Cuban fun...time to go home

charly77 · 26 Oct 17, 03:10 PM

Was up at stupid o'clock, I felt fine, however DH did not

Anyways we packed up our last bits, got sorted for a morning on the beach and went for breakfast! I had omelette and DH went for pancakes with lots of syrup!

All full up we found a spot on the beach. The water was even clearer today, didn't think that was possible but it was. I could literally see exotic fish swimming two foot in front of me. I used the go pro to get footage, it was amazing.

We opted to take the pedalo out (I know...but it was calm today!) and feed some fish. DH grabbed some bread from the buffet breakfast and off we went. The water was much calmer than the other day! Off we went, the fish were unbelievable, it was quite emotional seeing such beauty in their natural habitat. We fed the fish and they loved it! Zebra fish were my favourite

We were out for about an hour, it took us 15 mins to pedal back to shore. We chilled on the beach, we had soft drinks today, think our barman was a little disappointed with us! We slept, read, DH snorkelled, we both had a swim and just generally recharged our batteries! We packed up about 1pm, and opted to have one last pina colada at the beach bar as a farewell gesture

We showered, packed and checked out. Left our bags with concierge and went for our last lunch.

Our favourite waitress was there who had served us all but one day (staff work 8 days, 1 day off and so on) so we were very happy, she was such a lovely lady. I had salmon, chicken and rice, tiramisu. DH had soup, chicken, tiramisu. All very nice!

Then the storm started! I've never seen anything like it. A little bit of rain then full pelting then came the thunder and lightening! There literally was no time between so it was all overhead. I believe it was because Cuba did not want us to leave

It was not letting up at all. Our transfer turned up about 3.30 which seemed quite early considering our flight wasn't until 8.10pm. I stupidly gave away my wifi card (scratch and sniff type thing) as I thought it was only for our hotel but no its countrywide! ≈≈≈≈≈≈! We were at Varadero airport within the hour...the rains were still pouring and thunder still clapping. Check in didn't open until 5.20 😡 not happy especially as the airport was very basic and had nothing to do. So we hung around the virgin desk...whoop!

Checked in fine (can't do online check in) passport control was fine (just slow) scanned hand luggage then we were free to search Duty free. It was still very cheap, a maximum of 1CUC on top of prices we had seen so still very, very cheap! From Cuba each person is allowed 2.5L but we thought it was only 1L so we're now kicking ourselves!

The rains were still pouring and the airport was flooding... I felt sorry for all the passengers just exiting the Virgin flight

Anyway we hung around trying to spend the last few CUCs we had, I read whilst DH rested his eyes! It was obvious our flight was going to be delayed but nobody told us and other passengers were getting quite irate. Our plane was there, our crew were on-board so unsure of hold up. People started queuing but no mention of anything... We eventually start to board around 8.15 so we had missed our slot! We boarded quickly and captain was very apologetic, apparently the Cuban baggage team hadn't followed the 3 step security plan so all bags had to be off loaded and rechecked!

We couldn't see this happening due to the rain. Anyway took off in good time and captain said we'll make time up in the air. Plane was Jersey Girl

I watched Hidden Figures, best film I have watched in a long time. Food was good again, I had meatballs and DH had Curry followed by the usual Gu pud.

We had three seats to ourselves which was handy. Although I did get a little annoyed. So basically a guy in PE booked himself there and his mother and aunty in Economy. He was kicking off that they weren't sat together so they got given exit seats in front of us. He then proceeded to sit with them talking very loudly through most the flight. He had a meal in Economy then another in PE, drinks across both. He was up and down in the overhead locker then the ladies both stole a Virgin blanket each! To say they were annoying is an understatement!

We slept for a bit but nothing major as then the guy behind us took ill and needed oxygen. So bright lights and voices which is fine but then when you hear all he's done is drink and party for a week and not eaten or slept properly and was already admitted to hospital because of his state it's a wee bit annoying! We had a lovely cuppa, fruit and granola bar before descending (which really hurt my ears!)

Landed 40 mins before scheduled time which is good considering we had a 45 min delay! Our bags were some of the last through again and rather dented and misshapen! We grabbed breakfast at Costa, called home before catching the train. Took around 1.5hrs but was relatively pain free!

Eventually we were home so washing on, presents distributed, food shop done and we were back in the world of reality! Boo!

We really liked Cuba, we felt safe and the locals were lovely. Although our resort was 5*, it wasn't typical to an English 5*. The food is basic but everyone does their best. We will definitely be back...

