Cuba

Is Celebrity going to Cuba any time soon?

Doesn't look like it.

For the time being Cuba cannot handle the larger ships of today that Celebrity uses. Royal Caribbean brought back the Empress of the Seas to handle Cuba cruise. I don't see Celebrity joining that market because it would mean pulling one of their smaller ships out of the Galopogos and those ships are already pretty booked up.

Captain Kate answered this question early this month on the Summit .

Celebrity will not be visiting Cuba until an independent review of human rights and guarantees of adequate tourist safety and a more progressive public infrastructure for non-citizens has been proven to meets it's passengers needs.

As of right now the cruise ships that are visiting there from an USA departure can only let passengers disembark for a port day when there if they have confirmed cultural guides (arrange for by the cruise line) or a sponsor's letter of humanitarian purpose to do volunteer work (arrange for by the cruise line or charity approved of in Cuba) or have relatives on the island that received a visitors visa (by the Cuban government before boarding).

Interesting since the other two lines, Royal Caribbean and Azamara do not seem to have those same concerns and are visiting Cuba. They also carry passengers to Russia and China, two countries that certainly have their own human rights issues. I have also read that Cuba can only support the smaller ships.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Oceania has the best itinerary for Cuba.

I have to agree with jabrown40. It may well be the company line that Captain Kate is giving people but the reality is Celebrity does not have any ships that can be handled by Cuban ports and indeed Royal and Azamara are sailing to Cuba now. Royal Caribbean owns all three lines so the human rights stuff holds no water in my book.

I am booked on Viking for November, looking forward to the overnight stay as well as Key West. Love that it will be a new ship. Would have liked Oceania as well, but these itineraries sell out fast!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Celebrity's ships too large for Cuba?......how about bringing back Century, or Zenith?

It is all about the size of the ships, nothing about "human rights". If they still had Zenith and Horizon in their inventory, I can quite guarantee that they would be sailing to Cuba as we speak. And the Galapagos ships are registered in Ecuador, staffed by Ecuadorians and are way too small to accommodate those who would want to go to Cuba. And with the highest per-diems in the fleet, it would be financial suicide to move Xpedition to Cuba, even if it was legally possible.

As of right now the cruise ships that are visiting there from an USA departure can only let passengers disembark for a port day when there if they have confirmed cultural guides (arrange for by the cruise line) or a sponsor's letter of humanitarian purpose to do volunteer work (arrange for by the cruise line or charity approved of in Cuba) or have relatives on the island that received a visitors visa (by the Cuban government before boarding).

That has not been true for a while. No need for a ship tour or a private tour if you don't want to. All you need to do is self-certify that your time in Cuba is a people oriented or culturally oriented pursuit. You can disembark the ship and be on your own.

The notion (not from the quoted poster, BTW) that you are visiting some closed society where your every move will be under Cuban supervision is beyond absurd. Even 5 years ago when we visited, at the very onset of the "people to people" program, we were free to go anywhere and do anything when we weren't actually touring. Walked all over Havana, including the Malecon and city parks, with no restrictions whatsoever.

Yes, I've been reading reviews of N. Sky and Empress of the Seas, and it seems that people are booking ship tours, private tours, or just wandering around.

I know my dh would almost die w/o good air conditioning ... and that seems to be a luxury in Cuba. Then there's the money changing and no US credit cards///...., and I think we'll wait.

;)

However, I'll still read the reviews with great interest.