Oceania to Havana, Cuba?

[Oceans&Rivers]

Several of us have posted about cruising to or from Havana, Cuba, and I thought this topic deserved its own thread, so here it is! Feel free to repost anything about this wonderful destination that you have and hopefully, with this as a separate thread, there will be lots of additional opinions. :)

 

Have you heard the rumor, probably exaggerated, that the Port of Miami is lobbying to keep Cuba out of the picture because so many Lines have expressed interest in cruising out of Havana?

 

I don't know if they are lobbying per se, but the 2035 master plan for the Port of Miami shows there is some concern, especially if international airlines develop direct routes with Cuba:

 

"From a competitive homeport standpoint, in the long-term, Havana, Cuba may compete for international (particularly European) homeport traffic as the airline industry deploys to the island with direct flights. However, the major portion of the cruise consumer market will be North American and is much more likely to use Cuba as a port-of-call rather than a homeport operation."

 

"For both cruise and ferry operations, the island of Cuba provides a number of potential itinerary options including the following destinations, plus more:

 Havana;  Matanzas;  Baracoa;  Santiago de Cuba:  Manzanillo;  Santa Cruz del Sur; and,  Cienfuegos, among others."

 

Personally, if I had the option to do the entire cruise out of Havana (assuming Cuba becomes a free country, as we hope), I would much prefer to fly directly from California to Havana so that I could get to see more of the country pre- or post-cruise and spend some evenings ashore, to experience the famous Havana nightlife and food, and to get to spend time with the people.

[pacheco18]

There was a thread about this on the Regent boards a while back that got deleted by the moderator. A poster inquired about interest in a Regent cruise to Havana for Feb 2014. There was plenty of interest. I have no idea if the OP had inside information or was just trying to gauge interest.

[Benita]

US citizens are not allowed to visit Cuba unless they are on a humanitarian "person to person" mission with a company licensed by the government to do business in Cuba. The laws would have to change to allow the ships to dock there as ships that dock in the US are not allowed to do so in Cuba or the US will revoke their docking rights here. I can't see that changing by 2014.

[pacheco18]

Tauck just announced its first tour to Cuba (educational/humanitarian within the guidelines). I bet cruise ships are not far behind.

[Paulchili]

Tauck just announced its first tour to Cuba (educational/humanitarian within the guidelines). I bet cruise ships are not far behind.

 

Of course, there already are cruises visiting Havana (British, German and French), just not by US ships yet.

I suspect being on a ship like that is akin to visiting Libya on a British ship (before the civil war) - US citizens were not allowed off.

[Oceans&Rivers]

There was a thread about this on the Regent boards a while back that got deleted by the moderator. A poster inquired about interest in a Regent cruise to Havana for Feb 2014. There was plenty of interest. I have no idea if the OP had inside information or was just trying to gauge interest.

 

I don't think we are in any trouble if we discuss this as something we would do in the future when Cuba becomes a free country. In fact, the reference I made was to Miami's 2035 plan (though we hope for sooner). ;)

[Oceans&Rivers]

US citizens are not allowed to visit Cuba unless they are on a humanitarian "person to person" mission with a company licensed by the government to do business in Cuba. The laws would have to change to allow the ships to dock there as ships that dock in the US are not allowed to do so in Cuba or the US will revoke their docking rights here. I can't see that changing by 2014.

 

Let the year "2014" be banned from discussion.....so that we may continue discussing. :)

[Balloon Man]

Fred Olsen has a cruise from the UK to Mexico calling at Cuba in January 2013. Not quite Oceania, I realise, but if you want to cruise to Cuba ...

[Benita]

Fred Olsen has a cruise from the UK to Mexico calling at Cuba in January 2013. Not quite Oceania, I realise, but if you want to cruise to Cuba ...

 

Breaking US laws to go that way.

[Fetchpeople]

Yesterday's local paper contained a 1/2 page ad by a travel agency (no address, 800 # only) offering trips to Havana from Miami for 9 days, 8 nights, excluding airfare with departures from September 2012 to March 2013.

