| RBC Visa works fine.I asked the front desk once (curiosity) and they said that my CitiBank Mastercard would be rejected, even though it was a canadian card.
I take cash for everything except tours. It’s a lot easier to change at the airport Cadeca. If I have extra left at the end of my trip, I keep it for next time! |
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| Hot, hot, hot!But virtually touron-free. There is always a breeze along the water, but if you get between two buildings with no breeze…WOW – HOT.I did it a few years ago on a last-minute deal that I couldn’t pass on – now I try to do it every summer.Drink lots of water. Avoid too much direct sun. We had a rule – no going outside during daylight hours without a full dose of SPF45 (trust me!) and a hat on your head. No playing in the water without a t-shirt and a hat (we took separate stuff just for the water).Oh – and in case you think I’m talking about rules for the kids – no – those were the rules for ourselves (both over 40)!
We had a blast!!! |
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| You won’t need a map. All the buildings are in a straight line across the beachfront.
You can send an e-mail to the guest relations manager, Vicente, with your request. There is no guarantee he will honour it, however he certainly does try. [email protected] |
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![]("http://s29438.storage.proboards.com/2099438/a/vO_wKPm9qgRWR0v2TWkF.gif") Under those circumstances the booze is all you should bring, and perhaps some flowers for his wife.
Have a great time. I agree. I have some very good friends in Cuba and have received numerous invitations to go to Cuban homes for a meal. My decision to accept really depends on how well I know them, and whether or not I think the invitation is for social reasons, or to hit me up for more "stuff". I only accept the social invitations. In many ways, this is their way of saying "thank you" for the gifts, clothes and money I have given them over the years. They have nothing to give except their hospitality.I always take a small token (rum, pop, candy) to share. I look at it as being like taking a bottle of wine when invited out for dinner in Canada. If they have kids I tend to go for the pop or candy. If no kids, then rum/wine. |
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| Hear! Hear! Mrs. Gambitt is SO right!
Every time I want to go to Cuba – or anywhere else for that matter, I have to travel to the centre of the universe first! |
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I chose hang at the beach and make some Cuban friends. Theyw ere closest to what I really do – read on the beach all day – visit my cuban friends in the evening. |
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Always! I’ve been using the same TA for the past 24 years and I travel with confidence just knowing she’s only a phone call away…I have her home number ;D ![]("http://images.proboards.com/v5/smiley/wink.png") Without a doubt, I use a TA. We were in the north of Scotland once when a family member died – the first weekend of their summer holidays – NO flights were available. I called my TA, and within 48 hours, we were on our way home!My TA and I have been ‘together’ for almost 20 years now. She knows what I want/like and often calls me with a good last minute deal.
On-line is a great place to research, but trust me, on a Sunday afternoon, in the middle of a crisis, you want to talk to someone who knows you. |
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| How to avoid tipping with coins 101 -After your first trip to Cuba, this should Never be a problem! I always keep some small CUCs for my next trip. That way, I have some tipping money when I arrive. (And therefore No Excuse)Sometimes hotel staff will approach me with Canadian coin, asking me to exchange for CUC. When our dollar was worse against the US, I always explained about exchange, and offered a fair rate of exchange. They were usually happy to take it! An alternative was to explain that they needed $5.00 in loonies/toonies, which I would then exchange for a $5.00 bill – which they can then take to the bank.It’s just not that hard ! | |
| Stopped counting when I hit double-digits! I have a few favorites- people – Marea del Portillo and Don Lino; beach – Cayo Santa Maria and Cayo Largo; history – Trinidad. Only one that disappointed – Guardalavaca (but that was mostly because of the behaviour of the tourists and not because of the Cubans). | |
| I will be taking my third bike down to Cuba in January. Got it at a Sally Ann Thrift shop for $10. Spent $50 on professional tune-up and new tubes/tires. Canadian Tire provided a (free) box.I have given away two bikes to friends in Cuba – the sheer joy on the faces of those receiving the bikes made everything worthwhile. To me, there is no greater pleasure than watching a grown man sitting beside his "new" bike, stroking the frame, touching the tires and just gazing at it as though he has never seen such a beautiful thing before. My friend’s husband did this for over an hour last year when I delivered their bike! Helped me understand just how important the gift of transportation is to a Cuban.
I believe that if they choose not to keep the bike, it will be because they needed something else more. As was said earlier – once the gift is given, it is no longer mine. |
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| Upon arrival at the resort, the first thing we do is put our passports, travel documents, and departure tax $$ in the safe and they stay there until we leave. And all my money. Unless I’m ‘going out’ somewhere, i take about 2-3 pesos each morning for bar tips, etc. and the rest stays in my room. If I want to buy something, I can usually ask them to set it aside while I go for my money.
The safe is the best place for anything valuable. In January, my room safe was broken. The hotel had a room with boxes behind the front desk. I had 24-hour access. And while I had to ‘think’ more about how much money I wanted each day, it was no inconvenience at all. |
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| I always take thermal mugs and a few spares to give to new friends on the trip, with the explicit order they MUST give it to a Cuban when they leave. BTW, I am the crotchety middle-aged broad grumbling up and down the beach picking up the cups and giving the hairy eyeball to anyone who thinks it is acceptable to litter on the beach of a country where we are guests.
And I’m the grumpy *itch following her ranting about the cigarette butts. (and I am a smoker) I take my first drink of the day in a small plastic cup – then I fill 1/2 the cup with sand and use as an ash tray until the end of the day, when I take the whole thing and throw it away. |
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| I’ve told this story before on this site, but it was a while ago…There was the time that I embarrassed the gentleman at the aduana in Manzanillo – he was ‘searching’ my extremely stuffed bag and kept having to ‘move’ the individually packaged, well-scattered, "feminie hygiene products" around. After a while, he just had to ask…so he held one up and in his best ingles asked me – senorita – what iz zis? So, in my very best Spanish, I told him that they were for "ladies problems"…Well! he couldn’t re-pack my bag and get me out of there fast enough! Hmmm…guess he didn’t want to see the set of cutlery, the 16 pairs of shoes and 12 baby sleepers, amongst other stuff, in my suitcase after all! | |
| I like the first one the best, might print it off and have it laminated…great idea Me too… I like the discreet part of it. We’ll know what it is. I’d also prefer a standardized and sort of official "bought it from Debbies" sort of thing.
We could email all the airlines and tell them that when they find some lost luggage with that tag on it, just come to the Forum and they’ll find the owner, lol. Yeah – I can see it now: Posting from SkyService (or SunWing, Air Canada, AT)… FOUND – one overstuffed black soft-sided suitcase with no tags. We presume it belongs to one family who decided to share the same suitcase because it contains various sizes of clothes ranging from baby to XXXL, 42 pairs of shoes, 4 bottles of shampoo, swimsuits and 4 pairs of crocs. To claim, please contact our Customer Service department at 1-800-555-0000. Jejeje. ;D;D;D;D;D;D;D;D;D;D;D;D;D;D;D;D;D;D;D;D |
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