Cruising to Cuba???????

Our Congregation offered a study tour to Cuba a few years ago. It was approved by the Government and if DH and I had been available to travel those dates, we definitely would have joined the group. Sadly, we had committments that made it impossible.

I would have loved to have gone then to Cuba or at any point in the future.

It is easy for Americans to go to Cuba. There are direct flights from most major Canadian cities, usually within a easy drive or flight from the US border.

I have been on a flight to Cuba where about half of the flight were Americans from the Buffalo NY area. They had booked through a regular package vacation company through a TA. One restriction: they weren't allowed to bring back Cuban cigars.

Americans can go there on vacation and thousands do every year. There are a small minority of tourists. Most are Canadian or European. I think something like a million Canadians go there every year.

There are lots of tour companies out there that sell flight and hotel deals. Louis Cristal Cruises does the Cuban cruises. There have been others over the years. I know air transat holidays sells those cruises, as well as land vacations.

Cuba is not a tourist backwater or undiscovered. There are thousands of hotel rooms in the main tourist areas. Huge all inclusive resorts. There are many tourist areas on the island. The beaches are fantastic! And, no, they all don't drive around in 1950's American cars. Most cars are the usual European or Asian compact cars.

I have been in Havana a few times, it is a fun and funky city.

It is a typical Caribbean island in many regards. It has interesting historical buildings, and lots of emphasis on education and the arts. It is not comparable to Canada or the US, it is more like Jamaica, St. Lucia or Dominican Republic. There are major European hotel chains, but I don't think McDonalds has fouled the landscape yet.

Google Cuba tourism, you will get a good idea what sort of places are great to visit on the island.

Its also time for all the restrictions on tourists to be lifted. Louis Lines has a ship visiting Cuba.

Castro once said he would never allow cruise ships to visit....

Assuming you would get booked...

I believe that the Cuban immigration people, aware of what would happen to a US citizen, add a piece of paper to the passport for their stamp, that is easily removed once leaving.

That's what they did for us when we visited Cuba in 2009 from Jamaica.

I do not understand the link between approval of US travel to Cuba and the apparently dreaded commercialization. Cuban building permits will be what they are whether the US government permits travel there or not. US citizens have been traveling to Bermuda since the days of Mark Twain ( and earlier) and it remains far less commercialized than Mexico's recently developed Riviera Maya; it is the place that let's itself get commercialized, not the people who go there.

It is my understanding that you could take the cruise and go ashore in any Cuban ports. Your problem would be returning to the US. If the immigration official notices the Cuban stamp in your passport, you could be arrested.

Cuban Immigration Officials are very accommodating with American visitors to Cuba.

Instead of stamping your passport, and possibly causing you problems at home, they offer to stamp a paper that you can carry in your passport while in Cuba.

After departing Cuba, you simply remove the paper, and all is good with US Immigration when you return to the USA.

Cuba is a hugely popular place for us chosen frozen from Canada to visit in the winter and we have done so several times. I have never been to a Cuban resort that didn't have a large number of American guests. Lots of US citizens are on each and every flight to Cuba from Toronto, Montreal and many other Canadian cities.

I am certain that relations between the two countries will warm in the future and that travel restrictions will be eased at some point. Lots of Cuban aircraft fly into MIA daily with Cuban passengers.

I have been reading that there is a legal way for Americans to visit Cuba and they are offering cruises. I would love to hear from people that have sailed on these cruises. Happy Sailing, Joy

My wife just asked me the other day if we could go see cuba. Unfortunately not right now, I said. Im sure we will be able to get there within the next 10 years tho. Roads are opening up and castro wont live too much longer. Like the others, I hope to catch it before it gets commercialized.