When Oceania goes to Cuba ...

Regular readers of the Oceania thread on CC will be aware that on Oceania's first cruise to Cuba my wife and I are booked in the next cabin to our beloved leader FDR (I understand the last time I suggested that Oceania was going to Cuba it caused huge interest and some problems. So let me stress that this is all hypothetical at the moment. Especially as I probably couldn't afford the next cabin!).

FDR has Cuban "connections". And I'm reasonably certain that when (rather than if) the problems between the USA and Cuba disappear soon Oceania will be in the running to be the first US based cruise line serving this island. It could happen quite quickly and I understand cruise companies already have plans.

So I've done the research. Having recently returned from a seven day cruise around Cuba - with a stop in Jamaica - I can confirm Cuba is not to be missed as a cruise destination.

Our ship was an up-market Greek ferry (registered in Malta) that had been contracted for four months by a company in Canada. Consequently most passengers were from Canada but with a smattering from Norway to Australia - and the USA (hence the stop in Jamaica and the fact they don't stamp your passport in Cuba).

The ship was ok but way below O standards. The staff were good. The drink was cheap. The food was, to be kind, mediocre. But Cuba was fantastic.

When FDR announces the first Oceania cruise that includes Cuba don't miss it. Cuba is a slice through time and the country and people are fantastic.

Expect Hell to freeze over...

Cuba is indeed a beautiful country. Since there were apparently misunderstandings about Oceania cruising to Cuba, there are probably misunderstandings about why U.S. citizens visit Cuba. Speaking only for myself, we certainly did not visit Cuba to support their government. We visited Cuba twice to meet and learn about the people. We visited with a suitcase packed with useful gifts for the people we met that worked at the resort we stayed at. I had the opportunity to have long discussions with many residents -- mostly about the educational system and life in Cuba.

The words of one young man stays with me. At the time we visited Cuba (late 90's and once in 2002 or 2003) television stations were mostly utilized by Fidel Castro. People were not exposed to what was going on in the rest of the world. When he got a job at Club Med (no longer in Cuba), he was able to watch CNN on television. When he first saw it, his feeling was that he was "born again". It was overwhelming to be able to see the world.

Sorry for going off topic a bit. When Oceania is able to cruise to Cuba, I will definitely be on board:)

We're at least ten years away, imo. Will probably only be a one day stop on a Carribe tour of other ho-hum Carribe ports. Havana is old and mostly ran down. Will probably only have short term interest.

Some will be excited, while many will get off the ship walk around the dock, say "Yep, I've been in Cuba, add that to my list of countries visited" and get back on the boat.

National Geographic has an amazing trip to Cuba

On my list

Better than a cruise on any cruise line IMO

We're at least ten years away, imo. Will probably only be a one day stop on a Carribe tour of other ho-hum Carribe ports. Havana is old and mostly ran down. Will probably only have short term interest.

 

Some will be excited, while many will get off the ship walk around the dock, say "Yep, I've been in Cuba, add that to my list of countries visited" and get back on the boat.

I cannot imagine anyone feeling that way. The history is rich -- the people are incredible and there is much to see. Do you even know that there is a replica of our Capitol Building in Cuba? We spent two days in Havana and it was not enough. Varadero is modern -- fairly mundane but certainly not like boring Caribbean ports. Actually, there is nothing about Cuba that reminds me of the Caribbean other than the climate. There will eventually be amazing excursions to various parts of Cuba.

I am actually shocked that anyone could think of Cuba as a "ho-hum Caribe" port. On the other hand, once the gates are open and Carnival, RSSC and some of the other cruise lines get there, it may turn into just that. Right now Cuba is unspoiled (in more ways than one). If one does not see Cuba now, or when the first cruises from the U.S. go there, it will not be the same place. Quite sad.

My neighbor went to Cuba recently with Tauck. Had a fabulous time and is ready to go back. Yes, if O goes, I'm going to get on it as soon as I can. My aunt and uncle used to go all the time, and they loved it.

I have a wonderful charm bracelet from Cuba from them, and I treasure it. Hopefully O will make it to Cuba in my lifetime. :cool:

We went with the Center for Caribbean Religion and Culture two years ago. My father used to talk about hopping a ferry from Miami and spending vacations there in the early 1950s. Since the cars are all from that era and many of the houses, it was like a time warp. We brought medications, which are given out from the synagogue in Havana. The people were very appreciative.

I spent a week in Cuba a couple of summers ago. Havana is a lot of things, but boring is not one of them. The same is true for other parts of the island that I was able to visit.

When Cuba opens up, my advice is to go quickly.

You can go to Cuba now

Any number of companies have organized trips under the current permissible People to People program. Tauck, as mentioned above, is one of them. National Geographic and Smithsonian are others. Here is a partial list from one website.

http://www.lawg.org/storage/documents/people2people.pdf

There are more -- including Abercormbie and Kent. Google and you shall find.

