VidaNaPraia
-
Posts
1,453 -
Joined
Content Type
Forums
Store
Blogs
Downloads
Events
Gallery
Posts posted by VidaNaPraia
-
-
Example (using rates from March 2017):
U$1000 bought 888 Euros. (at BofA, including 5% transaction fee)
888 Euros bought 910 CUC in Cuba.
U$1000 would have bought 870 CUC directly
"Savings" of 40 CUC on U$1000.
Worth the effort? Maybe for U$1000 spent.
Worth it for U$4.00 savings on U$100?
--------------------------------------------------------
Note: rate for Euro to CUC currently is a bit better
(Rate for USD to Euro currently, up or down???)
------------------
Relative values:
40 CUC buys a very nice dinner and drinks for 2
4 CUC doesn't even buy 1 mojito in a tourist bar
-------------------
The best rate of all for USD cash, as noted previously, may be with your casa particular host (if on a land based trip).
-
Just got back from Havana yesterday (Saturday)and with the new guidelines, nothing has really changed. We did private car tours and took a cab to Hemingway house and had no problem. When you fill out your visa, there was an option of people-to-people, which covers your private tours.
Below was an email from RC...
*ABOUT YOUR UPCOMING TRAVELS*
Dear Valued Guest,
Today President Trump announced his administration’s new policy changes for U.S. citizens traveling to Cuba, and we are pleased to inform you that we don’t anticipate any changes to our Cuba itineraries. You can expect to enjoy the immersive, unforgettable experience you’ve been looking forward to as we visit Havana, Cuba on your upcoming sailing onboard*Empress of the Seas.
As a reminder, please remember to visit* www.RoyalCaribbean.com/Cuba*for useful tips to help you prepare for your trip.
Thank you for choosing Royal Caribbean for your upcoming vacation. We can’t wait to welcome you onboard.
Sincerely, Royal Caribbean Internationalp
Let's not confuse the situation any further.
There have been NO new guidelines published.
Therefore, nothing has changed.
45 made an announcement on June 16.
He did not sign an executive order, or rescind any executive order.
His announcement included his wishes for changes he would like to see made to policy regarding Cuba.
No fixed timeline for those changes was mandated, just suggested, for various government offices to work on.
Apparently after the new guidelines are published, there will be a 90 day period for commentary before they take effect.
Until the new guidelines are in place, there are no changes to policies for travel to Cuba.
-
More good info from one of the Cuba experts/long-time posters.
-
The exchange issue has been treated on this forum several times previously, but mostly focusing on exchanging to Euros vs. using US dollars.
The salient point for overnight cruisers and other short term stay visitors who earn in US dollars is that those who spend very little money may not find the time and effort of exchanging US dollars to Euros or CDN worthwhile for the small savings.
If you have leftover Euro or CDN currency from a trip, do think about bringing it to exchange, though.
If you are planning a longer land based trip, planning on spending closer to U$1000, you might save (depending on exchange rates which change daily) about U$40 or so by exchanging to Euros in the US and then to CUC in Cuba.
You have to do the math, based on the exchange rates at the time of departure.
Recently 1 Euro has gotten between 1.04 and 1.13 CUC (as the exchange rate fluctuated).
The fee to exchange any exchangeable currency (not all are able to be exchanged in Cuba) to CUC is 3%.
The penalty imposed on changing US dollars to CUC (because of the difficulty the embargo causes for Cuba to trade in dollars) is 10%. This is only on buying CUC with dollars. As pbenjamin points out, there is only the 3% fee to change CUC back to dollars.
The official rate of exchange for US dollars in Cuba is fixed at banks, cadecas and hotels at 87CUC for U$100.
Note: Land based travelers staying at a casa particular may be able to exchange US dollars with their host or a trusted family friend for between 90 and 97 CUC for U$100 in a private transaction. This has the potential to be the best value exchange rate for dollars, better than Euros or CDN.
-
THANKS! Enjoy!
Enjoy what? The chaos in Brazil? The negative articles?
Those two articles IMO are just more hot air from the media. When they were all upbeat, it was clear to anyone who knew Brazil that it was too good to be true. Now they're selling newspapers by sensationalizing the bad news.
The government had their chance beefing up the police presence in the neighborhoods, but the drug traffickers were allowed to escape (there is even video showing them), and too many corrupt police subsequently didn't win the residents' trust. Then the traffickers moved back in.
However, on the street, it's really no different for tourists than it was, but tourism seems down and tour guides' income is suffering..
There is a severe economic crisis in Brazil.
And you can hardly find a politician at any level that is not corrupt and still stuffing his pockets. That's where the country's money is going. One is as bad as the next, and the next, and the next.
