Caribbean-Cuba (MSC) - Jan 2019


This journal is the second of three cruises that we did during January 2019. To extend our time cruising in the Caribbean after our first NCL cruise, we originally chose to do an 8-night Royal Caribbean sailing that visited Havana and Cienfuegos in Cuba. But then we came across this MSC cruise (at a good price) that would overnight in Havana, and followed it with a 6-night Royal Caribbean that would go to Cienfuegos (also at a good price) and it would extend our time by the extra 5 days.

This also gave us the chance to try a cruise line (MSC) that we hadn't been on before. MSC is an Italian company that is making inroads into the North American market, but still attracts more of an international clientele. And that was true of this cruise, Americans made up less than half of the guests onboard, with a good mix of other nationalities. There are 6 official languages onboard MSC, so all signs and announcements are in 6 languages. And while almost every guest onboard can speak English, you hear a lot of people speaking in their native tongue.

This ship, the "Armonia" launched in 2000 is not one of MSC's newer, flashier ships, but it has the distinction of being "stretched" at one time. In 2014 they literally cut the ship in half and added 79 feet to the centre. This made for a few unique aspects to the ship, but it's in good shape for an older vessel. It's one of the largest ships to dock in Havana given the length of the old pier that they are using for Ccruise ships.

The links below will take you to posts about each of our days for this cruise.

A classic scene in Havana, with colourful old cars and grand old buildings.