Bucket List Cruise!
My husband and I always said as soon as we are able to cruise to Cuba, we were going! So when NCL and Carnival started to announce their itineraries we knew we had to go.
We decided on the Norwegian Sky 4 day out of Miami. This option appealed to us the most for a few reasons:
- 2 days in Cuba with an overnight stay in Havana
- NCK Sky is ALL INCLUSIVE
- A beach day at the private island
This is not a cruise we have taken normally as it was only a 4 day that left on a Monday and came back on a Friday. Typically if I have to take 5 days of vacation from work I want to do a full week cruise. But we loved the extra time in Cuba and decided to add on a weekend in Fort Lauderdale when we got back.
Flew into FLL airport on Sunday morning and grabbed an uber down to Miami where we booked a room for the night before the cruise. Spent the day on South Beach and went down to Smith and Wollensky’s around 4:00pm to watch sail away from Miami that day. Only one ship in port this day but it’s a great spot to grab a drink and watch boats come and go.
Embarkation Day:
The next morning we had breakfast at the Big Pink and grabbed an uber to the Port of Miami around 11am. It was an easy process getting over to the ship. We dropped our bags with the porters and headed inside the building. First you have to go through security. Because this is an all-inclusive cruise you cannot bring on any soda, water or the 1 bottle of wine per person that the other lines sometimes allow. The security line was quick and we headed upstairs to check in. Prior to sailing we were required to sign a waiver agreeing that we would be participating in a people to people experience while in Cuba. This is a requirement from the US government to allow US Citizens to travel into Cuba. This waiver was emailed over to NCL 30 days before the cruise was leaving. We also needed to request visas prior to sailing. We opted to get our Visas through NCL and paid the $75 per person for them to acquire the Visas on our behalf. You can opt to do this process on your own however there is not much of a cost savings doing so. It is much simpler and convenient to pay the money and have NCL do it. We were given our Visas at the check in desk told to have them when we got off the ship in Cuba.
After check in we walked over to the waiting room for boarding. We were given the group number 13 and when we got into the room they had just started calling numbers. The room was crowded at first but as people began to board we found some seats and waited. The process of dropping our bags to walking on to the ship probably took about 45 minutes.
Walking on the ship we were greeted by a small band playing Cuban music and members of the entertainment staff waving Cuban flags. It was a great way to kick it off and helped us feel like this cruise was going to be a little different than the others. There is an area at the piano bar where you can leave your carry-on bags if you don’t want to carry them around while waiting for the rooms to be ready. First stop for us was to guest services as we needed to make some adjustments to our specialty dining reservations. We opted to buy the 3 night package for dining and felt it was well worth it. A little bit of a slow process here so if you can get it all done online before boarding be sure to do it. It will save you some time.
Walking around the ship we were impressed. Sky is smaller in comparison to many of the new ships out there today and for her age she was in good shape. We constantly saw people cleaning and painting throughout the cruise. We grabbed our first drinks and headed down to the main dining room for lunch. We always chose this option if it is available as we like to avoid the mad rush of the buffet. There was a great selection for lunch; we came back another time later in the week to do the same.
I really enjoyed the all-inclusive feature of this ship. I read many reviews prior and had some concerns about the drinks being watered down or just not good. That really was not the case at all. Some of the drinks on the menu are pre-made in large dispensers but I found them to be good. If you wanted something hand made you could just ask. My husband and I also enjoy wine and liked the options that were included with this cruise.
Having sailed NCL previously we knew that the balconies were smaller than other cruise lines, so we booked an aft balcony knowing it would be a little larger. Being in the back of the ship you certainly feel the ship moving more but it was not something that bothered us. We love sitting out there and watching the trail fade away into the ocean. The cabins are certainly small but we managed just fine. Bathrooms had enough storage for toiletries. Shower was definitely tight.