I just don't see this as an Oceania (or any other) cruise. This requires skilled, knowledgable guides and some inland travel. There are already companies who have expertise in this area.

I understand Hawaiidan's comment. He advertises himself as an ex-military grunt so he probably feels the same way about Germany, Japan ... let's just say lots of places where people, not necessarily US citizens, risked their lives to overcome regimes that had been unfriendly.

As for pinotlover, it would appear his opinion is not based on any personal knowledge of Havana or Cuba. But he's probably an expert on lots of places in the world he's never visited.

Me? I'm not taking sides. But I'll bet FDR 5CUCs (that's the currency in Cuba for visitors) that Oceania will visit Havana within five years.

I understand Hawaiidan's comment. He advertises himself as an ex-military grunt so he probably feels the same way about Germany, Japan ... let's just say lots of places where people, not necessarily US citizens, risked their lives to overcome regimes that had been unfriendly.

 

As for pinotlover, it would appear his opinion is not based on any personal knowledge of Havana or Cuba. But he's probably an expert on lots of places in the world he's never visited.

 

Me? I'm not taking sides. But I'll bet FDR 5CUCs (that's the currency in Cuba for visitors) that Oceania will visit Havana within five years.

FDR was born in Cuba and came to the US when Castro assumed power. He has written about this on Cruise Critic before and has no plans whatsoever to return or have his ships go to Cuba until it is a democracy. I hope you win the bet, because we all hope for that and if this can occur in the next five years, we will all be thrilled and be on the maiden voyage.

I understand Hawaiidan's comment. He advertises himself as an ex-military grunt so he probably feels the same way about Germany, Japan ... let's just say lots of places where people, not necessarily US citizens, risked their lives to overcome regimes that had been unfriendly.

 

 

Me? I'm not taking sides. But I'll bet FDR 5CUCs (that's the currency in Cuba for visitors) that Oceania will visit Havana within five years.

How come there is a special money for visitors ????? Does UK have special Pounds for visitors? Hmmm I wonder why

Has nothing to do with it.....Its just that until Cuba becomes a free place when the castro brothers are not repressing and punishing their people I see , myself ( as well as the company president too) that rewarding dictators is not my cup of tea. I don't deal with criminals either....

Frank knows the truth about Cuba... and aside from the happy face in tourist areas the Cubans are not all that happy.... Tourist only are permitted to see what the government want them to see

Some people are looking for cheap booze and cheap digs flock to the place because its cheap . and cheap trumps all. a carribe costa del sol.

By the way Germany and Japan are now thriving free and democratic societies.. not the same and Adolf and Tojo and their kin are not still running their countries......

Me? I'm not taking sides. But I'll bet FDR 5CUCs (that's the currency in Cuba for visitors) that Oceania will visit Havana within five years.

How come there is a special money for visitors ????? Does UK have special Pounds for visitors? Hmmm I wonder why

5CUCs = 5 Cuban Centavos?.....?

Some people are looking for cheap booze and cheap digs flock to the place because its cheap . and cheap trumps all. a carribe costa del sol.

 

Cuba is definitely is not as cheap as you are indicating. The latest rates I've heard to go to the famous Tropicana show (an outdoor venue and not fancy by any means) is $90/person (U.S. dollars) and there are no cheap drinks around town. You have to remember that there are not a lot of restaurants and/or bars around -- it is not like other Caribbean destinations. Hotels are less money ($100-175/night). Less expensive hotels are not something that most Oceania customers would want to stay in.

The Cuban people I have spoken to would love to be able to travel to their country - even if the current government was still in charge -- as long as they could visit and return to the U.S. without having a problem.

Just think 650,000 Canadians visit Cuba each winter & then there are others from Europe that also go to Cuba for the winter months

Many nice hotels as well as not so nice ones if you want to go cheap

They have Cuban Pesos for the residents & Cuban Convertable Pesos for the Tourists

They also take CAD & USD there

as discussed before on many threads people from the USA find ways to travel to Cuba

Old Havana is a delicious place to be in at night, not just because of the top hotels but also the many private restaurants and guest houses that are springing up. It's warm, vibrant and very safe. Private homes are now offering rooms to let all over the country. I don't have personal knowledge of them but the reports I have heard and read from people who have used them have all been positive.

I have to admit I didn't talk to the people ploughing the fields with teams of oxen, or the guys herding goats on horseback. But I saw less beggars in the streets than in many places. And the people involved in tourism, a large number and growing, are doing well.

The government is planning to move to just one currency within the next two years. Good idea or bad, I can't say.

Did I feel bad about helping the Cuban economy? No. Things are changing fast in Cuba ... and my bet still stands. In fact I'll double it. Take me on FDR? ;)

You need to do some research, Balloon Man. Google "Capitol Hill Cubans" or read Mary Anastasia O'Grady on, for example, the political imprisonment of "The Women in White."

