Celebrity to Cuba????

[boscobeans]

Don't know of any other countries though that are harboring convicted murderers of our Police Officers like Cuba is.

 

If she came back she would probably get a presidential pardon and wind up as the dean at NYU.

 

Garbage has been hiding in other countries for years and in countries where we didn't attempt to repeatedly assassinate the leader or train and arm a bunch of idiots to attack. That wasn't too smart either.

 

Sorry and if this is too political feel free to delete it.

[dkjretired]

If she came back she would probably get a presidential pardon and wind up as the dean at NYU.

 

Garbage has been hiding in other countries for years and in countries where we didn't attempt to repeatedly assassinate the leader or train and arm a bunch of idiots to attack. That wasn't too smart either.

 

Sorry and if this is too political feel free to delete it.

 

Don't believe the President can give a pardon for state charges but I could be wrong. You are right, they actually have buildings named after this scumbag.

 

I attended Trooper Forester's funeral and I will not be going to Cuba until she is returned.

[brrscuba1]

It must be dredged deep enough as the MSC Opera has been homeported in Havana all this winter. They do a 2 day overnight in Havana followed by Coz. Jamaica and Grand Cayman (not sure of the order).

 

The MSC Opera, although not a huge ship is by no means small. They have already planned it for 2017 too. Seems they have no problem filling the ship with non-US citizens.

 

MSC Opera is only 59000 tons and draws only 22 feet of water, yes it fits the harbor well

[Wine-O]

Don't believe the President can give a pardon for state charges but I could be wrong. You are right, they actually have buildings named after this scumbag.

 

I attended Trooper Forester's funeral and I will not be going to Cuba until she is returned.

 

I will not be going or spending my money in Cuba as long as they have a repressive dictatorship, communist party leading that island.

[boscobeans]

MSC Opera is only 59000 tons and draws only 22 feet of water, yes it fits the harbor well

 

MSC Opera Docked at the Havana Cruise Ship Terminal, December 2015.

 

 

 

 

bosco

[boscobeans]

Don't believe the President can give a pardon for state charges but I could be wrong. You are right, they actually have buildings named after this scumbag.

 

I attended Trooper Forester's funeral and I will not be going to Cuba until she is returned.

 

One of my friends was injured in the NYPD Headquarters bombing in 1970 and where is Bill Ayers? Where is Bernardine Dohrn ? You can't win.

 

bosco

[need2bespoiled]

It doesn't matter what the powers at be decide is a legal METHOD of travel to Cuba, the problem is not the getting there it is what you can do there.

 

Right now you can fly to Cuba or to points where you can board a ship LEGALLY from several U.S. departure points however what you can do in Cuba is still nothing that would be considered to be a vacation or tourist event.

 

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (department of the U.S. Treasury) has a list of 12 programs that you MUST follow while in Cuba. These pretty much take up your entire day and then you can do the more touristy things. You are still limited as to how much you can spend and what and how much of what you can bring home.

 

Now for a ship to dock in Cuba unless EVERY UNITED STATES CITIZEN on the ship attends their required programs each and every day they will be in violation of US Law.

 

Imagine having a ship with 2000 passengers dock or tender in a Cuban port and every single one must get up and do the programs they have signed up to do in what is called the Person to Person Cultural Exchange Program, only to return to the ship or hotel after a full day of "Cultural Exchange". Cultural exchange does not mean beaches or boat rides, pub crawls or even any other event that is not part of an organized group function.

 

This information is plainly stated on all the sites, whether they be for cruises or flights to Cuba. Non U.S. citizens have no such rules and can do what they want in Cuba.

 

Only if these restrictions are eliminated any hopes of what most folks think is a normal cruise to an island in the Caribbean is a pipe dream.

 

NO POLITICS HERE, But it is about time we can go to an Island that was once a most favorite destination for many years for thousands of people five decades ago..

 

I've been to Cuba, I've been there on a ship. I was there earlier this year. I was there legally. We had PLENTY of free time in Havana, at the beach and in other port stops like Santiago de Cuba and Cienfuegos to see lots of things that were not part of the cultural exchange. Only in a couple of times in the entire week did I feel I was more "trapped" in a cultural program I was less interested in.

 

While better suited too smaller ships, like Empress they certainly could likely fit an M-Class ship with little work if they can fit MSC Opera and tendering would always be an option (think new Edge Class which are being built for major tender operations).

 

I do agree, one stop for the day in Havana doesn't fit in well with a "Caribbean beach style cruise" but is still very interesting.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[dkjretired]

One of my friends was injured in the NYPD Headquarters bombing in 1970 and where is Bill Ayers? Where is Bernardine Dohrn ? You can't win.

 

bosco

 

Yea,, I was working then, we had to take special precautions at the time largely due to those two.

[boscobeans]

I've been to Cuba, I've been there on a ship. I was there earlier this year. I was there legally. We had PLENTY of free time in Havana, at the beach and in other port stops like Santiago de Cuba and Cienfuegos to see lots of things that were not part of the cultural exchange. Only in a couple of times in the entire week did I feel I was more "trapped" in a cultural program I was less interested in.

 

While better suited too smaller ships, like Empress they certainly could likely fit an M-Class ship with little work if they can fit MSC Opera and tendering would always be an option (think new Edge Class which are being built for major tender operations).

 

I do agree, one stop for the day in Havana doesn't fit in well with a "Caribbean beach style cruise" but is still very interesting.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

Thanks for your response. It is a bit different than what O.F.A.C. rules and regulations make it sound like. I am glad that with the current rules you can ENJOY things other than on the programs.

 

A Question.. How did the ship guarantee that ALL passengers attended the programs?

 

bosco

[Cruzaholic41]

I will not be going or spending my money in Cuba as long as they have a repressive dictatorship, communist party leading that island.

 

I agree. I am a natural born Cuban. My family immigrated here legally when I was a young child. I will never spend 1 cent of my hard earned American dollars in that country as long as the current regime is still in power.

 

But (and that's a big BUT), that is only my personal opinion. I love the USA because it is the land of the free. It does not bother me that other people want to see Cuba. I personally think it is unconstitutional to hold Americans civilly and criminally liable for travel to Cuba. So for that reason, I do not support the current travel restrictions.

[need2bespoiled]

Thanks for your response. It is a bit different than what O.F.A.C. rules and regulations make it sound like. I am glad that with the current rules you can ENJOY things other than on the programs.

 

A Question.. How did the ship guarantee that ALL passengers attended the programs?

 

bosco

 

We thought they would at first, but they didn't. It was the honor system. Of course this could change, but that was our experience. About half the ship were Americans.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[Miaminice]

Another issue is the harbors, including Havana, have not been dredged for decades. They cannot bring in large US cruise ships that are so big and draw so deeply underwater they cannot dock. BUT I find it very interesting that RCCL just brought back the old Nordic Empress, aka Empress of the seas, to the U.S. market. The empress is vastly smaller and needs less water depth. Empress Of The Seas cruises begin next week from Florida. It would be the right size ship when Cuba is fully open.:):)

 

RCCL has not confirmed (or denied) Empress sailing to Cuba yet... However, you can find Empress sheduled for Havana in 2017 when you look closely... ;)

 

Maybe one of the unofficial reasons why she returned to the fleet.

Edited March 23, 2016 by Miaminice