Norwegian Sky?s new port of call to Cuba ?Tourist Card? requirement

I am curious if there are any other members that are booked to cruise to Cuba on NCL and if they have tried to obtain a ?Tourist Card? to disembark at the port of Havana. NCL is offering a document service to procure the required ?Tourist Card? at a cost of $75 per person. Has anyone tried to obtain the card directly from the Republic of Cuba Embassy in Washington DC? Very excited to visit this destination and looking for to see as much as I can see in a day and a half. I am also finding that ground excursions offered by NCL can also be purchased on-line from the operators in Cuba at a much more advantageous rate....

I am curious if there are any other members that are booked to cruise to Cuba on NCL and if they have tried to obtain a ?Tourist Card? to disembark at the port of Havana. NCL is offering a document service to procure the required ?Tourist Card? at a cost of $75 per person. Has anyone tried to obtain the card directly from the Republic of Cuba Embassy in Washington DC? Very excited to visit this destination and looking for to see as much as I can see in a day and a half. I am also finding that ground excursions offered by NCL can also be purchased on-line from the operators in Cuba at a much more advantageous rate....

Keep in mind that cruises that stop in Cuba have to meet specific requirements . The excursions have to what is called "People2People". Meaning that you have to be in contact and help the Cuban people. This covers a lot of things.

I understand and the excursions I speak of mirror what NCL is offering but at a lesser cost. For example a ticket to the Tropicana review is $199 pp. You can buy the same ticket for between $60 to $110 directly from the Tropicana on-line box office. This is obviously a substantial savings. However there is no mention of maintaining a ?log? of cultural interventions on NCL?s website. Where this is new to NCL I think it will be fine tuned as they learn from experience... Have you been on this particular itinerary as of yet?

We traveled to Havana last April (not via a cruise) and it's a great city.

• The ferry terminal has a market of various souvenirs and crafted items. It's the best selection we found in the city. It's mostly the same stuff in each stall so walk around and see what you like. We bought some beautiful wood figurines for about 3-9CUC and several hummingbird ornaments for about 1-2CUC each.

• Do NOT buy cigars from people off the street. These are not quality cigars, you do not get a receipt, and they may be confiscated upon re-entry to the US. All cigars prices are fixed by the governnent so don't waste time price shopping.

• Havana Club rum is great! Again, the prices are fixed by the government so don't waste time price shopping. The government stores sell both liquor and cigars.

• Make sure you tip any tour guides, drivers, etc. The average Cuban earns about $20 USD a month and they depend on tips to supplement their income.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Forums mobile app

I understand and the excursions I speak of mirror what NCL is offering but at a lesser cost. For example a ticket to the Tropicana review is $199 pp. You can buy the same ticket for between $60 to $110 directly from the Tropicana on-line box office. This is obviously a substantial savings. However there is no mention of maintaining a ?log? of cultural interventions on NCL?s website. Where this is new to NCL I think it will be fine tuned as they learn from experience... Have you been on this particular itinerary as of yet?

I'm assuming the price difference includes transport to/from the Tropicana. Most tours are required to use the official government coach tour buses and mini buses along with a guide and driver. Havana is a big city but there is not a lot of public transport or taxis available unless you're at a hotel.

You could take a coco taxi (like a tuk tuk) but I wouldn't trust riding in that for more than a mile or two. I definitely would not take one of those from the port to the Tropicana and I wouldn't want to take one of those at night.

I am curious if there are any other members that are booked to cruise to Cuba on NCL and if they have tried to obtain a ?Tourist Card? to disembark at the port of Havana. NCL is offering a document service to procure the required ?Tourist Card? at a cost of $75 per person. Has anyone tried to obtain the card directly from the Republic of Cuba Embassy in Washington DC? Very excited to visit this destination and looking for to see as much as I can see in a day and a half. I am also finding that ground excursions offered by NCL can also be purchased on-line from the operators in Cuba at a much more advantageous rate....

We are on the May 8th sailing. We have arranged a day tour with havana tour company. It offer way more than the NCL excursion and is much cheaper. We found a couple of people from our roll call to join us and that lowered our price even more. This company is highly rated on trip advisor and they arranged a spot closer to the port to meet us and a time that works with our anticipated time getting off the ship and time to exchange money.

We also decided to do two excursions through NCL--the cabaret at hotel dnacional and the rum and cigar tour the day we leave. These two we decided to go with convenience over cost.

Also NCL told us we have to keep a log of activities for 5 years to satisfy the people to people entry. We also bought our visa through NCL to keep it simple.

I think no matter what it will be fun.

We are doing this cruise in July. How did you obtain the visa through NCL?

