Just got back from a cruise to Cuba. Took a 5 night Norwegian cruise which stopped overnight in Cuba giving us almost 24 hours to explore.
So the good...its a beautiful country. I would have been happy just being driven around all day. The classic cars are cool to see. Definitely a unique experience. Several legit cigars shops within walking distance from the port in Havana. Some really cool cigar shops if you can actually get one of the shady tour guides to take you there.
The bad....well theres a lot. I saw more fake Cubans than Mexico. Every single "tour guide/taxi" we encountered directed us to shady cigar shops and told us to buy the "sampler" packs of cigars (see photo). They absolutely refused to take me to any legit cigar shop (partagas factory, cohiba atmosphere, any LCDH) I was told the boxes are "no good". When I purchased a sealed box my tour guide got offended and told me I made a mistake. (They get kick backs for purchases you make when they direct you somewhere). I visited close to 10 cigar shops. Most of which had legit Cuban in their sealed boxes but the weird thing was most had obvious fake cubans sitting out on the counter also.
The food....not great. We had several very poor food experiences with the quality/price of food and the waiters were horrible. I had some of the worst mojitos I've ever had.
You cant walk 15 ft without being haggled or harrassed to buy something which is fine....it was expected... the issue I had was if you politely said no they would either persist or become incredibly rude to you.
If you ask for directions, expect to be asked for money. When you are eating at a restaurant, expect to have random people coming up and trying to sell you things.
I've talked to a few other people that had exact experiences. I've been told that it's getting progressively worse with the influx of tourists inflating prices.
So the good...its a beautiful country. I would have been happy just being driven around all day. The classic cars are cool to see. Definitely a unique experience. Several legit cigars shops within walking distance from the port in Havana. Some really cool cigar shops if you can actually get one of the shady tour guides to take you there.
The bad....well theres a lot. I saw more fake Cubans than Mexico. Every single "tour guide/taxi" we encountered directed us to shady cigar shops and told us to buy the "sampler" packs of cigars (see photo). They absolutely refused to take me to any legit cigar shop (partagas factory, cohiba atmosphere, any LCDH) I was told the boxes are "no good". When I purchased a sealed box my tour guide got offended and told me I made a mistake. (They get kick backs for purchases you make when they direct you somewhere). I visited close to 10 cigar shops. Most of which had legit Cuban in their sealed boxes but the weird thing was most had obvious fake cubans sitting out on the counter also.
The food....not great. We had several very poor food experiences with the quality/price of food and the waiters were horrible. I had some of the worst mojitos I've ever had.
You cant walk 15 ft without being haggled or harrassed to buy something which is fine....it was expected... the issue I had was if you politely said no they would either persist or become incredibly rude to you.
If you ask for directions, expect to be asked for money. When you are eating at a restaurant, expect to have random people coming up and trying to sell you things.
I've talked to a few other people that had exact experiences. I've been told that it's getting progressively worse with the influx of tourists inflating prices.
