Cuba - price ideas

dtaylor21184

Hi all this is the first time I've asked a question but here goes.

I'm planning on going to Cuba next year. I had thought about September time but just read this is the hurricane season so reconsidering September so first question is

would Oct/nov be better?

Next question

If I book early what price am I looking at paying?

If I wait til closer the time is it going to be better priced?

What is a good price to pay?

This is my requirements

looking at going to Holguin
14 nights
all inclusive
2 adults 1 child aged 2 and 1 infant 10 months (not born yet lol)
staying either sept/oct/nov

Ideally we would like to include a stay in Havana for a few nights but this is not essential.

Any info you guys can give me on where I should be looking or booking with would be great thanks

PompeyPete

I haven't got the foggiest.
But if I was thinking about going to Holguin, anywhere in Cuba, or anywhere that may be in the path of a hurricane then I'd do most of my homework on the Holguin Forum on Trip Advisor. I'd also have a look at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office Travel Advice website.

pipsi_2

I'm off to Cuba in just over a week and I'll be flying into Holguin. I have heard that it is the rainy season but apparently the rain might pour down for half an hour and then suddenly the sun is shinning again, it's not quite like the weather here. I've been elsewhere in the Caribbean before and had this experience, when we went to Jamaica we found most of the rain happened during the night, we also had a few really bad thunder and lightening storms but again these were all during the night. When it did rain it passed quite quickly but because it was so warm we would still sit around the pool and just use one of the parasols to stop books etc getting wet.

Obviously if you want to avoid the rain going outside of the rainy season would be better for you.

Price wise, i only booked my holiday last weekend and got what i think is a really good deal (about 30-40% off the brochure price) i've looked up my holiday on the thomas cook website this morning and the price has gone up by £250 from what i paid last weekend. I think this is partly because they only have premium cabin seats left on the flight but the upgrade only costs about £150 so the holiday has still gone up by £100. I'm not sure if it was cheaper before i started looking for a holiday but i still think i got a good deal.

I would suggest booking from the brochure if you're going as a family, you'll probably be looking at paying in the region of £1200 for each adult and then whatever the child discount is for the children. It depends on what sort of hotel you're after, most of the hotels are all inclusive but range from pretty basic 3 stars with one restaurant to 4 and 5 stars with 9 restaurants. With children you'll probably want to pay more to get the range of food you'd find in a 4 or 5 star. I would warn you that i don't think the temperature and climate out there will be particularly easy to cope with with a baby of 10 months old, i certainly wouldn't take babies to that sort of region with the temperatures and humidity, but that's entirely my opinion based on my experiences.

dtaylor21184

Thank you I have started researching and checked the places u suggested and also posted this for extra info.

Thanks pipsi that's all really good info can I just ask what hotel you are staying in the ones Ive been looking at are 4* I think. Would it really be hard work with a baby under 1?

pipsi_2

dtaylor21184 wrote: »

Thank you I have started researching and checked the places u suggested and also posted this for extra info.

Thanks pipsi that's all really good info can I just ask what hotel you are staying in the ones Ive been looking at are 4* I think. Would it really be hard work with a baby under 1?

Although i don't have my own children i run a successful childcare business so have experience of working with children of all ages, at home and abroad. Countries like Cuba will be difficult with babies, even in a 4* hotel, you'll have to take all of the baby related items you'll need with you such as nappies, formula etc and more often than not infants don't get their own luggage allowance so you'll be squeezing all of this stuff in with your allowance. You may not have an allowance for your 2 year old either, but it all depends on the company you book with.

I would suggest somewhere like the USA with young children, air conditioning is always good there, it can be haphazard in some other countries, especially Cuba and you can buy everything you need such as nappies etc from brands you are familiar with in the States too. I've done Florida with a 2 year old and it worked alright as the villa we stayed in was fully air-conditioned, so were the cars, restaurants, shops etc. You're also less likely to fall foul of an upset tummy in the USA.

Like i said it's entirely my opinion based on my experiences, I'm not trying to put you off, hotels will do their best to accommodate families with babies and young children but i do think somewhere like the USA would be easier. And obviously babies are born in every country in the world and manage in the heat but it will be a bit of an extreme change for your children to deal with.

The hotel i'm staying in the the Playa Pesquero.

Zazie

We decided to go mid Nov as that is the end of the hurricane season and it will make a nice change from what is normally a gloomy month in the UK.

We booked with The Holiday Place http://www.theholidayplace.co.uk/
who seemed to offer the best Cuba deals (we are doing 4 nights B&B in Havana followed by 9 nights all-inclusive in Varadero, but they also do Guardalvaca). This was recommended to us by a family member who went with them last year.

If anyone reading this has been to Varadero and done an excursion, would love to know whether you thought it was worth it.

spender

dttaylor - I would seriously consider putting off Cuba until the baby is older. The humidity is very high and this could cause discomfort. You will have to take everything with you (when we went last year there was a national shortage of toilet paper although not for tourists which bought home how little they have). We went on a typical package and absolutely loved it, however thinking back we did not see many young travellers.