7 Day All Inclusive Toronto to Cuba trip to Grand Memories Santa Maria (4.5 stars) - as low as $635 avail Nov & Dec 2022

SammyDavis wrote: ↑ They were having rolling blackouts before the hurricane.

Looking forward to the news reports of tourist complaining about the food and service during and after the hurricane..

I've been to this resort twice, but it was several years ago. The second time was a year after the first, and then the quality had taken a hit. I too got food poisoning from the grill hot dogs or hamburgers, and had the craps like a dozen times over the next day or two.

Beautiful resort, but questionable food. If you go, just be careful what you're eating.

Anyone else read the title and instantly hear the "selloffvacations.com" jingle in their head? :P

I heard about the price increases as rise in middle class around the world and new folks take on the hobby. To be expected. However additional factors such as catastrophic weather further exasperated the situation.

But I digress, hopefully those who get in on this deal can enjoy what the country has to offer.

alpwhite46 wrote: ↑

Havent been to Cuba in a long time, did the Hurricane hit them hard?

pretty sure the entire country is/was under water. Yes they were hit VERY hard. Unfortunately the media is only showing the USA damage, when Cuba has been quite ravaged and don't have nearly the economic supports in place to recover.

One of my relatives went to Cuba a few years ago and lost her hearing. That was just after that Cuba Spy listening device scandal, which caused a lost of hearing in some embassy. But my relative was just a tourist in a hotel, wasn't even a politician or anything.

I see 835 minimum from Montreal here, hmm.

alpwhite46 wrote: ↑ How is Santa Maria vs Varadero?

Santa Maria is pretty boring and is a 2 hour bus ride to an "island" which only has resorts.
Stayed at Starfish and I didn't have complaints about the food but that was about 5 years ago.
Varadero has more things to do and it isn't too far to take a day trip to Havana.

umega890 wrote: ↑ The flights are by Sunwing so I am guessing they are Sunwing packages.

Looks like, I wouldn't trust Sunwing if they gave me a free vacation lol.

CCHIPSS wrote: ↑ One of my relatives went to Cuba a few years ago and lost her hearing. That was just after that Cuba Spy listening device scandal, which caused a lost of hearing in some embassy. But my relative was just a tourist in a hotel, wasn't even a politician or anything.

LMAO, what?

Between the rolling blackouts hitting even havana and the moral ambiguity of support military owned resorts - Cuba has officially become a pass for me for now. I didn't know the military owned the resorts.

TheSlav wrote: ↑ Looks like, I wouldn't trust Sunwing if they gave me a free vacation lol.



LMAO, what?

Oh you never heard of the Havana syndrome? It was basically some kind of sonic sound attack by the Cuban government against people who worked in embassy. Most likely it was some kind of old, outdated listening device used by Cuban spies to listen to conversations, which unexpectedly led to hearing loss.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havana_syndrome

We thought it was some BS propaganda, just like WMD. That was, until that relative went to Cuba, and came back losing her hearing in one ear. She developed mild Alzheimer soon after. I am not making this up. Could be all an incidence, not sure. I mean she doesn't even work in politics or anything, and she is 100% Asian, so not sure what is there to spy on her for. I am quite skeptical of most American propaganda BS most of the time, but maybe once in a while they were telling the truth.

alpwhite46 wrote: ↑ How is Santa Maria vs Varadero?

Santa Maria is amazing and beautiful, best resorts in Cuba. Varadero is terrible… but close to Havana

CCHIPSS wrote: ↑ Oh you never heard of the Havana syndrome? It was basically some kind of sonic sound attack by the Cuban government against people who worked in embassy. Most likely it was some kind of old, outdated listening device used by Cuban spies to listen to conversations, which unexpectedly led to hearing loss.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havana_syndrome

We thought it was some BS propaganda, just like WMD. That was, until that relative went to Cuba, and came back losing her hearing in one ear. She developed mild Alzheimer soon after. I am not making this up. Could be all an incidence, not sure. I mean she doesn't even work in politics or anything, and she is 100% Asian, so not sure what is there to spy on her for. I am quite skeptical of most American propaganda BS most of the time, but maybe once in a while they were telling the truth.

“Insert roll eyes gif”

alph4246 wrote: ↑ pretty sure the entire country is/was under water. Yes they were hit VERY hard. Unfortunately the media is only showing the USA damage, when Cuba has been quite ravaged and don't have nearly the economic supports in place to recover.

Cuba wasn’t hit that hard, just the power got knocked out. It was a cat 1 and hit more to the east of the island.

AlicW93740 wrote: ↑ I went to Varadero Royalton Hicacos resort in June. It was highly rated on Sunwing and one of the more expensive option. However, the food safety is abysmal. There were probably more flies than people in the Buffet area. I made the mistake of eating some cold seafood salad and had severe diarrhea for a whole day, I probably went the the washroom a dozen times. I have eaten street food in Asia with very questionable meat and haven't experienced this level of diarrhea. Maybe there's an unspoken rule of eating only hot food that I didn't know about.

I talked to multiple people and they all say there weren't as many flies prior to the pandemic. So be prepared for low level of food safety, and stick to hot food only.

Oh and don't forget to bring Off. Costco has them on clearance for 4.97. I met so many people without it and gave most of mine away before departure.

Lol when I went to Cuba in 2016 I wanted to try the cold salads and ceviche so bad but as a general rule I would never touch it for the exact same reason you described. But even with hot food the standards were low... the grill station where they cooked chiken/beef/pork was subpar. With the same set on tongues they touch raw chiken then take your piece of beef and put it in your plate. No thank you. I don't remember the name of the resort but it was in Santa Maria.

oldmanlogan wrote: ↑ Cuba wasn’t hit that hard, just the power got knocked out. It was a cat 1 and hit more to the east of the island.

Huh? It made landfall as a Cat 3 hurricane in the Western tip of the island. You looking at the same hurricane?

I've seen some comments about not liking Sunwing, is there a reason why? Prior to Covid times, I had used Sunwing almost exclusively to do trips to Mexico, Cuba, and Dominican Republic. They all went smoothly.

I love hurricane season this time of year.

theXshape wrote: ↑ Lol when I went to Cuba in 2016 I wanted to try the cold salads and ceviche so bad but as a general rule I would never touch it for the exact same reason you described. But even with hot food the standards were low... the grill station where they cooked chiken/beef/pork was subpar. With the same set on tongues they touch raw chiken then take your piece of beef and put it in your plate. No thank you. I don't remember the name of the resort but it was in Santa Maria.

This happened to me at what was Eurostar Santa Maria. I think that resort got renamed, not sure what it is now. Days 2-5 were miserable.

just the other day booked grand memories santuary for 645..leaving last week of october..but on a friday, leave 6.15 ..leaving cuba last day 8.00 pm..so last day half day at resort...OP..was actually looking at those dates in Dec,,but either fri, sat or sun departure and it was a couple of hundreds more..from your post,,i see why got a good price, as your leaving on a wed...
been many many times to cuba,,few times to santa maria..this time of year, would suggest to buy jellyfish spray...as dont want to get stung by a jellyfish..as well as others have mentioned, it is a 1.30 2.hr drive from the airport...hopefully the long bridge is intact to get to sanata maria..as a few years agao,,a hurricane damaged the bridge, so santa maria was a no go for vacation...as for food, defenitely a hit and miss,,was in cayo coco in august at the pullman resort,,and there was no shortage of food...so hopefully santa maria is fine