Friday, 10 June 2016

Travel Operator Thomas Cook Can give you this view of Cuba for £1500

Famously crap British travel operator offers a ten hour, £1500 flight to Benidorm in 1985



Time taken by Thomas Cook to establish that excursions in Cuba will not be affected by Obama's Presidential visit
: about 2 hours

Time taken by Thomas Cook to  respond to complaint that excursions were cancelled by Presidential visit
: 34 days

Yeah, so my Cuba holiday was in fact something of a nightmare

Over last Easter I booked a two week holiday with Thomas Cook in Cuba on the basis of
  • available excursions to Havana
  • wifi availability
  • balcony room 
I found immediately after booking that a series of important events were to happen in Havana that week and I asked a week before Thomas Cook if that would affect excursions. 
They assured me it wouldn't.

I arrived in Playa Pesquara to find NO overnight excursions, at all, to anywhere - all hotel rooms had been taken. It was too late to do anything about this and by then I was at resort with virtually no internet (one small household router in hotel lobby covering entire resort which is flatlined all day) and as for the balcony view.. well.. see above.

The picture doesn't do justice to the voracious insects.  The 'balcony' was a ground floor patio with a rail around it, ridiculous view of the cleaning shed.

Other highlights

  • Two of six day, local excursions I was able to organise to get me out of the resort excursions  never even showed up (all local excursions had 7.30am starts, so my sleep never adjusted)
  • Most tasteless American (North, South or Central) food I've ever eaten
  • Poor Cubans on site working 12 hour shifts
  • Mojitos aplenty, if you don't mind spending the next day running  to the toilet (water in the ice cubes)
and  Thomas Cook also sneaked in a £200 sole traveller surcharge as part of the booking.

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