Captivating Cuba Reviews 252

The attention I received from my first enquiry was excellent. It included a long conversation on the phone, where all the options were discussed. It was clear this company knew a great deal about Cuba! I am now looking forward to experiencing my tailor-made holiday!

All our correspondence has been by email. Answers to our queries were quick and clear.
Plenty of information sent to us and confirmation of additions confirmed quickly.We have been kept up to date.

This review is based only on the booking experience, not the holiday itself. Very impressed with the speed with which they respond to enquiries (sent enquiry about Ultimate tour Saturday morning, replied with full details same day) and questions about the tour. Received lots of useful info by email and over the phone to help make decision to book. Comprehensive info about Cuba sent post-booking also helpful and didn't try to hide potential negatives.

The tour I wanted was not guaranteed but the team untook to let me know when it was and they did. Prior to that I had made several requests covering various scenarios and they were extremely pleasant and helpful with everything. I’m finally booked exactly as I wanted.

So easy, being a wheelchair user I often experiance issues booking holidays. I cannot tell you the releif when I contacted CC. Helpful, thoughtful and so much expertese. Thank you

helpful advice-excellent availability to answer questions

Captivating Cuba are fantastic, so knowledgable and able to tailor make your package for you. I would not hesitate in recommending them

Not travelled yet but so far so good. Everyone has been very helpful in sorting out our particular requirements.

Sarah, Jo, and the Captivating Cuba team have been brilliant to work with!

As a travel agent, much as I'd love to be an expert in every destination, it's brilliant to have the support of true specialists!

The Captivating Cuba team, are hugely enthusiastic about Cuba, and their passion and especially their knowledge come through when chatting to them; they really do know their stuff, and can provide personal, nuanced recommendations and advice, which is invaluable!

I found the team to be very friendly and approachable; nothing has been too much trouble, and they're always quick to respond to my (many!) questions.

I can't wait to work with them again :)

Captivating Cuba were absolutely fantastic at organising our wedding vow renewal ceremony in Havana for our 25th wedding anniversary.They listened to every aspect of our requirements and exceeded them all. Other companies were too quick to offer us their particular packages without taking into account what we actually wanted.
From the very first contact they were always quick to respond and dealt with everything in a professional and friendly manner. We are already planning on using them again for a future trip.
Special thanks to Gemma Thurgood who has been an absolute gem from start to finish. A wonderful asset to the company.

We have just had two fantastic weeks in Cuba thanks to Captivating Cuba and their team.
Havana was an amazing place as was the week relaxing on Veradaro Beach afterwards.
I was a little apprehensive booking this holiday having left all the itinerary in the hands of the tour company; even pre booking tables at restaurants and taxi transfers to and fro, but needn't have worried.
The whole thing ran like clockwork from the pick up at the airport to the transfer back at the end of the holiday.
The rep Adrian in Havana was fantastic and nothing was too much trouble for him.
Overall I cannot recommend Captivating Cuba enough as a company.
They were absolutely fantastic.
If you are thinking of visiting Cuba I would highly recommend you use this company, I have absolutely no reservations in recommending them.
Cuba is an amazing place, if you go I guarantee you won't regret it.

We have just returned from a fantastic two week holiday in Cuba. We visited Havana, Vinales, Les Terrazas, Trinidad and Varadero and we would wholeheartedly recommend this trip over two weeks in this order. Havana and Varadero were fantastic, but the smaller resorts of Vinales and Trinidad were equally as excellent for different reasons.
We would recommend Captivating Cuba as they organise everything for you in a country that would otherwise be quite challenging to navigate. All the transfers were smooth and on time and we stayed in excellent hotels and casas. The Iberostar hotels in Havana and Varadero offered real luxury and the casas in Trinidad and Vinales were very comfortable and clean and great places to stay.
These 5 destinations did not feel like too much travelling in 2 weeks, but it was nice to relax by the beach before going home. The food was good and you could find plenty of places to eat with quite a lot of variety.
We only booked two excursions. We would thoroughly recommend the tour around Havana in a classic car with a tour guide. However we booked the Buena Vista Social Club. This was such a disappointment and rip off. It didn't have anything to do with the band/ film and you could walk in off the street for free. We will be asking for a refund. Once in Cuba, many of the excursions you can easily organise yourself- for example in Vinales there were many people offering the horse trekking through the tobacco plantation. Some of the pre-holiday administration was a little slow and inaccurate- so do check what they send you and times you have to chase for invoices and information.
If you're thinking of going to Cuba, we would recommend that you look at what Captivating Cuba has to offer.

