Caribbean editor Ed Wetschler has just returned from a week in Cuba via Celestyal Cruises. In an upcoming issue of Recommend magazine he’ll explain why this people-to-people itinerary is unique, but meanwhile, here are a few sights and sites from the second most visited island in the region.
Vintage wheels and the National Capitol Building: Welcome to Havana.
Director of Santiago’s Afro-Cuban cultural center Celestyal Crystal passengers visited as part of the people-to-people itinerary.
In Santiago, the seat of the revolution, Fidel Castro’s gravestone.
Onboard lectures and cooking workshops were lively. The house band’s percussionist lent a hand for the talk on Cuban music.
El Morro, built to protect Havana’s harbor, as viewed from the Malecon—a long, waterfront esplanade.
Passengers had the option of eating at privately owned paladares—theoretically, in people’s homes—in all three cities.
The croqueta man has a huge ace-in-the-hole: this public telephone.
Last light and last sight of Havana before departing for Trinidad.
Trinidad, accessed by bus from Cienfuegos, is an unspoiled town known as the soul of Cuba.
Between the museums, historical tours, and other musts, there were cigars. After all, this is Cuba.
