Cienfeuegos, Cuba

January 17, 2019
Leaving Cienfeuegos, Cuba
A week from tomorrow, January 25th, we celebrate our 50th anniversary.  In planning for our 50th celebration we decided to take Jil, Jeff and their spouses, Rob and Heather on a cruise. The only ironclad requirements for this cruise were that the cruise take place in January and there were ports of call in Cuba.  It was also decided that this would be an adults only cruise, no grandchildren.  After much research we booked a cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Empress of the Seas, departing Miami on January 13 and returning to Miami on January 21. There were three ports of call: Cozumel, Mexico, Cienfuegos, Cuba and Havana, Cuba.  On Saturday, January 12, the six of us flew from Detroit to Miami and the following morning boarded the ship.
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, we stayed on board the ship.  Tuesday was a port of call stop in Cozumel.  As we had all been to Cozumel on a previous cruise only Jeff and Heather left the ship to do some souvenier shopping.  Tim tagged along just to keep them company.  It was a fun four days at sea.  We drank, layed in the sun, drank, played some games, and drank some more enjoying the warm temperatures and abundant sunshine. Two of the nights, one in the main dining room and the other in a specialty restaurant,  we were feted by the waiters singing “Happy Aniversary” to us and presenting us with a small cake.  Jil, Jeff, Rob, and Heather decided that the meal in the specialty restaurant would be our official celebration aboard the ship. We all dressed up a bit with Lynda looking particularly ravishing. Jeff offered a touching, heartfelt toast. It was a special evening.  The cruise, as a gift, also offered us a very nice discount at the spa. We took a 50 minute hot stone massage together that we both thoroughly enjoyed.
Today, Thursday, the 17th, we docked in Cienfuegos.  Actually we anchored in the middle of the harbor and took tenders into the pier. As we have told you in the past, cruise ship docks generally are not in the best part of the town we are visiting.  That was the case in Cienfuegos.  We did not book a ship sponsored tour in Cienfuegos, but opted to do a walking tour on our own through the historic town center. We took a 10 minute walk through some rather depressing neighborhoods  before arriving at the historic city center. It was a lovely plaza with flowering trees, benches, and statues surrounded by colorful and architecturally pleasing buildings. As we were walking through the plaza we passed by a human statue, a person dressed and made up to look like a statue standing perfectly still.  This is something we have seen in many places, but Jil obviously was not prepared for the “statue” to move its head and stare at her. It scared Jil to death and provided the rest of us with a hearty laugh. Jil told us she was about ready to comment on what an ugly statue it was. She was quite relieved that she didn’t.  We enjoyed walking the streets around the plaza, stopping in several interesting shops along the way.  We had lunch at a little café on a side street that had only 6 or 7 tables. It was a bit of a step back in time as we watched videos from the 70’s of Abba, A-Ha and the “We are the World” video that was a watershed moment  in music history. After lunch we found a pedestrian street with many  booths set up in the middle of the street selling an assortment of leather goods and wood carvings. There were also a number of store fronts selling paintings by local artists.  The people were friendly, the weather was beautiful.  It was a wonderful first taste of Cuba.

Cienfeuegos plaza

Classic cars in Cienfeuegos

Tomorrow is another day at sea. We arrive in Havana on Saturday and have two days of ship sponsored tours booked. Because of the way the itinerary worked out and the fact that there is no internet access in Cuba, the entire blog of our cruise will not be posted until we get home.  We apologize for this but hope you will still enjoy our trip after the fact.  It will be diary entrée for us that will provide us with fond memories of a very special anniversary celebration with our children and their spouses.