6 replies to this topic

[TCdamsel]

I'm headed to Cuba aboard the Avalon I the first week of December to dive the Jardines de la Reina. Kamala has booked this trip for me and I'm so excited. The Avalon is a beautiful boat and the diving is done right off the boat. The package includes two nights in Havana at a very nice hotel and transfers from the Havana Airport. I booked my flights online at InterJet from Mexico City. You can fly from Toronto, Cancun and a few other cities as well. The main warning I've had is to make sure that ONLY your visa gets stamped by Customs in Havana. Just to make sure I'm going to have a letter typed up in Spanish to hand to the agents. I have a backup plan, just ask me if you decide you are very interested. The diving is amazing with LOTS of sharks: grey reef, silkies, lemons and more.

Service/ Leistung Price/ Euro Total/ Euro
Diving travel for 1 person: 30.11.-08.12.2012
Program accord. confirmation CU 2012-522 2.330,00 2.330,00
1 Single Supplement in Jardines de la Reina 750,00 750,00
2 Nights Hotel Panorama, SGL, B&B 65,00 130,00
1 Marine-Park-Fee 150,00 150,00
1 Fuel Surcharge 70,00 70,00
Total price: EURO 3.430,00
50% deposite Jardines de la Reina EURO 1.715,00
Final payment EURO 1.715,00
The deposit of 50% has to be done with booking after receiving invoice to below bank account.
Final Payment 60 days before arrive in Jardines de la Reina.
After receiving your complete payment we will send you by email your travel voucher of this booked
travel package!
The transfer charges must be paid by the customer.

Arrival: 30.11.2012
Departure: 08.12.2012
Jardines de la Reina “Avalon I”
30.11.-01.12.2012 Havana: 1 night Hotel Panorama 4*, SGL, B&B
01.12.2012 04:00h Transfer: Hotel Havanna - Jardines de la Reina
01.12.-07.12.2012 Jardines de la Reina: 6 nights Safari Ship “Avalon I”
01.12.-07.12.2012 Single supplement (single cabine)
01.12.-07.12.2012 1 x 15 dives
01.12.-07.12.2012 Marine-Park-Fee
01.12.-07.12.2012 Fuel surcharge
07.12.2012 Transfer: Jardines de la Reina – Havanna
07.12.-08.12.2012 Havana: 1 night Hotel Panorama 4*, SGL, B&B
Total price: 3.430,- Euro
The price include:
- 2 nights Hotel Panorama SGL with breakfast
- 6 nights accommodation with full board (beverages are not implied).
- Land transfer: Havana - Jucaro – Havanna
- Round trip transfer in connection with the day of operation: Jucaro -
Jardines de la Reina r/t
- Appetizer after the return of diving in the afternoon.
- Diveguide, tanks with air, weights. Dives from Boat
- All Diving Organisation with the assistance of specialized crew ,
multilingual instructors CMAS, SSI and PADI.
- Tap water is safe to drink
- 1 x 15 dives
- Marine-Park Fee
- Fuel Surcharge
- Single supplement

This is a lot of info, but better too much than not enough. Subtract $750 euros for the single supplement. Let me know if you are interested and Kamala or I can help with the arrangements. I'm flexible about sharing my room, if there is enough basic compatability. Doesn't have to be a girl

Hope someone can join me

[WreckWench]

I sooooooo wish i could join you...its on my bucket list! And I'm THRILLED you will be scouting out the company for us!

If anyone wants to join Ellen let us know... kamala

[Jo Canuck]

This will be such a great trip...enjoy!

Your very right about the visa. On arrival you are given a "Tourist Card" that is stamped and tucked back into your passport and given back to you without a mark on your actual passport. You need to present this same card to be stamped on departure and Cuba immigration keeps that document. You should arrive home without any evidence you were ever a visitor in Cuba.

We have found that anyone who worked with tourism or immigration to have very good English. Most people in these industries were Language majors in university. The further you get away from the tourist areas, the more difficult the English becomes, but we have found it easier than speaking to people in Mexico or the Dominican.

