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Can you even fathom sailing from Miami to Cuba as an American and stepping on the once-forbidden soil? Fathom can. Fathom cruise line is a new brand under Carnival Corporation that only, for now, has two cruises that sail exclusively to Cuba and the Dominican Republic from Miami, Florida.
If you want to quite literally step back in time, be surrounded by Cold War hot rods and eat authentic Cuban lunches, Fathom is the right line to cruise on.
Before you sail to Cuba, however, you need to put on some dancing shoes, and also learn about what to expect on every leg of your trip:
Before you even step foot on Cuba, you need to know about money. You may have heard that there is a hefty 10% tax on exchanging US dollars into CUCs (Cuban Convertible Peso). Hearing this, you may conclude that you should first go to your bank and convert US dollars to Euros, and then when you arrive in Cuba it’ll be cheaper to go from Euros to CUCs, but that’s not necessarily true. Depending on how much your bank charges you to convert dollars to Euros, it may actually end up being more than 10% combined with converting Euros to CUCs in the end, so check first before doing that. There is a decent amount of currency exchanges in Havana, the first port, and everyone is converting.
Because everything is a bit inexpensive, you may want to try to exchange into smaller numbered CUCs – such as 1s, 5s and 10s – as you’ll need those more often.
Note: Most credit cards are not usable in Cuba, and it is highly suggested that you do not try.
Keep in mind that the 10% tax to exchange USD to CUC is also applied when switching back over, so no Cubans will take dollars. In Cuba, you will only pay and tip in CUCs, and not CUPs (Cuban Peso), so don’t worry about the difference. Which brings us to…
Cubans do not get taxed on tips. The result? Everyone wants tips. As an American, you may be accustomed to tipping your waiter and tour guides, and it’s not much different on this cruise. Tour guides, bus drivers, waiters, bathroom attendants, street performers, professional performers and restaurant musicians (most likely there will be a band at every restaurant you eat lunch at on shore) are all expecting tips. That said, you are not required to tip everyone, and you may tip as much as you like.
Fathom has done a phenomenal job with the bus and walking tours they provide. They also do encourage you to go off on your own if you want, so don’t be afraid to jump in an old VW or hot rod with a driver/guide. We were told that Havana is a pretty safe city with little to no crime and stealing; however, it is probably good to know some Spanish before going off on your own. You will also be required to keep a record of what you do when you leave the tour for legal reasons.
If you’re staying on the tours, the walking tour guides are pretty good about stopping in the shade, and the buses are air-conditioned with bathrooms. They also provide tons of water bottles throughout the day, you may need to bring your own and keeping them cold is tricky. You will visit some amazing places and projects, although you will not be able to do any humanitarian work – Fathom’s other cruise to the Dominican Republic is for humanitarian work. All Americans on Fathom’s Cuba cruise are required by law to have people-to-people cultural exchanges, and that is definitely emphasized.
If you’re looking to make water filters, teach schoolchildren English or plant beans, Fathom’s cruise to the D.R. is where you want to go. If you stay on the Cuba tours, you will fulfill your required people-to-people cultural exchanges for your trip. This could mean talking to any tour guide, vendor, waiter or any Cuban in Cuba and learning about their culture. Asking questions is imperative – you’ll find out a lot more if you sit with your tour guide at lunch, or talk to the wood carver you’re buying from about their family.
To put it simply – no. However, I believe you will get more out of your trip if you know even a little Spanish. You will be able to interact with vendors even if you don’t know any Spanish, but learning more about Cuban culture is difficult when you don’t speak the same language. Don’t be discouraged from taking the cruise just because you don’t know Spanish, it is a great experience you don’t want to miss out on. Cubans do learn English if they get a higher education degree, but don’t expect them to know your language if you don’t know theirs.
The Zika virus is all over the news as of late, and in the customs terminals there will be infra-red cameras to take your temperature – one of the symptoms of Zika is a fever. That being said, the most important items to bring and wear on shore are: bug repellent, sunscreen, water, walking shoes (even if it’s a bus tour), a hat, sun glasses (even if it looks overcast, it won’t be that way for long), toilet paper (many bathrooms do not provide it) and all the required documents. Most likely you won’t need an umbrella because if it does rain, it usually stops pretty quickly.
You may have heard to bring trinkets, pens or pencils to give to kids on the street. Please, and this is emphasized by Fathom, do not do this. The kids may love the pens, but most likely what they’ll do is give them to their parents and their parents will then sell them on the black market. Even if a kid, as several did to us, says, “For school?” it creates conflict if one kid has a pen and their schoolmate does not. Giving small gifts, even soap, creates a false economy, encourages selling on the black market and teaches them to expect gifts from tourists.
This is a question I’m sure you’ve asked yourself – do Cubans like having American visitors? From what I could tell, they didn’t seem to mind. If anyone did not like having us there, we were not yelled at about it. It’s hard to tell whether they want us there or not. Many of the Cubans I had a chance to speak to were very happy that Americans were able to visit, and they are very much in agreement with the statement that it is our governments who do not like each other, not the people. Most likely, Cubans will not even know you’re American – they’ll assume that you’re European, because they’re not used to Americans visiting yet.
Almost as rewarding as the experiences on land are the people you’ll meet and the stories you’ll hear on the ship. Fathom encourages interactions both on land and at sea – if you are eating in the dining room, sit with others and hear and share stories. There are also a handful of activities on the ship where you can hear about other’s experiences and share your own – I highly recommend attending these. Sitting and talking with Fathom’s Impact Guides can be rewarding as you might find out about hidden art galleries, favorite lookout spots and amazing stories.
Some of the most important events to attend on the ship are the port talks. Even if you’ve done research, read every “Tip” and “What You Need to Know” blog post and think you’re ready, port talks are still great to attend. You can ask the Impact Guides as many questions as you want, and you’ll learn about each port specifically. For example, which port is best to buy rum, cigars or wood sculptures from.
One whole week of not checking your work emails? Whatever will you do? If you’ve always wanted an excuse not to answer a text or email, cruising to Cuba is a great one. Seeing “No Service” is usually a sign that it’s time to start panicking and find a Wi-Fi hotspot, but there are none in Cuba. Not checking for texts and notifications can take some getting used to, but you’ll give up and accept it eventually. Fathom does offer internet minute packages if you just can’t deal with having no internet for a week, but sites are slow to load and are only available at sea. It’s great to disconnect, and remember that it’s only for a week.
If you’ve never been to Cuba before but you have some idea of what you think it’s like, be ready to throw your preconceived notions out the window. Even if you read up on the tours and attended the port talks, just know that stepping onto Cuba and being in the middle of Havana, Cienfuegos and Santiago de Cuba is a lot different than you may be expecting. Like most cruises, you’ll definitely want to come back or even stay on to visit the D.R., even if you might not realize it at first. Learning from the locals about a country we’ve been barred from visiting as tourists for over 50 years is definitely a life-changing experience you don’t want to miss.
