Next week the GF and I are winging our way to sunny Cuba. We’ve never been before and are looking for suggestions/recommendations from anyone who’s been.
Our itinerary is 5 days in Havana followed by 9 days in Veradero on an all inclusive thingy.
-We’ve been told the bus is the cheapest way to get from the airport in Veradero to Havana. Anyone done this? Alternatives?
-We’re staying in the Hotel El Presidente in Havana which is supposed to be ok but is kind of out of the way. Anyone ever been there?
-We’re also looking for Havana ideas in general. Favorite places, etc.
-Once we get to the resort, is there any kind of interesting things to do off-resort in Veradero?
Any stories, suggestions, warnings, etc. would be appreciated.
We’re headed there February 18th…if you find anything interesting, be sure to post! or pm…reviews on our place to stay Sirenis in Varedero are not the greatest, but it’s warmer there than here! Check out tripadvisor for reviews…
I have never been to Havana or Varadero, so I can’t give you any info on what to do while you’re there.
One thing that comes up pretty often about visiting Cuba which you may already know about is to be a good tipper - you’re spending more money in 2 weeks visiting than a lot of people can expect to see in a year or more. Spend a little more and tip your barman, busboy, waiter, room staff, etc. One CUC is currently about 28 cuban pesos - that’s about a tenth of their monthly salaries (though I have no idea what the laws are about keeping those tips, they do seem to be appreciated!) The other thing is to tip/give material items. Everything from toothpaste and pantyhose to sunglasses, shoes, baby clothes, toys etc are hard to get or dig into earnings quite a lot for the average Cuban, and they are very grateful for it, IME. Even just some simple toys from the Dollar Store are things they would never have a chance to give to their children.
Talk to the people and have fun. I love Cuba, and I’m sure you’ll have fun!
This is what I came in to say. Good things to bring along for tips/gifts for the locals are various toiletry items (deodorant, toothbrushes and toothpaste, particularly), warm-weather clothes or shoes (if you’ve got anything that you were thinking of donating to a secondhand store that’s in reasonable shape), and school supplies (things like blank notebooks, coloured pencils and markers, erasers, and colouring books don’t take up much room in luggage and are dirt-cheap at the dollar store… but they’re worth their weight in gold for the kids there).
Just tip people with hard currency, USD or EUR, and let them decide what they want to use it for. Tipping someone with a can of deodorant or a tube of toothpaste strikes me as an extremely crass thing to do. YMMV.
I agree with Struan. I took the advice of bringing ‘stuff’ to tip with, but felt like an idiot whenever I started to reach for it. I ended up leaving a pile of it in the lobby of the hostel that I was staying at when I left.
Prepare for beauty and tragedy mixed together in a colorful landscape. I’ve never felt more like an ‘Ugly American’ than sitting under a shade umbrella eating ice-cream purchased for a few dollars and then noticing the block long line of folks waiting in the hot sun for the chance to purchase the peso ice cream.
It was about $25 for a cab from the airport to old Havana last time I was there. I don’t know about the El Presidente, I stay at the Abmros Mundos. I don’t know if you have your Havana hotel booked, but they were pretty willing to give us free upgrades in 2007, probably even more so now, so don’t be afraid to ask. That said, if you are booked and paid already, you will of course have less bargaining power. They have a weekend art market in old Havana that is certainly worth checking out. Prices are really good. I’d tour the capitol too. I’ve never been to the resort zone; the only thing I know about it is that they don’t let Cubans in other than employees. Don’t forget that American cards will not work in Cuba. So you need to take cash if an American card is all you have. Also, there is a fee that was about 11% last time I checked for converting dollars. You’ll have to do the math yourself, but you might be better off buying Euros at home since you are staying quite a while.
Had enough of the Northern Winter, eh? Have a fantastic time! We’re also getting South next week; we’ll wave as the ship passes Cuba. I’ve often joked about ditching my husband and youngest in Florida and heading off to Cuba with my eldest (the other two are Americans).
We have not traveled to Cuba but many of our friends have. Prior to going they stock up on small packages of OTC medecines like Tylenol, cold remedies etc. , soap and other personal care items. Apparently these things are almost impossible to aquire locally and are much appreciated by the local resort staff.
The thing is, there isn’t anything to buy with the hard currency. It isn’t always a case of items being too expensive (though that does happen too), but that they cannot be obtained at all on the island. We mostly gave these items to room staff, but in talking to a regular waiter about his children, we brought him toys for them and a few other items one evening before dinner. We also always gave cash, so it was usally 1-3 CUC and a useful item or two, not just a stick of deodorant as tip.
Since you’re Canadian, your youngest also has a right to Canadian citizenship and could obtain a Canadian passport, and use it to travel to Cuba. They ask more questions when they see where he was born, but it’s not a problem and lots of dual citizens do it. Your husband, though… he gets to stay home!
Thanks for all the tips. We’ve heard about bringing little trinkets and other random junk, but I don’t exactly know how to give someone pencil crayons without seeming like a jerk.
“Thank you, Pedro, for bringing my bags up. How bout a nice tube of toothpaste for that disgusting mouth of yours?” Probably stick to cash, bring a few things, and if we befriend any staff, see if they are interested.
In terms of leaving things as tips, I’d often leave them out with a note for the cleaning staff, so that there wouldn’t be that sort of awkwardness. I’d just put one or two little things out every day or two, and then leave the rest on the last day as a thank you.
It’s a little trickier with the other resort staff, but you’ll find that they’re often very chatty and almost always fluent in English, so it’s not hard to build rapport with the ones you deal with regularly. For example, in the course of conversation you might find out they’ve got kids or younger siblings at home, in which case it’s easy to present them with a few things for the children like toys or school supplies near the end of your trip to say thank you.
Think of it not so much as a tip or as a favour you’re doing out of pity, but rather as a thank you gift like you would normally bring someone you has welcomed you to into their home and provided hospitality. Trust me, it’ll be appreciated.
The thing is you dont give them the hard material goods , simply leave it in your room for the maid to pick up.
But really at this time foreign currency is a good idea , they may not be able to spend it now , but it might be a godsend in a year or two. Both Raul and Fidel wont be around that much longer and already the new tone is to lighten up with Cuba regarding doing business with them.
