Looks to be Official.... Cuba!

[*Mach*]

Hey Mach, any idea if they have a deep water port capable of handling a Dream-sized ship?

 

Fred Olsen Cruise Lines occasionally sails to Cuba. The Braemar has three calls there over the next year.

She's a smaller ship, max passenger capacity of a little over 900, a bit under 600 feet overall and about 70 feet in beam... Not quite Dream size and with a relatively shallow draft, 18 feet, she's not a good test case.

Havana has a cruise ship terminal but it's fairly shabby by any standard that we would be used to...

:)

[trvlqueen]

I don't know if it's only families that can go to Cuba ... it appeared to me that Americans could only send money to families. I guess we'll have to wait for more details to come out ... this article isn't worded very clearly (big shock there ... the AP not wording things well, lol). It's possible that all Americans can travel, but you can only send money to immediate family members.

[cathalane]

Its my understanding that Cuba has a good tourist industry (resorts, etc) and has a cruise ship terminal that can receive up to 1 million cruise ship passengers a year and can handle 600 port calls (that info is from the attached article). Americans may not visit Cuba, but that doesn't mean that Cuba would need to "build up" to be able to accomodate us...

 

 

http://havanajournal.com/travel/entry/cruises-to-cuba-down-substantially-due-to-many-factors/

[LemurCat]

Fred Olsen Cruise Lines occasionally sails to Cuba. The Braemar has three calls there over the next year.

 

She's a smaller ship, max passenger capacity of a little over 900, a bit under 600 feet overall and about 70 feet in beam... Not quite Dream size and with a relatively shallow draft, 18 feet, she's not a good test case.

 

Havana has a cruise ship terminal but it's fairly shabby by any standard that we would be used to...

 

:)

 

Thanks Mach. ;)

[lhuggi1]

***Did You Know***

 

That as an American you can come to Canada....book a direct flight to cuba from Canada and go to Cuba without any hassel ....and then return to Canada

via plane ...I see this everyday as I work at a Canadian Airport ...ppl drive from Buffalo and Detroit and holiday in Cuba all the time

 

 

Just an FYI

[*Mach*]

Its my understanding that Cuba has a good tourist industry (resorts, etc) and has a cruise ship terminal that can receive up to 1 million cruise ship passengers a year and can handle 600 port calls (that info is from the attached article). Americans may not visit Cuba, but that doesn't mean that Cuba would need to "build up" to be able to accomodate us...

 

 

http://havanajournal.com/travel/entry/cruises-to-cuba-down-substantially-due-to-many-factors/

 

 

I guess the facility could handle one million guests a year but it sure doesn't look like it:

[*Mach*]

Thanks Mach. ;)

 

 

Sure!!!

:)

[rh3]

Cuba? China? North Korea? Too much to think about. I'm going to Venezuela.

[jbroons]

I don't want to give $$$ to any government including the US. I especially don't want to support a party that lost touch with what America is about and wants (Hint - they lost the last election).

 

Traveling to Cuba will put the majority of money spent in the hands of the people, not the government.

 

I would think the US auto industry, ruined by unions and mis-management, would be delighted to supply parts to the junker cars.

 

We sell rice to China and Russia, why not Cuba? Hell, we even have diplomatic connections to the Taliban.

 

China is now developing Cuba's offshore oil fields because US companies, 90 miles away, were prohibited from doing so. Where do you think the Chinese got the technology from?

 

The US only does business with communist and oppressive countries that are capable of challenging the US. Cuba is no threat to the US.

 

FYI, The unemployment rate in Cuba is 1.8%.

 

You are kidding about the bold part, right? That's a nice thought but.....

[cathalane]

I guess the facility could handle one million guests a year but it sure doesn't look like it:

 

BLUSHING... okay - maybe I shouldn't believe all that I read ;)

[WeBeCruisin']

Six Months, but I have a Question...Do you really want to give your $$$ to the current Cuban Government and Political system? Don't flame, just answer the question.

 

Since I had absolutely no problem spending money in St. Petersburg, Russia, and Paris, France, I could probably handle it. :D

[nolaAlive]

I guess the facility could handle one million guests a year but it sure doesn't look like it:

 

 

Neither does Galveston's :D:D:D

[nolaAlive]

You are kidding about the bold part, right? That's a nice thought but.....

