Cruise Lines to Cuba

[SteveGT3]

My wife and I took an Azamara cruise in Jan that made overnight stops in Havana, Cienfuegos & Santiago de Cuba. We are looking to take another cruise there in the first half of 2020. While we weren't unhappy with Azamara, we would like to try a different cruise line, unless no better option exists. We do 95% of our cruises on Celebrity and Seabourn and have done 2 cruises on Azamara because we liked the itineraries and our Celebrity Elite Plus status transfers over to Azamara cruises. Neither Celebrity nor Seabourn lists any Cuba cruises in early 2020.

 

Any suggestions on other cruise lines to look at? Prefer smaller ships and a cruise of 10 or more nights. I looked at Viking Ocean Cruises but, for some strange reason, they do not stop in Havana. Oceania looks promising as they dock overnight in all 3 ports. Haven't seen any others....yet.

[riffatsea]

I looked around and did not see any other lines besides Azamara and Oceania that did all the ports in Cuba with at least some overnights.

Interesting to see what others have found.

[SteveGT3]

Yep, that's all I could find also. Still puzzled why Viking doesn't stop at  Havana. Not interested in HAL or Canival. Seems like an obvious stop for Viking to make, so there must be a good reason. Perhaps someone knows and will share it. If not, I will contact Viking and ask.  

[SteveGT3]

I called Viking Ocean cruises today to ask why they do not stop in Havana. The agent said that Viking has not yet received approval from the Cuban govt to dock in Havana but it is an active effort to get this done. Currently, they only stop in Cienfuegos & Santiago de Cuba. They run excursions via bus to Havana from Cienfuegos but clearly this is not an ideal solution.

 

Too bad, I've read some good reviews of Viking and wanted to give them a try on our next cruise to Cuba. Currently, Azamara has what I consider the best Cuban itinerary, with overnight stays in Havana, Cienfuegos and Santiago de Cuba.  We took Azamara in Jan and enjoyed it, but wanted to try something else.

[Cary Cruiser]

We went on the Oceania Sirena back in December. 10 days, 3 stops in Cuba.  It was our first time on this cruise line, and we would definitely go with them again on the right itinerary.  Great food and service. We liked the "small ship" format - really first class all the way.

Edited February 27, 2019 by Cary Cruiser

[SteveGT3]

I've heard some good things about Oceania. Good friends of ours have sailed with them for years and continue to speak highly of the line.

[ebslcc]

On 2/25/2019 at 11:48 AM, SteveGT3 said:

My wife and I took an Azamara cruise in Jan that made overnight stops in Havana, Cienfuegos & Santiago de Cuba. We are looking to take another cruise there in the first half of 2020. While we weren't unhappy with Azamara, we would like to try a different cruise line, unless no better option exists. We do 95% of our cruises on Celebrity and Seabourn and have done 2 cruises on Azamara because we liked the itineraries and our Celebrity Elite Plus status transfers over to Azamara cruises. Neither Celebrity nor Seabourn lists any Cuba cruises in early 2020.

 

Any suggestions on other cruise lines to look at? Prefer smaller ships and a cruise of 10 or more nights. I looked at Viking Ocean Cruises but, for some strange reason, they do not stop in Havana. Oceania looks promising as they dock overnight in all 3 ports. Haven't seen any others....yet.

Azamara has excellent itineraries for Cuba with their overnight stays! It would be good for us to repeat our Cuba experience on Azamara vs. Oceania 😀. If you want extended port stay and go early 2020 vs. last months of 2019 I see a very good option the Oceania Cuba Impressions sailing 10 days cruise on Oceania Sirena. It has overnights for all 3 Cuba ports!!!  We love our overnight stays in Cienfuegos and Santiago de Cuba. With this itinerary you can do a very long tour in Trinidad and spend time seeing the Sugar Mill valley e.g. we took this excellent tour https://sites.google.com/view/tonycubavacation/tours/tv-trinidad-valle-de-los-ingenios  For Santiago de Cuba definitely consider going out at night and get the musical experience around town, also best with a private tour guide. We took this tour and it was fantastic https://www.guruwalk.com/walks/20731-evening-free-santiago-musical-tour. It was a real genuine Cuban experience unlike other tours we've been on.

 

DAY	PORT	ARRIVE	DEPART
Mar 8 Sun	Miami, Florida, United States	Embark 1 PM	5 PM
Mar 9 Mon	Havana, Cuba	8 AM
Mar 10 Tue	Havana, Cuba		7 PM
Mar 11 Wed	Cruising the Caribbean Sea
Mar 12 Thu	Cienfuegos, Cuba	7 AM
Mar 13 Fri	Cienfuegos, Cuba		3 PM
Mar 14 Sat	Santiago de Cuba, Cuba	12 PM
Mar 15 Sun	Santiago de Cuba, Cuba		6 PM
Mar 16 Mon	Cruising the Old Bahama Channel
Mar 17 Tue	Nassau, Bahamas	8 AM	5 PM
Mar 18 Wed	Miami, Florida, United States	Disembark 8 AM

'

Laurence

[ebslcc]

Steve,

I just read your excellent reviews for your recent Cuba experience. I see that you already went with Gio to Trinidad. For a 2nd time around what tour itinerary would you recommend doing?  

 

Thanks!

Laurence

[SteveGT3]

Hi Lawrence, thank you for the compliment on my reviews. Like you, I found Gio to be a very congenial and very good tour guide. Since it was our first trip to Cuba, all of the independent tours we booked were very typical for the cities we visited. For a second time visit, I am unsure as to what tours I would take. I would suggest that you look at places like Cruisecritic, TripAdvisor and other similar resources for interesting places to see in Cuba that Gio can guide you on. From what he said, it appears that he will be willing to take any tour that a client would like to do. The day after our tour of Trinidad, he was taking a couple on a horseback tour. From our discussions, it seemed that he also did a fair number of hiking tours.  Good luck!