Tidbits from Cuba

[Corylax18]

5 hours ago, JohnnyO said:

Yeah the line for Managua was huge in T3 yesterday, 100's inside and 100's outside. Everyone mostly dressed in black with black backpacks. They all looked like ninjas on a mission, the crowd was very quiet. All were young 25-35 years old and looked in good physical shape for the run. No little kids. John

T2 was PACKED Thursday, 2 flights to Managua "6" to Miami (actually 4) then the single Tampa and FLL flights. Aruba Airlines was operating both Havana-Managua flights. 

5 hours ago, JohnnyO said:

3 liter pitchers of Bucanero at the Comodoro 750 CUP. All locals, no tourists. Pricey for them. They yelled at me for taking the picture. I told them I was a tourist and that I liked to take pictures of beer. Last call was 5pm. John

That little Pedestrian mall was the busiest place I saw in Havana! I was the only obvious tourist. We got a hell of a dressing down from some security guard who told us we walked in the wrong way or something. Grumpy Staff seems to be a theme there. 

[JohnnyO]

In T2 all products are in Euros except for some souvenirs. Once inside the general waiting area the VIP room is 600 CUP or $25 USD all you can drink/eat. It fills up quickly and is well worth it (If you have the CUP). Our charter flight had an 8 hour delay, I dont suggest you use that system. John

[El Presidente]

Good levels of Cohiba on Cuban LCDH  currently + suprisingly good finds of 2015/16/17 stock. 

Those insitu or just returned, please provide an update 

[NSXCIGAR]

5 hours ago, El Presidente said:

Good levels of Cohiba on Cuban LCDH  currently + suprisingly good finds of 2015/16/17 stock. 

Those insitu or just returned, please provide an update 

All I saw as of Sunday was the little guys--Exq, Pan, Siglo I and the very rare Siglo II. There were singles of Siglo VI and Esplendidos fairly common however. 

[El Presidente]

1 hour ago, NSXCIGAR said:

All I saw as of Sunday was the little guys--Exq, Pan, Siglo I and the very rare Siglo II. There were singles of Siglo VI and Esplendidos fairly common however. 

That is what I thought.

Apparently as of this week "cohiba are plentiful*

We will find out soon enough!

[NSXCIGAR]

17 hours ago, El Presidente said:

Apparently as of this week "cohiba are plentiful*

Great, I went one week too soon...

[Monocle]

2 hours ago, NSXCIGAR said:

Great, I went one week too soon...

Time to go back then. 😬

[JohnnyO]

In T3 one box of Piramides Extra 10 count was 355 Euros. It was the only Cohiba available besides minis and the like. Here is the info for Comodoro PCR tests. I always call before I go there, usually I'm in and out in 10 minutes. It is in the same building as the LCDH, at the opposite end. Look for the red cross just outside the door.  John

[El Presidente]

things not going so smoothly in the factories. 

 

This is Partagas right wing rolling room 

 

Lifted chairs means empty bench. 

 

[B44]

4 hours ago, El Presidente said:

things not going so smoothly in the factories. 

This is Partagas right wing rolling room

Lifted chairs means empty bench.

Was this on a national holiday? Where did they all go? Rotating around to factories that have the leaf? Rotational production schedule, which could explain the ebb and flow of the marque availability? 

[El Presidente]

1 hour ago, B44 said:

Where did they all go?

Panama

Nicaragua

Mexico

Ecuador

USA

Some retired. Very hard to attract new workers as the wage is insufficient to live on. The report was that it is running at 50% capacity. It looks less. 