26 Oct 17, 03:10 PM	#1
	26 Oct 17, 03:10 PM charly77 Very Serious Dibber
charly77 Very Serious Dibber Join Date: Feb 08	Cuban fun...time to go home Was up at stupid o'clock, I felt fine, however DH did not Anyways we packed up our last bits, got sorted for a morning on the beach and went for breakfast! I had omelette and DH went for pancakes with lots of syrup! All full up we found a spot on the beach. The water was even clearer today, didn't think that was possible but it was. I could literally see exotic fish swimming two foot in front of me. I used the go pro to get footage, it was amazing. We opted to take the pedalo out (I know...but it was calm today!) and feed some fish. DH grabbed some bread from the buffet breakfast and off we went. The water was much calmer than the other day! Off we went, the fish were unbelievable, it was quite emotional seeing such beauty in their natural habitat. We fed the fish and they loved it! Zebra fish were my favourite We were out for about an hour, it took us 15 mins to pedal back to shore. We chilled on the beach, we had soft drinks today, think our barman was a little disappointed with us! We slept, read, DH snorkelled, we both had a swim and just generally recharged our batteries! We packed up about 1pm, and opted to have one last pina colada at the beach bar as a farewell gesture We showered, packed and checked out. Left our bags with concierge and went for our last lunch. Our favourite waitress was there who had served us all but one day (staff work 8 days, 1 day off and so on) so we were very happy, she was such a lovely lady. I had salmon, chicken and rice, tiramisu. DH had soup, chicken, tiramisu. All very nice! Then the storm started! I've never seen anything like it. A little bit of rain then full pelting then came the thunder and lightening! There literally was no time between so it was all overhead. I believe it was because Cuba did not want us to leave It was not letting up at all. Our transfer turned up about 3.30 which seemed quite early considering our flight wasn't until 8.10pm. I stupidly gave away my wifi card (scratch and sniff type thing) as I thought it was only for our hotel but no its countrywide! ≈≈≈≈≈≈! We were at Varadero airport within the hour...the rains were still pouring and thunder still clapping. Check in didn't open until 5.20 😡 not happy especially as the airport was very basic and had nothing to do. So we hung around the virgin desk...whoop! Checked in fine (can't do online check in) passport control was fine (just slow) scanned hand luggage then we were free to search Duty free. It was still very cheap, a maximum of 1CUC on top of prices we had seen so still very, very cheap! From Cuba each person is allowed 2.5L but we thought it was only 1L so we're now kicking ourselves! The rains were still pouring and the airport was flooding... I felt sorry for all the passengers just exiting the Virgin flight Anyway we hung around trying to spend the last few CUCs we had, I read whilst DH rested his eyes! It was obvious our flight was going to be delayed but nobody told us and other passengers were getting quite irate. Our plane was there, our crew were on-board so unsure of hold up. People started queuing but no mention of anything... We eventually start to board around 8.15 so we had missed our slot! We boarded quickly and captain was very apologetic, apparently the Cuban baggage team hadn't followed the 3 step security plan so all bags had to be off loaded and rechecked! We couldn't see this happening due to the rain. Anyway took off in good time and captain said we'll make time up in the air. Plane was Jersey Girl I watched Hidden Figures, best film I have watched in a long time. Food was good again, I had meatballs and DH had Curry followed by the usual Gu pud. We had three seats to ourselves which was handy. Although I did get a little annoyed. So basically a guy in PE booked himself there and his mother and aunty in Economy. He was kicking off that they weren't sat together so they got given exit seats in front of us. He then proceeded to sit with them talking very loudly through most the flight. He had a meal in Economy then another in PE, drinks across both. He was up and down in the overhead locker then the ladies both stole a Virgin blanket each! To say they were annoying is an understatement! We slept for a bit but nothing major as then the guy behind us took ill and needed oxygen. So bright lights and voices which is fine but then when you hear all he's done is drink and party for a week and not eaten or slept properly and was already admitted to hospital because of his state it's a wee bit annoying! We had a lovely cuppa, fruit and granola bar before descending (which really hurt my ears!) Landed 40 mins before scheduled time which is good considering we had a 45 min delay! Our bags were some of the last through again and rather dented and misshapen! We grabbed breakfast at Costa, called home before catching the train. Took around 1.5hrs but was relatively pain free! Eventually we were home so washing on, presents distributed, food shop done and we were back in the world of reality! Boo! We really liked Cuba, we felt safe and the locals were lovely. Although our resort was 5, it wasn't typical to an English 5. The food is basic but everyone does their best. We will definitely be back... __________________ Whistle-stop Tour Of Copenhagen Feb 2017 The Grand Tour (West to East trip) 2016 The 'Bombshell' Trip to NYC @ Christmas 2014 Trip report, Our first time to WDW Sept/Oct '08;