Cuba

[groundloop]

I just read a news article indicating that the US will reopen travel to Cuba in the next few weeks.  

 

I cruised to Cuba on Carnival in 2019 just a few weeks before travel was shut down and had a great trip, can't wait to go again.  Hopefully Carnival will be quick in setting up some Cuba cruises.

[Guest BasicSailor]

Did you do a review / photo's, curious about the age of the vehicles driven. 

[vwrestler171]

Doubt they will cancel any cruises to send some to Havana.  Now when they release more dates, expect to see Cuba on the list.

 

[Bgcruising]

That would be nice 

[Ferry_Watcher]

I would love to travel there!

Love the Buena Vista Social Club movie and soundtrack.

[cruisingguy007]

I'm definitely doing this if this is true! Been waiting for this! Ugh, will probably have to fly to a port but Cuba has been on my short list. Wanting to see it before it totally changes and becomes a huge travel/Disneyland take over type deal lol. Great news! Hope cigars and rum restrictions are eased as well.   

[groundloop]

12 minutes ago, BasicSailor said:

Did you do a review / photo's, curious about the age of the vehicles driven. 

 

I haven't really posted a review of that trip.  

 

Our tour lasted 8 hours and included a walking tour of Old Havana, a ballet performance by a community theatre troupe, a driving tour in classic cars (we were in a '59 Pontiac, most of the classic cars participating were from the 50s and early 60s), lunch at a family owned restaurant,  and a bus tour of important cultural sites in and around Havana.

 

That evening we went to the Tropicana nightclub, the show was amazing as was the Havana Club rum and Tucola (cane sugar cola).

 

There seems to be a misconception that ALL cars in Cuba are old American cars, that's simply not the case.  A fair number of Cubans are car enthusiasts and it's a labor of love for them to restore and maintain their classic cars.  There are several clubs dedicated to these classic cars, with members helping each other with parts, labor, etc.  There's a show on Discovery On Demand called Cuban Chrome that follows around members of one of these clubs and really shows the kind of difficulties they have obtaining parts with the trade embargo in place.

[groundloop]

Just now, cruisingguy007 said:

I'm definitely doing this if this is true! Been waiting for this! Ugh, will probably have to fly to a port but Cuba has been on my short list. Wanting to see it before it totally changes and becomes a huge travel/Disneyland take over type deal lol. Great news! Hope cigars and rum restrictions are eased as well.   

 

 

I brought back a few cigars for a couple of neighbors that smoke them (I don't), and also brought back quite a bit of Cuban rum.  The three of us from my family that went had a total of 15 bottles of Cuban rum, we had it out in the open coming through customs and were prepared to pay duty on it but the customs officer just waved us through.

AND I found Cuban rum at the duty free shop at the port in Cozumel.  

[BlerkOne]

Book me on the first cruise. Maybe even a b2b 

[Guest BasicSailor]

11 minutes ago, groundloop said:

 

I haven't really posted a review of that trip.  

 

Our tour lasted 8 hours and included a walking tour of Old Havana, a ballet performance by a community theatre troupe, a driving tour in classic cars (we were in a '59 Pontiac, most of the classic cars participating were from the 50s and early 60s), lunch at a family owned restaurant,  and a bus tour of important cultural sites in and around Havana.

 

That evening we went to the Tropicana nightclub, the show was amazing as was the Havana Club rum and Tucola (cane sugar cola).

 

There seems to be a misconception that ALL cars in Cuba are old American cars, that's simply not the case.  A fair number of Cubans are car enthusiasts and it's a labor of love for them to restore and maintain their classic cars.  There are several clubs dedicated to these classic cars, with members helping each other with parts, labor, etc.  There's a show on Discovery On Demand called Cuban Chrome that follows around members of one of these clubs and really shows the kind of difficulties they have obtaining parts with the trade embargo in place.

I feel the misconception comes from all the publicity photos given to the states.  The restoration is something to be admired. 

[Itried4498]

Don't expect to see cruise lines in Cuba anytime soon.

 

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/us-rolls-out-revised-cuba-policy-easing-some-trump-era-restrictions-remittances-2022-05-16/

Washington will also reinstate some categories of group educational travel, as well as certain travel related to professional meetings and research.

Individual "people-to-people" travel, however, will not be reinstated. The category was eliminated by Trump officials who said it was being abused by Americans taking beach vacations.

[BlerkOne]

https://www.cruisehive.com/could-cuba-be-a-cruise-destination-once-again/46025

 

and Fathom cruises were under a different visa.

