Cuba Travel Network Reviews 327

Great experience; the guides were wonderful and the dining experiences set up by Cuba Travel Network, were fabulous

My spouse and I are expert travelers and usually travel very independently. Given some of the recent travel restrictions relating to US travelers to Cuba, we decided to use Cuba Travel Network to help us plan our trip and ensure that all of the regulatory requirements were covered.

We were very impressed with Javier Arevalo, our CTN sales agent. He was honest, very responsive to our questions and our trip was seamless due to his support. CTN, in Cuba was equally smooth. The network on the ground, in Cuba, was equally professional and attune to our needs. They were on time for our planned excursions and made the trip more meaningful for us.

The only hiccup we had with the itinerary- we were advised that someone would meet us at the airport arrival gate as soon as we exited the plane and that we would be escorted through Customs/Immigration and taken to the VIP lounge. When we arrived there was no one there. We had no one we could call because the phone service didn't work, we couldn't email because there was no WIFI and we couldn't access the VIP lounge. We were lost and proceeded without support.

What ended up happening was that Michael was waiting for us outside security- once we had gotten our baggage. That would have been fine by us- had we known that was where he was going to be. I would suggest changing the description of the itinerary so that your travel clients don't think that something was intentionally missed. And, getting through Customs/Immigration and getting our own bags in Cuba was actually quite easy.

Cuba was pure magic- an experience we will never forget. Thank you, Cuba Travel Network for helping us create a trip that we will be talking about for the rest of our lives.

BAD!! Do not use! I just got home from Cuba. I booked a rental car with them. Car was not available upon my arrival. I called Cuba Travel Network and was told to call various numbers in Cuba to sort out rental car. This yielded nothing. I was treated like I was somehow at fault for renting a car in Cuba, because everyone knows renting a car in Cuba is a hassle?! Massive disruption to our travel plans while there. Either rent, or don't rent cars. Simple. Customer service horrible. Yes, things are difficult in Cuba, we expect that; but not crappy, snotty service from a US-based company that takes my money up front.

Cuba Travel Networks made this trip so easy and enjoyable. Could not have asked for a more attentive group to ensure everything went smoothly.

Cuba Travel Network arranged an 8-day trip for me and my two children to Havana and to Varadero Beach, except for air travel which was easy to do. They also supplied the necessary visas. The hotels, the tours, and the transfers were excellent. A representative met me at the Havana airport, gave me useful boots-on-the-ground information about Havana, and gave me a cell phone to use to make calls in Cuba, especially to CTN reps. That was very helpful in making adjustments to the schedule. EVERYONE showed up on time and did an excellent job. All transportation, even the two-hour drive from Havana to Varadero, occurred in private air-conditioned cars. The hotel in Havana was elegant and right in the heart of old Havana, and the hotel in Varadero was smack-dab on the beach and was all-inclusive (the meals were like those on cruise ships, and ALL drinks were free). And all at a great price. I would use CTN again in a heartbeat.

I would recommend Cuba Travel Network to anyone!!!

Our trip was incredible.

Javier, our travel agent was very accommodating and helpful throughout the entire planning process. I was difficult and had a lot of requests and revisions, but he spoke to me every day to help plan the perfect trip and it was!!!

We were in constant contact with agents, reps in each of our locations and all of our tour guides. Everyone was kind, smart, helpful and knowledgeable.

We knew what we were doing at all times, when we needed to be where and were blown away with the organization of the entire trip.

We will be traveling with them again soon!!

It was an incredible trip. Everything went really well, the accommodations were beyond our expectations. Everyone was on time, the guides were excellent. Met at the airport, everything was taken care of. We were all truly impressed by the whole trip.

We had never dealt with this company before. We seen an ad in the Delta in flight magazine.
When making arrangements I was a little nervous since their prices were so much lower than the one quoted by our travel agent.
There was no need to worry! Our trip was top notch from beginning to end!
The tours, tour guides, hotels and home stay arrangements were perfect. I liked that we also had a good amount of time to explore on our own.
We have already talked about returning to Cuba and using Cuba Travel Network again.