Cuba is one of the least free countries in the world. Moreover, a retired Neurosurgeon and World Health Organization friend of ours went there last month and told us that their vaunted "free" health care system is a bad Jo ke. Physicians are paid virtually nothing, hospitals lack basic supplies and up to date equipment and are chaotic, and the "low" infant mortality rate is achieved by not reporting the same way the U.S. does. Any young Cuban who can safely defect does so in a heartbeat.

You also don't appear to know or have forgotten that Fidel Castro told Khrushchev to nuke the U.S. in 1962.

We'd love to go when their totalitarian government finally falls. I'm with FDR.

I regularly get mailings through my UCLA Alumni Association for their travel programs. This year, they had three different tours to Cuba. The trips in February and March quickly sold out. There are still, apparently, openings on the November tour:

http://travel.alumni.ucla.edu/2014/11-cuba-legacies.aspx

Unfortunately, none of the dates thus far have matched with my wife's school district calendar...but, one day I hope to visit Cuba...

Will probably only be a one day stop on a Carribe tour of other ho-hum Carribe ports.

That's pretty much the case for any Caribe port on any Caribe cruise.

National Geographic has an amazing trip to Cuba

On my list

Better than a cruise on any cruise line IMO

Exactly. For most ports of call, the key to really getting a feel for the island/country/people/culture is to take land-based trip there and spend at least several days, not a cruise where you are ashore 4-8 hours.

We did not feel restricted at all during our two trips to Cuba. We wandered around in Havana on our own and took a taxi from Havana to Varadero (the tourist area) with a couple of stops along the way to look at some handmade wooden statues (small) that were made by locals -- really beautiful and inexpensive. We purchased several.

IMO, no matter how harsh the government is, visiting the people and giving them gifts of much needed items does more for them than it does for the government. As U.S. citizens, we are permitted to visit other communist countries with that treat their people no better than in Cuba. The people from the U.S. that visit Cuba (legally or illegally) generally provide the people with items they cannot get in their own country. I am happy to hear that others are visiting the lovely people of Cuba.:)

I'd like to go see Cuba...

And it has nothing to do with supporting the government there...

But, seriously...All of this rhetoric about America being the only ones in the world to stand up to dictatorships and oppressive governments? Pure rhetoric...

It's just CERTAIN oppressive dictatorships...

Americans travel freely to Saudi Arabia...and many other countries in the Arab world that are ruled by dictatorships that enforced laws biased against women and religious minorities and the like...We travel freely to Communist Vietnam...And to Communist China...and more...

The restrictions against Cuba are historical ...and political...

At this point in history, we should have learned that we have better hope of bringing about change by working WITH these countries. We are not going to topple the Cuban regime by shunning and ignoring them...Regimes change by the free exchange of information...communication...trade...pressure from the people within to change...and the march of time...old leaders die...new ones rise to power. The hope is to have the new ones have a different sense of international relations. Not going to get there by banning contact.

We are also not going to be able to reshape every foreign country into our own image. Cultures are different, politics are different. Some of them just don't want to be us. Better to accept the realities and find ways to best work with them.

JMHO...

I'd like to go see Cuba...

And it has nothing to do with supporting the government there...

 

But, seriously...All of this rhetoric about America being the only ones in the world to stand up to dictatorships and oppressive governments? Pure rhetoric...

It's just CERTAIN oppressive dictatorships...

 

Americans travel freely to Saudi Arabia...and many other countries in the Arab world that are ruled by dictatorships that enforced laws biased against women and religious minorities and the like...We travel freely to Communist Vietnam...And to Communist China...and more...

 

The restrictions against Cuba are historical ...and political...

 

At this point in history, we should have learned that we have better hope of bringing about change by working WITH these countries. We are not going to topple the Cuban regime by shunning and ignoring them...Regimes change by the free exchange of information...communication...trade...pressure from the people within to change...and the march of time...old leaders die...new ones rise to power. The hope is to have the new ones have a different sense of international relations. Not going to get there by banning contact.

 

We are also not going to be able to reshape every foreign country into our own image. Cultures are different, politics are different. Some of them just don't want to be us. Better to accept the realities and find ways to best work with them.

 

JMHO...

it would appear this thread may be getting too political as several posts have disappeared...anyway I agree fully with you Bruin Steve.

It is important also to remember Castro came to power because the Batista regime (supported by the US) was equally brutal and repressive; if not more so.

It was never my intention to make this a political thread. I simply wanted to explain that Cuba is a very special sort of "time warp" place to visit. And we found that being able to cruise to different locations was a benefit. You could, of course, travel overland. There are even cycle tours of the island.

As to the comment made by Benita that FDR would not take Oceania there until it had democracy, I can't find that comment and would appreciate a guide as to where I might. Oceania visits lots of countries that are not democratic (and some that have to this day nuclear weapons pointed at the USA - and UK) and I find it hard to believe that he wouldn't want to be first off the ship when it initially berths in Havana, and then sit on the top deck of the hoho bus (stops close to the cruise terminal) as it winds its way around this very special city.

When?

There's no time like the present.