ALWAYS FIND TIME FOR THE THINGS THAT MAKE YOU HAPPY TO BE ALIVE
Tampa, Florida
Havana, Cuba
Empress of The Seas is no longer with us. It is currently a ship owned now by Cordelia Cruises, an Indian cruise line. Likely the smallest cruise ship Lady and The Pirate sailed on, she was still beautiful but certainly dated. There was a small window of time recently when President Obama opened up Cuba for U.S. citizens and Lady and The Pirate took advantage of that to sail off to Havana, Cuba for an overnighter. If you'd like to read more on the history of U.S. and Cuban relations, just click HERE.
Cubans welcomed Empress of The Seas with open arms. They are a friendly people living under a restrictive regime. It was interesting to hear the older citizens chastising their government while the younger people embracing it. But politics aside, Lady and The Pirate were limited on where they could visit due to a recent hurricane. Also, this was the first time Lady and The Pirate required a visa to visit a country. They were even told to keep all receipts because the IRS might want to know what they spent money on in the country. Finally, Cuba has two currencies, one for citizens and one for tourists. Tourist dollars have a much higher value and locals can exchange them for normal Cuban Pesos, the currency they'll need to buy local goods.
The show at the Tropicana was outstanding. All of the dancers were men dressed up as women. Some were easy to spot but some would fool almost anyone. Each table got a free bottle of Cuban Rum and Lady and The Pirate also learned that Bacardi started their business in Cuba before eventually ending up in Puerto Rico.
Lady and The Pirate believed they would return again to Cuba. They loved it. But unfortunately, a new administration came into power and shut down Cuba for Americans. To this day, it is still closed. If Lady and The Pirate want to return, they will need to acquire a different passport. Here's hoping the United States will again open the doors to Cuba.
Notes on this cruise:
The Sunshine Skyway Bridge is 4 lanes and opened on April 20th, 1987. To find out more, click HERE.
Empress of The Seas is now owned by Cordelia Cruises and goes by the name MV Empress.