[B44]

1 minute ago, El Presidente said:

Panama

Nicaragua

Mexico

Ecuador

USA

The pandemic sped some things up, while slowed others down. Fun times

[JohnnyO]

For many, to get factory rolling jobs you have to be loyal to the communist party. They also prefer "chivatones" and it wouldn't hurt if your mother holds a high government job. That way they can control you. In hurricane season they tell the males to bring a machete to work, for the next three days they'll be clearing/cutting branches that are blocking a highway. Under the hot Caribbean sun, 14-16 hours with very little to drink or eat unless you bring your own. Right now you can make a lot more $$$ sleeping on a cardboard box all night, waiting for the bodegita to open up so you can buy products and re-sell them at a higher price on the open market. If rollers are leaving for Nicaragua, Honduras they will find work quickly as there are many cigar factories set up by former Cuban rollers. BTW, the Piramides Extra that was in T3 two weeks ago was gone and there was a 25 count box of Cohiba Maduros and several large boxes of Partagas LE's in the kiosk by gate B9. Nothing to speak of in the duty free.  John 

[JohnnyO]

Not sure if I have mentioned this before and its a tidbit useful only for US passport holders. Inside the US Embassy in Havana ("Oficina de Interes") there is a ATM machine that will give you USD. For a while access to the embassy was emergency only, but it seems they will be loosening things up. Dont know the fees or limits but its a reasonable plan "B". Travelers from other countries might check their embassies to see if these services are available as well. John

[El Presidente]

The floods have pushed Cubans to the brink. 

• 140 building collapses (total or partial)  in Havana. 
• Flooding in Pinar has impacted the sorting houses where tobacco leaves are stored and classified.  They are using charcoal to dry them out and much of that tobacco will now go to cigarettes.
• Fuel shortages continue. Less buses, Taxi fees quadrupled. 
• Inflation 500% +
• No chicken by the rationing card in May
• Power outages of 4-6 hours per day in some provinces but only one hour a day in Havana as the Govt is afraid of unrest. 

It is a nightmare. People are upset. Unless there is a pressure release, something is going to blow. 

[Pinkbottles]

https://www.npr.org/2022/06/07/1103456116/cuba-cuban-migrants-real-estate
 

seems to be inching closer to complete collapse. May take a few years for those poor souls. The fact that Russia has decided to put themselves in a dire situation leaves Cuba in a tough spot. China is really the only lifeline outside of a new government. This could get interesting 

[JohnnyO]

Sewage water coming in through the shower drain in a lot of homes. Some people that risked driving in those storms drowned in their cars. Lines continue for food, gasoline, diesel is scarce. But on the bright side I saw HUpmann Jars of (20) Magnum 56 for 1090 Euros in T3. They had 7 of them in the kiosk between gate B7 and B8 in T3. John

[dgixxer252525]

On 6/8/2022 at 12:35 AM, Pinkbottles said:

https://www.npr.org/2022/06/07/1103456116/cuba-cuban-migrants-real-estate
 

seems to be inching closer to complete collapse. May take a few years for those poor souls. The fact that Russia has decided to put themselves in a dire situation leaves Cuba in a tough spot. China is really the only lifeline outside of a new government. This could get interesting 

Don’t  worry, the USA just eased the sanctions again. I’m doing so, the process to “complete collapse” gets put on SLOW MOTION again. Your “few years” will now probably be over a decade to see real change.  My family in Cuba is struggling badly, but they won’t leave. They hope to live long enough to see regime change. These re-implemented US policies have now cast real doubts on if that will happen anytime soon. On a brighter note, Cuba won’t lose its “old time charm” anytime soon. Haha

[El Presidente]

Takeways from a discussion with a friend living there yesterday.  

 

• Anger on the streets. 
• The only discussion is how to get out of this hell. 
• Rolling 6 hour blackouts in Havana. Food rotting. No food to replace it. 
• There may not be a tobacco crop this year. If there is then planting will be December/January which is not ideal. No fuel, Still no power in much of Pinar. 
• The country has collapsed. 

[argrovesjd]

Takeways from a discussion with a friend living there yesterday.  
 

• Anger on the streets. 
• The only discussion is how to get out of this hell. 
• Rolling 6 hour blackouts in Havana. Food rotting. No food to replace it. 
• There may not be a tobacco crop this year. If there is then planting will be December/January which is not ideal. No fuel, Still no power in much of Pinar. 
• The country has collapsed. 

I have a group of friends going down this week. I passed because I’m hearing the same as you. It will be interesting to see who made the better decision.


