Planning trip to Cuba

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Sputnik
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Planning trip to Cuba

Post by Sputnik »

Anyone been to Cuba before? I hear lots of good things about it so we're thinking of staying at one of the Sandals resorts down there. Anyone stayed at either of them - the Hicacos and the Princesesa Del Mar...?
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Re: Planning trip to Cuba (Sputnik)

Post by SuperSpeedWagon »

my friend took a cruise over to Cuba he said it waqs pretty sweet he liked it alot but i guess he liked it alot because he got wasted every night lol
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Re: Planning trip to Cuba (Sputnik)

Post by Houston »

I was there while in the US Navy during the Cuban missle crisis, but have not been back since. Right now it's legal for you to visit Cuba, but it's illegal for you to spend money there. Cuban authorities will NOT stamp your visa if you ask them to not do so. Go with a friend who pays all the bills and you're all set. Just be sure that your friend pays for virtually everything while you're there. People legally do it this way all the time.
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Re: Planning trip to Cuba (Houston)

Post by Sputnik »

Quote, originally posted by Houston »I was there while in the US Navy during the Cuban missle crisis, but have not been back since. Right now it's legal for you to visit Cuba, but it's illegal for you to spend money there. Cuban authorities will NOT stamp your visa if you ask them to not do so. Go with a friend who pays all the bills and you're all set. Just be sure that your friend pays for virtually everything while you're there. People legally do it this way all the time.Its not illegal for us to spend money in Cuba. I think you mean its illegal for American to spend money there.
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Post by Houston »

Sorry. Didn't notice you were Canadian. You're all set. From what I've read on various Mexico message boards - and I'm there much of the tme - it's a great place to visit. My above info definitely applies to US citizens wishing to visit Cuba. Many US citizens head to Cuba from Mexico, sometimes even groups of them, with advance arrangements agreed upon that one "legal" person will pay for everything. We all know this means to quietly reimburse them.
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Re: Planning trip to Cuba (Sputnik)

Post by new05vibeowner »

Are you taking cigar orders? LOL
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Re: Planning trip to Cuba

Post by Sputnik »

Woo hoo I just booked our trip to Cuba! We are going in January and staying at the Sandals Princesa Del Mar in Varadero! My first vacation to the south!
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Re: Planning trip to Cuba (Sputnik)

Post by ArcsVibe »

Quote, originally posted by Sputnik »Woo hoo I just booked our trip to Cuba! We are going in January and staying at the Sandals Princesa Del Mar in Varadero! My first vacation to the south!Enjoy it! Cuba is super nice Just make sure to tip the hotel staff nicely and it will be an even better time Don't forget to take pics and share with us
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Re: Planning trip to Cuba

Post by Sputnik »

So something bizarre happened with my trip. I was looking on air canada vacations website and noticed the Sandals we booked at is no longer available for booking. So I phoned Sears where I booked and said, whats up with that? She phoned transat holidays and phone me back. Apparently Sandals has sold that property and it is now owned by Sol Melia and is called Paradisus Princesa Del Mar. I'm not sure what I think of this. I really really really wanted to stay at a Sandals - its why I excluded some places, because no Sandals were available. And now to find out my hotel that I booked was a Sandals, is no longer a Sandals kinda makes me mad. She assured me that everything is the same, but you can't say its going to the be same as a Sandals now that its managed by a new company!
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Post by 48-remi »

Sputnic,Go and enjoy the sun. The beach in Varadero is super, the people are nice. Brings US one dollar bills for tipping. Bring some make-up samples and soaps to leave for your waitress, barmaid. Take the bus tour in the city, worth it.Rémi - Carlsbad Springs
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Re: (48-remi)

Post by Sputnik »

Quote, originally posted by 48-remi »Sputnic,Go and enjoy the sun. The beach in Varadero is super, the people are nice. Brings US one dollar bills for tipping. Bring some make-up samples and soaps to leave for your waitress, barmaid. Take the bus tour in the city, worth it.Rémi - Carlsbad SpringsThey no longer take US money. They use a Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC) which apparently you can only exchange in Cuba.
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Post by CAN-AWD-VIBE »

US money just for tips and such... they love it
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Re: (CAN-AWD-VIBE)

Post by Sputnik »

Where do they spend it then? Its not accepted by any merchants as its now illegal. It didn't used to be illegal, but it is since... 2004 I think.US dollars are not accepted at all down there.
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Post by CAN-AWD-VIBE »

i dunno what they do with it... but they sure do like it.Mind you it was 03 or 04 when I was told about that, so maybe you are right and it is no good anymore.
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Re: (CAN-AWD-VIBE)

