Cuba?

[tvaud]

Now that Americans can go to Cuba, how long do you think it will be before Princess tweeks their itineraries? Which ports will go to add Cuba in?

 

I hope it's soon. I, myself, can't wait to go!

[chrysalis]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2138833&highlight=cuba

[beg3yrs]

Legally, the categories of Americans that can go to Cuba has NOT changed. What has changed is that the process to get permission to go (for those in the select categories) has been eliminated by executive order.

 

As such, it will be difficult to enforce the restrictions still currently in place. In no way however, does it make it legal for everyone to go. That will take an act of the US Congress.

 

So, don't get your hopes up for US travel firms (like Princess) to quickly "tweak" their itineraries. I doubt they will until Congress acts to make it completely legal.

[Pam in CA]

Princess itineraries are probably set through early 2017. Even if Princess were planning to stop in Cuba, a big concern would be passenger onshore experience. People don't generally like seeing poverty and lack of sanitation, services, transportation, etc. Little will change in Cuba since the Castros are still in power and in control.

 

 

:) Pam

[caribill]

Carnival Corp (which owns Princess) has stated that there is a pent-up demand for cruise ships to visit Cuba. Because of the demand, yields from visiting there will be high.

 

Being so close to South Florida, going there makes for fuel efficient itineraries. There are about 11 ports which can handle a variety of Carnival Corp ships, but Havana has a shallow draft and can only handle smaller ships.

 

An investment in ports and infrastructure will be required once (and if) the legislative embargo is lifted.

 

So with the above in mind (all from Carnival Corp statements), it will be at least several years from now.

[fishywood]

Little will change in Cuba since the Castros are still in power and in control.

 

And little will change in the South Florida political climate until they go. Right now it is implausible that any cruise line with corporate HQ in Miami (Carnival and by extension all their brands, plus RCI/Celebrity and NCL) would offer calls in Cuba in fear of incurring the considerable wrath of the Cuban exile community. They would put together a bigger protest in one day than all of last year's nationwide civil disobedience combined.

Edited January 18, 2015 by fishywood

[maxmia]

At the moment, our travel insurance will not cover us for Cuba. It is specifically mentioned in the documentation!

[chrysalis]

Even if Princess were planning to stop in Cuba, a big concern would be passenger onshore experience. People don't generally like seeing poverty and lack of sanitation, services, transportation, etc.

 

 

:) Pam

 

We have been to Cuba a number of times, including as recently as last week.:)

 

Poverty.....if you check out the stats, you will note that Cuba has a standard of living that is higher than most Caribbean and Latin American countries. Free health care and education (including University) doesn't hurt either.

 

Lack of Sanitation....not much different than other places in the Caribbean, Latin American, Asia, Africa, and even some places in Europe. (Even France is a concern for some people:D)

 

Transportation....the buses we have used have been some of the nicest and cleanest anywhere, and there are lots of modern mini-vans for small group tourist transport. Visitors line up to take '50s cars which are taxis.

 

General on shore experience.....there are many typical Caribbean experiences already....catamaran day trips, snorkel trips, deep sea fishing, beach breaks, country-side tours, jeep safaris, etc., etc. No different than other islands in the area. Any many more options that some ports of call offer.

 

Remember, they already have a huge tourism infrastructure that caters to many, many people from all over the world. It is impressive to see staffers in the hospitality industry fluently speak English, French, Spanish, Russian and German.

[westcoaster]

I totally agree with chrysalis. Princess already goes to many countries with much worse poverty than Cuba. In fact, Cuba ranks 4th in the western hemisphere for the UN human development index, which is a measure of living standards (after the U.S., Canada and Chile).

 

I'm always a bit surprised when I hear on U.S. media that Cuba isn't ready to handle large amounts of tourists. There were about 3 million tourists to Cuba last year. That compares with 2 million to Jamaica. Cuba is the second most visited island in the Caribbean after the Dominican Republic.

 

For Canadians, Cuba ranks third, after the U.S. and Mexico, as a tourist destination - roughly 1 million every year.

[john watson]

If you want to go on a cruise to Cuba the best current line is Star Clippers. I suspect it may be preferable to book "cruise only" and then sort out your own flights. The cruise line is not American owned but run from the US as far as I can ascertain. I have travelled with them and they are very good but "Not a cruise as we know it" as Captain Kirk might say.

[JimmyVWine]

I agree with chrysalis. If ships can dock in Haiti, then they can visit Cuba. There is no comparison between the two countries.

[JimmyVWine]

An interesting comparison of island countries.

 

http://www.caribjournal.com/2013/06/21/barbados-continues-to-lead-caribbean-in-human-development-index/

[westcoaster]

Jimmy, its an interesting article, but it appears to be outdated. According to the latest data from the UN, Cuba's Human Development Index ranks 44th in the world and, as I mentioned above, 4th in the Western Hemisphere, after the U.S., Canada, and Chile. Cuba's HDI is higher than any other Caribbean country.

