Travel Restrictions May Be Announced by President Trump Friday

[Snit13]

MY intuition says the President is more concerned with not getting prosecuted for what went on with Russia during the campaign and since.

 

Were up there? Please tell us what went on with Russia during the campaign and since. I listen to news every day and have not heard any facts. Please share what you heard or witnessed.

 

Marco Rubio, whose career is supported by the grudge-holding Cuban community in Miami and their considerable fortunes, is on the committee that would indict. The President will try to appease Rubio and his backers. That is precisely why the speech is being given in Miami.

[sandij]

In the future, perhaps Post-Trump, Cuba will have its own Hard Rock Cafe, Diamonds Internatiinal, and Margaritaville,

 

This is the reason I wanted to go now, before it becomes another Cayman or St Thomas with a Starbucks and KFC on every corner.

[VidaNaPraia]

In the future, perhaps Post-Trump, Cuba will have its own Hard Rock Cafe, Diamonds Internatiinal, and Margaritaville,

 

This is the reason I wanted to go now, before it becomes another Cayman or St Thomas with a Starbucks and KFC on every corner.

 

So you would deny development and 'progress' to Cubans so US tourists can indulge their fantasies?

 

Fortunately Cubans and their culture are quite strong and proud, and are not likely to radically change easily or quickly.

[harryw]

So you would deny development and 'progress' to Cubans so US tourists can indulge their fantasies?

 

Fortunately Cubans and their culture are quite strong and proud, and are not likely to radically change easily or quickly.

 

You point out an interestung conflict Frankly, I booked a cruise in the near future to experience 'authentic' Cuba

before it becomes a homogenized chain store cruise stop, But I would not begrudge Cubans Disney - fied

development and progress, if it helps locals economically. Hopefully excessive profits won't flow

to politicians.

[harryw]

I have to admit that on European / Baltic / Scandinavian

cruises, we often stopped at McDonsld's for a quick bite.

And we were impressed by the fresh pastries at Barcelona's Starbucks, superior to stateside ones.

 

Harry

[VidaNaPraia]

I have to admit that on European / Baltic / Scandinavian

cruises, we often stopped at McDonsld's for a quick bite.

And we were impressed by the fresh pastries at Barcelona's Starbucks, superior to stateside ones.

 

Harry

 

Cuban coffee is hard to beat, even by Starbucks.

 

Wait until you have your first dry, hard Cuban pork "hamburger". You'll have a new appreciation for McD's cheapest, greasiest offerings. Then try eating those pork burgers for a week or so.

Do you all think Russia been ruined or its character changed by the presence of McD's there for quite a few years?

[eileeshb]

I have to admit that on European / Baltic / Scandinavian

cruises, we often stopped at McDonsld's for a quick bite.

And we were impressed by the fresh pastries at Barcelona's Starbucks, superior to stateside ones.

 

Harry

:') You're bringing back memories of conversations with American students on study abroad here in Ireland being totally bemused that Budweiser was actually drinkable over here. Then they were told it was because it was brewed locally, and the reason Guinness isn't as good in USA is twofold: half the bar staff can't pour it properly and it's brewed in a different location to the Irish stocks.

[hrwi]

I'll be very interested in how this plays out, and how the cruise lines would handle it.

 

With regard to McD's in foreign lands, I remember studying abroad in China and when we arrived, seeing KFC, and being mortified. I was here to experience China! For the next 4 months we traveled the remote countryside, and coming back to Beijing we hightailed it to KFC or *something*, anything familiar!

[VidaNaPraia]

With regard to McD's in foreign lands, I remember studying abroad in China and when we arrived, seeing KFC, and being mortified. I was here to experience China! For the next 4 months we traveled the remote countryside, and coming back to Beijing we hightailed it to KFC or *something*, anything familiar!

 

Our joke living in Japan in the day was that the way to tell a small city from a larger one was that the small ones only had a Mr. Donut, while the larger ones had McD's.

[harryw]

I'm reminded of my first time in Venice, pre-cruise, strolling aimlessly, feeling like I was going back in time, then the rude awakening of seeing a Hard Rock Cafe across the footbridge I was on...

 

Harry

[VidaNaPraia]

I'm reminded of my first time in Venice, pre-cruise, strolling aimlessly, feeling like I was going back in time, then the rude awakening of seeing a Hard Rock Cafe across the footbridge I was on...

 

Harry

 

Well, if the presence of those outlets brings a better quality of food to Cubans and makes it less of a full time job hunting for certain items.... it's an OK trade-off.

[harryw]

Ironically, the fast food diet has created a health crisis

in many Spanish speaking communities here...

 

Harry

[VidaNaPraia]

Ironically, the fast food diet has created a health crisis

in many Spanish speaking communities here...

 

Harry

 

Fast food in the developed world is a personal choice.

 

Ironically, the shortages mean that Cubans spend a lot of time and effort everyday trying to locate food items. Those items they end up with may not be the healthiest.

A lot of the best food is apparently now getting siphoned off to the upscale tourist restaurants.

[tommui987]

The sky is falling ... the sky is falling

 

Going back to Cuba is a sentimental journey for me. I don't think I'll be around for a 70th union!

 

But should AZ cancels, and they go somewhere else (other than Jamaica!) somewhere close to Mayan sites or something like that, I would be satsified.

 

To me, a cruise is a cruise is a cruise.

[harryw]

There is a debate over "food desert" neighborhoods...

where it's unforunateky easier to travel to a fast food place than a grocery store...though some that access grocery stores still choose unhealthy food.

