Back in February 2013, following an engine fire aboard the ship, I proposed that the Carnival Triumph be turned into a Cuban medical shuttle. I wrote a follow-up in December 2014. Now it seems that my wildest dreams are coming true. Carnival will be sailing to Cuba starting in May 2016 (USA Today), but with a do-gooder rather than a medical theme. The WSJ says that “Carnival’s cruisers will need to spend eight hours a day on the ground in Cuba, per U.S. regulations…”
Have any readers actually been to Cuba on one of these approved cultural exchange tours? What was it like? How were the accommodations? Would you rather have been on a Carnival ship for sleeping and meals?
I haven’t gone but I know people who have. Most hotels in Cuban cities are, not surprisingly, mostly not 100% up to modern Western standards. They tend to be older (the Communists didn’t build a lot and what they build is Soviet style and not appealing). (There are modern luxury resort hotels that were built by European companies but these are usually on beaches away from the cities). But they can have a lot of historic charm if you are not expecting amenities and service completely equivalent to a brand new 5 star hotel in Singapore. This is really not that different than, for example, staying at The Algonquin Hotel in NYC or the Chateau Frontenac in Quebec. If you set your expectations realistically, you can have a reasonably pleasant experience and you will walk in the footsteps of Hemingway and get a little taste of what Cuba is like, or used to be like (albeit a Cuba far beyond the reach of most Cubans), while when you sleep on a cruise ship you could literally be anywhere.
Look for example at the reviews on TripAdvisor of the Hotel Nacional in Havana and you will see that they are generally favorable, again taking into account that you are staying there for a historic experience and not for cutting edge amenities.
I have been on an eight day cultural exchange tour to Havana. Basically, we had one organized activity a day, such as visiting a school for the blind. This usually took 3-4 hours and then we were free to do what we wanted. You can opt out of the scheduled activity if you want…at least we could.
We stayed at the Habana Libre hotel, which at one time housed Castro & his troops. It is a huge hotel with large, American style rooms but spotty amenities. One day you had water pressure, the next day you didn’t. Food was good, however.
The cruise ship would be more comfortable and reliable. But part of the visit is experiencing what Cuba has to offer. I’d stay at the hotel again, but then again, I’m pretty easy to please. It was clean and convenient.
As far as food goes, eating in Havana is much better than eating on the ship…IMO.
I highly recommend a visit…the sooner the better. It’s safe & fun.