The only reason we came on this cruise was to see Cuba and
this is the day!
On 99% of the cruises we have been on there are always a lot
of people who stay on the ship. In this
case, we knew that everyone was going to get off including any of the crew that
also could leave.
That meant that leaving the ship could take a terribly long time. We also listened to a lecture where the Carnival
person speaking who had been to Cuba many times said the Cuban port people were
very few and there would be large lines.
To get around the masses, we had made friends with a guest
services person and we escorted off the ship with the suite passengers and
those who had cruised many, many times – about 25 couples. We were literally the 7th & 8th
people off.
We had arranged for a private 6 hour tour to start at 9am
and we were off at 7:30am so we just walked around for an hour+ before going to
the square to meet our guide.
While we were walking on our own, we can across a beautiful
6 story hotel and the doorman took us up to the roof top via an elevator that
looked like it was one of the first every built. We had an amazing view of the city at that
point.
(Overall comments after the tour) There is nothing to easily describe this city
of 2 million people. There are many,
many buildings that look like they have been bombed out. Then
there are very, very old buildings that are being occupied and some old
buildings that are restored. These are
buildings from the 1800’s. Then there
are a few new building; however, the new buildings were built in the 50’s.
The old buildings that are being restored are being restored
by the government. A private person
cannot buy a building and restore it
Prior to Castro in 1962, this town was booming and the rich
were very rich. Castro overthrew that government
by promising that everyone would receive a job and income from the state. That everyone would have free health care and
everyone would be able to go to the university for free.
All of that is how Cuba is still runs today;
however, it is very much a communist state.
Unlike other communist states we have been in, there is little incentive
for private industry – which is amazing how the government controls the people
Cuba did ok under Castro prior to the Cuban missile crisis; however
after that, Russia pulled out of Cuba and there economy collapsed.
Each block in a city has a block commander. Multiple blocks have commanders over then and
so on up.
The lowest commander gets a government car (very old) as do
the “watchers” above them.
In the country again there are blocks – they just cover a
larger area. Everyone is watching
everyone else.
There are always shortages.
Right now there are shortages of flour and oil and regular people cannot
get them.
We made the comment to our tour guide that we wanted to come
to Cuba before the country changed. He
said they have had tourists from other countries for years and it is not going
to change and we believe him after what we saw and heard.
It is amazing society in that the people do not like it;
however, they have been brainwashed at an early age and the people feel like
that can’t revolt and they are locked and cannot fix it.
There is no crime, no one is on the street and is homeless.
The is from Google and what we also learned – “At the high end of salaries,
doctors with two specialties will see their salary go from the equivalent of
$26 a month to $67, while an entry-level nurse will make $25, up from $13.
Salaries at government jobs in Cuba average about $20 a month, augmented by a
range of free services and subsidies.”
There
is no cell service in this county that a tourist can access. There is no Google for anyone. Everything is controlled by the government. There are also no ATM’s and no one accepts
American money.
The only way we could
purchase anything was to covert our money at the port for Cuban money. It was very hard to plan for everything we
had to purchase, like the tour and what we wanted to purchase, like cigars,
run, etc. If you are in the city and
have run out of their money, there are no exceptions, you cannot hand anyone an
American bill – they will not take it.
Everyone is being watched. They
also do not take American credit cards.
When Castro took over, he deported all of the religious leaders; however, allowed the churches to remain open, just not used. He has since allowed religious leaders back into the country and to lead their churches.
When
you read this you might say this can’t be real, this cannot happen in the
modern world we live in. Yes, it is true
and it does happen.
The
people were all so thoughtful, so polite.
We had a guide who had been a guide for over 40 years and his daughter
was now becoming a guide. Tips are
greatly appreciated and you can see why.
All
that being said, we had a wonderful tour which started out by meeting Ray, our
guide right across from the ship and he took us on a walking tour of old Havana
for about 1 ½ hours.
Then
one of the highlights was that we were driven around the city for the next 2
hours in a 1956 blue Chevrolet convertible.
Easily ½ of all the cars in this huge city are old American cars. Then the rest are just old cars. There are no new cars in Havana. There are also not many new looking older
cars.
We
stopped at many places to see, including a huge cemetery right in the center of
the city where we walked around for a bit with our guide.
After
the car tour, we went to a little restaurant and had an enjoyable meal of ??
One
of the highlights was stopping at a cigar factory. This factory employs 300 people who each have
to make from 80 to 120 cigars a day as their quota, all by hand. We were able to walk right next to them and
see how a cigar is made and it was amazing.
Pictures were not allowed in the actual factory but I don’t think I will
ever be able to erase the picture of all of those people making cigars, one at
a time in a very laborious manner.
You
could not purchase cigars there but we did not to a government store later to
purchase cigars.
There are some black-market
people selling cigars but the real ones are only sold in government stores.
After
our tour we went back to the ship to clean up, have a snack and then go out at
7:30pm.
We
had arranged with the driver of out daytime tour car to pick us up at the port
and he was there just as he promised and took us the ½ drive to nightclub that
has been operational since 1939, the Tropicana to eat there and see an amazing
show. I will post videos as soon as I am
able.
First
we had dinner at their separate restaurant and we were so surprised as to how
good it was.
Then
we went to the show and had seats right in front. The show was 2 hours long and it was no-stop high
intensity dancing and singing and wow what a show.
Then
we met our driver and he took us back to our ship. We had the equivalent of 34 US dollars left
and since there was no way to change them back to US, we gave it all to Carols
for his service and kindness. Of course he
was very happy.
We
didn’t do the blog last night as we were very tired and on overload.
Pictures are still downloading and they will be posted later today.
Today
we are cruising to Tampa.
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| A typical pay phone |
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| The roof top of a hotel in old Havana |
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| The view from the roof top |
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| Barb and our guide Ray |
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| Entrance to an Air BnB |
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| Our ride - a 1956 |
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| More and more 50's cars |
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| Typical housing |
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| A Firefighters memorial in the cemetery |
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| The top of the momument |
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Typical apartment building |
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| Our second ride |
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| More cars |
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| More and more |
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| Things we bought in Havana |
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| At Dinner before the show |
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| The show |
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| The dancers |
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| They called it a Hibread as it is made from several cars/trucks!! |