This was our first visit to Cuba as a family of 4 (20 yr old and 16yr old ‘children’). Having researched many companies offering a combination of tour and beach we decided on Captivating Cuba as the itinery seemed most interesting and interactive. In discussions with our consultant Nikki we felt like she really got the brief right for our needs.

Everything travel wise was very smooth, and Im glad Nikki managed to sort a reasonable price for the ipgrade to premium on our flight. Meeting at the airport was also smooth and before we knew it we were in the Casa Madero in old Havana, probably our favourite casa of the tour, with amazing breakfasts and very comfortable rooms - we had expected something much more basic!

We were pleasantly surprised that we had our own private tour guide and bus! Denis was such a character and very knowledgeable throughout, and Nelson the driver is a legend. We got to see so much more of each town and city because of them, as well as rearranging timings where necessary in order to subject Denis to the England football matches. It would have been nice to stay in Vinales rather than two nights in Las Terrazas; the organic farm and restaurant was one of the highlights.

The only downside was the long trip down to Trinidad, albeit broken up with a stop in Sta Clara on the way down, and a lovely waterfall and Cienfuegos on our way back to Havana. We weren’t all that enamoured with Trinidad but the tour gave us an all round impression of the west of the island. And whilst we ended up essentially full board, the food could have done with some variety other than grilled meat with rice and beans at every meal.

After that a weeks break at the Iberostar Varadero was very welcome, beautiful beach and sea, and lovely clean resort (although the pool could have been clearer). Great variety of food and drink, entertainment and animateur service left a bit to be desired but overall a fantastic stay

For those visiting, dont forget to keep handfuls of coins or small denomination notes for tipping drivers and maids, and visiting the toilets. We had been told that people don’t tip in Cuba; that isn’t true.

Overall an amazing holiday and geat service from Captivating Cuba, we would definitely use them again.

Had a great time in Cuba left it up to Captivating Cuba to arrange itinerary gave me enough of what I wanted and I will be going back to do a more thorough exploration of Cuba. I stayed in local Casa accommodation and all were to an acceptable standard and the people who ran them were extremely friendly and could not do enough for me. Transfers were well organised and the staff have always answered my queries and been very helpful.
I thank again everyone involved for making my stay a relaxing and worthwhile experience.

A big thank you to the Captivating Cuba for the truly amazing holiday we’ve just had in Cuba. The arrangements worked like clockwork and all their reps and guides were superb.
In addition to that we loved the country, the people and the whole experience. Such an interesting, if at times sad, history, fascinating politics and a real learning experience. Can’t say it’s done much to improve my opinion of the USA though! We were also impressed with how safe we felt both physically and health wise. By the way, we used the tap water, albeit with chlorine tablets, and were absolutely fine the whole time.
The itinerary worked out for us via Sussex Travel was near on perfect. I think the only change I would make in hindsight would be to have an overnight stay in Santa Clara. This would have meant an extra day though or maybe one less in Vinales. Just a thought and I should add the we were fine with the journey.
From our research we knew that things are difficult to get hold of but hadn’t really thought it through regarding diving. We weren’t sure we would do any but, as it happens, Juan Carlos organised it for us very easily.
The accommodation was all excellent as well with a very special mention to Buri y Nesti Casa Particulare in Trinidad. Outstanding in comfort, food and service. Lovely, lovely people.
Again our thanks and we’ve been recommending you to all our friends.

Excellent travel company, they were so helpful in finding my family and I the most perfect holiday, thank you.

I very highly recommend this travel company. They listened to my needs and provided me with the perfect holiday to Cuba.

The staff I met were amazing and very helpful. The hotel (Iberostar Varadero) exceed my expectations. I thoroughly enjoyed my holiday and hope to return soon.

EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTING!! THEY ADD NO VALUE!!

I can't begin to tell you how disappointing this travel company is. It is shocking. They have no real regard for their clients nor do they add any value. They simply are trying to exploit the travellers lack of knowledge of Cuba for a profit.

