No holiday for us this year, can't even afford to buy The Sun for the free holiday tickets.
Went to Cuba for my friend's wedding but was an all-inclusive resort, and the furthest I ventured was a day trip to a market because the flight I had booked for two nights exploration of Havana was cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy.
Strangely enough, the hurricane got me in with the locals more than any exploration probably would have. While 95% of holidaymakers walked around amazed at the devastation or waited in their rooms for two days while staff sorted the complex, I and a few others mucked in with the workers.
Was quite bad for the locals, but because tourism is a big draw, everything was sacrificed to satisfy the holidaymakers. The locals were without electricity and clean water while services were sorted for hotels and complexes. The local river had been blocked by a temporary bridge/dam built by the army so people could make it to the airport. Meanwhile, one of the staffs Mum was looking after her newborn without services and cooking food on an open fire while her daughter was called into work to help.
Plenty of holidaymakers moaned about the inconvenience of it all, including some of my friends who went for compensation. But I found mucking in, as did others, paid back as we got special attention from the locals working in the restaurants, bars and club for the rest of the holiday.
I recall one guy moaning because he had to stay in Cuba for another two nights, fully paid for. I would have stayed until they kicked me out
I loved Cuba and would like to explore more next time. Economically though, I think they are in turmoil since Trump imposed new sanctions. Take some spare t-shirts and trainers that are maybe ok but you don't want anymore if you have room - if you are staying in an all-inclusive complex, the Cubans will want your trainers and tees, they love our fashion because they cannot buy it there.
The kind of place where your tips go very far. We gave the rest of our cash to a select few at the end and they were almost crying, was worth a few months wages to them. Oh, and when you fly out unless it's changed, you need to save some Cuban dollars for a fee at the airport, think it was ten IIRC.