 

Harry

[VidaNaPraia]

There is a debate over "food desert" neighborhoods...

where it's unforunateky easier to travel to a fast food place than a grocery store...though some that access grocery stores still choose unhealthy food.

 

Harry

 

Nice for you that you can think of it as a debate. I have known inner city folk who live in them. Give the kids a dollar each to buy junk food to fill their stomachs rather than try to find a store that has fresh food and then try to stretch it.

But it doesn't deal with those in Cuba for whom there is no choice. btw Good advice for most of us is to bring snacks (granola bars, etc) if you're going to be wandering around Havana.

[hrwi]

I wonder how long it will take the cruise lines to update their policies then? Presumably they have a team already preparing for the various options, but I'm only about two weeks away from final payment, so I will need to sort that out in short order. Right now really the only leverage I have is that last chunk of change, so I'll hold on to it as long as I can.

[RWolver672]

In the future, perhaps Post-Trump, Cuba will have its own Hard Rock Cafe, Diamonds Internatiinal, and Margaritaville,

 

This is the reason I wanted to go now, before it becomes another Cayman or St Thomas with a Starbucks and KFC on every corner.

DW said the same thing only she said Starbucks and McDonalds. It's not a matter of not having Cuba get those places. It's just that we would like to see it in it's original state before all of these companies start building there.

 

If they do, they should do what San Juan did and only let them go into existing buildings. You don't see the golden arches in San Juan. McDonald's is there but in existing buildings.

Edited June 15, 2017 by RWolver672

[harryw]

Good idea to locate in existing buildings without jarring

signage. By the way, someone mentioned Nassau...it was a first time stop last year, and was a nothing burger, Our

upcoming cruise stops there on the way back from Cuba. We may make it a sea day. I'd like to know the back story that made it such an unimpressive port.

 

Harry

[VidaNaPraia]

. It's not a matter of not having Cuba get those places. It's just that we would like to see it in it's original state before all of these companies start building there.

 

"Original state"? First of all, Havana's crumbling Colonial buildings are not unique. As I have mentioned several times, what the tropical climate has done to buildings of the same architectural style and era can be seen in other places/countries. You still have (and have always had) opportunities to go to those other places and see those buildings before they fall down from sheer age and neglect of tropical ravages. The "charm" of the style and what happens to it in a tropical climate has little to do with the current governmental system in Cuba.

This Disney fantasy of Havana has been built in the minds of a generation in the US who has been indoctrinated by propaganda and intrigued by the "untouchable"-ness of the travel prohibition. Silly and simplistic.

 

Also, this way of thinking, that Havana will inevitably succumb to the worst of US culture, assumes that the Cuban people have no inner resources for preserving their strong culture and music, nor that they have no sense of what may be coming, in order to prepare with well thought out planning. That is a rather demeaning way of thinking of the Cuban people.

[harryw]

I guess many Americans see Cuba through the prism oF Ricky Ricardo on I Love Lucy and the Havana scenes in Thr

Godfather. Or was it the second film?

 

Harry

[VidaNaPraia]

I guess many Americans see Cuba through the prism oF Ricky Ricardo on I Love Lucy and the Havana scenes in Thr

Godfather. Or was it the second film?

Harry

 

Yes, I think for USers of that "certain age", that is all they/we know, Ricky the ditsy Latino caricature with the heavy accent, of the mafia casino days of high living for the rich in Cuba. Later, some music aficionados knew Iracare. The next generation knew of Buena Vista Social Club. Beyond that, it's a big ????? for most (outside the propaganda that passes for news).

 

Which is exactly why I would encourage you to get out on the street in Havana and talk to everyday Cuban people, as many as you can, not just sit in a bus or follow some guide around with 50 other tourists. Hear their own voices, face to face. Get out and go to the clubs and alleyways where Cubans congregate to dance and drink, not some shake-your-booty adult-Disney show put on for tourists.

[eileeshb]

If there is a change in policy it will be interesting to see how the cruise lines handle their bookings, not all of their passengers are American after all and thus aren't subject to US policies. You could see them reviewing the numbers on particular bookings to see what proportion of the passengers are affected by any new policy.

[RJB]

Yes, I think for USers of that "certain age", that is all they/we know, Ricky the ditsy Latino caricature with the heavy accent, of the mafia casino days of high living for the rich in Cuba. Later, some music aficionados knew Iracare. The next generation knew of Buena Vista Social Club. Beyond that, it's a big ????? for most (outside the propaganda that passes for news).

 

Which is exactly why I would encourage you to get out on the street in Havana and talk to everyday Cuban people, as many as you can, not just sit in a bus or follow some guide around with 50 other tourists. Hear their own voices, face to face. Get out and go to the clubs and alleyways where Cubans congregate to dance and drink, not some shake-your-booty adult-Disney show put on for tourists.

I have done that and i guess it depends who you talk to. Various opinions.

[VidaNaPraia]

I have done that

 

Hadn't you mentioned previously that you have not yet been to Cuba?

 

 

 

i guess it depends who you talk to. Various opinions.

 

 

Do you speak fluent Spanish?

 

 

If you speak to Cubans on the street in Cuba, you get the perspective of someone who has come to terms with the situation, being Cuban in Cuba. They seem very pragmatic and resilient.

Someone who ran away would, yes, likely have a different "opinion" of what life as they no longer know it in Cuba must theoretically be like.