My dad & Sue decided to take advantage of a last minute\nbooking deal to take a 4 night cruise to Cuba for Sue\u2019s birthday. They were\nable to get a great rate on a forward-facing penthouse suite, and they invited\nme to join them. I initially said no, since I had just been away in March, but\nin the end I decided it was too good an opportunity to pass up. And it\u2019s a good\nthing I did, because I was on the last sailing of the Norwegian Sun to make it\nto Cuba before the border was closed again. Here is my story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sunday, May 26th<\/sup>, 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n I took a late afternoon flight to Florida, planning to just\npark at Bradley Airport Lot #4. I\u2019m a huge fan of valet parking in the winter,\njust in case it snows, but for warm weather trips I just self-park. Anyway,\nwhen I got to Bradley Airport, Lot #4 was full, probably due to it being\nMemorial Day weekend, so I skipped around the corner to the LAZFly, where I\nopted to use their self-park option. The flight was uneventful, although bumpy\nenough that the flight attendants were strapped in for the first hour. My dad\n& Sue picked me up from Orlando airport around 7:30pm, and we headed back\nto their house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Monday, May 27th<\/sup>, 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n We would be sailing out of Port Canaveral, which is about 75\nminutes from my dad\u2019s house. We hit no traffic, and arrived there around 11ish.\nSince we were booked in a suite, check in would be expedited, and we were\nquickly led onboard for lunch at Cagney\u2019s, although the rooms were not ready\ntill almost 2pm. Lunch was delicious, and we took ourselves on a mini-tour of\nthe ship, as the NCL Sun was new to us. It was a little confusing to navigate,\nbut we eventually figured it out. I think the main layout issue is that instead\nof walking down a hallway to reach your destination, you have to cut through\nrestaurants or shops, which always makes you feel like you went the wrong way.\nAnyway, around 2pm we headed to our suite 9001, which was wonderful. I was\nconcerned that the forward-facing aspect would make the balcony too windy to\nuse whenever the ship was in motion, but that wasn\u2019t the case. After the\nlifeboat drill, we went to the martini bar for a cocktail, and I decided that\nif I wanted to try out Los Lobos Cantina, tonight was the only night that would\nwork. We had dinner there, and while everyone loved the chips, salsa, &\nmargaritas, the only one who was really excited about their entr\u00e9e was me. I\u2019m\nglad I tried it though. We decided to hit the Welcome Aboard show at 8pm, and\nwe did look for our concierge, Gian, to get our priority theater seating, but\nwe were on the wrong side for that. The show was okay, pretty typical for a\nWelcome Aboard show, but the comedienne was pretty funny, and we decided to see\nher full show later in the cruise. A quick stop at the casino, and Sue & I\ncalled it a night, while my dad decided to check out on of the onboard\nmusicians. Back at the room, we decided to hang out on the balcony, and almost\nimmediately received a phone call from the bridge. Note to self: front-facing\nbalcony lights cannot be on while the ship is in motion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Tuesday, May 28th<\/sup>, 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n We started our day with breakfast at Cagney\u2019s, where we saw\nGian, who asked about our plans for Key West. My dad & Sue were scheduled\nto take a trolley tour, while I was going independently to Hemingway House.\nGian told me to meet him in La Cucina, and he would escort me off the ship as\nsoon as we docked, which would be 1pm. We were going to be docked in the Naval\narea, so a tram was necessary to leave to dock and entire downtown Key West.\nAnyway, I spent the morning in the casino till it closed, grabbed some lunch,\nand then headed to La Cucina. Gian had just left to take a group down, but one\nof the officers asked if he could help me, and he radioed ahead to Gian that he\nwas sending me down. Gian met me right on the dock, and quickly led me past a\nline of about 200 people waiting to take the tram, and immediately seated me in\nthe last available spot. Hooray! Although I did feel a little bad for those\nwaiting in the hot sun. The tram dropped me off near Mallory Square, and my\nplan was to walk to Hemingway House, which looked like a 15 minute walk on the\nmap. So I started walking, and walking, and about 8-10 minutes up Whitehead\nStreet I decided it would be a good idea to check what the building number was,\nsince I was only in the 200s. Unfortunately Hemingway House is at 907 Whitehead\nSt, but there was a bus stop one block up, with a sign that said \u201cfree &\nfrequent\u201d, so I waited. And waited. For about 20 minutes I waited, and then I\nmade the decision that I didn\u2019t really need to see Hemingway House after all. I\nmade the next left and took the alley up to Duval St, grabbed a cocktail at The\nBull, and then met my dad & Sue at Irish Kevin\u2019s after their trolley tour.