Salsaville Dance Studios

Salsaville's Extended Weekend in Havana, Cuba
Experience Havana: February 15th - 19th, 2024

Something new! Salsaville's 4 or 5-day immersive Havana, Cuba experience.

This trip is for those who have always wanted to visit and experience Cuba, but just don't have time in their schedules to take an extended length trip. We will experience many of the highlights of Cuba in a very compact time-frame.

Basically there are two options. First option involves taking only two vacation days from work. The second option involves taking just a single vacation day.


Option #1: Fly out early in the morning, Thursday Feb. 15th, and arrive that afternoon to Havana. You will then have Thursday evening, all day Friday, all day Saturday, all day Sunday in Havana. You will also have a part of Monday, especially if you choose the later flight option leaving at 5:50pm, which arrives back to Denver at 11:41pm*. Amazingly, this involves taking off only two days from work - Thursday and Friday. (Monday is a federal holiday.)

Option #2: Fly out late Thursday night, Feb. 15th after being able to do a full day's work. This would involve a red-eye flight. Flight leaves at 12:46am from Denver*, and you get into Havana Friday morning at 9:30am. You should be all checked in and ready to start activities around noon time so you can still do all the scheduled dance classes for that day. Your time there will be most of Friday, all day Saturday, all day Sunday, and part of Monday (returning the same way as mentioned in Option#1.) This option involves taking off just one day from work - Friday. (Monday is a federal holiday.)

* Flight times are to/from Denver, but we should be able to find something similar from whatever city you are flying from.


Basic activities which are scheduled and all included in the package price:

Dance Activities:

Other Activities: Monday Activities:

Should you choose to leave Havana on the later flight at 5:50pm (which is actually less money and a little faster, only you will arrive failrly late that evening), you will have the option to:


It will be music and dance all over the place … but we'll also experience the best of what Havana has to offer outside of the music & dance world as well. All along the way, we'll be meeting all sorts of Cubans, dancers, musicians, and others from many walks of life. After having run 16 trips there now, we are feeling confident that we can offer all of the above compacted in this short time-frame so you can come home with having had an unforgettable, satisfying experience.


Total trip cost:

Roundtrip airfare is currently running between $649 and $709 from Denver.

Airline ticket will be purchased by Salsaville in a very timely matter after receiving your deposit. If you want to use your airline points, you may purchase your own ticket in consultation with Salsaville. (Ticket would need to be purchased within one week of signing up for the trip.)


If have more time off from work, and would like to stay in Cuba for additional days, please let me know. We may be able to work out additional organized experiences including traveling outside of Havana to some beautiful towns, etc.




Please read the testimonials below from the members of Salsaville's first 5 trips to Cuba. Their heartfelt words explain much better than I can why this trip is such a memorable experience:

Testimonials from Salsaville's 1st Music & Dance trip to Cuba - November 2015
Testimonials from Salsaville's 2nd Music & Dance trip to Cuba - January 2016
Testimonials from Salsaville's 3rd Music & Dance trip to Cuba - March 2016
Testimonials from Salsaville's 4th Music & Dance trip to Cuba - November 2016
Testimonials from Salsaville's 5th Music & Dance trip to Cuba - January 2017

And the trips just keep getting better and better each time. Here are some testimonials from more recent trips:

Testimonials from Salsaville's 11th Music & Dance trip to Cuba - January 2019
Testimonials from Salsaville's 12th Music & Dance trip to Cuba - November 2019
Testimonials from Salsaville's 14th Music & Dance trip to Cuba - November 2022
Testimonials from Salsaville's 15th Music & Dance trip to Cuba - February 2023



Any questions or concerns? Please just email me, or call me directly at 720-336-1239.


Back to the Cuba Trip home page


Read on for many more details ...


The Application Form is at bottom of this page.




Exploring Cuban Music & Dance and much more in Havana, Cuba

This trip will be run under a legal "Support for the Cuban People" license (31 CFR § 515.574)

The group size will be limited to 18 or so travelers.
Please note that this will be run as a "semi-boutique" tour, meaning that the group size will kept on the small side, and each member of the trip should receive some individual attention. In addition, we are staying in upscale accommodations, but as a home-stay or an independent apartment, not in hotels. The group will be able to move around more efficiently and do more than a larger group could. This way we can all achieve my goal of making sure that each person has an amazing experience.


Included in the package price is:

Basic Travel:


The following is now included in the cost of the travel package:


The only things that are not included in the package price and for which you should bring money to Cuba are:


. We have some options for deluxe rooms in Havana:


Payment schedule is as follows:

If you need to cancel for whatever reason, I'm afraid none of the payments are refundable, except for a partial refund if we can find a replacement traveler and transfer the plane tickets into their name.


