Quick 36 hour trip to Havana
Visiting Cuba is like walking into a 1950s time warp, but not exactly the glamour we see in the movies. We wanted to visit Cuba while it’s still open to US Citizens and there are easy direct flights. The Obama administration loosened the restrictions and open up limited travel, but there are still severe restrictions and the Trump administration is seriously tightening them. Before you plan a trip make sure to check the check with US Department of State for travel restrictions and business that you are not legally allowed to patronize in Cuba (there are over 80 hotels that we can’t stay in).
Good reference:
http://www.viahero.com/travel-to-cuba/new-cuba-travel-policy-updatesUS Department of State issued a travel advisory “Exercise increased caution in Cuba due to attacks targeting U.S. Embassy Havana employees resulting in the drawdown of embassy staff.”
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/cuba-travel-advisory.htmlWe left Miami at 10:00 AM and landed in Cuba at 10:50am!! It was awesome!! Super quick flight! (We went to Miami with the family for 2 weeks and took the quick trip from there).
Planning
Special thanks for all the guidance on the forums. Booked AA 15k and got complimentary upgrades on the short flight. American Airlines helps coordinate the requirements and has someone by the gate that will help you obtain and pay for the visa (TIP: do not lose the Visa if you don’t want to get stuck there). Booked the hotel with Expedia only once we had the visa and already boarded the plane. (Expedia was actually very helpful when we got there because the hotel wouldn’t let my wife into “our” room because she wasn’t added to the reservation. Expedia customer service was helpful). The US government on permits US citizens from staying in certain hotels. We stayed in Parque Central, based on the reviews was the nicest hotel US citizens could stay in,
however, rooms were to be desired and wouldn’t want to stay there for more than a night. It’s also in the best location. Please also keep in mind there are zero American products, you can’t use an American credit card and there’s almost not internet. You need to pay cash for everything and the currency is tied to the dollar.
We arrived, took a taxi to the hotel, “Parque Central,” we put our bags in storage and heading straight into a 1950s orange Buick convertible and took an hour and half tour all around Havana. We saw all the “hot spots” and enjoyed the stunning weather, with our sunglasses on and mojitos in hand.
We then walked the streets, getting lost, on purpose, just soaking in the culture. We went into bars, shops and of course smoked a couple of cigars along the way. We had drinks with some locals who were clearly “random locals” who were overly friendly and spoke a perfect English
. Crazy what we observed, the city is frozen 1950, there’s currently and economic crises and wide spread food rations. We saw very little grocery or corner stores, with the ones we saw severely lacking.
We then cooled down on the hotel’s rooftop pool. We had dinner and went to the local bars to enjoy some Cuban nightlife, filled with, music and dancing on the streets.
The next morning we enjoyed complimentary breakfast and headed to the cigar factory to watch how Cuban cigars are made. The process was simply mesmerizing. We caught a noon flight back to Miami and made it to our gate within the hour.
What a whirlwind!!
I highly recommend a short trip to see the culture and turn back the clock to 1950!