Cuba & Eastern Caribbean cruise

[Rickster50]

Hi,

 

We are thinking of doing the Cuba/Eastern Caribbean cruise with Holland America or the like within the next 12 months or so. Has anybody done that or similar cruise, what was it like overall, and what is the best time to do it?

Thanks

[JCBAY4]

I’m thinking about doing this cruise as well.  Will welcome advice.

 

[Rickster50]

JCBAY4,

 

I haven't had any replies (only you)  from this board which is unusual, however I've had around 3 from the Holland America site. They all seem positive. 

 

Rick

[Kiwi Kruzer]

It you have not visited already ,  the Ports of Call page on Cuba has some good info.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/765-cuba/

 

 

[MicCanberra]

10 hours ago, Rickster50 said:

JCBAY4,

 

I haven't had any replies (only you)  from this board which is unusual, however I've had around 3 from the Holland America site. They all seem positive. 

 

Rick

Good news then, I would like to do something like that in a few years time.

[castaway01]

I had a very close look at Caribbean cruises last year , lots of pros and cons from Australia, they are very cheap cruises but short, you should probably look at doing a back to back , and stay a few extra days after the cruise to rest up for the flight home or stop in Hawaii.

Edited January 10, 2019 by castaway01

[MicCanberra]

There are some longer ones but even then a B2B may be warranted due to the time, cost and distance to fly there and back.

[Rickster50]

Thanks for that info Kiwi Kruzer. I'll check it out. 

Castaway01, we will be booking a 14 day back to back Eastern Caribbean & Authentic Cuba this December. Most of the ports look pretty good. We will be staying a couple days after the cruise before that LONG flight back home.

 

Rick 

[MicCanberra]

Good work. which cruise line?

[Rickster50]

That's exactly right MicCanberra. The 7 day cruises aren't worth it unless you live in the States.

 

Rick

[Rickster50]

Holland America Mic. We've cruised them before. The other cruise lines don't do both Cuba and the Caribbean.

 

Rick

[MicCanberra]

Just now, Rickster50 said:

That's exactly right MicCanberra. The 7 day cruises aren't worth it unless you live in the States.

 

Rick

When I retire, I plan on spending a month or two just cruising out of Miami and For Lauderdale to pick up the various sectors, East, west and South Caribbean.

[MicCanberra]

49 minutes ago, Rickster50 said:

Holland America Mic. We've cruised them before. The other cruise lines don't do both Cuba and the Caribbean.

 

Rick

Okay, so it is that one. I saw some Princess cruises that call in as well but they do Mexico and Jamaica.

[NSWP]

On ‎1‎/‎10‎/‎2019 at 8:53 AM, Rickster50 said:

JCBAY4,

 

I haven't had any replies (only you)  from this board which is unusual, however I've had around 3 from the Holland America site. They all seem positive. 

 

Rick

Many of the Aussies on CC are domestic cruisers, or Pacific Islands/NZ.  - no flights, hence the shortage of Cuban/Carib reviews.

Edited January 11, 2019 by NSWP

[MicCanberra]

Yes, not many Aussie CC members that have been there have done a review.

[NSWP]

2 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Yes, not many Aussie CC members that have been there have done a review.

We have been to some of the Caribbean ports, enroute from  Fort Lauderdale - Panama - LA, but not done Cuba yet.

[Fletch1]

On 12/30/2018 at 8:40 PM, Rickster50 said:

Hi,

 

We are thinking of doing the Cuba/Eastern Caribbean cruise with Holland America or the like within the next 12 months or so. Has anybody done that or similar cruise, what was it like overall, and what is the best time to do it?

Thanks

Hi, just saw this thread.

 

We did this exact cruise in 2018 on the Holland America Veendam. We did B2B Montreal to Boston (7 days), then Boston to Cuba and back to Boston (14 days). We embarked in Montreal on 28 July, which was a great time to do it...ie. nice weather. 

 

Our ports for the Boston to Boston part (August) were as follows......

 

Boston

Key West (nice Caribbean port.....very touristy though)

Havana (had an overnight here.......would have loved 4-5 days here!!!...just a fabulous port. Tropicana is a must see......think of a cruise ship stage show and multiply it by 100....that is the level of this extravaganza!) 

Cienfuegos (interesting but nowhere near as good as Havana. We did a tour to Che Guevara's memorial)

Grand Cayman (it was a Sunday and everything was shut until lunch time, and even then, not much opened)

Ocho Rios 

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (this is HA's private island and is one of the nicest islands we have ever been to. Sand similar to our Whitehaven beach)

Boston. 

 

If you have time (and funds of course), I would also recommend the New England cruise from Montreal to Boston.....that was fabulous as well. 

 

If you need any other info, just post. 

 

 

[MicCanberra]

Good one Fletch.

[Rickster50]

Fletch 1,

 

Thanks for that info. Yeah we did the HAL cruise from Montreal up through Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Halifax etc then back to Bar Harbor and ending up in Boston MA. We had a ball. 

I'll be booking the 14 day Cuba & Eastern Caribbean cruise tomorrow for December 4, 2019....should be good

 

Cheers

Rick

[Fletch1]

31 minutes ago, Rickster50 said:

Fletch 1,

 

Thanks for that info. Yeah we did the HAL cruise from Montreal up through Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Halifax etc then back to Bar Harbor and ending up in Boston MA. We had a ball. 

I'll be booking the 14 day Cuba & Eastern Caribbean cruise tomorrow for December 4, 2019....should be good

 

Cheers

Rick

 

Yep, I would do it again in a heartbeat.......Let me know if you need any info about any of the ports. Happy to help where I can. 

 

[Rickster50]

Thanks Fletch 1,

A quick question - do you or anyone on this board ever take out a "Cruise Protection Plan" with Holland America which allows you to cancel for whatever reason up to 24 hours prior to the cruise. It costs a couple of hundred dollars and it not refundable. 

You get back 80% for the total cruise cost at that time.

Any thoughts welcome!

 

Rick

[MicCanberra]

We have the usual travel insurance which means you need to have the eligible reasons for cancellation but you get a full refund (minus the excess if it has one).

[NSWP]

On ‎1‎/‎10‎/‎2019 at 9:27 PM, MicCanberra said:

When I retire, I plan on spending a month or two just cruising out of Miami and For Lauderdale to pick up the various sectors, East, west and South Caribbean.

Retire? But you are only a young bloke in real life, not a day over 40.

[MicCanberra]

3 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Retire? But you are only a young bloke in real life, not a day over 40.

LOL, you are right of course I look nothing like a day over 40, more like ten years. 😛

 

[Fletch1]

17 hours ago, Rickster50 said:

Thanks Fletch 1,

A quick question - do you or anyone on this board ever take out a "Cruise Protection Plan" with Holland America which allows you to cancel for whatever reason up to 24 hours prior to the cruise. It costs a couple of hundred dollars and it not refundable. 

You get back 80% for the total cruise cost at that time.

Any thoughts welcome!

 

Rick

 

I have not heard of that insurance. We take out an Annual Insurance allowing us 12 months cover with trips away up to 90 days at a time. Works really well, and as Mick said, one needs the usual eligible reasons for a refund.

 

Maybe post on the Holland America thread to see if anybody has used the cover you are talking about. I can't recall seeing anything about that in any of my emails/paperwork when we cruised with Holland America last year. If it is only a couple of hundred of dollars, I would seriously think about it. We book some of our cruises 2 years in advance and our circumstances can change in that time.