Check with the dive company about local currency. We have always exchanged a couple of hundred right at the airport for Cuban Convertible pesos (CUC's) There is usually no problem with Euros or Canadian dollars but I am not sure what the the fees are on exchanging US dollars or if they are accepted for exchange. Ironiclly, the CUC is based on the US dollar, you should have no exchange to pay: a Cuban peso costs a US dollar! We always tip in CUC as well, for cabs, meals etc, we have found that people accept it better than anything else.

That should be the only two places it might be a bit tricky....have a fabulous vacation and take in some of the local culture. I hope someone is able to join you to share this week.

[TCdamsel]

This will be such a great trip...enjoy!

Your very right about the visa. On arrival you are given a "Tourist Card" that is stamped and tucked back into your passport and given back to you without a mark on your actual passport. You need to present this same card to be stamped on departure and Cuba immigration keeps that document. You should arrive home without any evidence you were ever a visitor in Cuba.

We have found that anyone who worked with tourism or immigration to have very good English. Most people in these industries were Language majors in university. The further you get away from the tourist areas, the more difficult the English becomes, but we have found it easier than speaking to people in Mexico or the Dominican.

Check with the dive company about local currency. We have always exchanged a couple of hundred right at the airport for Cuban Convertible pesos (CUC's) There is usually no problem with Euros or Canadian dollars but I am not sure what the the fees are on exchanging US dollars or if they are accepted for exchange. Ironiclly, the CUC is based on the US dollar, you should have no exchange to pay: a Cuban peso costs a US dollar! We always tip in CUC as well, for cabs, meals etc, we have found that people accept it better than anything else.

That should be the only two places it might be a bit tricky....have a fabulous vacation and take in some of the local culture. I hope someone is able to join you to share this week.

Jo, you are so kind to respond! Your information is incredibly helpful, especially about the CUC's. I hadn't heard of those. - thank you so much!!

Ellen

[WreckWench]

The trip is paid for with Euros so we can check the supplier to see how much they recommend be converted to CUC's or if you will be fine with Euros.

Thanks again Johanne...GREAT information!

[Jo Canuck]

What is even more interesting is that Cuba has 2 official currencies! One is called Convertible Cuban Pesos (CUC), the other is the original Cuban pesos. CUC were brought out a few years ago, valued on par with the American dollar and used mostly in the tourism industry. The original peso is worth much less, it takes about 25 pesos to buy one CUC. The currencies look very similar and we learned about this when we bought souvenirs with CUC and got change back in pesos....we lost virtually all our change on that transaction but came home with something more valuable...a REAL Cuban peso!
Wages I think are paid part in pesos and part in CUC to the people. Highest wages in the country we were told is paid to the military, about $200/month, next lawyers, doctors, dentists etc. One of the musicians we spoke with would make the same over a few night in tips that his wife (an RN) would earn in a month. We saw some of our tour guides pass tips we had paid them on too other people we met on the excursion, a few coins to the farmer who gave us bananas at a rest stop, a bit to the gas station attendant where we stopped. Very interesting to see how ingrained this tedancy to look after each other is.
Getting back to the money, it is of course not recommended to exchange money outside of banks or official locations, you might be given the much less valued local currency and not even know it until you try to use it.
One other thing, they won't accept any credit card from a US bank, so our MasterCard,even though was issued from a Canadian bank, was not accepted because MC is a US financial lender!!! But it shouldn't be an issue if you have paid everything upfront to the dive company.

License plates are interesting too, you will notice lots of different colors. Blue are government vehicles, yellow I think private, green military, black embassy, I think maroon rental etc. The first letter on plate indicates issuing province...M for Matanzas, B for La Habana and so on.
There is so much more but enough for now......

[WreckWench]

Oh wow how interesting! I sure hope we can plan a trip there... would have to see if we could lock in Euros as the pricing is so high otherwise.

Thank you for all the cool info....REALLY INTERESTING!!!

So since I can't go... Ellen would you send me a few REAL Cuban Pesos??? That would be amazing to add to my coin and currency collection!