Beautiful island and friendly people. Little in terms of crime, but the people are dirt poor for the most part.
Stayed in Varadero and toured Havana. Lots of old buildings in Cuba, and some beautiful Spanish architecture in Havana and elsewhere. I was surprised that the major streets were mostly free of potholes and litter. Love the old antique American cars in Cuba. They are everywhere - even in the countryside.
Cubans still use horse-drawn carts to get around, and it was interested to see them sharing the road with cars, bicycles, tricycles, trucks, buses, vans, etc. No traffic jams in Cuba because it's not swamped with vehicles.
Interesting fact -- Cuba has two currencies - Pesos and CUC. The CUC is worth more than the American dollar I think. The peso is worth much less.
The food at our hotel was terrible, so we started eating at least one meal per day at local restaurants after a few days. Much better food.
Message Board Archives
Cuba Visit - Observations
In reply to Walco
But...but... me hear that bcs of poverty that's why ppl commit crime... How do you explain that?
In reply to tops
Where disparity is great, not proverty.
Cuba has little disparity between the haves and have-nots.
In reply to Walco
Thanks for the short report. If you ever visit any Central American country I would love to share your feedback.
The first thing I observed in Cuba was the health of the population including dental health. Then I observed the education levels.
No people who are healthy and educated are dirt poor.
And yes Cuba is beautiful and we walked up and down and drank beer on the Malecon at 2.00am without thinking about crime.
In reply to Walco
I just returned from Cuba. Varedero.
Where did you stay?
We had no problem with the food so I am assuming you stayed at one or two star resort.
In reply to Chrissy
Here is a little secret most people are unaware of.
Resort workers and tour guides makes more money monthly than the average American.
The bulk of it comes from tips when pooled and divided at the end of the month.
The maids are excluded from the pool. Their pay is minuscule but they are pleasant and quite happy and are appreciative of the tip (usually one CUP) per day.
In reply to Walco
For me...the old buildings are just soooo reflective on a place that was once prosperous.
In reply to Chrissy
You are a tough looking chick. Dem 4 bad hombres thought about it and decided not to bite off more than they could chew.
In reply to Chrissy
I wonder why so many of them trying to exit Cuba as a fast as possible then?
In reply to tops
Your guess is as good as mine. The fact that the only people with guns in Cuba are the Police and Military may have something to do with it.
In reply to pelon
Very true. This apparently is changing though. Private businesses have been popping up since the government started allowing them 4-5 years ago.
Stayed in Varadero and took a tour to Havana in a 1955 Chevy Bel Air. Our tour guide told me her company was privately owned, and they have a fleet of 200 antique cars.
In reply to Headley
The thing that amazes me about Cubans is their capacity to endure economic hardship without showing it on their faces for the most part. Don't know how they do it.
I was told that most people working at hotels in Cuba have advanced degrees. The average monthly salary in Cuba is 40 CUC, which is just north of US$40. I was probably served by engineers and lawyers at my hotel.
In reply to Chrissy
No people who are healthy and educated are dirt poor.
Education and healthcare are free in Cuba. Not much else according to what I was told.
In reply to Star
Melia Paradisus in Varadero. Five Star everything (or so we were told) except for the food.
Wrong assumption.
In reply to Star
I doubt that this is correct. Except for Canadians, most tourists that visit Cuba are Europeans, and Europeans for the most part are bad tippers.
Makes sense, but I got the impression some of those tips do not make it into that pool I gave a $7 CUC tip to the bellman at our hotel the day we left and our taxi driver told me that was the equivalent of 10 days pay for the bellman.
Our tour guide said the best job in Cuba is a hotel maid because basic necessities made locally such as soap, toothpaste, lotion, shaving cream, etc. are very poor quality. Apparently, hotel maids can make a pretty penny selling such half-used items left in hotel rooms by guests to locals.
I am always amazed that folks like to assess places like Cuba by looking at their earnings in US dollars. You would think the US and Europe were Heaven relative to Cuba, because of individual earnings.
There are lots of very happy Cubans, earning a living, getting decent education, winning lots of medals in international sports, etc. They do not fear medical bills, being unemployed, being homeless, etc.
Some run to the US for the same reasons many West Indians do - the illusion of happiness based on "freedom" that comes with uncontrolled economics and politics.
Anyway, Cuba (having fared quite well despite significant effort by the US) hardly needs the endorsement of any other country.
In reply to Walco
Your taste bud is different from Star's.
Actually, some friends have been on my case to go with them every year. they usually go in Jan/February and the more ppl book, the bigger the discount. One of the reasons I haven't gone, they look for 2/2.5 stars resorts.
In reply to tops
I really hope there are hotels in Cuba with better food than the one where we stayed.
The last time I booked a hotel less than 4 stars while traveling internationally was 8 years ago in China. I booked 3 star hotel near the Beijing airport for one night because I arrived late and had an early flight the next morning.
Got out of the taxi in the middle of winter and the front door of the hotel was wide open. The temperature in the lobby was the same as the temperature outside. And it did not get any better from there. I ended up sleeping fully dressed in my winter coat.
In reply to Norm
True, yet I did not encounter one Cuban who had anything positive to say about their government. One gentleman said everything the government says is blah blah blah, and everyone complained about the depressed state of the Cuban economy.
Of course, everything I say here is anecdotal. I am by no means a Cuba expert.
In reply to pelon
Cuba has little disparity between the haves and have-nots.
I don't know if I agree with that.
So people are committing these crimes because of envy and not need?
Saudi Arabia has low crimes also, it (crime) comes with a cost, like a few missing digits.
In reply to Walco
I did not encounter one Cuban who had anything positive to say about their government.
Same can be said of the great USA right now..even if you encountered Americans who praise their administration right now,you'd probably call them "deplorable" and laugh..
In reply to Walco
A lot of people here are making excuses for the Cuban Government because the want Cuba to be the utopia that America is not, but the truth is, Cuba sucks.
The people are a true Guage of a country's happiness, and very few have anything good to say about Cuba.
In reply to Walco
We also stayed at Melia Paradisus. I guess it was bad luck on your part with the food.
If you did the Katamaran and the swim with the Dolphins, your tour guides would have been all University graduates speaking three languages fluently. There are 50 to 75 tourist on each of those Katamarans and just before returning to the Arena, they stop and collect a tip from each passenger. They usually collect around 350 to 400 convertible pesos each trip. One Convertible pesos is equal to 25 local pesos.
The match seems to support the amount the guides make.
In reply to Walco
Actually, my brother and his wife went a few years back and complained about the taste of the food. their advice was walk with yr own sauce.
In reply to black
I disagree with everything you say. No one is making "excuses for the Cuban Government". Oppressive archaic sanctions on trade would leave any leadership under pressure. You need to physically be present in Cuba and speak to Cubans. For the most part they are happy people and loyal to the socialist agenda. It would surprise you how many people in Cuba are loyal to the cause.
Is it perfect? Far from. Do detractors/defectors come to USA for the material and economic options they would never get in Cuba? Yes.... but if you listen to the person that left Cuba and that is your sole source of info... you are missing the pulse of the people.
Health, educated, safe could never be viewed as "sucks"
Cuba is a beautiful place, simple, uncomplicated & beautiful people. Visit if you can.
In reply to pelon
No, I listened to Walco, he couldn't find one Cuban with anything good to say about Cuba and its leadership.
In reply to black
That was not my experience, but admittedly I went 16 years ago. (at the time my brother worked at the UN (a UN mission) in Cuba for about 4 years on and off... )
In reply to Star
We stayed at the family concierge hotel, but we also ate at the main hotel. I have stayed at all-inclusives in the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Jamaica. I was expecting a wider selection of food at the buffet.
Not trying to be overly negative though. We had a good experience at that hotel except for the food. The beach was great, so I spent a lot of time swimming in the ocean.
We did not do the Catamaran and Dolphin tours because we had done that a few years ago in Cancun.
In reply to black
I would be careful generalizing based on the small sample size - approximately 5 people.
We took a tour of the city of Cardenas and the taxi driver took us to a house that he identified as the home of Elian Gonzales. Remember him from the late 1990s? He is as pro-government as they come, judging from press reports.
In reply to Walco
Yes, I remember Elian and I agreed with the decision.
Aren't you doing the same? Making assumptions?
In reply to black
The American embargoes have crippled that country Bro.
Those self righteous second generation Cubans arseholes living in Miami have contributed more to the impoverished state of that country than its leaders.
In reply to SnoopDog
Why can't they find other trading partners?
Wasn't Russia supposed to take up the slack?
Is it America or the system?
In reply to black
Any ship going to Cuba with goods will be met with either an American gunship or a destroyer.
That's the state of affairs for 50 years now. That policy has been aided and abetted by the generous financial donations by second generation Cubans living in Miami to Banana Republican politicians. It's why Florida is so hard for the Dems to crack in general elections.
In reply to black
The embargoes. Full-stop.
China, let me remind you, is a communist nation. Cuba is paying *in perpetuity* not for its political structure - but the defiance to the master of the west.
The audacity of Castro to build nuclear missile silos, in essence a challenge to Western World Order structure, was a bridge too far - subsequent administrations have upheld the BS ... yet Obama tried to take a new path.... sadly the new administration has decided that they will stick with what has not worked for 5 decades.
Cuba with no resources has been remarkable in the fields of medicine. Low crime. Free education. Free healthcare. For all Cubans.
Side note: Ask a black family in the south at any time in the last 60 years, if he felt America was working for them....
In reply to Norm
Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
In reply to pelon
I remember reading a long time ago President Kennedy telling Robert McNamara that Cuba cannot be allowed to succeed.
The optics of a successful socialist state just a few hundred miles off the coast of America during the height of the anti-communist McCarthy era was too much.
In reply to pelon
China is Communist in name only and so is Chrissy.
Both are enjoying the benefits of Capitalism while praising Communism.
In reply to black
China's economy is very much capitalist.
It's governance however is very much totalitarian. Try holding up an anti-government placard in the middle of Tiananmen Square.
In reply to black
No, my statement is based on statements made by Elian in press interviews as recently as 2015.
In reply to SnoopDog
It's governance however is very much totalitarian. Try holding up an anti-government placard in the middle of Tiananmen Square.
Yes, tanks have been known to run over people holding anti-government placards.
In reply to Norm
The sad reality is that Cubans don't just "run" to the US. They run to anywhere not named Cuba. I have a close friend in Jamaica who has a business that employs approximately 70 dancers from Cuba. They employ them directly from Cuba based on an arrangement with the Cuban government.
The vast majority of these dancers view Jamaica as a paradise. Yes, I said Jamaica, a place where they have to fear medical bills, being unemployed, and being homeless, etc. These dancers earn money in Jamaica and send it back home to help their families back in Cuba, and some of them even marry Jamaicans so that they don't have to return to Cuba.
In reply to SnoopDog
It's governance however is very much totalitarian. Try holding up an anti-government placard in the middle of Tiananmen Square.
Cuba will eventually follow the China model. Right now, Cuba is more totalitarian than China. The government owns virtually everything, except that they now allow some Cubans to "own" their own homes, restaurants, and private vehicles. But there are no Cuban billionaires.
Here's an example of the extent of the Cuban government's control of the economy. We did a tour of Havana, which was a two-hour drive from our hotel. On the way to Havana I told the tour guide that my kids love guinep or what we call ackee in Barbados. The Cubans call them Mamonsillos. The tour guide said we would purchase them on the way back from Havana because there would be people standing next to the road selling mamonsillos in the afternoon.
On the way back from Havana, there were no people standing next to the road with mamonsillos in the area where the tour guide had predicted. After we passed a policeman in the area, the tour guide explained that the policeman had scared them off. You see, the mamonsillos are the property of the Cuban government, and if locals are caught selling them illegally on the street the mamonsillos would be confiscated and the individuals could be arrested.
Anyway, we eventually encountered two young ladies with mamonsillos a few miles further down the road
In reply to SnoopDog
What???
In reply to CowLasher
That's what an American embargo looks like Bro.
In reply to Walco
Interesting story that. I still hold the view that but for the American imposed and enforced embargoes, Cuba would have been a successful socialist state much like a lot of Scandinavian countries.
Since the 60's every American administration has had one policy re: Cuba - it must not be allowed to succeed.
In reply to SnoopDog
I share your view, but there apparently are some delusional ones that see Cuba as a a great place for Cubans because it has free education and healthcare, and who apparently believe that Cubans are better off than people in other countries.
I was speaking earlier with my friend who employs 70 Cuban dancers in Jamaica. He laughed when I recounted to him some of the sentiments on this thread. By the way, my friend's wife is Cuban.
He recounted to me the story of one of the dancers who just arrived from Cuba one month ago. His company advanced US$450 in salary to this dancer because her grandmother, who lives in rural Cuba, has kidney disease and was hospitalized. Yes, healthcare in Cuba is free, but apparently the best healthcare is in Havana and it would cost US$100 to transport her grandmother to Havana so that the best healthcare would be available.
The remainder of the money was to pay for a relative to accompany the grandmother to Havana; and to payoff doctors at the hospital in Havana so that her grandmother would receive the best care. Apparently, some doctors in Cuba neglect or do not provide the best care to patients unless they receive money under the table from the family. My friend said the dancer was very worried about her grandmother's fate because she had an uncle who died previously because he was neglected by doctors at the hospital. This is a reality of life in Cuba today.
In reply to SnoopDog
I'm trying to understand if you're engaging in hyperbole or you actually believe that. Are you saying that the U.S. stops any ship from any country in the world from going to Cuba? How do ships carry oil from Venezuela get to Cuba?
In reply to Walco
Walco, be specific here. Who here in this forum is delusional and sees Cuba as "a great place for Cubans because it has free education and healthcare, and who apparently believe that Cubans are better off than people in other countries."
You gone off on people with little context.
What is to be celebrated about Cuba is their people. Not politics. The US enforced embargo has distorted and removed the opportunity for individual wealth - and where money is everything - it left many Cubans no option but to flee. Cuba has no economic wealth. By that measure (and that is very important, I grant you) Cuba would be a difficult place to domicile. No facking delusions. But the praise is not about isms. It is for the Cuban people.
So when someone speaks glowingly about the tenacity & strength of Cuba's people - it is not out of delusion. It's a bitch to survive when the mighty USA says you are to suffer at all cost.
In my humble opinion the delusion is to ignore Americas civil rights, and point fingers at Cuba as a "failed state"
Side note: Cuba has done more for our region with fewer strings attached in times of crisis than you may know.... but that is another discussion.
In reply to CowLasher
The American embargo on Cuba is not my imagination as you seem to believe. It's a stone cold hard fact.
The Americans decide what goes into that country and what goes out. That's how embargos work.
In reply to pelon
The American propaganda machine has done a mighty fine job of characterizing Cuba as a failed state.
Never mind that the state of Michigan can't even provide clean drinking water for its citizens much less gainful employment.
In reply to SnoopDog
The Americans decide what goes into that country and what goes out. That's how embargos work
I don't think that is correct. The American embargo pertains to American goods and services.
In reply to SnoopDog
The Americans decide what goes into that country and what goes out. That's how embargos work.
I never denied the existence of an American embargo; but its just that... an American embargo. Are you saying that Cuba isn't allowed to have trade relations with the other 195 countries in the world?
In reply to SnoopDog
Blockade
the surely have one thing better than America right now
any takers?
In reply to CowLasher
Of course Cuba can trade with other countries. But the US penalizes foreign companies who do business with Cuba by preventing them from doing business in America.
And of course, they routinely monitor through their military, ships that go into and out of Cuba.
In reply to doosra
The greatest collection of antique cars in the world.
In reply to pelon
Definitely not you my friend. Not by a long shot. You are one of the more sober posters on this message board, and one of the few people I read consistently
I too think that there is much to be celebrated about what Cuba has accomplished despite the US embargo. But the fact remains that most Cubans would leave if given the opportunity. This is not an indictment of the Cuban government or socialism for that matter. Instead, it's an indictment of the US government and the silly embargo which hurts the very people its supporters claim they care about and want to help.
In reply to SnoopDog
Subsidiaries of American companies only.
Who cares? Do they actually stop ships from entering Cuba?
In reply to Cheeks
The buildings in our old Havana are beautiful. But driving around Cuba, I sometimes wondered if they sell paint in that country.
In reply to Walco
you didnt see our mate Commie in Cuba, did you?
In reply to sudden
No man, but I will be looking for Commie on a future trip to Moscow
In reply to Walco
i would like to get my hands on a couple of those vintage cars from Cuba
In reply to sudden
Don't know if that's possible, but I will ask. My friend's Cuban wife travels back and forth to Cuba every few months. By the way, due to the US embargo those vintage American cars have lots of Russian and Chinese parts.
In reply to Walco
Well played
In reply to Commie
It's becoming increasingly difficult to draw you out. You must be really busy these days.
In reply to Walco
More like despondent. Trump tends to have that effect on his supporters. Not that Commie isn't one of them
In reply to sudden
Notwithstanding that Commie generally favors Republican administrations over Democratic administrations because of his belief that Republicans over the years have been better for the region, I think he is more of a Clinton hater than a Trump fan.
Commie ended up supporting Trump by default, believing that the American system of checks and balances would keep Trump in check. It remains to be seen whether the Republican Congress has the balls to stand up to President Loco.
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