Full disclosure, not really a cruise person. Booked this as a reasonable way to see cuba.

HA didn't have sufficient 'approved' excursions. They added a bunch later on and for ours and at least one other group, they simply doubled existing capacity. Our 'Cuban Cusine in Old Havanna' turned into a 70 person chicken dinner in a banquet hall in new Havanna, a guided walk in old Havanna in the near dark, and a 70 person mojito demo (no mojito, rather rum bloody mary and rum collins) in a bar meant to hold maybe 20 people. Best part was a walk to a nearby plaza with cuban music and beer AFTER the excursion was over!

If you want to do cuba (fly from Canada!), set up your own tours or simply walk around yourself. Don't believe any of the fear mongering about having to have an approved P2P tour (but fill out your multipage, confusing form to indicate you do). There's no US enforcement in cuba and the cruise line does no verification of your activities. Read more