There’s an old song recorded by the Monkees called “Kicks”, with the phrase, “Kicks just keep getting harder to find”.
In the travel world, this song brings to mind the Caribbean. Whether you’re a cruiser or a resort person – there are only so many places to go in the Caribbean.
This has caused some people to plan their cruises across one of the oceans, but what if you’ve got limited time, OR you just don’t want to travel that far?
I’ve got two ideas for you to consider. I’ll talk about the other one next week, but this week I want to talk about Cuba.
Cuba is simultaneously incredibly close (about 100 miles), and incredibly far (50 years of isolation will do that).
To show how much the world has changed, in the next year there are 117 port stops for cruise ships in Havana. To put this in perspective, this is more than New Orleans (23), San Francisco (77), or Boston (115).
Most of the lines stopping in Cuba are expedition ships, or small ships on a longer itinerary, but the mass-market ships are starting to show up too.
Your options are wide open.
In 2018, you can get to Cuba on Azamara, Holland America, Lindblad, Norwegian, Oceania, Ponant, Regent, Royal Caribbean, or Zegrahm.
Some of you who have talked to my husband, Bob, may know that he travels on a Canadian passport (so was unaffected by the embargo). When Cuba started to open up a few years ago, he thought it would be wise to get down there for a few days so when our clients started to ask about Cuba we could speak with some experience about the place.
Here are his impressions:
- Havana is like a broken time machine. There are all the cars from the 1950s sharing a parking lot with brand new cars imported from Europe. Also, some of the historical buildings have been magnificently preserved, while other haven’t seen a coat of paint in 50 years.
- The Cuban people are friendly, accommodating, and proud of their country. He didn’t expect necessarily expect it, but the locals were always willing to offer directions or advice.
- There are already a lot of Americans there. Cuba was never closed to anyone other than Americans, so there are tons of Europeans (particularly Spanish and British), Canadians and Mexicans there. Bob flew to Havana from Toronto, and as a Canadian who lived in the US for a long time, thinks he’s got a good ear for regional accents. It was his guess that there were as many Americans on board his plane as there were Canadians.
- Cuba is safe. There is a significant police presence everywhere in Havana. Bob compared this to New York City, where you are usually within sight of a police officer. The Cuban Police were also happy to offer assistance and directions.
- The food is awful. Bob has travelled extensively across the world, and specifically in the Caribbean and Central America. To be sure, you can find a meal, but the food was generally bland compared to other offerings in the region. This might be a good reason to go by ship.
- It’s different. Perhaps it is 50 years of isolation, but Cuba has a culture and people that feel much different than other ports in the Caribbean.
So if you feel you’ve seen just about everything in Caribbean, it might be worth checking out Cuba. There is no doubt that as the country continues to open up, it will change rapidly, and a few years further on, it could feel just like every other port in the Eastern Caribbean.
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I look forward to hearing from you.
Sue Bradley
Sue Bradley
