On May 13th, twenty-five club members set sail for an amazing trip to Key West and Cuba. Cruisers arranged for their own transportation to Fort Lauderdale, Florida prior to the cruise. We received notification before the cruise that our boarding time was delayed from noon to 5:00 PM. This was a little disappointing. The cruise line gave everyone a voucher for the lunch we missed on board ship. We were actually able to start boarding around 3:30 PM, and left the Port of Fort Lauderdale at 9:00 PM. From then on it was smooth sailing.
We had a Club cocktail party, a free bottle of wine in every cabin, and we were all seated together at four tables for our evening dining.
Our Itinerary
- Depart Fort Lauderdale Monday 9:00 PM
- Fun Day At Sea Tuesday
- Key West, FL Wednesday 8:00a AM to 7:00 PM
- Havana, Cuba Thursday 7:00 AM – overnight
- Havana, Cuba Friday Depart 2:00PM
- Arrive at Fort Lauderdale Saturday Disembark starting at 8:30 AM
Some of the Highlights of the Trip
- The hop-off-hop-on trolley in Key West and lunch at Sloppy Joe's
- Touring Havana in classic American cars
- Bus tour of Havana
- An evening at the Tropicana, established in 1939
- A visit to the Hotel Nationale
- Fantastic dinners with each other every night
- Bill Hooten and Jimmie Coley singing to us
I am so glad we all had the wonderful opportunity to get to know the people of Cuba! The experience was particularly special since Americans will no longer be able to cruise to Cuba as of June 4, 2019.
