Welcome to the Royal Caribbean blog podcast, a week of luck into the world of Royal Caribbean cruising.

I'm your host Matt Hodgeberg, and this is episode number 258.

Perhaps no destination has gotten as much attention in the last couple of years as Cuba.

With Royal Caribbean offering cruises to this once off-limits island, I couldn't help not booking one myself.

And on this week's episode, I'll review my recent five-night

cruise on Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas to Cuba and other places in the Caribbean. It's not only

a look at what Cuba's all about and my experience in old Havana, but also my first time

trying a ship the size of Majesty of the Seas. Here we go.

Ever since Royal Caribbean announced that they were going to start offering cruises to

Cuba, I have been infatuated with the idea of finally getting a chance to visit Cuba

myself, and I always wanted to go on one of the sailings almost immediately.

In fact, I remember when Royal Caribbean first announced the sailings, I was primed to book like the first or second

sailing out there. Unfortunately, the announcement and sale of the first couple of sailings

coincided with me being unemployed at the time, which doesn't really make booking crews

is conducive or a good idea. So I had a pass on it. And as time went on, I obviously got another

job, which is great.

But I also kind of let the idea languish a little bit.

And until a couple months ago, I was just, I hadn't gone there.

I did.

It was on my to-do list.

I knew I had to go to Cuba.

I just, I don't know, was waiting for the right time.

...