Being a solo traveler going to Cuba for the first time, I mistakingly thought using a travel agency that claimed to be an expert in Cuba would be a good idea. Big mistake. The itinerary they cooked up for me was ridiculous. It had me traveling for 8 hours on a bus to a city for 1 day then traveling another 7 hours on a bus to get to another city the next. When I caught this and decided to rearrange my trip, I cancelled a number of transports and stays at Casa Particulares and a 3 night stay at the Blau in exchange for more time in Havana. They then made me pay more money!

They then withheld all my new vouchers until they received the extra money.

They never informed me of travel/medical insurance requirements. When asked, they said they did not deal with this but in the final package, of course, they were selling their ability to help you with it if you needed.

They never warned me of any of the necessary vaccinations nor if I should even look into it.

They are by no means proactive. They are only reactive and you will have to chase them for every little thing. Some of the staff there are particularly rude when trying to get some answers from them. Why they think arguing with a client is a good idea, I have no idea.

All the flights they arrange for you are the cheapest possible so the times will be terrible. You will then have no control over changing anything. You will have to go through them. They refuse to provide any transparency in pricing so you will have no idea what or how much you are paying for any individual item.

I also thought having a representative on the ground would be helpful given I was traveling alone. Sonia, their rep in Havana, was nowhere to be found. They claim she is in the hotel lobby every morning but neither I nor the hotel workers ever saw her. I was not even informed when my transport from my hotel to the airport would be on my last day. I had to have the concierge hunt down someone else at Captivating Cuba to find out.

By the way, please pass on buying anything from them such as excursions or tickets to shows. Everything is easily priced at double the rate you can get in Havana. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!

Finally, be careful if you stay in one of their Casa Particulares. The one I stayed at in Vinales told the tour operator I had booked that I never arrived so they could replace them with their own and get a kick-back.

Do yourself a favour and PASS on this tour operator!!!! There are others out there or, truth be told, you can do it yourself.

Enjoy Cuba!

Captivating Cuba were excellent in organising and delivering our Cuba experience throughout. We had 4 destinations in 2 weeks; Havanna, Vinales, Trinidad and Varadero.
From the start Nickki was quick to support our initial thoughts on our itinerary and get it fully sorted out for us.
We have to remember that Cuba should not generally be compared to European general standards; it is unique and a visit is best viewed as a life experience first, and a holiday second.
We took the opportunity to stay in Cuban casas at our first 3 destinations which meant we were closer to real Cuban life and finished at the Blau Varadero for the last few days.
The casas did the job and all 3 were superbly located with friendly and helpful owners. The rooms were variable in quality, 2 of them had fantastic views over the countryside, but Casa Buri y Nesti (Trinidad) was the stand out.
The BLAU VARADERO deserves its own commentary here; frankly its a huge and ugly building, and initial impressions on approach were not great. HOWEVER, IT'S POSITIONED ON A BEAUTIFUL BEACH AND THE SERVICE HERE IS SIMPLY THE BEST I'VE EVER EXPERIENCED (admittedly I've never stayed "all inclusive" before)....the staff in the dining and bar areas in particular were truly fantastic and a total delight. Our room was large, well furnished, exceptionally clean and had an awesome sea view. The food also was fantastic with a huge and widely varied choice (particularly impressive when we remind ourselves how tough it is for Cuba under current economic sanctions)
All our transfers were bang on time, with English speaking guide and a driver .
However the full day transfer from Trinidad to Varadero included a visit to a "crocodile park" and my advice is to avoid this, which surely belongs in the past....and instead visit the house of Bernabe Hernandez Ulloa which is 5k from Playa Largo (thanks to our driver for his recommendation to visit this house!). A brilliant 20 minutes were spent watching both species of Cuban hummingbirds (as well as Orioles), one of which is the smallest bird in the world ........not to be missed (entry free but please leave small donation to help preserve these entirely wild birds).
Finally Nickki and Manuela exemplified the quality of CC service AFTER we got home by arranging for a shoe to be returned from Cuba to my wife (we'd left it in one of taxi transfers)....a huge thanks to Captivating Cuba for an experience that will stay with us forever!!