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.

Planning a Cruise?  I’d love to help!  Click here to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley

One of our very good clients recently finished a Seabourn cruise. This was her first experience on a “luxury” ship, and she had some apprehension.

These folks have done a lot of cruising – usually on Celebrity, Holland America and Princess. They were not unhappy with any of those lines, but after having been to just about every cruise ship port, they wanted to try something different. The price they paid on Seabourn on a per-day basis was not substantially more than they had paid on the previous lines.

So why the apprehension?

It’s a “luxury” ship. They experienced the very common fear that people who gravitate to luxury vessels would be way out of their league.

They would feel like Gilligan on a ship full of Mr. and Mrs. Howells.

The first problem is labelling these ships “luxury” ships. It is true that the quality of food, service and amenities is higher than you’ll get on the mass-market ships, but the word “luxury” has some negative connotations for people. It can be synonymous with “pretentious”, “excessive”, or “snobby”.

Bob and I had a bit of this same anxiety before our first small ship cruise (notice I avoided the word “luxury”). Before we were in the travel industry, I worked as a lab tech., and Bob worked in a grocery store. How could we hold our own with a ship full of investment bankers and industry magnates?

As it turned out this apprehension was misplaced.

Undoubtedly there were a handful of pretentious hoity-toity types – but you find these on the mass-market lines too. We found the people on the small ships to be curious, traveller-types from a wide variety of backgrounds. We didn’t hear people talking about their professions or their possessions – they would talk more about where they wanted to travel to next, and what attracted them to a small ship. Most often they ended up on the “luxury” ship was because they wanted to go to ports that the mass market ships don’t visit.

The culture on these small ships is much more casual and relaxed than you will find on the mass market ships. Part of this is just because there are far fewer people, so you get to know people faster, but the casual vibe is very much by design. There was one formal night on our 12 night cruise, which was the only time Bob put on a tie (something he only does under protest). The rest of the time, he showed up to the dining room in jeans (looking nice, but in jeans).

Back to our client’s “luxury” maiden voyage. She was very happy to report post-cruise, that she was not at all out of place on the small ship. To the contrary – she found that the vast majority of her fellow passengers were very much part of her peer group. A peer group that together created memories to last a lifetime.

Planning a Cruise?  I’d love to help!  Click here to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley

The most popular river cruise routes are along the Rhine and Danube rivers, and they typically travel between Amsterdam and Budapest. This is the most popular routing for both one and two week river cruises in the world.

But what happens if you’ve already done this route, or this routing doesn’t appeal to you? There are tons of other choices if you want to experience a river cruise, but don’t want to be on the Rhine and Danube rivers.

First – the European options:

• For those with a particular love of the Dutch, you can sail round-trip from Amsterdam on the Rhine, Mosel, and Elbe rivers.
• If France is more your speed, you can sail on the Rhone, Saone, or Seine Rivers. These cruises usually start and/or finish in Paris.
• Italy is also a river cruising destination, often round trip out of Venice on the Po River.
  German river cruises are available on the Oder and Elbe Rivers.
• If you prefer to be further south in Europe, you can sail on the Douro River through Portugal and Spain.
• You can also take a river cruise to Russia. It is normally a two week trip that goes between Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Other River Cruise destinations:

• The Mekong. Several of the European River Cruise companies have ships in Viet Nam for the Mekong River. A typical river cruise is 7-nights long between Siem Reap and Ho Chi Minh City. There are many additional land portions that can be added on to your cruise that include Cambodia and Thailand.
• The Mississippi. There are a variety of options for river cruising the Mississippi between New Orleans to Memphis, or in the summer months as far north as St. Louis and Minneapolis.
• The Columbia. You can sail between Portland Oregon, and Spokane, Washington. Other than the very cool craft brewery industry in Portland, this is the only river cruise that is more about spectacular natural scenery than culture and history.
• The Amazon. Much like the Asian river cruises, these are often paired with land tours to Machu Picchu or the Galapagos.

One last reminder that if you are considering a river cruise to any destination, you are well advised to book well in advance. Many ships sell out a year in advance, and as a general rule of thumb, the best fares are available the earlier you book.

Planning a Cruise?  I’d love to help!  Click here to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley