Help on Cuba

[ricflair]

Hello all. I am heading to Havana in May for work and fun. I have read the info on here, but the one thing that stands out is that from one post to another it seems to change due to the amount of time in between them. I was hoping that anyone who has been there in the last 6 months could fill me and others in.

Im staying in Habana, Santa Mario Del Mar and Varadaro. So if you can up date the info for this trip it would help me as well as others.

Thanks and hope to hear from you all. PM if youm can also.

RF

 

[eyeofthedragon]

Not hobby related - but make sure you go to the Tropicana club - it beats any Las Vegas show for sure

 

[ricflair]

UPDATE ON CUBA

Hello all.

Thanks for the PMS it has really helped. I have booked my trip and here is some info for your eyes that may help you if you travel.

I found a great travel agent in TO Sun travel, they are Cuban and also run a business down in Havana. This is very helpful as it gives you lots of choices down there from here. It should also help with scams as the people you deal with down there can be handled from here. I booked my flight from AC, and it cost from my hometown to TO then Havana and back tax included $ 436.00. Now threw this agent I was able to book the following accommodations. Now keep in mind this is as a single traveler so think of the extra $ charged for not booking by two that you would normally pay.

1. Three nights at one of the best hotels in Habana, breakfast included. This hotel is in Vadado the hot spot and is 5 stars.

2.Four nights in an all-inclusive beach resort 3 stars in Santa Maria Del Mar. The nice beaches are west of Havana

3. One night in Varadaro (to swim with the dolphins and other things!) 4 star all incl.

4. Last night in Havana at a 4 star right on the Melecon, pool on the 8 Th. floor looking out over the harbor. Breakfast included.

The total price for the 9 days hotels is $ 750.00 Can. This is tax also.

So out side of a few cheap meals, getting around also cheap and then the biggest expense! Company it cost me $ 1200.00. Now remember this is for all accommodations as a single in three different places, for 9 not 7 nights, air, most meals and beach entertainment for 5 of the days.

When you think that most packages are from TO only and cost about $ 1000.00 average for only seven days. Well I think this is a great deal. It allows you to see different places, ladies attractions ECT.

I will let all know when I get back about the details. Thanks again to all those who sent info.

RF.

 

[redheadhottie]

Totally unrelated, but here it goes..........whoooooooooo!!!

 

[The Shake]

Re: UPDATE ON CUBA

Hello all.

Thanks for the PMS it has really helped.

Sometimes comebacks just write themselves...

 

[johnnyhandsome]

ric

Sounds like a good deal!

Remember to budget some $$$ for private houses to take your girlfriends to. She is not welcome in the hotels.

Have fun... it is a great place.

Hotel concierges can be easily bribed. The last time I was in Cuba I had bribed customs, police, hotel, bartenders, bouncers and 3 pharmacists.
Just bring lots of US $$$, its actually fun bribing all these people. Nobody gives a fuck!!

 

[johnnyhandsome]

Bribing phamacists?

I just tell them "Tengo un escribo del Dr. George Washington"

Were you succesful at the better hotels like the Cohiba and Habana Libre? I understand the girls are terrified of even going there for fear of being suspected as a prostitute.

If you have first ahnd experience of any of those hotels I'd be happy to know about it. I prefer the Cohiba myself but always take a casa elsewhere also.

It's funny how Cuba's prescription notes bare a close resemblance to a US dollar bill......LOL.

I cant remember the name of the hotel I stayed, it was a few years ago. And this before the Veradero crackdonw so you may want go woth rubmeister's advice.

 

[Berlin]

If you have first ahnd experience of any of those hotels I'd be happy to know about it. I prefer the Cohiba myself but always take a casa elsewhere also.

Ditto.

JH, you are the first person I have heard of who successfully ( if my assumption is correct ) smuggled local chicas into the resort in recent years via bribing. Good for you. 10 years ago, during the prime of varadero's SW scene, it wasn't as difficult then.

I seriously would not recommend JH's stunt to anyone visiting there. The girls can get into some serious farking trouble with Fidel.

Stick with the casa when in Havana.

 

[johnnyhandsome]

Listen to Berlin, guys!!! I havent been to Cuba for quite a few years and I dont know how much drugs Castro has done in the meantime so follow Rubmeister and Berlin's advice. You DONT wanna wind up in a prison and neither does the girl.

 

[ojsimpson]

Farm labor in the g-string.

The humilation is horrible for the caught hookers. Working the farm fields in their g-strings, paraded in front of their mothers and fathers.
Those horrible mini vans rounding up the helpless innocent girls just for walking down the street with a foreigner.

 

[The Fruity Hare]

When I was in Cuba in February, I was sitting at an outdoor fast food place(Rapido) one morning with some Cuban people I had met the night before. A police patrol came by and picked up both the guy and girl for being in the company of a tourist. The girl had her name and information taken down as a first warning. She was in tears and terrified. The next time she faces a fine and the 3rd time possibly jail.
Many of the girls spend time with tourists to make a little extra money for their children and the prospect of time in a Cuban jail away from their family truly is a terrible thing thing to see for trying to improve their lives.
Even the guys selling boxes of cigars, usually fakes, face severe repercussions if caught dealing with tourists.

Try to be as discreet as possible at all times.

 

[revolver]

Try to be as discreet as possible at all times.

Exactly. Simple conversation is enough to earn a girl a warning or worse. Be extremely careful in this regard.

 

[mohawk]

Three strikes goes fast.

She could be in the wrong place at the wrong time walking down the street when the police van collects all the suspicious looking women - which to them could be most of them.
Three strikes into her permanent record that they carry around with them and its off to prison, I think it is near Holguin farm fields? Their work careers as "teachers" or "tourist" workers, or other "respectable" professions is ruined.

The cuban women's panic at the police is quite real.

It would be very humbling and sobering, even for us men, to see these poor sympathetic women working the farm fields at these prisons. They justed wanted to make some clothing and food money.

 

[ricflair]

update on Cuba

Sorry for the last post please pm me for details.

Thanks

RF