 

No, I'm not.

[Traveler353]

Contrary to myth it is not illegal for US citizens to go to Cuba. We are not allowed to spend US dollars there. However there have been ways around this for many years. I have made several perfectly legal trips to Cuba and have enjoyed myself completly each trip. It would be much more convenient to go by cruise ship and I am awaiting the stupid and out of date restrictions to be lifted by the current US government.

[*Mach*]

Neither does Galveston's :D:D:D

 

 

It looks better than THAT and is much larger!! :)

Galveston claims to handle about 600,000 cruise passengers/year...

:)

[*Mach*]

Neither does Galveston's :D:D:D

 

 

Just to add some scale to that picture... the three masted schooner that's at the pier is the Captain Miranda from Uruguay:

http://www.sailboston.com/c_miranda.html

 

She's 205 feet at the waterline so she's probably about 230 in that picture including the bowsprit. It looks like that pier would be maxed out with a vessel of about 600 feet in length, much like the Braemar...

:)

[jetskier]

Look how much money we give to Saudi Arabia and guess who was flying the planes that crashed into the Towers and Pentagon.

Dave

[Dive Master]

Six Months, but I have a Question...Do you really want to give your $$$ to the current Cuban Government and Political system? Don't flame, just answer the question.

 

 

Not trying to flame !!! It seems most Americans prefer to go to Walmart and give their money to the "good Communist"--CHINA !!!

Cubans are bad communist---so says the holy US Government---good socialist.

[nolaAlive]

It looks better than THAT and is much larger!! :)

 

Galveston claims to handle about 600,000 cruise passengers/year...

 

:)

 

I'm not convinced it looks better. :)

 

 

If it isn't big enough, I understand there might be space available at Gitmo, soon. :D

[G'ma]

Looks like its a done deal. Any gueses on how long till Carnival changes cruises to stop at the island of Cuba?

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090413/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_cuba

 

It's going to be quite some time. Cuba has no TV, no internet, their infrastructure is collapsing. They have no facilities large enough or modern enough to start accepting huge modern cruise ships with thousands of people onboard. There aren't enough everyday utilities to take care of their own people, not enough food, not enough transportation.

 

There is a lot to do before this will happen.....it will be years.....Everything will need to be built from scratch by outside enterpreneurs working with the Cuban government in a cooperative effort. These negotiations themselves could take years.

 

They might do something similar to Labadee, Haiti where they can tender passengers to a beach somewhere in a remote area....but, I don't see any excursions to Havana or other cities happening for a long time.

[nolaAlive]

Where do you come up with this mis-information? Of course Cuba has TV and Internet.

 

Everybody seems to think the rest of the world is as slow as the US when it comes to building infrastructure.

 

Places like Grand Cayman, Cozumel, and Costa Maya put the US to shame when it came to disaster recovery, which is really no different.

 

One of my favorite Castro commercials:

[*Mach*]

I'm not convinced it looks better. :)

 

 

If it isn't big enough, I understand there might be space available at Gitmo, soon. :D

 

 

 

If you'd like to be there for an extended stay, yeah!!

The prison is kinda 'closing'... not the base... We have a unusual agreement, actually a treaty, that requires that both parties, the US and Cuba, must agree to terminate our lease. We send Cuba a check for the lease every year and they never cash it!!!

:D

[bakechef]

It's going to be quite some time. Cuba has no TV' date=' no internet, their infrastructure is collapsing. They have no facilities large enough or modern enough to start accepting huge modern cruise ships with thousands of people onboard. There aren't enough everyday utilities to take care of their own people, not enough food, not enough transportation.

 

There is a lot to do before this will happen.....it will be years.....Everything will need to be built from scratch by outside enterpreneurs working with the Cuban government in a cooperative effort. These negotiations themselves could take years.

 

They might do something similar to Labadee, Haiti where they can tender passengers to a beach somewhere in a remote area....but, I don't see any excursions to Havana or other cities happening for a long time.[/quote']

 

You're joking right?

[Pyro Tec]

No flame but....

 

How much money do we give China every year? Whats the differnce between the two?

nice :cool:

[TheVegasMan]

No flame but....

 

How much money do we give China every year? Whats the differnce between the two?

Umm, Cubans have much better tans.