 

The program is described as "fully-escorted....operated under U.S. Governmentpeople-to-people license # xxxxxxxx".

[Benita]

While we were there, we saw similar groups traveling with Tauck, Grand Circle, Rhodes Scholars, and National Geographic. A man stopped me in the lobby of the hotel in Cienfuegos and asked me how I liked the Moon Guide to Cuba that I was carrying. I told him it was the best of all the guidebooks I had seen. He smiled and told me he wrote the book and sure enough his picture was on the back cover. Could not resist the opportunity to get a picture with him and have him sign the book.

Needless to say, National Geographic hires great guides, but also commands very high prices.

[Oceans&Rivers]

While we were there, we saw similar groups traveling with Tauck, Grand Circle, Rhodes Scholars, and National Geographic. A man stopped me in the lobby of the hotel in Cienfuegos and asked me how I liked the Moon Guide to Cuba that I was carrying. I told him it was the best of all the guidebooks I had seen. He smiled and told me he wrote the book and sure enough his picture was on the back cover. Could not resist the opportunity to get a picture with him and have him sign the book.

 

I love Moon Guides!

 

I, too, had a close encounter with an author, though I didn't know it at the moment it was happening (mid-1990's). I was visiting Crown Books in Dublin (California) years ago (long gone like other individual and chain bookstores) and had a few books in my basket and a woman I did not recognize came up to me and started a fairly long conversation, beginning with asking me what drew me to the books I had in my basket. Why had I chosen them, etc. It was interesting, yet a bit odd to me that she was so interested in knowing why I had selected certain books, and when I went to the cash register, all the clerks approached me in hushed voices and said "What was it that Terry McMillan was talking with you about?" I said "Who?", not knowing that she, a nearby resident of Blackhawk in Danville, was the famous author of the best-selling "Waiting to Exhale", which I had not read or seen.

 

Fortunately, some of our favorite independent bookstores still remain, and I hope they continue to do so. I still love the printed page.

[Benita]

My closest encounter with a celebrity was at Toys-R-Us several years ago. I needed to buy a birthday gift for a four year old and was wandering around aimlessly and a woman with a child in a shopping cart told me I looked lost. I told her I needed to find something for a four year old boy. She laughed and said that was easy as her son was four. She took me by the hand and walked me over to a certain game and said he would love it. Her son shook his head in agreement. When she walked away, I realized it was Chris Evert, the tennis star. She does live in my town, but I have never run into her since. By the way, the child loved the toy.

[Oceans&Rivers]

My closest encounter with a celebrity was at Toys-R-Us several years ago. I needed to buy a birthday gift for a four year old and was wandering around aimlessly and a woman with a child in a shopping cart told me I looked lost. I told her I needed to find something for a four year old boy. She laughed and said that was easy as her son was four. She took me by the hand and walked me over to a certain game and said he would love it. Her son shook his head in agreement. When she walked away, I realized it was Chris Evert, the tennis star. She does live in my town, but I have never run into her since. By the way, the child loved the toy.

 

How cool is that! That's a famous hand that "gripped" you. ;)

[Senior Citizen]

We were planning to go to Cuba in May with a group of friends. However, we had to back out because we were committed to the maiden voyage of the Riviera, with some other friends, and the date changed from April to May.

 

Our friends said the trip to Cuba was amazing. They went with Friendly Planet, a tour company that has a government visa to provide such tours.

 

Does anyone know for a fact that Americans, who cruise to Cuba with a British or other European cruise line, will not be allowed to debark?

 

I'm waiting for Oceania to cruise there someday...

[Hambagahle]

OK - we are not American (well, husband is at present...) - but my daughter and her husband went to Cuba on their honeymoon about 10 years ago. The loved it. And found it beautiful and fascinating with extremely nice people. I would love to go. And as a European I do not understand this seeming "loophole" that allows some US nationals to go and not others. If people want things to change in Cuba (and it seems they are, slowly) then surely tourism would be the very best thing for everyone.

