It was a trip down south Ceilidh Cherrett of Halifax would like to forget.
Cherrett and a friend went to Cuba last week and virtually everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. It all started when they had major issues with the housekeeping at their resort, Hotel Playa Cayo Coco.
"There were lineups at the hotel of at least eight or nine people deep complaining about the same situation," said Cherrett. "We had no toilet paper, no clean towels, no working phone."
On the third day of their trip a man stole her bag from her lounger at the beach. In it was her passport and money, which she hadn't left in her room because the safe was broken.
"He put it in his duffel bag and he walked over to a corner and started counting money," said Cherrett. "He physically took my money out and starting counting it and he put my passport in his back pocket. He was caught by the security at the resort who tackled him and then the police were called."
Cherrett said the man had stolen other passports from vacationers from Switzerland and Australia and he had taken money from other people on the beach that day.
When police became involved, Cherrett said she became scared.
"They placed me in the front seat of the same car where he was in the back seat uncuffed and there was no police officer in the car. It was terrifying."
This is the Cuban beach where Cherrett said she was robbed. (Ceilidh Cherrett)
When police later searched the man they found a small knife in his pocket, she said.
The local authorities made Cherrett wait at a jail for seven hours while they dealt with the thief's case.
The man was from Moron, a community about an hour drive from Cayo Coco. Police wanted Cherrett to go to Moron the next day where the matter was going to be dealt with.
"They said I might be detained for two weeks until his trial, that they could take my passport and not allow me to leave," said Cherrett, who had been to Cuba on two other occasions.
To make matters worse, after returning to the resort from the jail Cherrett was unable to make calls because the phone in her room didn't work.
She was stuck there with no money, wasn't sure if she would be able to get off the island and on top of it all, was coming down with a case of strep throat.
She texted her boyfriend back in Nova Scotia, who then contacted the Canadian Embassy in Cuba. They told him to tell Cherrett not to go with police to Moron. She should instead get to the nearest embassy or consulate, but that would have required lengthy drives to Havana or Varadero.
"That was the point where I realized nobody can do anything for us."
That's when Cherrett put out this frantic Facebook post on March 16.
Ceilidh Cherrett took to Facebook asking for advice after her purse was snatched from a Cuban beach. (Ceilidh Cherrett/Facebook)
Cherrett said one of the police officers had returned her passport, but she was nervous when she went to the airport to fly home.
She was able to board her return flight with no issue but she said her Cuban vacation was the most stressful week of her life and she will never go back.
"Is it safe to go to a resort and have a week of all-inclusive, maybe," said Cherrett. "But in this situation I would say no because I have never been so scared in my entire life."
Cherrett booked her vacation with Air Transat. Aside from being unhappy with police, Cherrett said she is upset that basic things like toilet paper weren't available in her resort room and that she couldn't call back to Canada.
Debbie Cabana, Air Transat's director of marketing, social media and public relations, said Cherrett has not informed the company of any problems with her accommodations at Hotel Playa Cayo Coco.
"She can contact our customer service if she wants to file a formal complaint," Cabana said.
Cherrett refutes the company response. She said she was in communication with an Air Transat representative at the resort.
While Cherrett said she wants to put the week behind her and move on, she said she will be filing a formal complaint with Air Transat.
