X cruiser sails Azamara to Cuba Jan 15 to 24 2019

[Bimmer09]

8 hours ago, DiamondDiva said:

Loving every bit of this, Norris, as we were on Journey from Nov 24-Dec 4 for the 10 day Cuba.  You are bringing back memories already.  Rollie was our Blexie guide the first day, and we did get a 1955 red BelAir, as requested since my Dad had one.  As you said, Blexie's company was a terrific choice and I gave him a 5 star on TA as well. 

 

We too are great fans of BVSC (have you seen Raul Malo's program Havana Time Machine on PBS?) and being a Spanish teacher, this was a true Bucket List journey (on Journey!) for me.

 

Looking forward to more, as always, and thanks.

We have played Havana Time Machine a couple of times before sailing. We keep going back for the fantastic live show at the end which features our favorite Cuban, Eliades Ochoa.

It's a terrific documentary stem to stern.

Norris

[h20skibum]

34 minutes ago, Bimmer09 said:

First song lyric quiz. 1966. Double album.Recorded in Nashville. "Oh , Mama can this really be the  end..?

 

That has to be Bob Dylan’s Stuck Inside Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again, from Blonde on Blonde.

 

Now, on with some more classic cars from Cuba.  Breathlessly awaiting more.

 

[Bimmer09]

Here we are in Cuba! Havana no less. There are clouds in my photos but I am glad it is a 74 deg F day and no wind. It strikes me as quiet too. I live in Downtown Chicago and we hear sirens-police fire and ambulance many times day and night. The sidewalks are clean, swept manually by someone who has a Government job for little pesos.  But of course we have all seen the trash here and there in the backstreets and during my days in Cuba I was puzzled by the piles of building materials on a sidewalk-stones and cement bags and no one doing anything with them as if they drop their resolve to fix things and just keep smiling. I don't think I have ever been in a society where people are smiling and laughing as much. I felt very relaxed and not worried about the big bag of cameras. The tourists around me were also not loud. I didn't hear one Yippee nor a yahoo. Not one person fired a six gun in the air making the piano player play "Dixie" at breakneck speed. I doubt they have the money to buy guns here. We will stroll from square to square. At times I lose sight of Carol and Lauren who were just ahead of me a second ago but I hustle, my neck on a swivel (my chiropractor's idea) and don't lose them.

 

If I stop to smoke a cigarette during one of Carol's bench and chat breaks I stub out the cigarette and put it in a little box I carry with me. Lauren was amazed when I told her I didn't want to mess up the streets. So many stray dogs-yet no dog messes on my shoes. 

 

I have two cameras around my neck and by the Fiery Beard of Asgard I plan to use them.

I am that kid in the candy store!

 

We are still in San Francisco Square

 

Apparently if you touch this statue in 3 places you will return to Havana. When we were in Rome for the first time we could have dropped a penny in the Trevi Fountain to ensure our return.

We held on to the money and still went back a year later. We will go back to Havana to, without touching any statues.

 

A pretty courtyard holding an art museum but we have no time to dawdle and gape

 

 

Through the window shot

 

Beautiful buildings abound

 

We leave the square

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

22 minutes ago, h20skibum said:

 

That has to be Bob Dylan’s Stuck Inside Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again, from Blonde on Blonde.

 

Now, on with some more classic cars from Cuba.  Breathlessly awaiting more.

 

No less! I see I have some sharp players here.

Kudos- I will not put a prize in the mail first thing tomorrow.

Norris who saw Dylan play songs from that album in 1966 when he gave a rat's ___

[Bimmer09]

We are walking on cool-looking narrow streets and trying to soak this all in. 

 

Bench and chat break

 

 

 

We are going to step into an Historic Building  I know little about

 

 

 

 

 

We walk on...

[Bimmer09]

No beggars on the street nor homeless folks so I know I am not in Chicago.

I see postcards. Yay for tourism!

 

 

 

 

Maternity Hospital

 

Signage like this reminds me of Salzburg, Austria

 

Gun museum

 

 

More walking....

[jlf1]

Norris,

 

I normally respond to your food porn shots BUT your photos of Havana are stunning.

 

Keep up the good work and fantastic review.

 

Judy

[Bimmer09]

Nice little square

 

 

 

In the nice little square a lovely kind lady brings fish mixed in rice (for nutrition) to the stray cats-every day. 

 

More art through a window

 

 

Asia!

 

Hotel which Ernest Hemingway stayed in 

[Bimmer09]

10 minutes ago, jlf1 said:

Norris,

 

I normally respond to your food porn shots BUT your photos of Havana are stunning.

 

Keep up the good work and fantastic review.

 

Judy

Judy, Judy, Judy-thank you for the kind compliment.

We will dine at our first Paladar later today (in the story)

I promise food and rum porn!

Norris

[Bimmer09]

There's a story to this one. There are 3 colorfully dressed people on the left and the grey haired gentleman on the right with the back pack is taking photos of them. The dapper gentleman in the blue blazer tells him "this is my job. If you want to take photos of us it is 2 CUCs each." The gentleman taking the photos declines to pay the sum requested and as he walks away the Cuban man calls after him "Cheapie! Cheapie!"

 

I don't take obvious photos of these tourist workers (a man with dog on head/stilt walkers) as I know they are working and I am here to photograph this unusual city.

 

Cat relaxing after a fish lunch 

 

 

I would love to step into every bar/restaurant along the way!

 

Norris

 

 

Edited February 1, 2019 by Bimmer09
spelling

[Host Jazzbeau]

57 minutes ago, Bimmer09 said:

I would love to step into every bar/restaurant along the way!

 

Hemingway did!