Why travel with Eric "El Cubanito" Freeman?
Eric has been traveling to Cuba since 1995. He has traveled there 31 times, and spent a total of over 31 months on the island. In addition, Eric has previously run a total of 16 group trips there, and is well-versed in the ins and outs of navigating Cuba and providing an amazing experience for all who choose to go on a Salsaville trip to Cuba. He has studied dance there extensively and has developed numerous connections over the years. Join him to explore and experience the amazing things Cuba has to offer. The focus of the trip will be dancing and music, but the tour includes exploring Cuba's history, architecture, beaches, and their fascinating people.




JOINING THE TRIP

The general process of joining the trip is:

     1. You submit the application just below.
     2. I read over it and likely accept it. (I will probably ring you up on the phone to have a brief conversation.)
     3. I send you and then you read over and electronically sign the standard liability wavier, and then sumbit your intial deposit.
         (Via Zelle normally, but there are other ways to pay.)
     4. You will receive additional information about preparing for the trip.
     5. I set up a time that we can all make for a critical orientation meeting.
     6. We have the Zoom-based orientation meeting.


APPLICATION FORM:

Please copy & paste the below text into an email, fill in, and send to eric@salsaville.com.
(Please avoid printing out this form and writing in answers by hand.)


1. Which dates/flights are you signing up for:
Option #1: Feb 15th - Feb 19th (departing on an early flight, Thursday morning 2/15)
Option #2: Feb 16th - Feb 19th (departing on a red-eye flight, Thursday night 2/15)
Option #3: interested in getting my own flights

2. Would you like single or double occupancy?
If double occupancy, tell me the number of beds needed and the name of the person you are sharing a room with.
(Or, although tricky, let me know if you would like me to attempt to match you with another traveler to share a room with.)

Note: All rooms have AC and en-suite bathrooms (i.e. the bathroom is directly connected to your bedroom.)

3. Do you want any room upgrades? (This is on a space-available basis only.)

We have some options for room upgrades, which include ocean-views, and/or deluxe apartments. Prices will be from $10-$40 per night extra. Please indicate if you're interested, and if looking for a lower or higher-end upgrade. (Or you can copy & paste which room you'd like from the list that appears about 7 paragraphs above.)

(These prices are per room, not per person. So if you are doing double occupancy, then the additional cost is only half that per person.)

4. Please indicate your origin and return airports:

Do you generally prefer window or aisle seats? (This could always be changed later on.)

5. Your email address:

6. Your cell phone number with the ability to receive text messages:

7. Fill in the info below as it appears on your passport:
First name:
Middle name:
Last Name:
Date of Birth:
Gender:
Passport #:
Passport date of expiration:

8. Contact info for any emergency:
Name of person:
Relationship:
Phone number:

9. Your mailing address:

10. Attach a good quality scan of your passport. (Taking a photo with a smartphone camera works fine.)

11. Do you have any physical and/or psychological issues that could impede your ability to successfully participate in this trip?

12. This tour will involve walking a total of 1-3 miles per day. Are you able to do this while maintaining an average moderate pace? (If not, it does not mean you cannot come on the trip. I would just need to know this ahead of time in order to possibly make some adjustments.)

In addition, on several days, we will be doing 2 to 3 hours a day of dance lessons in well-ventilated, but non-airconditioned rooms. Some evenings we will be going out dancing for 2-3 hours. All activities are optional. If you are tired at any point, you can always opt-out and go back to your room to relax, rest, etc.

13. You will need to sign a fairly standard liability waiver to sign which will be delivered to you upon accepting of your application.

14. From time to time you will be asked for your input on some aspect of planning the trip. You will sometimes be asked to respond in as little as 24 hours. (Examples include RSVP'ing to a proposed group orientation meeting time, and getting your go-ahead in purchasing specific airline flights.) I will need your response in a timely manner in order to help effectively plan the trip. Do you agree to do your best to respond in a timely manner and understand that a pattern of not responding within the time requested may result in monetary penalties being assessed?

15. We will be using WhatsApp as the primary means of communciation (both before and during the trip) to plan/accounce various details about each days' events when we are not all together as a group. Do you agree to making sure you are comfortable using WhatsApp, and agree to bring or rent a carrier-unlocked phone in order to have appropriate access to WhatsApp?

(Unlocking your phone should be easy, but needs to done ahead of time.) (You can use your U.S.-carrier based service while in Cuba if you like, but it is not recommended as it would be normally very expensive to do so.)

16. Let me know if you have any particular expectations for this trip.

17. Please list any dietary restrictions that could be relevant to this trip - like if you don't eat red meat, poultry, fish, dairy, etc.

18. Please indicate if you are interested in tacking on additional days in Cuba (perhaps through Sunday, February 25th) to experience more of Cuba.



Eric "El Cubanito" Freeman
Owner, Salsaville Dance Studios
www.Salsaville.com
Facebook
YouTube