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[Rhinoww]

2 hours ago, argrovesjd said:

I have a group of friends going down this week. I passed because I’m hearing the same as you. It will be interesting to see who made the better decision.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Neighbor across the street had his bucket list trip scheduled for this past weekend. He canceled when told there would be no running water or electricity on the trip. 

[NSXCIGAR]

On 10/17/2022 at 10:49 AM, El Presidente said:

Takeways from a discussion with a friend living there yesterday.  

 

• Anger on the streets. 
• The only discussion is how to get out of this hell. 
• Rolling 6 hour blackouts in Havana. Food rotting. No food to replace it. 
• There may not be a tobacco crop this year. If there is then planting will be December/January which is not ideal. No fuel, Still no power in much of Pinar. 
• The country has collapsed. 

Haven't seen any actual instances of unrest, but I would say definitely a general grumpiness among staff. 

Only saw two examples of electricity issues--5ta y 16th shop was blacked out at 2pm on Monday and there was a 30 min power outage for the block near the Nacional at around 10pm same night. It was quite hot that night. 

Pinar I hear is only about 50% electrified at best and 90% of the curing barns were destroyed in the storm. The government is supposed to be working hard to repair and rebuild. Of course, no fuel, but is there ever any. Gas lines were a little longer than they were in June in some places but less in others outside the immediate city. 

As far as food it seems eggs are the scarce item right now. Ration is 5 per month. Milk seems to be around sparsely. Most of the people are eating frozen chicken and sausage every day. 

On 10/18/2022 at 9:47 AM, Rhinoww said:

no running water

That I haven't seen or heard of other than the standard issues always present.

On 6/10/2022 at 2:53 AM, dgixxer252525 said:

They hope to live long enough to see regime change.

If it was going to happen it would have happened last year. If Fidel being gone and Raul out of the picture didn't do it I don't think anything will. No one seems to like Diaz-Canel but somehow this regime lumbers on without a cult of personality. Now the people have adjusted to a lower floor so when things get worse it isn't much more of a drop. I don't know how it could go below 5 eggs a month. They should be able to meet that even with extreme incompetence. The electricity and fuel situation probably hit rock bottom the last 2 weeks. 

Unfortunately I see no changes coming to Cuba in the short or medium term. I hope your family gets the hell out of there. The unfortunate silver lining is the more that leave the better it is for those who stay. If the 300,000 people that left hadn't it would be much worse right now. 

[NSXCIGAR]

Just got back from Hector's today. They're through with the first harvest and appear to have a very good yield. Second planting of wrapper will be ready just before festival. Wrappers look great in the bins, all in the gaviotas. Excellent size. Sun grown second planting was 1 month ago and one week ago. Everything looking spectacular and weather has been outstanding.

All the plants in San Juan y Martinez look great just driving through town. Lots of both shade and sun, most about 1.5 meters high. 

Most of the drying barns are either rebuilt or almost there. They're using much more corrugated metal, particularly for the roof which makes me wonder how that will work out for regulating conditions inside. Also many of the structure posts are being put directly into the ground and not on top of planks or logs of wood which to me would cause serious rotting of the posts. 

Anyway it looks generally positive for the season. Much needed after a few really tough years. 

On an unrelated note many of the Cubans I know personally who would be considered "middle class" here seem to be very sad to the core about the economic conditions. Many have come to the realization that they have to consider escaping. They are really heartbroken about leaving but they are really becoming frustrated here and coming to the realization that it's not going to get better for the foreseeable future. 

[Fugu]

NSX, please help me out with that ‘second planting’ thing. Is that becoming a new standard? Or are they simply still out of tune from the hurricane? 🤔 

[NSXCIGAR]

18 minutes ago, Fugu said:

NSX, please help me out with that ‘second planting’ thing. Is that becoming a new standard? Or are they simply still out of tune from the hurricane? 🤔 

@Corylax18 can probably give you more technical details but generally if conditions are good they'll plant in Oct/Nov, harvest in Jan, then plant again in Jan/Feb and harvest again in April/May.