Over all we thoroughly enjoyed the people, the sun, sand and fun of Cuba. We also enjoyed meeting new friends from other parts of Canada and other countries. We will return to Cuba, probably within the year, but I’m not sure Sunwing can provide us with adequate vacation opportunities and for certain we would never book in at Brisas Del Caribe again. My husband contacted Sunwing personally (via email) when we returned home and they have ignored his message. I did the online survey which is basically rating different aspects of the experience – excellent, very good, good, poor, very poor and N/A. Not very satisfying! The important information is in the details and I believe raining sewage in my room is and very important detail!
Room Number:
501 and 636
Room Block:
E and H
Arrival:
At the airport we were not given time to exchange Canadian funds to CUC’s at 86%, the resort exchange was 80% and even though we were able to get paper CUC’s, we were never able to get more than 5 coin pesos at a time, usually less – 4 coin plus 2 – 3 peso paper currency. Because we couldn’t get much coin each exchange, we had to make many trips to the front desk. We like to tip when ever we get service whether it be a drink, towels, or money exchange – not giving 3 peso tips. Arrived Thurs. 11:30 a.m. – no room til 4:00 p.m. and it was 1/4 Km. from main building. No orientation with a Sunwing rep until the next day a 10:30 a.m. No place to rest from early departure and travel so missed the on site evening entertainment (fell asleep before it started). A private space would have been helpful to at least sort out our luggage for the day. First day completely wasted!!
Rooms:
Ground floor with a view of the taxi and bus parking area. Headlights and traffic noises before 6 every morning. This is not a garden view! Hair dryer was wired 220 as expected but outlet was 110, outlet replaced Friday afternoon. No hot water on arrival, not fixed til Saturday afternoon. Twin beds (my husband is 6’1" so hung off the end), one outlet to be shared with fridge, TV and radio – we chose fridge which when operating, leaked water out the front door, space under the entry door I could slide my hand under (great for mosquitoes, etc.), sewage odor started Tuesday(5th day), housekeeper used strong smelling cleaner in bathroom and left bathroom window open — more mosquitoes to pester us all night. Final insult – last day, return from beach to find sewage pouring into our bathroom from the room above. Moved to another room. Wow – a real room – king bed, clean bathroom, door fits frame, holder for toilet paper – just much further away from the main activity centre.
Restaurants and Bars:
We enjoyed all the food we had at all the restaurants and most servers were incredible. However, by the fifth day, supplies were running very low. At one bar, no straws and liqueur for a signature drink ran out. At the luncheon restaurant they even stopped changing out the used paper place-mats. At luncheon restaurant and main buffet dining room, they ran out of paper napkins for the tables. Substituted – wait for it – toilet paper! Gross!!!!
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
All well cared for.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
We took the sugar cane tour and both enjoyed it. Three nights we saw fabulous dancers at the outdoor theatre – loved them! Two filler nights of entertainment weren’t worth sitting through. Strange contests. One was scheduled as a magic show and wasn’t – MC had a list of musical numbers that when played, the audience was encouraged to run up onto the stage and guess who is singing or what movie it was from, etc. — somewhat entertaining but not magic.
Other Comments:
Sunwing rep was scheduled to be at her desk 9 a.m to 1 p.m with time out for orientation of new guests which for us didn’t take place til the next day. We saw her in the dining room at 12:15 having lunch and she was frequently away from her desk for long periods of time. When difficulties with the accommodations were discussed with her, she had no sympathy for our plight.