Rooms were ready a little after 1 pm. We spent the afternoon exploring the ship and enjoyed sail away from the front. Miami is one of my favorite ports to cruise out of. Sailing past Star Island and South Beach, we waived to the people sitting out at Smith and Wollenky’s as we had done the night before. It was our turn to cruise! We had dinner that night in Cagney’s, the steaks were cooked perfectly and they kept the wine flowing. We found the side dishes to be a little small. We order a couple to share like you would in a typical steak house but these portions were more for an individual order. Not an issue as you could order more if you wanted to. Cagney is a la carte if you are not on the dining package so we really felt like we got what we paid for (and maybe a bit more) here.
Havana, Cuba
We made it in to Cuba bright and early. My husband woke up to watch the ship sail in and take some of our first photos of Cuba. He said as the ship approached there were families on board hugging and in tears. Some on board were going home for the first time in years to see family and friends. The island is certainly not your typical Caribbean port of call. It feels very industrial at first glance. The burning oil plant in the background and the smell of fuel in the air was stronger than what I was used to. The Cuban people seemed just as interested in us as we were them. We saw small boats driving around the ship and taking photos of us.
We booked an excursion outside of the ship through Fertours. Our biggest concern was getting off the ship in time for our 10 am tour time. The ship had all tours booked through NCL meet in the theatre that morning and they were given priority debark. Anyone not on a ship tour went to collect a debark number that morning and would be able to get off the ship when their number was called. They did let one person go to collect these numbers for the entire party. My dear husband was there bright and early and we were given Number 1 to get off the ship. We had plenty of time to grab breakfast onboard and head off for the tour. Getting off in Cuba is different from most cruise stops. You will need to go through immigration each time to get off and on. The first time you leave the ship you will need to present the visas given to you from check in. They will keep both copies of the visa and stamp your passport. After immigration you will go through security as you exit into the city. We than had to exchange our currency.
Currency Exchange:
*American money and credit cards are not accepted in Cuba. If you exchange American money into CUC (Tourist currency in Cuba) there is an additional fee of 10% you have to pay. It is best to convert American money prior to the cruise into Canadian or Euros. Check currency rates leading up to your cruise to see whoever has the best rates. We did this easily through Bank of America prior to the cruise. After you go through security in Havana there is a currency exchange center. Keep in mind everyone will be changing over money on the first day so there will be a line but it moved very quickly. We converted everything we brought with us and were ready to experience Cuba!
Our tour was a walking tour of the city and an hour ride around town in one of the old American cars. Our tour guide Alan was very knowledgeable and well spoken. He told us of his past, working as a translator for the Cuban government and how he found himself needing to get out of that work. He was very open about communism and day to day life in Cuba. We were very curious about the politics and way of life for the average citizen and he was very honest in his responses, at times even looking over his shoulder to answer. (We’re not in the US anymore!) I highly recommend Fertours as our tour guide was terrific and the price was significantly cheaper than what we would have paid through the cruise line. All tours booked through the ship were in large groups or on city buses, all run by the Cuban government. We had an intimate experience and know our money (as much of it as possible) is going directly to the people.
It is HOT in Cuba. Having cruised the Caribbean many times before I thought I was prepared for the heat but it was at times overwhelming. Air conditioning is mostly nonexistent except for the government run cigar and rum shops we encountered. I purchased a hand held battery operated fan from Amazon before the cruise and it was put to good use. After our tour we had lunch near the port. We wanted to go deeper into the city to find a local paladar but the heat and our hunger got the best of us. We ordered mojitos and each had a mixed grill plate with rice, beans, chicken and shrimp. No one was really fond of the meal. Afterwards we hit up the cigar and rum shops and headed to the ship. We decided than to spend the rest of the afternoon by the pool and to have dinner on the ship in the main dining room. We had booked the “Tropicana” show for that evening. This is certainly a government sponsored tourist trap but that being said, we had fun. We also booked this directly through the Tropicana website and saved ourselves a lot of money. I believe the cruise ship wanted almost $200 a person and we booked an upgraded view table for about $80 a person. The cab to the show was about $20 CUC. Getting to the show is a little bit of a ride through some run down towns. You get to see where the people of Cuba really live. Once we arrived it started to rain pretty hard. We stood in a long line of people to check in and get our tickets. This was a bit of a hot mess. No organized line or system in place. You just crowded the check in desk and sort of stood strong holding your place. Be stern but friendly, eventually we got our tickets. If you want to take photos you will need to pay $5CUC per device which we did. The show is typically outdoors but with the rain was moved into their indoor arena, the show must go on! It was with this change we found our “upgraded” table to be no longer. Lots of exchanging of cash to ushers is what probably caused us to lose our seats. We were further back than I had hoped but we moved to the front of the table so there was no one directly in front of us. The show was of course in Spanish, but the costumes and music were wonderful. We were given a small plate of nuts and a bottle of rum for the table and a can of coke per person. The men also received a cigar when we entered the club. The rum and cokes flowed nicely as again, it was HOT. The show went on for a couple hours and afterwards you were invited to dance if you wanted. We decided we had sweated enough that night and jumped into the first cab we saw outside. We ended the night with a late night snack in the buffet and cigars under the stars.