And wow, even Carnaval (samba schools, LIESA) was threatening cancellation. Now THAT's a real disaster, when cariocas can't even party. rsrsrsrsrsrs
-
Chichen Itza would make for a grueling day, and lots of time on the bus. Our favorite ruin is Ek Balam, with a pyramid to climb, quite nearby CI, but the same time restraints hold.
Coba also has a pyramid to climb and may be slightly closer to the island/Playa del Carmen.
Tulum would be the closest of those mentioned. The location is spectacular, the history very interesting, but the ruins themselves, not so impressive as the others mentioned.
You might contact a private transport/tour company like Yucatreks to see if they can get you to your ruin of choice and back with time to board the ship without stress.
Because of the ferry leg, I too would probably advise the cruise excursion if you are risk adverse about being back on the ship on time.
Have a great trip.
-
ToursByLocals has rates and policies that are not extortionate for the local service providers they list. Or for tourists.
Prices of services like this in Cuba are not likely to put you in harm's way if you carry cash to directly pay the local Cuban provider.
Cuba is a cash economy. You choose to go to Cuba. Adapt to conditions there.
Tommui987, by the time you get back from your coming trip, building on your significant prior personal experience in Cuba, certainly you will be the reigning Cuba expert here.
Meanwhile, I'm on my way again. Hopefully the Cyclops to Cyclops reason for travel is valid.
-
Maybe in light of numerous people at the U.S. embassy in Havana reporting medical symptoms, having to stay away from state run restaurants and venues wouldn't be a bad thing for cruisers to do!
Well, the latest rumors are that it* was the Russians, so maybe the only restaurant to stay away from is Nazdarovie. LOL
(* US diplomats have apparently suffered hearing loss,supposedly from some device, somewhere.)
The more informed we become, the better choices we can make. I doubt people are setting out to abuse P2P contact. They may not even know the "Support Cuban People" part that may be far more applicable..The information is all over the internet, not hard to find.
People did not do their due diligence, so did not bother to even find out if they were within the law or not.
The watching and herding around would be on Cuba's partCuba issues you a TOURIST CARD, You are a TOURIST in Cuba, just like most of the other foreign visitors.
Cuba isn’t going to "herd" any tourists anywhere.
You really have some odd notions of how things are there.
But the "support Cuban people" part may be left relatively unchanged. Which does allow some freedom to do more than big group tours.
The "support for the Cuban people" category is probably not applicable to cruise ship passengers. Likely they will be part of a group P2P specific license.
-
we used Tour Republic- who is based out of Miami, and .
..being a US and not a Cuban company, which may not qualify as an entity to use after the regs change.
The port is so new that few even know what options are available other than the ships main organized tours. .
Maybe....The port is so new that few CRUISERS on THIS forum even know what options are available other than the ships main organized tours.
Most other tourists are getting one of the many available guidebooks and reading the other Cuba travel forums on the internet (like Trip Advisor).
Because US tourists have only been going in droves since September 2916 when direct commercial flights started, do not forget that the rest of the world has been traveling to Cuba for years. There is a huge tourist infrastructure.
Seems like half the population of Canada is down there when it's cold at home. ;-)
-
The more people I talk to about their trips to Cuba, the more I see how the P2P is being abused. No wonder they're tightening things up. The easiest way for OFAC to control the situation would be to not let folks off the ship unless they have a voucher from an approved guide. That would be similar to using a tourist visa in St. Petersburg.
It's simply not that clear cut.
How can the US government monitor citizens (approved guides, etc.) from another country with which it does not yet have 'normal' relations.?
How (in what manner) would the guide be "approved"? By whom? With what proofs, written/attested by whom?
Is the US Embassy going to start investigating every guide, restaurant, classic car owner, etc, etc who would need to be certified somehow? Is there funding for this?
------
Here's an excerpt from an article that addresses some of the problem:
" How do I know if I’m spending money with a state-run business while I’m there?
One of the biggest question marks related to this new policy is how it will be enforced. Julia E. Sweig, Cuba expert and author of Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Knows said, “This is all just completely untenable. The porousness between the state-run and private economy is very significant. It’s very hard to go to Cuba and not touch something the state touches as well.”
Sweig added, “The chilling effect [of this policy] is not so much in terms of how Americans go but what it is they’re allowed to do and not do and what kind of audits they have to provide to the Treasury Department. That’s the chilling effect. Will they impose a daily dollar per diem on how much you can spend? But not have restrictions on how many souvenirs like cigars and rum that you can bring back? They don’t know the answer.”
In other words, Americans traveling to Cuba will have to be very mindful of where they’re spending their money, and definitely hold onto any receipts."