\nThey assured me Hemingway House wasn\u2019t that far from where we were originally dropped\noff, and I assured them that it was, in fact, much farther than the map\nindicated, especially in 90 degrees. We spent an hour or so at Irish Kevin\u2019s,\nwhich had been expanded since my last visit, and then made a quick stop at\nHog\u2019s Breath, before heading back to the ship. The ship was only scheduled to\nbe in post till 7pm, and we didn\u2019t want to cut it too close. We grabbed some\ndinner in the main dining room onboard, and then hit the theater to see Rock\nYou Tonight. After the show we stopped in to the Sports Bar to catch one of the\nhockey playoff games, and then off to bed. Cuba tomorrow!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wednesday, May 29th<\/sup>, 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n We had an early time for our scheduled city tour, and after\na quick bite in Cagney\u2019s we headed to the theater to meet for disembarkation\nwith our tour. Disembarking in Cuba is a bit of a mess. First you get off the\nship, bringing your passport and visa with you. After the leave the ship, you\ngo through immigration, where they stamp your passport, take your visa, and\nsnap your picture. If you want to buy anything in Cuba, Cuban money, or CUCs,\nis what you need. Places that take US dollars are extremely rare. My\ndescription makes this sound pretty quick, but it really isn\u2019t. This whole\nprocess takes about an hour, unless you get lucky and have an unannounced audit\nat the currency exchange, which will delay you for an indefinite period of\ntime. I know this because it actually happened to me, and rather than hold up\nthe group further, I skipped exchanging money. I figured I could always do it\nafter the tour and shop in the immediate area. Our tour guide, Leanna, was\nfantastic. She began the tour by telling us to disregard anything we may have\nbeen told about protocol in Cuba, and to ask any questions we had without fear\nof offending. She was so excellent that I neglected to take a single picture or\nvideo the entire time we spent in port, because I was that enthralled with the\nhistory and stories she shared. We drove through Havana, and as you would\nexpect from the movies, about 1\/3 of the cars were classic American autos.\nBeautiful on the outside, but basically junk under the hood, since they have\nnot been able to access original parts for decades, and therefore use whatever\nthey can rig it with so it runs. Another noteworthy aspect is the architecture,\nwhich is lovely and ornate, but very rundown, due to lack of money to maintain\nanything. The joke in Cuba is that everything is \u201cunder refurbishment\u201d. After a\nscenic drive through downtown Havana, we made our first stop at Christopher Columbus\nCemetery. (By the way, he isn\u2019t buried there.) One of the docents, Evelyn, took\nus through the cemetery, and the crypts were incredible. Many also had\nfascinating stories associated with them, and some are regular prayer stops for\nlocals (most of Cuba is Catholic). From there our next stop was at the Cristo\nde La Habana (basically a Jesus statue), which has picturesque views. Our last\nstop was at the Castillo de los Tres Reyes Magos del Morro, which is the fort\nthat guards the entrance to Havana, and from which the city used to be entirely\nenclosed in a wall. At the fort there were kiosks selling local handicrafts,\nbut unfortunately I did not have any CUCs to shop with. By a lucky break,\nthough, the state-run shop in the middle of the fort took US dollars for the\nthree items they sold: rum, cigars & coffee. No negotiation allowed on\nprice, although the guide did help me get a break on a cigar, since I was\ntrying to preserve $5 to tip the tour bus driver and only had a $20 left after\nbuying a sampler of Cuban rums. Yes, one cigar cost me 15 US dollars. It was a\ngift for a client, and I was genuinely shocked at how much a single cigar cost,\nbut it\u2019s not like the opportunity to buy another was likely to come my way, so\nwhat the heck. From there the ship returned us to the dock. Have I mentioned\nhow awful the roads were near the pier? Instead of orange plastic cones, like\nwe are used to in the USA, they use cement balls that almost look like oversize\ncannonballs, to mark road construction. It was pretty crazy for cars, let alone\nbuses, to get through, and if you hit a cannonball, you will seriously hurt\nyour vehicle. Cuba time is a common expression, and to sum up what it means I\nwill tell you we had booked a three hour tour of Havana, which met at 8:45am, and\nreturned us to the dock at 2pm. The tour was fabulous, but WAY longer than\nexpected. Since I had managed to grab a souvenir assortment of rum, I decided\nnot to convert any money to shop. We would be docked till 6am the following\nday, but I had promised my dad not to wander around Havana at night by myself,\nso the tour would be it. Once onboard we grabbed some cocktails, had dinner at\nCagney\u2019s for Sue\u2019s birthday, did some gambling, and then I headed to bed. Sea\nday tomorrow!