Cuba

The US embassy was occupied by the "US Interests Section of the Embassy of Switzerland", staffed by Swiss diplomats until 1977, the nby Americans after that, because the US would not have an embassy in Cuba. It provided consular services, etc , but it wasn't called an embassy. On July 19, the sign was changed and it was the US Embassy again.

I don't know who provides internet service in Cuba, but we were told that it was so slow - loading a few pages would take an hour - that it was better to plan to do without for a week. Cubans have found work around - they are very ingenious. Some people run businesses downloading movies and music for people. You drop off your storage medium and your download wish list, then pick it up a day or two later.
 
Current tourism is more than just Canadians. Lots of Canadians go to the resorts because they are insanely cheap and our winters can be insanely. I have heard complaints about the food except at the top resorts. My first trip was to a five-star hotel in Havana for a week with breakfast included. Knock one star off because it's Cuba, but it was pretty nice, and the breakfast buffet was very good. We had lunches and dinners in restaurants that catered mostly to tourists, but served very good food. Not gourmet, but not boring either. It probably would get dull after a couple of weeks because of a lack of variety, or we would go further afield to find different cuisine. We also ate in a couple of paladares - small, legal, family-run restaurants that provided very good meals. On our second trip, we stayed in casas particulares in Havana, Cienfuegos and Trinidad. Comfortable, state-sanctioned accommodation in private homes for $25-35 a night. We met a lot of Europeans travelling that way.

I still don't get the whole embargo thing. After all, the US trades with other communist countries and non-communist dictatorships.

I do understand the complaint that Cuban-Americans have about losing their homes and businesses. Parts of Canada were settled in the 1780s by refugees fleeing the persecution that followed a revolution - the United Empire Loyalists. People who picked the wrong side in that fight were hounded from public office, had their homes burned, and their farms and businesses confiscated. Revolutions are hard on the losing side. Anyone want to guess which revolution that was?
 
Niece Kristen has a blog that covers some of her real life experiences, living and working in Cuba... a number of different subjects over the past several years, that give a US/Canadian viewpoint that highlights the way of life for the average Cuban citizen... a sharp contrast to what we are used to.

She's pretty open and funny, and occasionally a little explicit in her descriptions, but overall, for those who might ever plan to visit... some insights into a simpler life and some pitfalls to avoid in dealing with the government and the bureaucracy.... like waiting in line for four hours to renew a drivers license or the challenges of public transportation.

Things that we take for granted... water, electricity, internet, and phone service are not always there where you'd expect them to be, and the availability of many items that we naturally expect to buy in any store, may be unknown to much of the population.

All of that said, I took away the feeling of the America that I remember.. perhaps in the 1950's. Some of the blogs are very long, but skipping through to some of the earlier ones might be rewarding.

https://wowcuba.wordpress.com/
 
I wonder if in a few years Cuba will be filled up with expensive resorts like the small islands nearby.

Then it might be indistinguishable from those or resorts in Mexico, where you have these little oases of first-world amenities surrounded by third world poverty.
 
imoldernu said:
Some pitfalls to avoid in dealing with the government and the bureaucracy.... like waiting in line for four hours to renew a drivers license or the challenges of public transportation.
Click to expand...

Sounds like life in Raleigh, North Carolina...

Things that we take for granted... water, electricity, internet, and phone service are not always there where you'd expect them to be, and the availability of many items that we naturally expect to buy in any store, may be unknown to much of the population.
Click to expand...

We're wrapping up week six in Mexico right now. Staying in Oaxaca in an upscale Mexican neighborhood. Our water stopped running one day and after calling the landlord over, he said the 10,000 gallon cistern had run dry. City water was probably shut off for weeks or months and no one noticed till our underground cistern went dry. The wealthy pay to have water trucks haul water to refill their cisterns. I guess the poor go thirsty and bathless?

We've also had a bout of internet failure. The landlord says "that's just how it is here. Sometimes it just doesn't work that well and no one knows why." I pressured him to call the cable company. The result was that "they know about the issue in the neighborhood and they "fixed" it". The earliest a tech could come out was 8 days later. Just slightly worse service than time warner cable back home. (Internet is back up now obviously :) ).

Makes you appreciate the generally functional utilities in the good ole US of A.
 
explanade said:
Then it might be indistinguishable from those or resorts in Mexico, where you have these little oases of first-world amenities surrounded by third world poverty.
Click to expand...
That seems preferable to oases of third world poverty surrounded by a sea of third world poverty--the present situation.*

*(With a tiny gated compound of high living standards. For the "guardians of the revolution")
 
I just got a firm invitation to spend a week in Cuba in January, 2016. I'm very excited. The draft itinerary includes ballet, cigar tasting, scenic bus rides, Cuban baseball, live music, a walking tour of Old Havana, and so on.

