For our next cruise we’ve gone from the worlds biggest ship to one about a quarter of the size. In the words of captain Carl, “Empress of the Seas has the biggest heart and can go places the big ships can’t go like Cuba”. Cuba is the largest country in the Caribbean and located where the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean meet. It has only been open again to the general tourist population since about 2010. Ruthie got a bit shirty about having to muster on an outside deck in the heat as our past 3 cruise musters have been in an air conditioned theatre. Her mood soon changed after a couple of chardys listening to a Calypso Reggae Caribbean band at a great fun sail away party! We’re finding this ship very personable. The Empress of the Seas carries and caters for many Spanish speaking Americans so Hola was our greeting of choice. It was small enough to get to know other passengers and we met some great people.

Our first port was Cozumel, Mexico’s biggest island. This Island was called the Island of fertility by the Mayan people. The shore excursion we chose was a self drive Jeep trip to Punta Sur Ecological reserve following a guide. We stopped and snorkelled along the way. Although it wasn’t the best snorkelling we had done, there was variety of sea life over the coral reefs and it was a nice feeling of freedom to swim in deep waters. One point of interest was the fresh water springs under the sea bed. After substantial rain, fresh water will come up out of the springs and turn the sea water quite murky. We saw a lot of sea life around these springs. Ruthie thought she’d been attacked by a groper but it was only our guide, Edison, coming up from a deep dive after photographing the sea life around the spring with our GoPro. Next were the mangrove wetlands where we saw crocodiles and a great variety of bird life. Our guide took us to his kingdom which was a beautiful beach resort. It was so peaceful and we had some authentic Mexican cuisine. Although, we were informed by the Americans in our group that Nacho’s were invented in Texas! I tried their local drink, Coco-Loco (if you have two of these you go Loco) but as Ruthie was driving the Jeep it was soft drink for her. We also saw some Mayan ruins (a building used as a weather station) from 1200AD. The stronger the wind the louder the sound from its brick tunnel. Sort of our version of the wet finger in the air! Although I think standing on the sand dunes would also tell you how strong the wind was. Then a climb up a lighthouse for some beautiful views. It was 132 narrow steps up and 132 steps down and said to have been designed and donated by Sir Gustave Eiffel. I wish he’d designed a lift in it like the Eiffel Tower. Ruthie was getting more right hand driving experience driving the Jeep along the narrow beach track with oncoming traffic. I wasn’t as nervous sitting in the right this time but maybe that’s because there weren’t parked cars. She only took out a small amount of foliage which came through the open roof of the Jeep. After now having visited 3 ports in Mexico on our travels and I know we probably haven’t visited the poorer areas, I still can’t figure out why Mexicans would want to go climb a wall to live in an area like LA. The show for the night was a comedy duo but us Aussies didn’t really get their humour. (Interestingly the Americans were rolling in the aisles laughing). They seemed to spend a lot of time picking on people who either had arrived late or were trying to leave and laughing at their own jokes. Ruthie took an opportune moment to sneak out but I stayed. The biggest laugh I got was when one of them made a serious statement. “No matter what race, creed or colour, laughter is the best medicine”. With my new found attitude, I laughed for the rest of the show even if it wasn’t funny.

Bienvenidos Cuba! Our first port was Cienfuegos, (Spanish for 100 fires), known as the Pearl of the South and is a UNESCO world heritage listed site filled with 19th century colourful French colonial architecture. We had to catch tenders to get to shore and interestingly we were told if we needed medical help whilst in Cuba no payment should be made to the hospital as the ship had medical insurance that would cover us! The ATM’s on board our ship were turned off due to banking regulations in Cuban waters and we were told US credit cards would not be accepted (we didn’t want to take the risk and try our Aussie ones). Once ashore and through immigration, we had to exchange $US for CUCS. This is a currency used exclusively for tourists. We were warned not to accept their local Peso in change as it is worth nothing out of Cuba and if we have CUCS leftover we can at least exchange them back for US$. We hadn’t booked a shore excursion and decided to take a walk and explore the town. We were actually in breach of our visa as we had signed we would be participating in a ship organised excursion.

As soon as we crossed the street the taxis hit us up. They came in all shapes and forms. There was the cycle rickshaw, a horse and cart, the Russian Lada and many different model Chevrolets, Dodges, Pontiacs etc. As usual, we try to get our bearings before deciding if we need a cab. In doing so, we walked away from the hubub into the backstreets. Suddenly it looked like we had wandered into the 1950’s. The old American cars were abundant. The many public phone booths were very popular with the locals and still widely used. It is like Cuba is in a time warp. Many older men without shirts on were sitting in the front of mainly run down adjoining homes. Everything looked like it needed a good paint. Glancing through open doors and windows, it was clear we weren’t passing through any rich neighbourhood. Yet all the Cubans were very friendly and acknowledged us, we didn’t feel unsafe at all. One young Cuban we got talking to seemed quite educated and recited some facts about Australia to us. He had only ever left Cuba once to travel to Guyana. He didn’t like it. We did wonder what he’d think if he ever came to our beautiful Cape! We found our way to the town square which was a bit more tourist orientated and was surrounded by historical buildings and statues. As we wandered along the flea market, the sky was becoming incredibly dark. We walked a bit further and suddenly the heavens opened up. It was more than a tropical downpour as they are usually over pretty quickly. We did consider stopping for an authentic Cuban experience! Some Cubans open their homes as restaurant’s and serve authentic Cuban food. These are called Paladar’s (English meaning palate) and are known to have the best food but the rain had us beaten and sadly and saturated we returned to our ship.

