Testimonials

“I had a fantastic trip to Cuba, including the two days in Lima, Peru on the way to Havana. Our tour guide, Carlos, in Cuba, was so wonderful. He knew so much about his native country and was extremely helpful to all of us, none of whom spoke much Spanish. We were taken to all the interesting historical and current sites, cities etc. All the hotels were very good; some were really top notch like the Melia in Trinidad where we all had separate rooms – they welcomed us with daiquiris when we arrived – it was extremely hot there and the staff were very good.   The rooms were huge – I had a massive king sized bed all to myself and lots of room for luggage. The last hotel we stayed in in Havana was also very good with the rooftop restaurant, bar and swimming pool.  There was a great view from the top, all over the city. Highlights – so many – it was good to make new friends as all on board the coach around Cuba were from NZ and I knew 4 of them before I left home.  Vinales was one of the highlights where we left Havana and travelled for almost 3 hours to this wonderful country area where the tobacco is grown for the cigars and cigarettes.   I enjoyed the farmer showing us around and explaining how they have to give 90% of their crops to the Govt – I really wonder what the Govt do with the monies they get as the roads are dreadful and supplies of petrol, oil and diesel etc are extremely limited.   In spite of all the inconvenience for the locals, they seem happy enough and smile and say Hola to everyone!  The welcome dinner and farewell dinner were wonderful – we had the farewell dinner way up on the rooftop with a couple of guys with guitars and drums singing while we dined. I do hope that many more tourists will visit Cuba; the dancing and music is wonderful, as are the rum and cigars. The beaches with their white, squeaky sand at Cayo Coco resort were wonderful and the classic American cars are a real treat to ride in but some of the taxis are to be believed!!!”

“We recently booked a World Journeys trip… and we wanted to let you know how thrilled we were with it. First, we were impressed with World Journeys booklet and presentation of the trip. The information was accurate and relevant. Every one of your employees in Buenos Aires, Peru, Cuba was outstanding. The ones meeting us at the airports were punctual, friendly and accommodating. There were no hitches or oversights. Our highest praise goes to our amazing guide through Cuba – Javier Alejandro. He was professional, very experienced and knowledgeable. He listened to our interests, summed us up and tailored our tour accordingly. Javier is highly intelligent with a great sense of humour and an understanding of his country. He is also so easy to get along with, very relaxed and answered our many questions. His local knowledge is outstanding and makes a huge difference. Everything was so well organised with no delays or glitches. We never felt unsafe or stressed the whole trip. We really felt we met local people, ate local food and experienced Cuban life as well as the tourist side of Cuba. We stayed in range of beautiful and spotlessly clean casa particulars. They all had comfortable beds, a safe, an ensuite, air conditioning and a beautiful breakfast was provided. We ate fabulous food in a range of places, authentic Italian, a Cuban sandwich, goat at a roadside restaurant and of course the tarte caramel! We swam in the Caribbean, saw hummingbirds and flamingos, tobacco growing and went caving. We enjoyed the art and music, the people and the architecture that makes Cuba the amazing place it is.”

“We had a small private group of 10 people and Joe was an amazing guide for our group. He was attentive, he took the time to get to know everybody including their interests and specifically topics that he knew they would like to learn about. His knowledge was outstanding including world history not just Cuban and political but everybody found him so interesting, it was very refreshing having someone who could hold the interest among all of the varying ages of the group. All of the group appreciated everything he did for us and went out of his way to make sure everybody enjoyed their time in Cuba, we were really impressed and Cuba has left a lasting impression for us all! All of the restaurants and dining experiences we had on the trip were amazing it was fantastic to visit locally run off the beaten track restaurants that we otherwise wouldn’t have known about. Our first lunch on our city tour was the private dining on the roof top and that was outstanding, the food amazing but dining outside in the shade with a breeze was awesome we were all really impressed and it started our week of perfectly. Along the rest of our journey all of our meals were amazing. Our tour content was perfect for the time we had. We had a mix of personalities and interests in the group so matching it to everybody isn’t easy but everybody enjoyed their time and loved the activities.”

“I have had catch up emails with all 3 couples. In a word, FANTASTIC was how the tour was described. They all really enjoyed it. Had a great tour guide who was fun and informative, good places to stay and they really got out and about and mixed with the locals. They ate and drank with the locals, danced in the streets with the locals – all said this is a destination that everyone should visit. They loved the history and the culture, the food and the people. Everything they booked with us went well with no problems experienced at all. They are all keen to go back again in a couple of years to see how it has changed.”

