Holiday Truths Forum

thanks mark and SMa,
i really like the sound of the iberostar.
what time of year did you go mark ?.
tips.........

We went end of May/beginning of June this year.

Mark

thanks mark,
i do really like the look of this place, it may be slightly more than i want to pay to be honest, but we will see.
is there a time of the year to book when they offer deals.
im also wondering if it will be a little up market for us, whilst where not a lager louts we are also not exactly refined either.
tips.............

Hi,
I have not been to Turkey (as alot of people have said so far) but I have been to Cuba a couple of times, the Iberostar Varadero and the Playa Pesquero, Hoguin.
I would say the Iberostar Varadero was very nice, we had a wedding to go to and it was just a fantastic all round holiday, just a couple of things though, we found that after 11pm we had to go to the disco to be able to get more alcohol (alkies lol) and also we struggled to get food at this time also. It may have changed since we were there, please correct me if it has, but these are just a couple of minor things we found late at night.
The Playa pesquero has a 24 hr lobby bar and beach bar (we call it the Diesel Bar) and food on hand 24/7. We found that the staff overall were not as good as the Iberostar, but when we are paying around £600 less for the holiday(per person) we can live with it, everything else we found to be spot on. We think the Playa Pesquero was very good value with a massive pool area and so much to do for the 2 weeks we were there, so much so that we are going again this year at the beginning of October.
Any questions just ask and I will help if I can.
Andy

tips,

We're far from posh too and felt very comfortable at the Iberostar Varadero. It is a 5* resort but please don't compare it with a 5* western european hotel (like the Savoy or such like).

We never experienced a problem getting any drinks upto midnight. Not too sure after that as we were in bed by then. Certain bars do close at certain times and I think that alcohol is stopped being served at 2AM. Not too sure if it is still served in the Spanish restaurant which is open until the morning after 2AM as we never tried it.

Mark

thanks mark and andy.
all the posts here have been really helpful to me.
thanks all.
tips..............

What an interesting thread . . . .We are considering a first trip to Cuba next month having got an incredible deal which is only £300 more than a 3* b&B to Turkey.

I dont mean to hijack the thread, but was just wondering . . my concern is going in the hurricane season and whether its worth the risk . . .?

when we were in the travel agents today comparing prices he seemed shocked that anyone would even consider going to Cuba at this time of year . . .I remember before we went out to Florida last July/August that the weather forecasting was for thunder and rain etc and while we did get odd afternoon showers (a couple which were incredibly heavy in our 3rd week) it wasn't as bad as that.

My question is, is there anyone here who has travelled out to Cuba at this time of year, if so, what has your experiences been with the weather/hurricanes/tropical storms. Would you risk it?

Even though we've got a great price and deal, I dont want to spend that money if we'd end up spending it hidden from the weather. But recent reviews and reports Ive been reading have been saying how good the weather is . . .so would you risk it?

Any thoughts would be appreciated . . .

Look here give you some idea.

http://www.accuweather.com/en-us/cu/hol ... cast2.aspx

I would risk it last hurricane to hit Cuba was September 2008 that was Ike.

We took £1000 and out of that we swam with the dolphins and had a fishing trip and still come back with £200.

I've travelled to Cuba 4 times in the July/August period and, yes, it gets very humid at this time of year and you can see some spectacular thunderstorms but on the whole they happen in the late afternoon/early evening, clear the air and are over within an hour max. I've never let it bother me and the Cubans cope better with hurricanes and tropical storms better than almost anywhere in the Caribbean and certainly better thean the US did when Katrina hit. They have tried and tested evacuation plans in place and your TO will be expected to bus you to another resort if yours is in the path of a hurricane. So, yes, there is the chance that you might end up in a different resort to the one you booked and you do need to be willing to roll with it but you will be safe.

Cuba is a long thin island running roughly west to east and the hurricanes tend to track through north to south so the bulk of the island will at most experience some unsettled weather when a hurricanes makes landfall but not much more.

SM

We have been huge Turkey Fans for several years now and as a family with 3 teenagers have made our way around various A/i's there over recent years . On checking prices for a few new short listed Turkey hotels I found we could go to Cuba considerably cheaper and chose the sol rio Luna &Mares .

We have just returned and have to say we loved it . It was quite different in the sense that there is no advertising or capitalism there which is obviously the complete opposite to Turkey and being somebody that doesnt particularly do peace and quiet very well it did take me a few days to get used to not having English music and a club dance around the pool. There is plenty to do there but you have to search it out for yourself . Nobody will come and pester you or launch into a big sales pitch . We used to enjoy that aspect of Turkey but over the last couple of years it has come to annoy us more .the cubans are genuinely warm and friendly people and seem to enjoy & appreciate having us there . Probably how turkey used to be but I think they have got used to us now and are becoming greedy and experts in telling us what we want to hear .

For the first time in years we spent almost our entire holiday on the beach .Once you see it you will understand why . The quality of A/I was excellent and the drinks , well I have never seen so much rum being poured freely and so much go into a blender . It knocks spots off of turkey in that respect (And Turkey is good) and the food was varied and excellent .

Go for it .It makes a change and we are considering going back next year. I have put my review on this morning and I have put lot's of pictures in the media gallery . Click on media> nth america > caribbean > and check out the cuba pictures .

lyn

ps. sorry forgot to say there were plenty of families there and a high percentage of English. The only money we spent was on Diving and tips. + duty free at the airport. Didnt do any trips, way too lazy for that

Karen . We travelled out on 20th July and the weather was brilliant . It is very humid and I can't speak for other resorts but you get a very strong breeze on the beach at Guardalavaca which makes it very bearable .
In our first week we had a couple of short downpours of an evening /early morning and one early morning on the 2nd week . none at all during the day . clouds come and go and weather patterns are fast moving but to be honest the clouds are just as welcome and you get a good mixture of both all day.

I should imagine the downpours will increase as you get later into august but talking to the lady that works the pool bar at Mares she said aug was the hottest month and hurricanes if any come later . Sept /oct

hi lyn,
sounds like you really enjoyed yourselves.
we have exactly it seems the feelings you have towards turkey, it has changed so much we have become tired of it.
i love the sound of what you and others have experienced in cuba and i think thats going to be our destination, ive just got to get the wife on a long haul flight, but where getting there.
tips.........

I have to say having never travelled that far Before we were dreading it but none of us found it was half as bad as we had feared . Much more leg room, Seat back screens , lot's of drink and food rounds to relieve the boredom and we were there before we knew it (9 hours). My husband is a smoker (30 a day) and usually he is a complete wound up on any journey (even to France) so I was well prepared with patches & the usual gum and put our usual son inbetween us but I have to say he was as good as gold and even remained cheerful so that say's it all really.