FAQ Cruising to Santiago, Cienfuegos, Havana

[ebslcc]

Starting this topic as a reference and summary of Frequently Asked Question I have encountered in the past 3 months getting ready for  our Cuba cruise.  

 

We are on our cruise now to Cuba arriving in Santiago de Cuba tomorrow staying overnight.  We are in Cienfuegos on the 12th and 13th.  Havana on the 15th from 7 AM to 11 PM.  If you have any questions or anything I can watch out for while in port please let me know.  For example there has been questions and concerned about how the ports are for folks with mobility issues l will share what We see.  

 

Laurence

[ebslcc]

Here is a interesting one from our lecturer on board.  Is it safe to eat ice cream in Cuba?  He is recommending NOT to have ice cream and popsicles from local street vendors!  Our stomachs are just not the same.

 

 

[NorthWestPassage]

11 hours ago, ebslcc said:

We are on our cruise now to Cuba arriving in Santiago de Cuba tomorrow staying overnight.......If you have any questions or anything I can watch out for while in port please let me know.

 

Let us know if tendering is still required in Santiago de Cuba for your sailing port call tomorrow. Thanks.

[Cary Cruiser]

We were in Santiago last Wednesday, Dec. 5 and they were tendering.  The immigration facility on the pier looks brand new (with A/C blowing cold air), so I don't understand why they are still tendering at this port.

Edited December 11, 2018 by Cary Cruiser

[rederob]

On ‎12‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 1:51 AM, ebslcc said:

Here is a interesting one from our lecturer on board.  Is it safe to eat ice cream in Cuba?  He is recommending NOT to have ice cream and popsicles from local street vendors!  Our stomachs are just not the same.

 

 

 

I was 3 weeks in Cuba eating ice creams from local vendors in 6 different cities without a problem.  The quality was excellent.

I would take the cruise line advice with a pinch of salt.

 

[ebslcc]

On 12/9/2018 at 10:15 PM, NorthWestPassage said:

 

Let us know if tendering is still required in Santiago de Cuba for your sailing port call tomorrow. Thanks.

 

There was no tendring for our December 10th 11th stop in Santiago. From our tour guide we are the first ship not rendering.  I guess we are lucky the pier is finally repaired.  What’s strange is when I called Oceania before our cruise the agent told us correctly that no tendering is needed for Santiago however Cienfuegos is a tendering port but we heard tonight that we are not tendering tomorrow when we arrive.  RCL Empress is arriving tomorrow also before us. It will be interesting. 

 

[ebslcc]

4 hours ago, rederob said:

 

I was 3 weeks in Cuba eating ice creams from local vendors in 6 different cities without a problem.  The quality was excellent.

I would take the cruise line advice with a pinch of salt.

 

 

Agree. There were a lot of half truths from

the lecturer and the cruise line’s official responses on OFAC compliance.  Mire about this later. Thanks. 

[rederob]

3 hours ago, ebslcc said:

 

Agree. There were a lot of half truths from

the lecturer and the cruise line’s official responses on OFAC compliance.  Mire about this later. Thanks. 

 

The "rules" require receipts to be kept for up to 5 years, irrespective of what OFAC category you choose.

If you choose "people to people" (because you were told to) then the rules prohibit you from participating in any activities unless you are accompanied by a US citizen facilitating your "educational activities".

If you choose OFAC's "support for the Cuban people" then the rules do not allow OFAC to require you to present to them a schedule of your activities.  The opposite is the case if you choose people to people.

That said, OFAC has not been enforcing its rules for around 20 years (for individual travellers).

[Bimmer09]

On 12/11/2018 at 10:22 PM, ebslcc said:

 

There was no tendring for our December 10th 11th stop in Santiago. From our tour guide we are the first ship not rendering.  I guess we are lucky the pier is finally repaired.  What’s strange is when I called Oceania before our cruise the agent told us correctly that no tendering is needed for Santiago however Cienfuegos is a tendering port but we heard tonight that we are not tendering tomorrow when we arrive.  RCL Empress is arriving tomorrow also before us. It will be interesting. 

 

Laurence, thanks for all the valuable info you have posted on the Cuban experience.

Azamara is telling me the cruise pier in Santiago de Cuba is not repaired and that you must have docked at the cargo pier on December 10th. Can you confirm you docked at the cruise pier where the cruise terminal is?

Thanks in advance!

Norris

[ebslcc]

18 hours ago, Bimmer09 said:

Laurence, thanks for all the valuable info you have posted on the Cuban experience.

Azamara is telling me the cruise pier in Santiago de Cuba is not repaired and that you must have docked at the cargo pier on December 10th. Can you confirm you docked at the cruise pier where the cruise terminal is?

Thanks in advance!

Norris

From what I heard we are the first ship to dock at the cruise pier on Dec 10th.  It is very convenient the immigration building, the cruise excursion buses the money exchange is just a short 1 city block from the gangway.  

 

Laurence

[LB_NJ]

Exactly where does the tender dock in Cienfuegos (building, cross streets, etc.)?

 

I want to get a map of the local area.

[Cary Cruiser]

Just enter "Cienfuegos" in Google maps and print one out.  That's what I did.

[gtmerc]

If you went on any cruise shore excursions, which would you suggest?

[ebslcc]

16 hours ago, gtmerc said:

If you went on any cruise shore excursions, which would you suggest?

I assume you are asking about tours offered by the cruise line vs. private tours?  Which Cuban port are you interested in?  There is a good discussion ongoing for Oceania's excursions here: 

As I mentioned in the thread many cruise line are using the same excursion company so likely many of the tours are the likely the same.  For example, I see almost the exact tour description for Holland America's "Art" tour in Cienfuegos as the "Arts in your hands" tour from Oceania.

 

Laurence

[Cienfuegos]

Havanatur (Havanatur.cu) operates many bus and specialty excursions  for cruise lines in Cuba.  They handled our Viking cruise of November 15 in Cienfuegos and Santiago de Cuba.  Their website suggests they also coordinate specialty trips like cooking and farming.

 

In both locations, excursions leave from inside the customs enclosure.  I noticed that some guides, who did bus tours the day before,  were waiting with a driver to handle private tours the next day.  Other taxi drivers waited outside the fence.