Santiago de Cuba

The daily newsletter on the ship said Santiago is the most Caribbean of Cuba’s cities. I suppose that’s one way to put it. Unfortunately what I found is beggars and people trying to pull scams. Unlike in Havana and Cienfuegos, I did not see a conveniently-located post office. There was no reliable place to post a card near the port facility, so after asking around and trying to walk up the road toward the main square (I made it two blocks before I felt too unsafe/preyed upon to continue) I ended up leaving the card with some guy selling cards at the port who claims he works with the postal service. Totally unsettling, but I went ahead and gave it a try. I also was overcharged twice. The city is the most industrial (and dilapidated) of all of them as well.

As with some other tropical cities, the photos look nicer than the real place!

Our Santiago Special tour guide was informative and spoke English well. He was also the most overtly political guide on the tour and was prone to going off-topic about a few things, including a lengthy and explicit description of how they are trying to discourage burials in favor of cremations in Santiago, and his mention during a discourse about abortion and birth control that “30 is too old to have a child” certainly got a reaction out of some of the group. The tour itself, at $108 Canadian per person, was a very poor deal. Much of the time (2 and a half hours) was spent going to/in a restaurant where no menu was available and I wound up having plain rice and questionable mashed plantains. The setting was beautiful (on the waterfront on a small island in the bay), but it was a total waste of time.

Much of the rest of the day was spent just driving by sights of historical importance, including the Moncada Barracks and San Juan Hill.

We did visit the oldest residence in Cuba, built in 1515

located on the main square (Parque Cespedes) in Santiago

and we attended the noon changing of the guard at national hero Jose Marti’s tomb at Santa Ifigenia cemetery.

The Bacardi family also have a family plot at Santa Ifigenia.

There was also a brief stop at the former Bacardi warehouse, with a chance to buy rum, cigars, coffee and t-shirts from a government-run store.

We had very little time at El Morro fortress at the entrance of the Bay of Santiago de Cuba.

Much of my time was spent using up my remaining Cuban currency by grabbing and overpaying for postcards. The tour was extremely overpriced and reconfirmed all of my biases against traveling in a large group.

I reboarded the ship at 6pm and quickly showered in order to be ready for a 6:30pm cocktail reception. I ended up missing the first 10 minutes of the reception, and going in and out of the room to take pictures so that I didn’t completely miss our final sailaway and sunset of the trip.

The reception didn’t end until 8pm by which time it was dark and almost time for dinner. I had dinner with people from my group and someone from my Santiago Special tour.

After the show, I made sure to use my remaining wifi minutes and enjoy a drink at my favorite spot on Deck 5 aft. The luggage is not due outside the room until 7am on the final morning, which seems to be another nice benefit to having two points of embarkation.

Havana!

The ship sailed into Havana’s harbor at 7:30, as the sun rose above El Morro fortress.

Traffic was remarkably light for a Monday morning.

The ship docks in the heart of Old Havana

Our tour began at 9:30. We took a bus to the Regla section of Havana where we watched a fantastic Afro-Cuban traditional religious dance troupe.

Classic cars in Regla

Classic cars in Regla

We also toured a church with two altars, Catholic and Santeria.

The church is across the bay from Havana.

We returned to the dock at Old Havana and were given one hour for lunch. I decided to walk around by myself rather than eat and I was so enchanted by the city that I missed our 2:15 meeting time in Plaza de San Francisco and our 3pm meeting at Plaza de Armas.

Farmacia

Hotel Ambos Mundos, where Hemingway was a frequent and long-term guest

Plaza de Armas

Street made of ironwood

I ended up taking a classic Chevrolet taxi to Hotel Nacional to rejoin the group for a hotel inspection.

They have pictures up of all of the famous guests that have stayed there since 1930, from Mafiosi to entertainers to world leaders. Peacocks roam the grounds.

From there, we traveled by bus to an hourlong meeting about tour options. Since we were so far behind schedule, the hotel inspection at the Melia Cohiba was cancelled. Dinner was at the teaching restaurant for the culinary academy in Cuba. We watched a mojito-making demonstration and had the first “real” drinks of the trip.

I had vegetables and rice instead of the group menu item, ropa vieja. While we waited for the food, I walked down the block and explored the Melia Cohiba. After dinner I walked up the block to the malecón to watch the sunset.