“The World Journeys host was just amazing. So much fun, extremely kind and helpful, using her initiative to make things easier and better for us. Local Guide: We only had the one guide for the whole time, which was great. Yaniel was wonderful. So good to have someone willing to talk about the reality of Cuban life. His English was prefect which made life easy and he has a good understanding of how Kiwis tick. Yaniel knew his stuff about history etc but never overloaded us with dates etc. Like Karen, he worked hard to keep things going smoothly but still had the time and inclination to socialise with us. An amazing variety of hotels, but all functioned well. Disadvantages and advantages of each one (eg: Nacional rooms allow smoking) but no real problems. The B&B we stayed at in Trinidad (Hostel VP) was super clean and nice. The main thing was that the air conditioning worked fine in them all, thank heavens! Some other comments: The main driver the company provided for our tour (Asiel) was absolutely amazing. His maneuvering skills were exceptional, but even better we soon learned we could trust him with our lives on the dodgy roads. We had no idea that the resort we would be staying at would be so fabulous! Our expectations were not particularly high, as Cuba does things a bit differently, but nothing prepared us for how good the facilities were. And the beach was exquisite! A lot of Canadians just come for the resorts (which is a shame, but never mind) but perhaps World Journeys could consider using some photos from there as part of the tour promotion? I don’t think many Kiwis would know about the Paradise location in Cuba. The information we were given before we even left NZ was very helpful. Cuba isn’t the sort of place you can fudge it so it was great we were so well informed. One thing was particularly helpful and that was that ATMS and credit cards wouldn’t necessarily work, and how much cash to take to convert to CUC. Spot on!”

“Our guide Oscar is fantastic . Cuba is fantastic. This is the best holiday I have ever had. It is beyond expectations. Seriously I am very impressed with Oscar. Smart as a button, thirsty for knowledge, empathetic and warm. I intend to adopt him as my Cuban son. (Unofficially).”

“We had an absolutely AMAZING time in Cuba – our only regret is that we didn’t have longer there! We absolutely loved the Casa and its owners/staff and their rooftop dining/bar area made us feel like locals. It was a perfect location in the old area and we would stay there over a hotel anytime. It was quite basic but a beautiful old building none the less and we really loved the character. Rodney and everyone made us feel so welcome – and they make the best Mojito’s – we know this because we tasted quite a few in Havana. The Parc Central was ok….. we were in the newer building so no character after the Casa – the main restaurant in the Old part of the hotel had delicious food and service (wouldn’t recommend the Italian Restaurant in the new building). Our guide, Yaniet was beautiful and her knowledge is solid – she is now our Cuban adopted daughter. We would love to go back and see more of the country, by far the highlight of our overall holiday. Thank you again for organising everything, it ran smoothly, we didn’t have to do a thing except for on our own time which was also great. (the driver dropped us at the wrong terminal on our departure as there are two buildings so we had to get a cab to the other one but that’s ok, things happen – next time I hope to know more Spanish – a bit hairy, we were hoping he understood us, but we got there.”

“I had a superlative journey being treated like a queen by guides Russell, Yaniel and driver ‘Diamond’. For me my Cuban trip was a life changing experience.”

“Thank you for all your hard work in getting my trip organised. I can certainly recommend World Journeys for Cuba. Yaniel the tour guide was so knowledgeable, Luis the busdriver was wonderful and the World Journeys host was just lovely. I loved the Bay of Pigs and visiting where Che’s bones are. I was extremely moved. Just loved, loved, loved Cuba.”

“We have just returned from your Cuba trip just thought I’d let you know what an amazing trip it was . It was so interesting and Yaniel our guide was really great taking us all to special little restaurants on free nights – he really added a special touch to the trip. It’s going to be a hard trip to beat and we are already recommending it to everyone we meet!”

“Yaniel was the most personable, well organized young man who was very willing to provide information on his country that we would otherwise not have been aware of. He was not biased with the information, providing an overall broad based picture. I cannot speak highly enough of his care, sincerity and passion for the task at hand. There is not just one thing that I would say was the highlight – the ride in the convertible classic cars was fantastic, total fun and a great experience; the salsa dancing lessons were great; the architecture and history of the country is very impressive. And I cannot overlook the Che Guevara memorial – stunning.”