 

See http://hdr.undp.org/en/data

[JimmyVWine]

Jimmy, its an interesting article, but it appears to be outdated. According to the latest data from the UN, Cuba's Human Development Index ranks 44th in the world and, as I mentioned above, 4th in the Western Hemisphere, after the U.S., Canada, and Chile. Cuba's HDI is higher than any other Caribbean country.

 

See http://hdr.undp.org/en/data

 

So Cuba passes both Barbados and the Bahamas? Well...I stand pleasantly corrected! :D Thanks. (And Haiti remains frightfully low on the list). And your point about Canadians visiting Cuba really hits the mark. There is a certain myopia that exists with U.S. citizens. If we don't experience something, then it either doesn't exist or else it isn't worth experiencing. ;)

Edited January 23, 2015 by JimmyVWine

[westcoaster]

Yep, in the latest list Bahamas is ranked 51 and Barbados is ranked 59. Haiti is #168 (out of 187 countries).

 

On your second comment, the media doesn't seem to help. ABC news did their evening news cast live from Havana a couple of nights ago. They talked about how 90,000 Americans currently travel to Cuba each year and said that Cuba would have great difficulty accommodating an increase in tourism. No mention of the 3 million annual tourists they currently get who are accommodated in international standard resorts.

Edited January 23, 2015 by westcoaster

[JimmyVWine]

Yep, in the latest list Bahamas is ranked 51 and Barbados is ranked 59. Haiti is #168 (out of 187 countries).

 

On your second comment, the media doesn't seem to help. ABC news did their evening news cast live from Havana a couple of nights ago. They talked about how 90,000 Americans currently travel to Cuba each year and said that Cuba would have great difficulty accommodating an increase in tourism. No mention of the 3 million annual tourists they currently get who are accommodated in international standard resorts.

 

Since the cruising visitors would be accommodated on their ships, the comment by ABC new shouldn't matter, even if it were true.

 

And just for comparison's sake, here are the rankings of several other popular cruise ship destinations all ranked below Cuba:

 

47 Croatia

65 Panama

69 Turkey

88 Fiji

106 Samoa

108 Indonesia

110 Egypt

118 South Africa

121 Viet Nam

[Kingofcool1947]

Now that Americans can go to Cuba, how long do you think it will be before Princess tweeks their itineraries? Which ports will go to add Cuba in?

 

I hope it's soon. I, myself, can't wait to go!

 

Same here. Maybe by 2016?

Edited January 23, 2015 by Kingofcool1947

[LovetheSea]

I will not go to Cuba. Not while they are a communist country. I also have no interest to go to China or the Soviet Union either. My vacation. My choice.

Edited January 23, 2015 by LovetheSea

[Wehwalt]

So Cuba passes both Barbados and the Bahamas? Well...I stand pleasantly corrected! :D Thanks. (And Haiti remains frightfully low on the list). And your point about Canadians visiting Cuba really hits the mark. There is a certain myopia that exists with U.S. citizens. If we don't experience something, then it either doesn't exist or else it isn't worth experiencing. ;)

 

Nassau has slums. It's just that they are much further away from the water than most cruise passengers ever go.

[JimmyVWine]

Nassau has slums. It's just that they are much further away from the water than most cruise passengers ever go.

I don't know about that. It's been a while since we took a cruise that stopped there, but we have one that does in April. Based on our last experience walking around Nassau, we are pretty much committed to staying on the ship or doing an afternoon excursion where we go snorkeling somewhere. I have zero interest in walking around Nassau. And that's the good part of the area. As you point out, I am sure that it would get much worse if we ventured off the beaten path.

[JimmyVWine]

I will not go to Cuba. Not while they are a communist country. I also have no interest to go to China or the Soviet Union either. My vacation. My choice.

 

You're in luck. The Soviet Union ceased to exist in December, 1991.

[Wehwalt]

You're in luck. The Soviet Union ceased to exist in December, 1991.

 

Cold War's over and there are worse forms of government.

[LovetheSea]

Ha Ha. The Russian Federation.

I have a laundry lists of places I would like to go to in my lifetime. These are not on the list. Don't make this a big political debate. I don't want to go to Syria either. Or Iran.

Edited January 24, 2015 by LovetheSea

[Wehwalt]

Ha Ha. The Russian Federation.

I have a laundry lists of places I would like to go to in my lifetime. These are not on the list. Don't make this a big political debate. I don't want to go to Syria either. Or Iran.

 

World's big enough for everyone to do what they want. Pax.

[JimmyVWine]

Cold War's over and there are worse forms of government.

I love this ditty: "Democracy, where every citizen gets to vote no matter what, is the second worst form of government. All the others are tied for first."