I booked several excursions with this vendor, and found out that they hire a government agency as a tour operator, Gavoita. The guides lack customer services skills, and they are rude. The tours are pricey, moreover, the restaurants are government owned and the guides just sign off for the meals. I emailed this company with a concern and they just blew it over by having someone from the company, mentioned above to call me. And, all they did was make an excuse for their poor service. I won't ever use your services again, nor will i recommend it to anyone I know.

Our arrival in Havana was so smooth. Greeted by representative who got us through customs and to our hotel swiftly. Representative came to hotel each morning to be sure our needs were being met and introducing us to tour guides. What a great group of people. Received a mobile phone with their number in it to call them if we needed anything. They were truly there for us.

I work in the tourist industry and I know how complicated and frustating booking services in Cuba can be. Cuba Travel Network, however, made the process stress free. The customer service is simply amazing, especially, Mayen who assisted me personally. I would totally recommend Cuba Travel Network for hotels, car rental and visa arrangements. Thank you to the whole team for the support.

I just returned from my 7 day trip which was booked through cuba global network. On a scale of 1 to 10...they are a 10. Our flight to Havana was 4 hours late. The representative was still at the airport, got us to hotel without a hitch. A representative also took as back to the airport and made sure we got through customs quickly. The guides for tours were outstanding, knowledgeable, and reliable. We were met each morning promptly for our daily activity. I am so impressed with this organization and their partners and would use them again without question! If you have any concerns about travelling to Cuba, I would recommend using this organization for a seemless and worry free trip.

CUBA Travel Network
There are several great things about our experience and several not good things:

The Good
1) Our U.S. agent, Javier: gracious, always helpful and responsive as we prepared for the trip.
2). The gift boxes and upfront 100 CUCs were great! Recommendation: include some tips that would include what prices to expect for things and best places to purchase (i.e. Prices for alcohol, etc, were MUCH lower right outside Havana than inside).
1) The guides and drivers were excellent, there was only one whom I could not easily understand. There were four guides who were great and one driver and one guide who was amazing. All of them were gracious and kind. What we learned about life in Cuba was through their eyes, although some of the time one or two expounded on politics in Cuba and U.S.,All were very anxious about President Trump's recinding Obama's new regulations on trade,

2) Our first hotel was lovely, Santa Isabel staff was gracious and helpful. The room was nice, and WIFI ( essential to us), was solid.
We wish we had spent our last night here rather than the Suevo Cubans, which was lovely but was in a dirty "street", difficult for cabs and for us, to find, and had no WIFI access.
3.) The places were visited outside Havana were wonderful and beautiful-- Santa Clara, Cienfuegos, Vinalas Valley, Trinidad, Hemingway home and Cojimar. We did not care whether we ate in a restaurant that once had Hemingway's business, but would prefer the one I had found (where we stopped when in Cojimar and enjoyed a complementary drink and tapas), which was EXCELLENT. Maybe not on the government's list of providers - but can you give us the option to choose ourselves? I will give the restaurant we visited on our own a 5 starts on Trip Advisor, then one included a 1-star rating.
3/ The trip to Che's memorial was memorable. Will always remember it.

The bad:
1) We felt "abandoned" when taken back to the airport for our return to US flight. The guides may not be allowed into the facility so, you could provide instructions, a map, that shows us where to check in, to get certification for things we're taking out with us, etc.
2_ Very painful ride in the jeep the first day; it had no shock absorption whatsoever and should've been retired before it hit 120,000 kilometers. The driver was even complaining of the poor quality of the jeeps (Chinese, but engineered by some Cuban). Of course, the jeeps in general are a rough ride due to the roads, is there any alternative? We only went off-road once to the tobacco farm, perhaps an easier to access farm is available so the four of us could travel together.
I would suggest demanding jeeps with lower mileage , the second one we traveled in was newer and much better. Also, would it be less costly to put the four of us in a larger vehicle for the trips outside Havana than to pay for two jeeps with two guides/drivers whom you have to put up for the night and feed dinner?

All in all, our experience in the "Home Stay" was just like staying in a small hotel. What we learned from the family running it was practically nothing; and they did not join their guests in dinner (at least that was what I was expecting), so we could all talk with them and amongst ourselves. So, our guides and drives were our primary source of info about the family life in Cuba.
Okay, that's probably more than you wanted to hear. THANK YOU for the opportunity to give feedback, we hope it's helpful.