-
We used Tour Republic out of Miami to organize a private tour a few days ago. I just posted a review of it.
Worked really well.
This is a US based company. It may not qualify as an entity future travelers can use.
-
I guess that is what I hope to find out, what is free time that is consistent with a full time schedule.
If I do an 8 hour (full time) activity and have a few hours to do my own thing that would probably be ok.
If you get herded off and on and guarded like prisoners then I am afraid cruising to Cuba is doomed.
Well, until OFAC or whoever puts out guidelines, and if indeed those guidelines give any additional information, no one can answer that question.
Can it be assumed that 8 hours is full time? Can't know for sure until someone is audited, OFAC approves their itinerary, and that person publishes what happened. (Currently OFAC isn't funded for staff to do lots of audits. They audited one commercial company last year; no individuals.)
"Herded off and on"? Isn't that the definition of a cruise line excursion?
-
Just booked a 2019 cruise on empress, so clearly I'll be under the new rules.
Plenty of time for me to cancel if things don't work out.
I just hope they don't herd you off and on the ship as a controlled group. I don't mind participating in their full time activities if there would be a little free time ashore.
If there is no free time at all and they herd you on and off the ship I'll probably cancel.
So will be monitoring things later this year and next year too see what the cruise lines do.
Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk
It seems the new era may mean that the cruise line is responsible for ensuring that passengers activities fall under the guidelines for a specific license. How would they do this if everyone is wandering around on their own?
All the current guidelines for the OFAC categories state: " The traveler’s schedule of activities does not include free time or recreation in excess of that consistent with a full-time schedule.", without currently defining "full-time schedule".
-
Stay on the side you plan to fly out of.
-
... we brought a bag of over the counter meds and a dozen baseballs with us on this trip.
Please do not randomly gift. Once you make friends with Cubans, as anywhere else, it is more appropriate.
This is an excerpt from a Havana Times article written by a Cuban, about receiving a "gift" from foreign visitors:
"How did I feel, standing before the warm and sincere faces of those women who, inadvertently, gave me a cold shower in my own under development, stripping me of the little dignity I had left that morning? Why did this woman think that she should give me a bar of soap?
I think it started in the ‘90s, during the Special Period crisis, when everything was desperately welcomed: from a tube of toothpaste to a pair of shoes.
With the official end of that period, we should have left behind any reliance on what some foreigner might give us.
Likewise,they should have stopped looking at us like the starving poor who barely survive on their salaries and have to sacrifice to buy a bar of soap."
-
Glad I was of help, capriccio.
---------
asebastian---
You CAN do it yourself.
People in the area are used to tourists, so lack of local languages (Portuguese in Brazil, btw) shouldn't be a handicap.
There are taxis and the local public buses for getting to the parks and across the border.
No guide needed in the park(s).
In the town of Foz, try Hotel Del Rey, which has a small plunge pool for after a hot day walking aroun, and close to the bus depot. There are also some resort-y type places on the road between the town and the park (any with a "km #" address).
Have fun.
-
Well, I was just reading about a couple who chose "religious activities" as their OFAC reason for travel, thinking they could snap a few photos inside churches to qualify. They were disabused of that notion by some knowlegable folks..
So when your wording was not clear.......
Have a great trip.
Maybe let us know where/when your article(s) appear(s).
-
interesting to hear that they would not qualify for the organized tours. Odd, since they work specifically for independent people, and not state run operators. Makes one wonder what the point of the rules are.
All your previous statements have demonstrated your faulty understanding of this topic.
They are a US based company.
-
We are free-lance journalists with a history of same. We write for our local newspaper and others. We don't need a visa for this as it is one of the general licenses. (Ruben is adjusting his tour to address the subjects we will be covering.)
You are confusing
the OFAC categories/reasons for travel to Cuba required by the US government
and
the tourist card or visa required by the Cuban government to enter Cuba
When you state that you do not need a visa (an entry document from the Cuban government) for this professional work ostensibly collecting information for a potential article and then state that it is one of the (US government) OFAC categories/reasons for travel under a general license, you might want to check your information.
The Cuban government is fairly strict about visas for those working as professional journalists in any capacity.
You can choose whichever category you wish for the US OFAC reasons, but for Cuba you will probably be obtaining a tourist card like most everyone else on your flight/cruise.
It may not be wise to mention that you are practicing journalism in Cuba to any Cuban entities (like at the Aduana/border control on entry, and including the Cuban guide), since that can get you into a world of problems in a country that still closely controls information. That is why Cuba requires a particular visa approved by the Cuban Consulate if you are going for professional reasons. And they may then watch your movements more closely to make sure you are not doing anything subversive to the Cuban government.