We are doing this cruise in July. How did you obtain the visa through NCL?

I called them and they added it. I paid for it with final payment. I think you have to call.

You have to call NCL to obtain the visa.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Don't forget your travel affidavit, the info that we had at the time, this needs to be sent to NCL 30 days before your cruise. This will also need to be kept for 5 years. I have already done this for our May 1 sailing. We are also letting NCL handle our Visas.

I am curious if there are any other members that are booked to cruise to Cuba on NCL and if they have tried to obtain a ?Tourist Card? to disembark at the port of Havana. NCL is offering a document service to procure the required ?Tourist Card? at a cost of $75 per person. Has anyone tried to obtain the card directly from the Republic of Cuba Embassy in Washington DC? Very excited to visit this destination and looking for to see as much as I can see in a day and a half. I am also finding that ground excursions offered by NCL can also be purchased on-line from the operators in Cuba at a much more advantageous rate....

The tourist card I believe is really called a Visa.

Our TA took care of the Visa through NCL.

We just booked a cruise to Cuba for June on NCL and purchased our visa through NCL. I'm still confused about the visas. When do we get them? I

The tourist card I believe is really called a Visa.

If you're purchased it from NCL you will receive it either at check-in or on board. Don't lose it…

Thanks so much hawkeyetlse!

Both terms are used. The document itself says "Visa – Tarjeta del Turista" (or at least it did in the past). I haven't seen the current pink model used for arrivals from the US, but I've heard it's identical apart from the color, and the price.

 

If you're purchased it from NCL you will receive it either at check-in or on board. Don't lose it…

How much does it cost?

Are you from Iowa? I was born in Davenport.

I am curious if there are any other members that are booked to cruise to Cuba on NCL and if they have tried to obtain a ?Tourist Card? to disembark at the port of Havana. NCL is offering a document service to procure the required ?Tourist Card? at a cost of $75 per person. Has anyone tried to obtain the card directly from the Republic of Cuba Embassy in Washington DC?....

The "tourist card" that's needed is also called a visa. The cost for the card is $25USD from Cuba, at terminal. The Cuban Embassy in the US does not sell tourist Visa's yet(only business and journalist). You can take a chance and buy one upon arrival in Havana, but personally I feel more comfortable having NCL do it ahead of time and charge me more! If you choose to wait, I would definitely check with NCL to see if they will let you board without it first.

I am not aware of them selling visas/tourist cards upon arrival at the cruise terminal. Where did you get this information, and the price?

At Havana airport, yes, it has been possible in the past to purchase a tourist card, but most airlines will not let you board a flight to Cuba if you don't already have this document (or agree to buy it from them). I don't know if NCL has the same rule.

Ncl told me we wouldn't be allowed on the ship without it.

Sent from my SM-G900P using Forums mobile app

Travel to Cuba ...you need an up to date passport, a Cuba visa and a Cuba travel Vertifacation -why are you goingto Cuba tourist card. AND very important travelers insurance. As your health provider probably will not cover an incident in Cuba. Nor will the Cubsn government accept U.S. Health policy, unless you are from ?Canada.

I think this info is accurate.

A

You need a passport, a tourist card ("visa"), and medical insurance. NCL will sell you the tourist card, and according to their website, Cuba-approved medical insurance is included in the cruise fare (but I would want to have more details about that, and possibly arrange additional coverage).

I don't know what you mean by "Cuba travel verification", but NCL will make you sign an affidavit declaring that you are traveling under the people to people general license or whatever. It sounds like they are making all passengers do this, even though it's really only for Americans and US residents. But Cuba doesn't care about this, and it won't be enough for the US authorities if they decide to look into the details of your travel after you get back. You have to be able to produce additional records proving that you were not in Cuba for tourism (which is probably a lie, but thousands of people do it every week, so don't sweat it).

Take a look at this page

https://www.ncl.com/freestyle-cruise/cruise-travel-documents

The document that needs to be signed and returned to NCL is on that page. You can sign and scan it to email it in.

The Visa is $75 through NCL. We were also told we could not board unless we had a Visa. So no buying one in Cuba.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

It is my understanding that if u don't disembark in Cuba, u do not need a visa. So why would Ncl not let u board without one? Stormy

The ship enters Cuba, so technically they can require everyone on board to have a visa, even if you don't get off the ship. In the case of the Cuban tourist card, it's pretty hard for them to enforce this, unless they actually come on board and demand each passenger's papers. They don't do that, but instead they can tell the carrier (NCL) to do it for them. Again, there's no way for them to double-check, but cruise lines tend to take this sort of thing pretty seriously…