Post by Sputnik »

Yeah November 8th, 2004, US money was banned in Cuba. If you try and exchange US $ for CUC$ then the charge you a 10% surtax on it. No surtax on Canadian money being exchanged though.
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Re: Planning trip to Cuba (Sputnik)

Post by JohnC »

Why go to a communist country? What happens if you get into any trouble there (unintintionally of course)? Why not support your own country's tourism trade, I'm sure there is something that would interest you there.
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Re: Planning trip to Cuba (JohnC)

Post by Sputnik »

Because we want to go to Cuba. And its January - not exactly the time to get warm in Canada.We did travelling inside Canada this year. This thread is not to be turned into a political topic. Thanks.
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Re: Planning trip to Cuba (Sputnik)

Post by JohnC »

Quote, originally posted by Sputnik »Because we want to go to Cuba. And its January - not exactly the time to get warm in Canada.We did travelling inside Canada this year. This thread is not to be turned into a political topic. Thanks.Nothing political about it. A friend of mine spent two months in a Mexican jail and all the money his extended family could dig up just to get out of jail and back to Arizona. His grand offense you may wonder...one loose 22 caliber shell in his trunk, left over from a shooting match his son used his car for.Forgive me if I didn't want the same type of thing happening to a genvibe member.good luck in cuba.
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Re: Planning trip to Cuba (JohnC)

Post by Sputnik »

If you are just trying to provide some advice, thats fine and appreciated. I wasn't sure since Cuba is a touchy subject for some Americans, so when you used the communist word, it looked pretty politcal to me. Anyway thanks for the info. I'm on another forum about Cuba travel getting info on the dos and don'ts of going there. Seems everyone I know has been there too.
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Post by Cougar Vibe »

Cuba is a very safe, very affordable place to vacation. I'd feel much safer on a beach on Cayo Largo than I would in a library on the UCLA campus.
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Re: Planning trip to Cuba (Sputnik)

Post by Sputnik »

I've just returned from our week long vacation in Cuba! Expect pictures soon. It was a LOT of fun! Beautiful spot!
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Re: Planning trip to Cuba (Sputnik)

Post by BlueCrush »

Can't wait to see the pics!
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Re: Planning trip to Cuba (BlueCrush)

Post by Sputnik »

I'm uploading them now actually. And not only that I get home and check my voicemail and I have a job offer!
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Re: Planning trip to Cuba (Sputnik)

Post by Sputnik »

Okay photos are online now!http://smg.photobucket.com/alb...02007/Some of my favorites:
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Re: Planning trip to Cuba (Sputnik)

Post by BlueCrush »

Congrats on the job offer! You gonna take it? What is it?Very nice pics! I like the jelly fish and the towel art is pretty cool, too!How was the Sandals Resort you stayed at? Bring back any cuban's? (cigars that is)
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Re: Planning trip to Cuba (BlueCrush)

Post by Sputnik »

Quote, originally posted by BlueCrush »Congrats on the job offer! You gonna take it? What is it?Very nice pics! I like the jelly fish and the towel art is pretty cool, too!How was the Sandals Resort you stayed at? Bring back any cuban's? (cigars that is)Job Offer: Not sure yet as I haven't heard the offer. Odd they didn't ask for references... guess I'll have to wait until Monday morning. EDIT: Hm, it seems that come first thing Monday morning I am being relocated to a new office at work which greatly annoys me as I now lose my window office and end up with a new phone number after 7 years. Is this a sign??Towel art was awesome! I wouldn't let the hubby touch the bed until I took photos each day - the day maid did one, and then the night maid who came in and turned down our bed did one - she also left a little note with chocolates.The Sandals resort was first class - when you arrive they greet you with champagne! Nice start to my vacation I must say! My room had full bottles of rum, vodka, gin, and two bottles of wine, along with sodas, beer and bottled water. All of it included! Big balconies off each room. Huge bathrooms, bedrooms with king size beds and sitting rooms. And the last night there, the maid puts on satin sheets and fills your tub with a bubble bath. Didn't bring back any Cubans as we don't smoke them. I was tempted too just for the novelty of it, but didn't. We brought back Cuban rum and coffee though. The coffee is amazingly good.
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Re: Planning trip to Cuba (Sputnik)

Post by Sputnik »

