Havana Tour with Cuba Outings - Great Choice!

[SteveGT3]

Prior to our cruise, I did considerable research looking at independent tour guides for our time in Havana. CubaOutings name was one that was frequently mentioned and received excellent reviews. I chose them for a one-day tour of Havana and it could not have been a better choice.

 

Prior to us leaving on the cruise, I dealt with Gloria Machado who is one of the managing partners. She responded almost immediately to all of my emails and always answered any questions and issues I had. In addition, her English is excellent which made our exchanges clearly understood at both ends. 

 

A few days before boarding our ship, Gloria provided very detailed and clear information on when and how we would meet our tour guide when we exited the ship terminal in Havana. Her information made meeting our tour guide was flawless and we met him without any problems. This was important to us as it was our first trip to Cuba and Gloria minimized any anxiety we had about using an independent tour provider.

 

Our tour guide was Julio, who was very outgoing, knew Havana, it’s history, it’s people and it’s neighborhoods very well and kept us interested throughout our time with him. In addition, Julio spoke great English also.

 

At the start of our day together, we walked thru Old Havana for about 30 minutes, and eventually went to a large building that housed 100s of stalls that sold crafts and all kinds of Cuban-made goods. We then met our driver there who met us in an old, but well-kept lime-green Chevy convertible. The 4 of us drove all around Havana stopping to walk around at times. The time with the car was about 2 hours. After that. we walked around some more with Julio, who gave us more great insight into other aspects of Havana and Cuba, both of which he was very proud of.

 

The tour lasted about 6 hours and we felt that the money and time spent as well worth it and a much better value and experience that we would have gotten if we had taken the ship-sponsored excursion.

 

As an added note, I would not suggest touring on your own. Havana is a big, but very safe, city but there is not a lot of English except in some restaurants/bars nor are there many tourist-related signs. A guide is essential in Havana, whether you book ship excursions or independent tours, and CubaOutings is a company that I highly recommend!

[ober134]

How far in advance did you book your tour?

[SteveGT3]

It was around 2 weeks prior to the cruise. I originally booked a ship excursion to tour Havana but after reading postings on this website and others, I was convinced that better options at a lower price existed if I booked independently. I was correct! Once I confirmed my tour with CubaOutings, I cancelled the ship excursion and my payment was refunded. The price for the 2 of us to take the CubaOutings tour  was less than what the ship was charging for one person!  

[ober134]

Thx. We are not going until October... But I'm seeing comments about them being already booked up in June and other dates. I read trip advisor reviews, and they look fantastic. We will have 4 adults with special interest in all things Hemingway. I understand they can customize to our liking. 

[SteveGT3]

Ober134, there is no downside to book your tour early. You do not pay until the end of the tour and if your plans change, you can cancel your reservation. 

[riffatsea]

Is there any reason you have not mentioned the price you paid??

It would be helpful to know that??

[SteveGT3]

I paid 160CUC for the two of us (not each). I purposely did not list the cost because people may choose their own itinerary, have a different amount of people, have a longer/shorter tour time, etc... For specific info, I suggest that you go to https://www.cubaoutings.com/en/home/, look them up on TripAdvisor or contact Gloria directly at CubaOutings for what a tour would cost for you. Gloria's email address is cubaoutings@gmail.com.

[pe4all]

We also just booked with Cubaoutings for the same tour in May.  Our quoted price was 180 CUC for 3 people and we had the choice of a convertible or sedan. (we chose the convertible)

Gloria responded to my emails literally within the hour, and answered all questions.  Even sent a picture of where we are to meet our guide when we get off the CCL Sensation!

 

Steve GT3 - did you eat lunch while on the tour, and if so, where?  And how much did you tip the tour guides, if you don't mind me asking?  Thanks so much.

Edited March 4, 2019 by pe4all

[SteveGT3]

We could have stopped for lunch, at our own expense, but preferred to keep going. I believe we tipped our guide (Julio) 30 CUCs and our driver 10 CUCs.

 

Speaking of which, if you can do it, change your US dollars into Euros or $Cdn before you leave the States. In Cuba, you can exchange $US but they charge an extra 10% surcharge. If you use any other currency, there is no surcharge. 

[pe4all]

55 minutes ago, SteveGT3 said:

We could have stopped for lunch, at our own expense, but preferred to keep going. I believe we tipped our guide (Julio) 30 CUCs and our driver 10 CUCs.

 

Speaking of which, if you can do it, change your US dollars into Euros or $Cdn before you leave the States. In Cuba, you can exchange $US but they charge an extra 10% surcharge. If you use any other currency, there is no surcharge. 

We were planning on getting euros from our bank, and changing the euros to CUC to save the U.S. penalty.  Thanks so much for the info.  Much appreciated!

[SteveGT3]

Happy to help you. When we first arrived in Havana, it appeared that not many people were aware of the surcharge. Good info to know before you get there! Have fun in Cuba.   

[riffatsea]

You might want to do some math before buying a lot of euros at a bank in the USA.

Depending on the rate your bank charges, it may not come out much different than just keeping your $$s and paying the 10% fee!

[SteveGT3]

That's true. My bank does not change me any additional fees other than the official exchange rate so, for me, converting $US into Euros made sense. That may not be the case for others., so you need to check with your bank to see how you will be affected.

[Aldebaran78]

Hello.

Does anybody know if they have a messenger/ skype contact or a local phone number?

 

[SteveGT3]

I suspect you can find that info on their website https://www.cubaoutings.com/en/home/. I used email before our cruise to  make all arrangements. Gloria, my contact, was both prompt in responding and great to work with. You can contact her at the general email address that is on their website. We were extremely happy with the service they provided and the tour that they gave.

[julieksolo]

I booked a tour with Cubaoutings for April 19, 2019, and I just got an email from Gloria. Apparently, there was a terrible accident with the transportation of the crew and they are closed for a while. I felt very bad for them. Many of their employees were badly injured. 

[kathy49]

per other resources and facebook etc. they are permanently shut down and so is FerTours.