  at it but did not say anything or seem to care. 😂

 

sherri🙂

Edited December 20, 2018 by sjb317

[cruisenk]

I just started researching a Cuba cruise and the requirements.  We will be sailing on Carnival.  I know we have to meet one of the 12 requirements, but Carnival's website states if we want to do a "People-to-people exchange" it needs to be "arranged by a U.S. sponsoring organization (including Operator guided programs and third party-sponsored programs.)"  If we book with Blexie does that meet the requirements?  I really don't want to pay the money for a ship sponsored excursion. Thank you!

[seattle sojourner]

"People-to-people exchange" it needs to be "arranged by a U.S. sponsoring organization (including Operator guided programs and third party-sponsored programs.)" 

 

But   "Support for the Cuban people (31 C.F.R. § 515.574)"  only requires that you will spend time with Cuban people - guides, restaurants, coffee shops, etc. 

 

 

[LaCal]

On 12/28/2018 at 4:17 PM, cruisenk said:

I just started researching a Cuba cruise and the requirements.  We will be sailing on Carnival.  I know we have to meet one of the 12 requirements, but Carnival's website states if we want to do a "People-to-people exchange" it needs to be "arranged by a U.S. sponsoring organization (including Operator guided programs and third party-sponsored programs.)"  If we book with Blexie does that meet the requirements?  I really don't want to pay the money for a ship sponsored excursion. Thank you!

Yes Blexie’s tours covers all the US requirements 

 

Here’s a photo With Blexie’s excursion info 

[maldenmusic]

My husband and I just started looking in to Cuba so forgive me if my questions have been answered elsewhere. The $75-is that billed as part of your cruise cost or do you pay it separate? We will be on a Carnival cruise. How do you pay for the Blexie tour and how much is it? Can we just get off the ship and walk around Havana on our own, eat lunch, shop, etc? Thanks so much for any help.

[pizzalady1]

1 hour ago, maldenmusic said:

My husband and I just started looking in to Cuba so forgive me if my questions have been answered elsewhere. The $75-is that billed as part of your cruise cost or do you pay it separate? It is added to your ship account. We will be on a Carnival cruise. How do you pay for the Blexie tour and how much is it? Can we just get off the ship and walk around Havana on our own, eat lunch, shop, etc? Yes, you can get off at any time and do whatever you want to do. Thanks so much for any help.

See answers in read. I am going with www.oldcartours so can't answer about Blexie tours.