46% Off - Toronto to Cuba - All-Inclusive - 7 days - $655

With a side of stomach flu.

Ironballz wrote: ↑ MUCH better!! I would 100% recommend Mexico over Cuba.

100%

Mexico over Dominican and Cuba hands down

VishalV49377 wrote: ↑ Is the food good at all inclusive resort at Mexico? Thanks!

Yes, if you go to a good 5 star resort, do some research on this based on what food you are looking for. Also, I did not fall sick from the food or water at the 5* resorts I have been to in Mexico.

I have heard of a few people who unfortunately fell sick from whatever they ate at their 5* resort in Cuba.

FYI, if you're a citizen of the ESTA/VWP program in the US (most European countries), you risk having your visa waiver privileges revoked by visiting Cuba.

HelloNanaimo wrote: ↑ The food in Cuba at these all-inclusive resorts are notoriously awful. Like I’d rather eat rice cakes awful.

you sound fairly picky, it is more than edible, it doesn't touch Mexico or others, but if you go 4+ you won't starve

Haven't been to Cuba in years, but have always gotten sick (stomach flu symptoms) for at least 24hrs every time. The food can be alright if you're into shellfish/seafood (I am not), otherwise it's difficult to navigate. Sticking to deep fried things at least keeps you from getting sick. Chicken fingers all week long.

CraigC8815 wrote: ↑ Prepare to eat a lot of fruit / salads - they can't mess that up.

They absolutely can mess this up. Their tap water is undrinkable and often used to "freshen" produce, make ice cubes, etc. I won't ever go to Cuba or the Dominican Republic again. Mexico and Jamaica offer much better food.

superscoots wrote: ↑ you sound fairly picky, it is more than edible, it doesn't touch Mexico or others, but if you go 4+ you won't starve

If I’m going on vacation, I want the food to be great.

The food is bad. Plain and simple.

HelloNanaimo wrote: ↑ If I’m going on vacation, I want the food to be great.

The food is bad. Plain and simple.

This post is for someone who wants a $600 vacation - I would never go back, but I am also not looking at $600 vacations LOL

yao416 wrote: ↑ Tell me you never been to Cuba without telling me

He's not wrong

Cuba has the worst food of all the typical all included location by far. You can't blame them. USA embargo is hard on their economy and finding some product.

CraigC8815 wrote: ↑ Bring your own food ha ha

And your own power generator

RobbieG wrote: ↑ Haven't been to Cuba in years, but have always gotten sick (stomach flu symptoms) for at least 24hrs every time. The food can be alright if you're into shellfish/seafood (I am not), otherwise it's difficult to navigate. Sticking to deep fried things at least keeps you from getting sick. Chicken fingers all week long.


They absolutely can mess this up. Their tap water is undrinkable and often used to "freshen" produce, make ice cubes, etc. I won't ever go to Cuba or the Dominican Republic again. Mexico and Jamaica offer much better food.

Bingo. It’s the water. I got sick in Dominican (which cost me more than my typical Mexico resort budget) via their fruit juice. The islands lack the polish and standards that Mexico has perfected due to exposure to North American talent, and investments

superscoots wrote: ↑ you sound fairly picky, it is more than edible, it doesn't touch Mexico or others, but if you go 4+ you won't starve

The food is OK. I've been to some cheap Cuban resorts as well as the "higher end" ones and I've never wanted to eat rice cakes instead of the food they served at the resort.

What I loved about CUba is that no matter how cheap or crappy the resort was, the beach was amazing. In Mexico we paid some high prices and we've been disappointed by the beach, food was top notch tho.

The pitch for cuba is:
- Amazing beaches (seriously, they're insanely nice)
- Great value
- Good service, generally
- A few neat things to see here and there as well (havana for example is super cool)
- Cons: unless you stay at a 5-star, food's going to be pretty mediocre. At a 5-star, it's just okay. At a 3.5-star you risk illness (which is true at other places, but somewhat more likely in cheap basic cuban resorts). I will note that the seafood can be decent.

So if you're a foodie, go elsewhere. If you're there for the beaches, they're great. If you're on a more modest budget, Cuba is great. If you're game to drop serious cash there are nicer places to go, but that's basically always true ha

Never been to Cuba, but the food in the buffets is much better to my taste in Dominican Republic than in Mexico. But, the included restaurants are much much better in Mexico than in Dominican Republic.

Overall I prefer Dominican Republic over Mexico for the food, vegetation, the beach and the mood of the staff. And all I wrote here concerns my tastes and refers to all inclusive vacations.

Damn. Y’all are some picky ass eaters. Do you guys dine in Michelin star restaurants or something?

Sister in law came back from Cuba all-inclusive 3.5-4* and said buffet had staff serving the food to control quantity

VishalV49377 wrote: ↑
Is the food good at all inclusive resort at Mexico? Thanks!

Probably just guess-work, but should be a lot easier/cheaper to get better and fresher food on the continent compared to a small island.

I've been in Punta Cana (DR) and Cancun (MEX - well Riviera Maya...) - food was visibly better in Mexico.

CraigC8815 wrote: ↑ I usually stick with the Barcelo chain of hotels - their food is excellent.

Stayed at Barcelo Maya last April, food is decent. But their beaches are awful. Very rocky / full of concrete (?) patches.

Also we had a terrible luck (or by lot of complains across dates, a regular thing) with algae. it the whole coast was full of it and smelling like rotten eggs

Every time I visit Cuba the food is terrible, and I’m not picky at all. What I find though is that they have enough ingredients to do much better but somehow fail at even the most basic things.

Random things over several visits to different 5 stars:
- bacon is undercooked, totally soggy
- chicken/fish overcooked, no seasoning
- random vegetables for a salad but no salad or dressing
- generally no cohesive buffet selections, no themes to make assembling a dinner easier/better.

I’d love to see a season of Chopped filmed on a Cuba resort though

Anyways I still go knowing this for the awesome beach, friendly people, and the price. Coming home a bit lighter is a bonus too.

Air Canada has a policy of refunding/rescheduling if a tropical storm advisory is issued within 48 hours of departure, does sunwing do something similar?

Been to Cuba several times and also Caribbean and Mexico, all I can say is you get what you pay for. I found Cuba is not as good as Mexico hands down but again depends where you stay. Cuba is safe and the price is normally better, accommodations are sometimes in need of repair (again depends on the resort), food is almost never great, I eat almost anything so I survived but my wife and kids were less than happy, for example when you order steak and ask what cut they just say beef lol. However the beaches in Varadero are the best, people are friendly and you are not bothered as much as Mexico. My reco is if you want to save money book Cuba as we had amazing food off the resort for not much money, had steak, lobster and a drink for $20 USD and it was great. To each their own.

We we're in Varadero in June and its the worst shape ive ever seen Cuba. We've been almost a dozen times and know what to expect food wise, this was infinitely worse. Maybe it was timing.. Maybe it was still covid recovery.. But it was roughhhhhhhhhhhhh

I've never seen a cuban resort that didnt have potatoes or french fries. and 0 beef. I dont mean beef was cooked bad.. there was none, at all. My family lived off of bread and pasta with butter for a week.