Okay so here is my official write up of my trip to Cuba (this is actually copied and pasted from email to my friends with minor edits for posting purposes)Flight to Cuba was (thankfully) uneventful. So we get to Cuba – first of all its SO organized. You get off the plane, go through customs, and when you come out the other side, the tour guide rep tells you what bus to get on. Because we are at Sandals, the tour guide rep sends us to the Sandals rep right beside him. Sandals has their own hotel transfers so you don’t have to go on a bus with people from other hotels and stop all along the way. So that’s nice. When we get to Sandals we are greeted with champagne in the lobby along with an amenity kit with shampoos, creams etc. Very nice touch! Your bags are taken to your room and that’s all there is to check in. They already wrote our room number on our luggage at the airport – that’s how organized it is!The room – very big – king size bed, a sitting room with coffee table, love seat and chair, a mini bar with a stocked bar – full size bottles of rum, vodka and gin, along with two bottles of wine, and sodas and beer and bottled water in the fridge. Bathrooms are huge – the tub is a two person tub with a big window (it has blinds so people can’t see in) and the toilet has its own little room with a door. Huge balcony with patio chairs and table. All the rooms are in these buildlings – like maybe 6 to 12 rooms in a building – each building is 2 or 3 floors – no elevators as all the buildings are connected with these walkways covered in vines and climbing flowers. Very nice – very tropical! Every day the maid makes towel art on our bed. Every night the night maid makes some too as she turns down our bed for us. Our last night there they put satin sheets on the bed and put bubble bath in the tub! The night maid also left us notes every night. We would leave them pesos and they loved us. There are three pools – one main one that has a swim up bar and then two smaller ones in each of the building clusters. I think there were 5 jacuzzis. There are all kinds of watersports – pretty much any you can think of, you can do. There are several bars and 5 restaurants (I think). We spent most of our bar time at the Lobby bar drinking lemon dacquiris! YUMMY! We ate most times at the buffet which had a pizza/pasta station, a seafood station, a grill, dessert station, cold cut/cheese and veggie stations. All other restaurants required a reservation for dinner and you had to book them through the public relations office in the morning. So it was sometimes hard to get a reservation. We got a reservation for the Italian restaurant one night, and the beach grill another night, but didn’t get to the beach grill due to crappy weather – the beach grill is completely open and on the beach. We actually ate most of our lunches there. The food is average… the highlight was the pizza! You pick your toppings, put them on a plate and give them to the pizza guy. He makes it right there in front of you – very thin crust and then tops it with garlic olive oil! I had so much pizza its not funny!So what did we do in Cuba!? Spent time at the lobby bar. A few mornings we went and laid under a palapas (the beach umbrellas that you see in the pictures made with palm fronds) and read our books, occasionally going into the ocean for a swim… nice and warm. J A guy from the beach grill comes around and takes drink orders for you! One day we took a day long excursion on a catamaran with about 30 or 40 other people (big catamaran!) to Cayo Blanco (white island) for lunch. You leave in the morning – the boat has an open bar – it stops before lunch for about 40 minutes of snorkeling, then you go to the island which is very pretty. There you get served lunch which is lobster with assorted side dishes (yes that’s right I had LOBSTER – on a beach!). And then the boat brings you back in the afternoon still with an open bar! The hubby booked snorkeling one afternoon for 20 pesos. He said it was amazing with tons of fish – even a puffer fish! We played pool and air hockey on occasion. We went in the Jacuzzi and in the pools too. Basically we did nothing but relax and it was fun! The weather was perfect – in fact, hotter than normal for January in Varadero. The only bad weather was Friday when it was cloudy and windy. A cold front came in late Thursday with some rain, and then jellyfish washed up on the beach. We met some nice people there that we chatted with on occasion. Probably 85% of the resort is Canadian. The flight back was also (thankfully) uneventful.
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Post by Kari »

Apparently they don't want us Americans going down there...the resorts in Cuba aren't even on sandals.com.
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Re: (Kari)

Post by Sputnik »

Quote, originally posted by Kari »Apparently they don't want us Americans going down there...the resorts in Cuba aren't even on sandals.com. I don't think its that the Cubans dont want you down there - the US gov't will fine US citizens if they go. http://www.sandalshicacos.com Edit: And also I'm assuming Sandals is a US based company (?), and US based companies aren't allowed in Cuba because of the embargo, so somehow Sandals has kept its Cuba resort seperate from the main resorts. I don't really know how it all works.
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Re: (Sputnik)

Post by Kari »

Interesting. I did find the website when I googled Sandals Cuba and noticed there was a .ca domain too. It looks really beautiful down there.
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