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thursday, May 30th<\/sup>, 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n I had an activity filled day, which began with morning\ntrivia, and then follow up with How to Run a Floating Hotel, and the Officer\u2019s\nQ&A. Lunch at Cagney\u2019s, and then I rocked the Movie Posters trivia,\nalthough I did not win. I relaxed for the afternoon, and then after dinner we\nhad a VIP cocktail hour with the officers, which was very nice. From there we\nwent to the theater to see World Beat, which was very well done, but not my\nusual preference of music overall. Last night onboard, but I was pretty tired,\nso after losing a little money in the casino, I went back to the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Friday, May 31st<\/sup>, 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n Disembarkation day! So sad. I had opted to leave on Saturday\ninstead, as I was planning to meet my husband up at Lake George after I landed\nat Bradley, and he would not be leaving our home in Connecticut until Saturday\nmorning. We had a nice relaxing day, played some games, and generally hung out\nat the house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Saturday, June 1st<\/sup>, 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n I needed to be at Orlando airport around 11am for my flight, so after breakfast and some coffee we headed to the airport. The flight left on time, and was mostly uneventful, until about 20 minutes before landing, when the woman in the middle seat on the other side of the aisle started flipping out and beating up her husband. I missed the initial altercation, but the gist was that the woman in the middle, who had been knocking back margaritas the whole flight, decided to make a phone call using her cell while still at cruising altitude. The woman on the aisle called her an idiot, and told her she couldn\u2019t do that, and when the husband (window seat) didn\u2019t defend her, she flipped out and started punching him repeatedly in the arm. The aisle woman called the flight attendant, at which point the drunk woman started sobbing that she was called an idiot and her husband didn\u2019t defend her. The flight attendant basically said, nicely, suck it up, we\u2019re landing soon, and walked away. About three minutes later, she still hasn\u2019t settled down, and to make matters worse, the husband apologized to the aisle woman for his wife\u2019s behavior, at which point she flips out again. The aisle woman calls the flight attendant back, who tells her, again nicely, that if she can\u2019t calm herself, they will have security meet the plane to detain her. At this point she stops yelling, but keeps muttering threats at her husband. The moment the seatbelt sign turned off, the aisle woman was up and ready to get the heck away from this lunatic. For my part, I stood in the aisle behind her as sort of a human buffer. Not that I was going to get overly involved, but I thought the barrier of another person might help. We made it off the plane, I claimed my bag, and then went to grab the shuttle to the LAZFly to pickup my car. Want to guess who ended up on my shuttle? You guessed it, the drunk lady and her husband, who are now acting like nothing ever happened. I paid for the parking, hiked it to my car (the spot was not particularly close to the dropoff), and left for Lake George, where I had a lovely weekend. But that\u2019s it for my Cuba trip, so I will wrap things up here. If you’d like to see a short video of Havana harbor, here is a link to what I recorded – https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fU-lYGF5jTI<\/a>. Thanks for reading!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My dad & Sue decided to take advantage of a last minute booking deal to take a 4 night cruise to Cuba for Sue\u2019s birthday. They were able to get a great rate on a forward-facing penthouse suite, and they invited me to join them. I initially said no, since I had just been away…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aprilrichards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aprilrichards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aprilrichards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.aprilrichards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.aprilrichards.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=175"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.aprilrichards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":189,"href":"http:\/\/www.aprilrichards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175\/revisions\/189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aprilrichards.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.aprilrichards.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.aprilrichards.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}