The ship was fine. The food was good, but my options were limited because I am vegetarian and wanted to eat healthy. I wish the ship had had mixers early on so the passengers could get to know one another better: i.e. single travelers, LGBT etc. There were several groups on the boat and some of their programs seemed better than the ones provided by the boat.

I found my own tours in classic cars and they proved to be superior to the ones on the boat. www.cubaguider.com - Yuri was the tour guide from this site and he provided the best, most honest and insightful guiding I had on the trip. I used him in Santiago de Cuba, but he will organize tours in other areas.

It is easy to organize your own tours at a fraction of the cost of the cruise. A 3 hour tour in a convertible Cadillac in Havana ran $120 CUC for 3 people. That's less than $50/person. Read more