  

Fortunately, the timing was perfect to get back to the bus just in time for our 7:45 departure to go to a performance of Opera de la Calle, a singing and dancing troupe of more than 30 people who perform in an abandoned movie theater in the Vedado neighborhood.

By 10 o’clock we had arrived back at the ship. I took advantage of our midnight all aboard time and spent an hour walking around Habana Vieja at night. The city has a very romantic aspect at night, with low lighting on the brick streets, historic facades and beautiful parks and plazas. The city seems very safe at night and many people were out strolling or enjoying cafes, many with live music that attracted sizable crowds.

There were also an exceptionally large number of dogs and cats (including one that dove into a trash can).

Several of the dogs wear name tags with a photo around their necks, so not all of them are homeless.

I even saw a Siamese cat wearing a frilly dress!

One noticeable difference from most cities is the lack of homeless people. I only saw one homeless person on my walk despite the landscape being exactly the type of area where homeless people gather in most cities.

At 11pm, I reboarded the ship and enjoyed a cafe mocha and the drink of the day. We sailed at close to 1am, after the people who had taken the ship’s tour to the Tropicana cabaret were back on board.

Today I attended a meeting about next year’s sailings hosted by Caroline from the Cuba Cruise staff, and I have signed up for a tour of the ship’s navigational bridge at 4pm. Tonight is our only “elegant” night in the dining room.

Tomorrow’s excursion departs for Birán at 8am.  We will tour the Castro family’s homestead and then go horseback riding in the mountains.

Signing off from the bow of the Louis Cristal!

First Day in Cuba: Cienfuegos

Review in process 🙂 Internet has been appallingly unreliable, but stay tuned!

Here is the review; enjoy!:

The approach into Cienfuegos harbor is elaborate. The city is located down a twisting channel in an inner harbor on Cuba’s southern coast. As the ship approached, local people were waiting to see the ship and wave to us. There is a giant sign painted on a concrete wall along the approach painted with the words “Bienvenidos a Cuba Socialista.”

The immigration process was equally complicated to the twists and turns the ship must make. Even with just 707 passengers on board, it took 2 1/2 hours for the morning’s immigration check. Doctors took each and every passenger’s temperature before all of us passed through a line where our passports and tourist cards were reviewed and stamped. Two officers and an English Springer Spaniel were at the gangway.

We had to go through another checkpoint with airport-style security and then a Customs declaration line on the way out. The line to exchange money was in the direct sun and was so long that I didn’t make it to the desk before my tour left, even after waiting 45 minutes.

As we drove through the city there were murals featuring “Los Cinco” and a Fidel quote about Cienfuegeros. As we left town, extremely bony horses dotted the fields and the roads were traveled by many animal-powered carts.

Our first stop was the botanical garden in the countryside surrounding the city. A botanist guided us around and showed many species of trees: Copernicus fingers palm, ironwood, ebony, cashew apple, banyan, baobab and more. It was a very interesting and informative tour.

Royal palm, Cuba’s national tree

Ironwood tree. Wood from a tree like this was used to make brick pavers for the Plaza de Armas in Havana.

Brazil nut tree

Ebony

Baobab

Banyan

After the tour we drove to downtown Cienfuegos to do a walking tour. We began along the Prado and proceeded down to Plaza Jose Martí. The streets were crowded with Cuban families doing their Saturday shopping.

 

 

 

I exchanged money at a bank downtown that had no line and was air conditioned! I brought both Canadian and U.S. currency so that I had the option to exchange at whichever was the more favorable rate. After passing a piece of paper back and forth with the teller to request different rates,  I determined that Canadian was a much better deal, getting me almost $10 (or 10%) more than the U.S. equivalent.

We passed a post office on the way back to the bus with a poster of Fidel and Raúl Castro displayed at the entrance.

The tour included an additional, unlisted stop at Club Cienfuegos on the marina. We were served free cocktails and listened to a band playing salsa music. Our ship was visible across the harbor.

If I return to Cienfuegos again, I would like to spend a day touring the colonial city of Trinidad located an hour and a half away.

I sat in the front row during the night’s Latin show and the main singer tried to get me up to salsa dance in front of everyone. Not going to happen!

A Greek buffet with ouzo shots was hosted after the show to promote Louis/Celestyal cruises this summer in Greece.