The next day we had no planned tour and had most of the day free to explore the port. We wanted to reserve one of the old cars to take us over to the fort. We negotiated a good price and jumped in the car with a driver and translator. As we attempted to go through a tunnel to get to the other side of the island we were stopped by Cuban police. They were only allowing government tour buses to go through the tunnel with no explanation. Our guys even tried to give the man some money to let us through but that was not happening. We headed back to the ship disappointed. We still tipped the driver and translator as we know this is how they make a living and this situation was very much out of their control. So with the change of plans we decided to finish up souvenir shopping at a large warehouse with local venders. We purchased some beautiful artwork and a few knick knacks for our home. We than headed to have a cuba libre in town before getting back on the ship. Make sure to change any Cuban money you don’t want as a souvenir back into the currency you purchased beforehand. You can change back into US if you want but again will pay the fee. We spent the rest of that afternoon by the pool and headed up to the observation lounge and outdoor area for sail away, in the very front of the boat. It was busy up there and we shared some stories with other cruisers of our adventure and feelings overall on the country. That night we had dinner in Le Bistro, small dining room with booth seating facing the window and 2 top tables directly at the window. The dinner and service was again very good, one of our favorite meals of the cruise.
Great Stirrup Cay (Day at Sea)
Woke up this morning and hit the buffet for a quick breakfast. The ship was definitely rocking a bit today as the weather wasn’t looking good. We had gotten our tender tickets early this morning and we were still headed to the private island. They began calling numbers so we lined up to board despite the gloomy weather. I was actually shocked that we were boarding these tenders as they were rocking! They had a full crew lined up helping people onboard and you truly had to grab the hand rails not to fall. We were on the first tender which was filled up and headed to the island. When we got the docking area we suddenly noticed the tender turned around. We thought it was going to back in to dock but we headed right back out to the ship. We found out shortly after that there was lightening reported so the captain had cancelled all tenders and we would not be going to Great Stirrup. While it was disappointing, what can you do. The weather was miserable and it was obvious it was not safe. Thankfully with leaving the island we were able to find some sun and enjoy an afternoon out by the pool. The staff quickly rebounded to get activities going on the ship. I also took advantage of the spa special offered later that afternoon. That night we tried our finial specialty restaurant, Il Adagio. The food was delicious but the portions were very large. We felt we may have been better off sharing a few of the dishes as we left very full that night. This was also the white hot party night. We made a point to dress the part and check it out. They had a DJ and the dancers came out for a little while which was fun to watch. Once the dancers left they switched over to just a play list and the party faded quickly. With this being the last night of the cruise we decided to call it a night to finish packing for debark the next day.
Disembarkation:
We enjoyed breakfast in the dining room one last time. We did the self-assist luggage so once we were done with breakfast we grabbed our bags and headed off the ship. Customs lines were a little long but we found they moved quickly. Despite just returning from Cuba there was no real interrogation from the custom agents.
Wanderlust Cruising 