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I NEED HELP!! question about Cuba!!

watergurl1125

By watergurl1125,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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watergurl1125

watergurl1125

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Im going on a cruise in 2 week to Cuba but Im get confused about the laws and if I have to get my own visa or will the cruise line do it for me? Do I need to do a tour tho the cruise to be able to get off the ship? My friend and I just want to go walk around, and maybe do a tour there.

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CruiseGal999

CruiseGal999

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NCL does the visa for you. Last I knew it was a $75 charge. It's another line item on your invoice/statement.

 

Tours ... you absolutely can walk off the ship and do any tours on your own. I would recommend OldCarTours.com. They are wonderful. I was a solo mid-50s female cruiser and I was perfectly safe. The guides took very good care of me, they were funny, SO knowledgeable, kind and friendly.

 

One of my guides, Yaser, and I still email and exchange photos to this day.

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watergurl1125

watergurl1125

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NCL does the visa for you. Last I knew it was a $75 charge. It's another line item on your invoice/statement.

 

Tours ... you absolutely can walk off the ship and do any tours on your own. I would recommend OldCarTours.com. They are wonderful. I was a solo mid-50s female cruiser and I was perfectly safe. The guides took very good care of me, they were funny, SO knowledgeable, kind and friendly.

 

One of my guides, Yaser, and I still email and exchange photos to this day.

Do you know if I need to do it before we get on the ship? and any chance I can get her email address to see if she have a opening when I will be in Cuba?

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nmbnancy

nmbnancy

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You fill out the forms online prior to sailing. When you check in your visa will be given to you with your room key.

 

If you go back to the main page and scroll down to the Ports of Call section then click Caribbean and then Cuba, you will find detailed information on the ports in Cuba. There are many opinions of what you should see and do.

 

I would recommend you take one of the tours that includes a walking tour and a car tour. We were there overnight, so our guide arranged for the driver to take us to Hotel Nacional de Cuba to watch the sunset on their outdoor patio and then on to a wonderful dinner at Riomar

 

I was on the NCL Sky last week and had an independent guide who was fantastic ! katiusca77@gmail.com

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Medtech2

Medtech2

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Do you know if I need to do it before we get on the ship? and any chance I can get her email address to see if she have a opening when I will be in Cuba?

 

I had to call my PCC before we cruised and tell him I wanted them to handle my visa. I never saw an option to add it on line. Filling out that form on line does not mean they will get you a visa. That form is for our government, not Cuba’s. He told me you had to specifically request it and since it was past final payment I had to pay for it right then.

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mdsgu

mdsgu

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We went to Cuba with RC in July. The visas were provided by the cruise for $75 each. You have to fill them out -- and don't make a mistake or you will have to buy another one!

 

The lines like to tell you that you have to purchase one of their excursions. If you press them on this, they will grudgingly admit that you don't. We used Blexie (check out TripAdvisor). He will set you up with an English-speaking guide and a 50s-era car (with air conditioning). Our tour started at about 10:00am and concluded back at the port around 4:30pm, a little early but our all-aboard time was 5:30. We saw all the sights on our list and quite a few more! Quite a bargain at $130 for the 4 of use, compared to over $250 for just a car and a few sights (for only 2 people, so we would have had to double that price) from the ship.

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Lorey2007

Lorey2007

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We paid through ours when we purchased our cruise through NCL. We were given our visa when we checked in at embarkation. They put the visa in our passport. Note that your visa is taken by Cuban customs, but you don't need it even if you go back on the ship and then back out again.
Did NCL have you fill out a special form online at some point?

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Forums mobile app

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sleepbestonships

sleepbestonships

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Yes, you will need to fill out a form online (the OFAC form). We chose "support of Cuban people" (I"m paraphrasing from memory, so it really should not be in quotes...). You cannot choose people to people unless you are doing a ship based tour (way over priced) or have arranged a tour with a U.S. approved agent in advance.

 

We never saw or heard of the form again once I filled it out online. They didn't ask about it on the ship and we had no pressure regarding taking a ship tour (though the standard announcements may have implied something about taking a ship tour, I could never hear the announcements).

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