Cuba Exceeded Expectations

First time in Cuba! I grew up in the Caribbean on the island of Guadeloupe till I was 15; I looked forward in returning to similar climate and environment. Before the trip my girlfriend and I browsed a number of travel review sites (www.tripadvisor.com) keeping in mind there’s always a majority of people voicing up their opinions with focus on something negative to say, so we took that into consideration. In this review we’ll touch on the resort, beach, food, service and tipping, activities and excursions, shopping, and then leave you with useful tips.

The Resort: The NH Krystal, the old “El Senador”. It used to be owned by Canadians but it is now owned by a Spanish company. We booked a room on the Emperador side of the resort. I guess we got lucky with our assigned room (building 47) the location was perfect, placed between the main lobby and the beach. Our suite had a front sitting area, a large bedroom, a large split bathroom. We received a complimentary rum and coffee as advertised in our travel package, a bottle of water everyday and the fridge was filled with beer and jus. The safe is easy to use; we placed our passports, money and valuables as suggested. The room temperature was very pleasurable overnight and for our afternoon naps ;)

The Beach: Quite fine white soft sand :) do I need to say more? The water stays shallow a good while, great for walks during sunsets. Never had an issue finding free chairs and room to settle down to catch some sun. Not much for parties, beach bars are simple (in a hut) and no music, there’s a stage but no entertainment was hosted during our stay.

The Food: We found the food to be great! The breakfast, lunch and even dinner buffets were filled with a large variety of foods. We are both healthy eaters and didn’t have any trouble filling up each of our plates. Very friendly staff, we found that if you get in early you’d avoid all line-ups but even then they’re not usually too long. We had booked “A la carte” dinners for each night of our stay, we tried all but the Cuban restaurant which we skipped our reservation to relax and hit the buffet at a later time instead. I must say that overall the food was certainly better than what we had expected.

Service: It seemed understaffed but not in any anyway bothersome, particularly in the restaurants. Overall staff was very friendly and do their best to make your stay as comfortable as possible. There is an obvious sense of tips are expected, but wasn’t an issue. We left our maid toiletries and other things with a couple pesos everyday. We tipped bartenders every other drink and waiters/buffet cooks every other meal. I’d estimate an average of 10 pesos each day in tips.

Activities: On the first day we registered for the following 3 excursions:

Full day on the Catamaran included the equipment for snorkelling to explore two coral reefs; a delicious lobster, shrimp, fish or chicken lunch on board; an open bar on board throughout the excursion; and swimming at a pristine beach. We both had a wonderful time! (75 CUC / each)

Cuba in Full Color Excursion started by jumping on an air-conditioned bus to a sugar mill; then ride in a train pulled by a 1927 steam locomotive through fields of sugarcane; stopping for a typical Cuban lunch; explore the cities of Morón and the provincial capital of Ciego de Ávila in a bicycle carriage; visit a cigar factory; and finished with a speedboat ride through the mangroves. Great quick tour, only 45 min was provided for free walk time around the cities, I’d wish for more. (75 CUC / each)

The Acuavida Spa was perfect to have booked the next morning after the full day tour, this 3 hour pampering included a 30 min body massage, body mud treatment and free access to the hot massage baths where a bar is available to get your favourite drink (not included). We returned to the resort completely relaxed, worth it! (45 CUC / each)

Walking the beach you can see catamarans, windsurf boards, peddling boats and canoes for rent. We didn’t go for those; we walked up the beach to find the paragliding guys. They were friendly and the operation is government owned so you won’t be able to negotiate down the 40 CUC each, it’s a little expensive but if money is not an issue, I’d certainly recommend it the 15 min bird’s view of the resort is quite nice! Wish I had kept my camera with me. (40 CUC / each)

Shopping: I waited to shop in the cities for souvenirs and cigars, but we didn’t have time to browse long enough, so we ended up shopping in the resorts shops and merchant market, it’s a little more expensive (give or take 5 CUC), I was looking for drums and saw some nice ones at the speedboat souvenir shop on the tour of the cities, it was nicer then the ones at the resort and about 5 CUC cheaper. My point is, if you find something nice outside the resort on your tours make sure to grab it! I was also in the lookout for cigars; I ended up buy some from the resort government shop, Canadians are allowed to bring back 50 cigars each they must be approved (seals on). To be safe I bought boxes of the popular brands “Montecristo” and “Romeo Y Julietta”.

Things to bring:

• Beach bag
• Sunscreen
• Tissue packets
• Thermal mugs
• Power adapter
• Bug Spray (We didn’t need to use it)

Tips:

• As you arrive to the airport have one person go to exchange some money then go to the tour bus while the other waits for the bags, sit at the front of the bus, arriving at the resort one person go to straight to the registration desk while the other grabs the bags, this avoids a couple hours waiting in the registration line-up.
• Book all of your a la carte restaurants at arrival with concierge, they book fast!
• Book all of your excursions at arrival with the travel representative.
• If you have a problem with bugs, take a towel spray with bug spray and place it at the bottom of the door.
• Return beach towels before 5pm on the day before your departure or you may be forced to pay 25 CUC each.
• Try to check-out 2 hours prior to check-out time and enjoy a relaxing drink in the lobby.
• Tip maid a min of 2 CUC / day.