We had set the alarm to get up and see the sail into Havana but of course El Capitan was early. We had docked in old Havana and my first view looked like we had arrived in an ancient city. Havana is a UNESCO world heritage site dating back to 1519 and is 500 years old this year. Every building from the dock view looked ancient stone grey. Added to that was the bow of the ship was just about parked in someone’s lounge room! Immigration and customs was relatively easy and we didn’t need to exchange any currency. As we stepped out of the ship’s terminal, we really had been transported to the 1950’s. The old cars turned into taxis were queued up waiting for us. With the revolution of 1959 and the Americans leaving, they had left all their cars behind. As the Cubans did not import cars after this, they had to manage with what was left behind. The old city was right on our doorstep and we set off exploring. There are more than 900 landmarks in old Havana. Every corner has a museum, hotel, art gallery or restaurant of note. We also noted big queues at banks and post offices and wondered if the locals were still paying their paper bills over the counter? The locals were really friendly and helpful. We made the mistake of letting a local know we wanted to buy some cigars. The next minute he was leading us to the cigar cooperative. He led us up some dark stairs and knocked on a door. I looked at Ruthie, trying to signal with my eyes to make a run for it and she was thinking the same thing! Eventually we negotiated a ride in a 1955 Dodge. Eduardo told us the car used to belong to his grandfather, then his father and now him. He said his father would turn in his grave to see his pride and joy being used as a taxi. Eduardo told us he was a fully qualified teacher and his pay rate then was $40 per month. His wife a fully qualified psychologist working in a good clinic was paid $80 per month. Hence, his reason to take tourists around in his fathers baby! He earned $60 from us for a little over an hour. We did wonder what happens to the $75 we paid for our visa if they can only pay their teachers $40 per month! He was so knowledgeable and born in 1985 made us think how lucky our children were to be born in Australia. He told us he was born in the middle of a revolution. He took us to one of the oldest cigar factories in Havana – Romeo and Julieta and we were assured these are some of the finest in the world. After all Cuba has been making them since the 1850’s. In fact for more than a century hundreds of workers would hand roll cigars in this factory (with a cigar in their mouths). As well, we couldn’t go to Cuba without buying some Rum. It was so cheap and I’m sure the ship sank a few inches when everyone brought their shopping back on board. Bacardi Rum was invented here but is now manufactured in Puerto Rico but the Bacardi building remains.

Next Eduardo took us to Chinatown and the thing I noticed here is that there were no Chinese! The story goes that when the revolution happened in 1959, all the Chinese fled to the U.S. so now you can get the best pizza in town in Chinatown! Evidently the Cubans don’t like Chinese food! But things are bound to change as a new hotel owned by the Chinese is under construction (yes they’re back). We drove past many iconic hotels including where Frank Sinatra used to stay and perform and others popular with gangsters like Al Capone. Ernest Hemingway’s favourite watering holes and the hotel he lived in for 7 years Hotel Ambos Mundos. He drank at Floridita bar. This hotel still serves the famous daiquiri enjoyed by the writer. The Rolling Stones performed in Havana for free and when asked if Eduardo went to the concert he replied “of course Cubans love the Stones” and why wouldn’t you if you get a free concert? Next stop was Revolution square where Fidel Castro once gave an 8 hour speech. 3 popes have also given mass there (but not for 8 hours!) Then a drive along the Malecón admiring what looked to be a wealthy area but some of those houses had 20 family’s living in them while some of them were only occupied by 1 family. There are great divides in all nations and Eduardo told us of some news being spoken about in his country of Fidel Castro’s niece buying a property in Paris for $1 million and questioned how that was possible. Our guide showed us the building that was once the US embassy but explained it was now closed (our cruise line were still giving details of this embassy out). We thoroughly enjoyed our day in Havana getting to know a little about their distinct culture. In 2010 Cuba attracted 1 million visitors, that figure is now 5 million. We’re so happy to have seen it before it undoubtedly changes. It really is a place untouched by time and currently a country where yesterday lives today.

On leaving the ship, our flight from Miami to Toronto was an evening flight so we booked an airboat trip on the Florida Everglades. It was so cool and neat. Note that I’m beginning to sound like a septic tank. (I had to educate Ruthie so for others that don’t know rhyming slang – yank!) Those airboats are so smooth and I just loved the sideways glide and slide sensation over a mirror of grass. The Everglades are actually a river that flows to the sea. The grass water filtration provides fresh water for the alligators and down the ocean end, salt water for crocodiles. We met one of the large male residents who came very close to our boat and Ruthie was thrilled to hold a baby Gator but I did wonder how when she won’t hold a snake! We finished our day with a several hour wait in a VIP lounge at Miami airport. All the announcements are made in Spanish and most of the clientele are Spanish speaking. Ruthie commented “it’s like being in another country”. I did have to remind her we were!