[Host Jazzbeau]

There was a sign in the museum that you didn't have time to visit that said [literally]: 'Watch your step.'

 

Are only gringos clumsy, or are only Americanos litigious?  

[shiphappy]

Thank you for a wonderful review that I came across this evening.  You are doing a fantastic job!  While I wait for further postings of yours, I would love to read about your sailing on the Crown Princess as we are contemplating a cruise on her this year.  We have sailed strictly on Celebrity, which we love, for the past twenty years but want to try a different itinerary.   Could you share how I would find it?  Pat posted some wonderful pictures of her South American cruise which were great (and I will read about later)  I don’t know Pat but by any chance is this the same Pat who took her grandson on a cruise to Russia?  If so, I sure loved her very detailed and picturesque review of that trip and want to thank her!  

 

[jenncren]

I’m so enjoying your review! After seeing this review, I went back to your profile and found your last review of Alaska on Princess, as we are sailing there in May. Very helpful, beautiful pictures, and enjoyable writing. 

[h20skibum]

8 hours ago, Bimmer09 said:

No less! I see I have some sharp players here.

Kudos- I will not put a prize in the mail first thing tomorrow.

Norris who saw Dylan play songs from that album in 1966 when he gave a rat's ___

 

Enjoying all the photos of Havana.   But, the times, they are a changin.  That’s why I want to get there before it devolves into just another Caribbean port.

 

Carry on.

[Bo1953]

Thank you, thank you, thank you N...

 

bon voyage

[Bimmer09]

9 hours ago, shiphappy said:

Thank you for a wonderful review that I came across this evening.  You are doing a fantastic job!  While I wait for further postings of yours, I would love to read about your sailing on the Crown Princess as we are contemplating a cruise on her this year.  We have sailed strictly on Celebrity, which we love, for the past twenty years but want to try a different itinerary.   Could you share how I would find it?  Pat posted some wonderful pictures of her South American cruise which were great (and I will read about later)  I don’t know Pat but by any chance is this the same Pat who took her grandson on a cruise to Russia?  If so, I sure loved her very detailed and picturesque review of that trip and want to thank her!  

 

 

Yes, that is the same Pat (and Joe)

The link to my last Crown Princess review is in my signature  at the bottom of all my posts but you may have yours turned off.

so go here

Photo/Video review https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2588776

 

I am glad you are enjoying this and thank you for saying so!

Norris 

[Bimmer09]

7 hours ago, jenncren said:

I’m so enjoying your review! After seeing this review, I went back to your profile and found your last review of Alaska on Princess, as we are sailing there in May. Very helpful, beautiful pictures, and enjoyable writing. 

Star Princess, Vancouver to Whittier. 

I'm glad you took the steps to find that. It was our 3rd Alaska cruise. September 2016.

Thanks for the compliments!

Norris

[Bimmer09]

Before I continue our walk and lest I forget here is the Embarkation Insider to show you what was going on. I see there is listed a CC get together at 5.15 but I was busy on my balcony.

 

 

[Bimmer09]

Army Square

 

 

I loved this square for its greenery and it shows what can happen when revolutionaries put down their rifles

and pick up the pruning shears

 

 

 

Pigeons like to perch

 

A fort

 

 

 

 

 

This is far away and I doubt if we will get to it this trip so I take a zoom shot

 

We are moving on to Cathedral Square and then meeting our driver Rydel to begin the classic car part of our tour...

Norris

[Barwick Cruiser]

Are all the dining venues listed on the program included in your fare or are some of them an upcharge?

 

Thanks Norris, enjoying your review very much!

Cathy

[EatonDoolittle]

Did your guide Lauren tell you about her? 

I loved the story, and the trivia that she is also on the Havana Club label (made ya' look..)

 

According to legend, sculptor Geronimo Martinez Pinzon created the statue between 1630 and 1634 in the image of Dona Ines de Bobadilla, wife of Hernando de Soto, then Spain's appointed governor of Cuba.

De Soto was obsessed with finding the mythical Fountain of Youth, although his official mission was to explore and conquer the region known today as the southern United States. In 1540, he became the first European to discover the Mississippi River.

Dona Ines, the story goes, climbed to the watchtower every day, looking out to the horizon as she waited for her husband to return from his travels.

It was there that she received news of her husband's death in 1542, dying shortly thereafter from a broken heart.

 

 

[Bimmer09]

45 minutes ago, Barwick Cruiser said:

Are all the dining venues listed on the program included in your fare or are some of them an upcharge?

 

Thanks Norris, enjoying your review very much!

Cathy

Cathy  there are only 2 upcharge restaurants; Aqualina (Italian) and Prime C (steaks). $30 each.

Everything else is included.

Norris

[Mrs Humuhumu]

So enjoying your review!!!  Thank you Norris.

 

I was wondering if there are any food venues on the ship that are open between 3:30 pm and 6:00 pm.  It looks like only the "Swirl" venue is open between 3:30 and 6:00. 

Edited February 1, 2019 by Mrs Humuhumu
grammar

[Bimmer09]

We walk onwards towards our next treat which is Cathedral Square.

 

A nicely weathered sign

 

Another stray cat

 

A mural showing the building at our backs as it would have looked in days gone by. Clever.

 

There's a rooftop cantina up there. Hmmm. Rum. I am so tempted.

 

 

In Cathedral Square. By now you'll know that the colorfully dressed lady at center is there to pose for photos.

 

 

Her hair and make-up vanity nearby

 

The Cathedral

 

We visit cathedrals where ever we go. Not for any religious reasons but for the quiet and beauty within and to admire the devotion and care taken by the architects and builders.

 

Let's go in shall we?

We shall.

Norris