It may be a better idea to simply declare your OFAC reason as "support for the Cuban people" and place any explorations you make in Cuba into an itinerary that fits that category (which is very vague anyway). Note: According to one report, you can change your OFAC declaration (if you already chose a category when buying your ticket) at the time of boarding when you are asked again.
(If you don't want to take solely my statements at face value, go on the Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree forum for Cuba and ask the posters there, who've been traveling to Cuba for decades and know the ins and outs well, for their thinking on declaring you are journalists.)
-
. We are traveling to Havana as journalists, so the rules are different for us
Please clarify.
When you say you are traveling as journalists, does this mean:
A: You chose "journalism" as your OFAC reason for travel, but have a regular tourist card to enter Cuba?
or
B: You applied to the Cuban government for a special journalist visa (with your professional credentials from a news agency)?
These are two different situations, with different rules applied.
Many people who simply blog, and who do not have professional credentials identifying themselves as journalists, sometimes confuse the situations.
-
A few cruisers have mentioned wanting to return to see more of Cuba.
In case anyone ever wants to do a land based trip, and book a casa particular (without using the US agency *AirBnB), here is a list of private Cuban casa agencies. Most are agencies, to whom you give your details, and they offer options. Some allow you to deal directly with the casa owner. You can access reviews and photos of the casas.
Hotels are quite expensive and the quality is not very high in most.
In a casa particular, you have the priviledge of living with a Cuban family (usually, but not always in their home; some rent private apartments, but provide breakfast, and also dinner with advance notice) and getting to know them and their views.
(*AirBnB has not been paying their Cuban casa hosts in many reported cases, and also the same casas are on the sites below for much less money, maybe even half. Most casas are 30 CUC per night per room. Cuba is very safe, so carrying cash should not be a worry. Support a Cuban entrepreneur's agency or deal directly with a Cuban host.)
Do realize that because the internet is not great in Cuba, you may not get an immediate response to your query, as you might in a place with more internet infrastructure. But casa hosts do return messages.
one list:
http://forums.debbiescaribbeanresortreviews.com/t/websites-to-help-find-casas-in-cuba/23214
Also search for this very good app:
(direct with casa owners by email or phone)
and more from a very organized and helpful poster on TA:
http://www.casasdecuba-en.net/
http://www.casaparticularcuba.org/
http://havanacasaparticular.com/
https://www.mycasaparticular.com/en/
http://www.cubaccommodation.com/
http://casahavanaparticular.com/
http://yourcasaparticular.com/
http://www.cubaparticular.com/
casecuba@gmail.com (Dalia)
-
This one is nearby:
https://alamesacuba.com/en/la-habana/restaurant/waka-waka/
Maybe "remote" because the cabaret is in a grove of trees?
-
http://www.lahabana.com/guide/el-cocinero/
(The fairly well regarded by tourists) El Cocinero isn't too far from the cabaret. Not really walking distance though. To make sure there is seating, make a reservation (as at any decent restaurant in Havana). There should be taxis waiting there, but they can call one for you if needed.
Really, the cabaret is not particularly "remote" unless you haven't explored the city much. It's a neighborhood that is part of the city, not considered particularly on the fringes.
-
Classic cars
in Cuba
Really have had nothing original to add anyway.No, YOU certainly have not.
I'm just trying to help others travel, that's it. Is it that evil to empathize with them??? .
Why don't you empathize with the people whose country you who is so graciously hosting you?
These fledgling entrepreneurs need every centavo to build their lives, and the lives of their extended families, and they work hard for it.
Instead of explaining and simplifying the process of supporting the very people who you have supposedly come to meet, befriend and support, you spend time and energy giving detailed instructions for further enriching a bunch of Americans who skim the cream off the top of those Cubans' hard work, and then you argue with anyone who suggests a more humanitarian and friendly approach to visiting Cuba might be strongly preferable.
Every centavo you give to an American company is one centavo less for a Cuban company and the individual Cuban behind it struggling to improve his/her life.
If someone isn't aware of the situation in Cuba and that there are ways to deal directly and easily with Cubans for services and goods, why not use your time, energy and posting space to help them learn how, and learn the value of doing so?
Is it such a good thing to enrich the already rich at the expense of the poor?
Who's the @$$ wasting time here on misplaced priorities?
.. What was it Poe wrote about guilt?Yeah, he also said something about a talent for misconception.
Very confused about ships tours vs private tours
in Cuba
Posted
For regular land based US travelers, that is likely true.
The cruise lines, however, can do what they deem fit regarding their passengers, perhaps in anticipation of the new guidelines. It does look, though, like cruises might just get special dispensation, at least in order to offer group excursions (buses are mostly owned by the state tourism company under the military tourism agency).
It's really all speculation right now.