[Benita]

We were planning to go to Cuba in May with a group of friends. However, we had to back out because we were committed to the maiden voyage of the Riviera, with some other friends, and the date changed from April to May.

 

Our friends said the trip to Cuba was amazing. They went with Friendly Planet, a tour company that has a government visa to provide such tours.

 

Does anyone know for a fact that Americans, who cruise to Cuba with a British or other European cruise line, will not be allowed to debark?

 

I'm waiting for Oceania to cruise there someday...

 

Frances - allowing a US passenger to debark in Cuba would be allowing them to break US law. I don't know if the cruise lines would allow you to do that -if that interests you, best to contact the lines are find out. The Cuba embargo is different from what the situation was in Libya. The Libyan dictator Gaddafi was the one refusing entry to Americans. In the case of Cuba, it is our government who has the restrictions. US citizens have circumvented those restrictions by flying to Cuba from the Bahamas and Mexico, but while it is simple to do, it is illegal. I really wanted to see Cuba, so I followed the rules imposed - they were eased by President Obama, which is why you see people going over the past year. There is great debate and infighting in Congress over this - the Cuban expats still want the restrictions hoping that the economic hardship will cause the people to turn away from the Castro regime and form a democracy, but those Castro brothers seem to live forever. I, too, am looking forward to trying to peek over those darn cabanas and seeing Cuba from the deck of an Oceania ship.

[dorisis]

If you can't get to Cuba try South Miami..."Little Havana". No visa needed.~Doris~

[Paulchili]

If you can't get to Cuba try South Miami..."Little Havana". No visa needed.~Doris~

 

It's not the same, is it?

It's like saying - if you can't go to China, go to San Francisco's China town.

Where is the Great Wall, Forbidden City, etc, etc, etc ?

[potterhill]

Lots of Americans travel to Cuba through Canada. I seem to recall that they don't get stamped, same as in Israel. Not sure about that though.

 

Mo

[Senior Citizen]

Lots of Americans travel to Cuba through Canada. I seem to recall that they don't get stamped, same as in Israel. Not sure about that though.

 

Mo

 

You are right. A number of Americans visit Cuba through Canada---and through Mexico. But, as Benita points out, it is illegal. My understanding is that the US government can assess a hefty fine if you are caught (like $16,000+). That tends to deter me from traveling illegally.

 

There are a number of sanctioned US tour companies that will take you to Cuba for a price which includes chartered flights from Miami, lodging, all food, daily tours/visitations and other educational/cultural activities. Your schedule is tightly controlled because you are not there to roam around on your own; you are part of a group of goodwill ambassadors. Our friends loved their visit in May.

[Benita]

We loved it, too. We were allowed free time - Michael and I went over to an alleyway, where a local artist had painted murals everywhere. It was a Sunday, so they had a streetfair with Santeria dancers. Quite something. We were there in May, also -I don't recall meeting up with people from your friends' group. The organizer of our group was a company based out of Newport Beach, California.

[Senior Citizen]

We loved it, too. We were allowed free time - Michael and I went over to an alleyway, where a local artist had painted murals everywhere. It was a Sunday, so they had a streetfair with Santeria dancers. Quite something. We were there in May, also -I don't recall meeting up with people from your friends' group. The organizer of our group was a company based out of Newport Beach, California.

 

Their tour started May 26 I believe. They were with Friendly Travel.

[Benita]

We flew back on May 25th. The problem with going when we went was it was really hot. If you are planning to go, I would try to go in March or April. The summer would be brutally hot (and I am a Floridian), and August through November is hurricane season and hurricanes love Cuba.

[Paulchili]

We finally decided that we have waited long enough and booked a tour to Cuba for next March.

I hope it all works out well.

BTW, this does not necessarily eliminate taking any possible future O cruises to Havana :D