We were very happy from start to finish. Every step of the way the service was excellent and always on time.

Thanks for a wonderful trip and visit to this beautiful Country of Cuba

Best thing -- on time, well managed, no apprehension on when and where we were supposed to be and everyone was pleasant. I was concerned about dinner reservations because we made them through CTN and weeks in advance, and all were there and waiting.

The guides we had were all very nice and helpful. I would have liked the guide on the Hemingway tour to have been a bit more knowledgeable of the Hemingway experience. I think I knew more than he did. Great guy, though. And lots of fun. All the guides were.

I would not give them even 1 star.
We booked the three cities tour from Varadero.
We paid fully price before the tour and on the day we were supposed to be on the tour but we waited for 3 hours and we declared that guide did not pick up us. Then they said that we did not "NO SHOW" so they charged us the half fee. We could not believe them that we could not reach the guide and office at all since we called them the day before the tour. They provided us the ambiguous time so, we would like to confirm what time and who would pick us up at the hotel. Then they did not even call or contact us at all. We called them 100 times but nobody answered. At the end, they said we did not show up. We waited for the tour for 3 hours since 6 am. We feel like they deceived us.

As you replied to us, you said we did not call you and reached to you at all.
Well, we called 100 times since the day before the tour. Caroline gave the number was just PEDRO who is in charge of the Varadero Office. So, we called him 100 times and there was not answering machine or anything.
Then we called the number that is said " For any issues related to your reservation, please contact :" . But nobody answered until we could reach the Trinidad number after 9 am.
Have you said any of your number in the voucher could reach? You do not instruct anything until we could reach Floor in Trinidad. And Zailin at the central office over the phone said 100 % fully refunded in this case.
I also sent you the prove that wrote by the hotel staff who saw us since 6:30 am.

Other tour we took in Havana was kindly pick us up at the hotel lobby and called our name.
How many times your tour missed and left the clients? I saw some reviews who had same issues as we did.
We wasted our precious time and money on this unhonestly tour.
Have you asked your tour guide to ask our name at the hotel front as well? Your company did not even put your effort and just waited out side of the entrance for 15 minutes are not called service.
We waited for your tour in the lobby as your assistant said from the 6: 15 to 8:45 until your assistant Floor answered our phone. You do not know how many times we called your office and Pedro in Varadero. We insisted you to pay our phone call fees as well. Hotel charged us the fee. You do not know what time we called your office because you do not have any answering machines and no body was at the office before 9 am. Even after 9 am, nobody answered the urgent numbers. It was useless and I do not recommend this company to take for the one day tour or anything.
We felt like fraud.
They charged us when we booked online and then they do not put their effort to look for us in the lobby.
They just insisted to wait us for 15 minutes that is nothing for our wasting time. We truly looked forward this tour and your guide ruined our whole day. I can not believe you still insisted we did not show up. You can ask the hotel staff at the front desk and cafe staff , too. They saw us since 6: 15 am on 23rd. I already attached the document that staff wrote the statement proved she saw us at the lobby from 6:30 am because your company did not answer our phone a day before the tour and we confirmed her what time the tour usually come to pick up us. She said between 6:30 and 7 am.
We tried to reach you many times before the tour and in the morning as well. We are furious about your company's service.

We had a good experience with the excursions we went on, we booked about 5 with Cuba Travel Network but missed one of them. I recommend getting there on time because they will leave without you especially if it's a group tour. And if you miss your excursion don't expect to be refunded 50% back as it says on the voucher. We had problems getting there and missed it but went to the office in Cuba as soon as we could get there and they told us to expect to see my credit card that I used refunded back 50% but that never happened. I have been trying to get ahold of Cuba Travel Network ever since and no one can help me. I call the American number and they say they only book reservations. I've emailed them several times and get no response, very frustrating.

We had personalized attention throughout the trip; truly bilingual, knowledgeable guides; and a schedule/itinerary customized to our interests and allowing us the flexibility we desired. Accommodations, whether in hotels or private homes were better than anticipated. Great service--warm, welcoming, and honest!

We had a great time. We learned more about cuba and made some great friendships as well.