[groundloop]

1 hour ago, Itried4498 said:

 

Individual "people-to-people" travel, however, will not be reinstated. The category was eliminated by Trump officials who said it was being abused by Americans taking beach vacations.

 

My recollection is a bit fuzzy, but as I recall "people to people" wasn't the only carve-out that allowed cruise travel to Cuba.  It was the easiest, but I'm quite sure not the only way to be allowed to go.

[hurricane0226]

Been to Gitmo, is it the same, 

[Joe817]

2 minutes ago, hurricane0226 said:

Been to Gitmo, is it the same, 

I doubt it would be a tourist destination or shore excursion. 

[BlerkOne]

19 minutes ago, groundloop said:

 

My recollection is a bit fuzzy, but as I recall "people to people" wasn't the only carve-out that allowed cruise travel to Cuba.  It was the easiest, but I'm quite sure not the only way to be allowed to go.

Americans have been able to visit Cuba all along. You just needed to document better.

 

https://www.adventurouskate.com/can-americans-travel-to-cuba/

 

 

[Moviela]

When you set foot in Cuba remember to set your watch back 60 years.

[cruisingguy007]

3 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

Americans have been able to visit Cuba all along. You just needed to document better.

 

https://www.adventurouskate.com/can-americans-travel-to-cuba/

 

 

 

It would be much better if they made it easier on those of us from the USA. Skip all the BS, catch a flight from Mexico/Canada, no stamps or tourists cards, ignore the spending restriction BS (maybe take a pre-loaded visa card) but all those hoops seem like a huge hassle. It's actually embarrassing for us that we have to do all that. I generally prefer grey anyway lol, so the sideways flights sounds like the best way, you'd figure they (Cuba) would have plenty of easy workarounds for the other stuff. Obama said he would get it done, didn't do it and now Biden is dragging his feet. The whole embargo nonsense is ridiculous at this point and makes us look petty/foolish on the international stage with decades of failed policy. 

Edited May 17, 2022 by cruisingguy007

[Itried4498]

7 hours ago, groundloop said:

 

My recollection is a bit fuzzy, but as I recall "people to people" wasn't the only carve-out that allowed cruise travel to Cuba.  It was the easiest, but I'm quite sure not the only way to be allowed to go.

A quick Google search yields that cruises were visiting to Cuba under the people-to-people concept, which isn’t returning.  And there really isn’t an alternative.  Cruises do king at Havana for people to visit family?

[EngIceDave]

TOTALLY BUMMED they're not restarting people-to-people.

 

We did a Havana cruise, spent two days there. Was MSC Armonia.

 

Did a few Carib stops, landed in Havana on a Saturday and left on Sunday. Ship to shore was open 24 hours.

 

Did a walking food tour in Havana on Saturday and a all day ride around Havana in a 56 Chevy convertible on Sunday. 

 

This restaurant is a family owned, not Government. It's their living room. The kitchen is a small home kitchen. While we ate, a man played a guitar and sang in the door way. That lobster tail in the photo is local and had a briny taste, rather than the usual fleshy buttery of say Maine lobster.

 

Car with the guy was our ride.

This was May 2019

 

 

Edited May 17, 2022 by EngIceDave
Clarification

[pe4all]

We also did CCL cruise to Havana right before it was shut down again.  I really enjoyed the "people to people" experience, and learning about the way of life there.  I would definitely do it again.  

[keywest1]

We had a cruise booked to Cuba a few years ago, but had to cancel due to my Mom's health issues.

I wanted to rebook, but by then DH was concerned about safety in Cuba.  NO problem, dear--I booked a cruise to Haiti (Labadee) instead 😁.  If it ever comes available again, I made my point and we will be going to Cuba.

[ineed-a-vacation]

17 hours ago, groundloop said:

 

 

I brought back a few cigars for a couple of neighbors that smoke them (I don't), and also brought back quite a bit of Cuban rum.  The three of us from my family that went had a total of 15 bottles of Cuban rum, we had it out in the open coming through customs and were prepared to pay duty on it but the customs officer just waved us through.

AND I found Cuban rum at the duty free shop at the port in Cozumel.  

I found a couple bottles of it in Cancun's duty free shop as well.  When I took a cruise to Cuba back in 2017, I bought a few bottles and had been very stingy with it thinking it would be hard to get more until I ran across it in Cancun.  Now I check every duty free shop I go in to see if they have it as well.