I hope it turns out to be as fun as I imagine and as educational as promised.

Lump sum price is $5k per person plus I have to get DW and myself to and from Miami.

I hope to be able to give a full account early next year. We're very excited.
 
There goes the neighborhood. When DW and I were there in 2014, the price (for the 2 of us) was less than $5K including air from Canada.
 
Yeah it sounds like first world prices.

Will the accommodations merit them?
 
So, as an American wishing to "beat the rush" and travel there, say, next March, what are my best options?

Take one of those tempting Canadian offers, or something through Mexico?
 
Hah! Looks like I need to thank the folks on this site again (and DW) for saving my bacon. I was so excited I was determined to not let the sticker shock dissuade me.

That's why I post here, for the exceptional, disinterested advice. DW pointed out that we spent a similar amount for our Parisian honeymoon (and that was ten days long and not that many years ago).

I see some trips leaving from BC that are about $1,000 USD. I'll do some research and develop my own itinerary for less than the $8k difference. Thank you Meadh, for the Sunwing tip.
 
So other than flying in from a non-US country, are there any legal hoops a U.S. Citizen must satisfy before visiting Cuba? I have a valid US passport, of course.
 
explanade said:
Yeah it sounds like first world prices.

Will the accommodations merit them?
Click to expand...
There are some very nice resorts. We stayed here in 2014. The property was new, well maintained and very nice. The food was mediocre, as it is everywhere in Cuba, probably because of a lack of ingredients.
 
I would imagine that in a few years, after a large influx of American tourists, there will be a lot of new hotels built, restaurants, activities, etc.

It will get the amenities that other Caribbean islands have, and then some.

Saw a report on CNBC that they installed some Huawei routers in some central spot in Havana and some of the residents were paying over $2 an hour, which is a lot for them, to get reliable Wifi.

Google reported offered to build up some Internet access infrastructure for them for a low price or even free.

But the regime is wary about giving too much access to its citizens so quickly. Instead, they have some plan to wire up maybe 200k residents by 2017 using Huawei routers, which are infamous for backdoors.

Someone had said open up Cuba and the regime will fall in a few years. Looks like they want the economic benefits of increased trade with the US but are scared of too much freedom so they're trying to control things, like the Chinese.
 
tmm99 said:
What is your opinion on Sunwing? I was looking at flights from Toronto to the Caribbean islands and some of the countries only have Sunwing flying in (instead of Air Canada.)
Click to expand...

I have never flown with Sunwing so I have no opinion, sorry.
 
tmm99 said:
What is your opinion on Sunwing? I was looking at flights from Toronto to the Caribbean islands and some of the countries only have Sunwing flying in (instead of Air Canada.)
Click to expand...


Flew with SunWing years ago from Calgary to Cabo. They were alright as far as discount airlines go (cramped seats, no leg room)....although that sounds like the major airlines now 😜. I remember they tried to sell us on their "guided tour" once we got to the hotel but DH and I avoided that since we prefer to do our own thing on vacation.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum
 
Went to Cuba once, 41 years ago, (same time as Brezhnev visited); other than Canadians, the other tourists were pretty much Eastern Bloc Europeans - it was OK, much like any other locale in the area - have never had any desire to revisit.
 
Sunwing is a package holiday airline, so it is fine, but not great. I think their safety record is good. A few years ago we spent a week at the Hotel Parque Central in Old Havana (Iberostar hotel "5 stars") for $1000 per person from Toronto with an excellent breakfast. It is very close to good restaurants, the important sites in the city, and for $20 you can get a cab out to the beaches east of the city. There is also a tourist bus that goes to the beaches for $5 for a day ticket, but it is not entirely reliable. We enjoyed Havana so much, we returned two years later to visit Havana again, Cienfuegos and Trinidad de Cuba.
 
I think if you goggle "Sunwing complaints" you'll find a lot. That said, they probably take the bulk of Cdn tourists to the Caribbean. Enjoy. YMMV.
 
Last time we went to Veradero there were guests at our hotel from France and from Belgium. They had purchased two week packages.

We have always been a little surprised at the U.S. Attitude towards Cuba. I could see the Mafia being upset at their casinos being seized or the the end of their control over the Government. Everyone seems to forget the Bay of Pigs...the CIA led attempted invasion of Cuba. It could have been Chile all over again had this been successful. As was the plan.
 
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