Cuba?

In another thread, CC poster Balloon Man wrote the following: "If FDR did (and we are in the next suite to him on Oceania's first cruise to Cuba) he would probably...."

Okay, never mind the FDR reference as it's a different topic. Tell me about Cuba! O is sailing to Cuba? Really? It's the first I've heard about that destination and I can't find it listed as a destination anywhere in O's itineraries for all ships through the end of next year.

Not doubting Balloon Man's word, however, as I notice he lives in the UK and this may be a charter or other special voyage for non-US citizens. We Americans normally are forbidden to travel to Cuba except under special circumstances, unlike most citizens of the world, so maybe it will be a cruise only for Brits and other non-US nationalities. Pity if it is, but rules are rules until we change them, I suppose.

Anyone have any information regarding ship, date and eligibility? I wanna go!

Thanks in advance for any info.

In another thread, CC poster Balloon Man wrote the following: "If FDR did (and we are in the next suite to him on Oceania's first cruise to Cuba) he would probably...."

 

Okay, never mind the FDR reference as it's a different topic. Tell me about Cuba! O is sailing to Cuba? Really? It's the first I've heard about that destination and I can't find it listed as a destination anywhere in O's itineraries for all ships through the end of next year.

 

Not doubting Balloon Man's word, however, as I notice he lives in the UK and this may be a charter or other special voyage for non-US citizens. We Americans normally are forbidden to travel to Cuba except under special circumstances, unlike most citizens of the world, so maybe it will be a cruise only for Brits and other non-US nationalities. Pity if it is, but rules are rules until we change them, I suppose.

 

Anyone have any information regarding ship, date and eligibility? I wanna go!

 

Thanks in advance for any info.

Sorry to disappoint. but it appears that you have been semi-blindsided by something of an "inside joke" among the Forum regulars.

During one of Fidel's earlier periods of poor health, Mr. Del Rio, who has a Cuban heritage, mentioned that he would like to send an Oceania ship to Cuba, "just as soon as it openes up".

There was a very positive reaction to his suggestion, with many of us volunteering to make reservations on such a cruise, immediately, but nothing further than that.

As the years pass, the "idea" of cruising to Cuba lingers, but at present none appeare on the sailing schedule.

Once Castro is out of the picture, it may be another story...

Would love to go to Cuba if available. Let me know when. :)

FYI, Tauck has tours to Cuba. http://www.tauck.com

FYI, Tauck has tours to Cuba. http://www.tauck.com

So do many other companies - we went there with Insight Cuba.

Thanks, Jim & Stan. Now that you explain it, I grasp the irony of Balloon Man's comment. Very well-stated and worth a smile from those aware of the inside joke.

Oh well...maybe that Cuba cruise will happen somehow someday before I keel over. I'll be waiting.

Thanks also to the subsequent posters. Yes, I am aware that there are "cultural tours" available to Cuba from the US but, frankly, I'm more interested in just being a tourist in a new and fascinating country. If the price of admission requires a "visit with farmers to talk about agrarian reform and organic farming (and) interacting with members of charitable organizations to talk about their work" (from the Tauck website), or a "full schedule of guided people-to-people activities" (from the Insight Cuba website), then it's too steep for me.

I would rather be walking the streets on my own, wherever my feet take me, listening to music, ogling the classic American cars miraculously preserved out of necessity, lounging on the seafront while enjoying a couple of beers, watching the life of the city and the bay pass by, seeing some of the resorts & nightclubs enjoyed by Canadian and other non-US visitors. Basically, doing what I do in every cruise port: soaking up what I can without being handcuffed to a group by a rigid pre-arranged itinerary.

But thanks for the suggestions! Maybe someday....

Thanks, Jim & Stan. Now that you explain it, I grasp the irony of Balloon Man's comment. Very well-stated and worth a smile from those aware of the inside joke.

 

Oh well...maybe that Cuba cruise will happen somehow someday before I keel over. I'll be waiting.

 

Thanks also to the subsequent posters. Yes, I am aware that there are "cultural tours" available to Cuba from the US but, frankly, I'm more interested in just being a tourist in a new and fascinating country. If the price of admission requires a "visit with farmers to talk about agrarian reform and organic farming (and) interacting with members of charitable organizations to talk about their work" (from the Tauck website), or a "full schedule of guided people-to-people activities" (from the Insight Cuba website), then it's too steep for me.

 

I would rather be walking the streets on my own, wherever my feet take me, listening to music, ogling the classic American cars miraculously preserved out of necessity, lounging on the seafront while enjoying a couple of beers, watching the life of the city and the bay pass by, seeing some of the resorts & nightclubs enjoyed by Canadian and other non-US visitors. Basically, doing what I do in every cruise port: soaking up what I can without being handcuffed to a group by a rigid pre-arranged itinerary.

 

But thanks for the suggestions! Maybe someday....

It's your choice, of course, but to do all those things you wish to do in Cuba you would surely need a lot more time than a day in port.

My philosophy is to do things while I can as I have no guarantees of tomorrow. :)

I've heard and seen to many stories of "I'll do it after I retire or I'll do it later", etc. That time never comes for some people.

YMMV

I would rather be walking the streets on my own, wherever my feet take me, listening to music, ogling the classic American cars miraculously preserved out of necessity, lounging on the seafront while enjoying a couple of beers, watching the life of the city and the bay pass by, seeing some of the resorts & nightclubs enjoyed by Canadian and other non-US visitors. Basically, doing what I do in every cruise port: soaking up what I can without being handcuffed to a group by a rigid pre-arranged itinerary..

I, too, am hoping for that opportunity.

I have looked at the various trips to Cuba (Nat'l Geographic looks wonderful on many levels) but I am not convinced I want to go on such a structured journey. I speak fluent Spanish and I would like to immerse myself in the location at my own pace.

There are flights to Cuba out of the Tampa airport.

Paulchili is correct, of course, that one day in port isn't enough to learn or see much in a city the size of Havana.

However, since this is speculation anyway, I contend that O would visit more than one port in Cuba and would treat Havana in much the same way as St. Petersburg, Russia. Two nights for sure, maybe three in order to offer some full-day city tours and even two-day cultural tours out of the city for those who are interested.

That leaves plenty of time for us independent types to spend a day wandering and "soaking" and a day with a private guide seeing and visiting some of the environs. I suspect those private guides already exist in abundance due to tourists/travelers from most other countries already having unrestricted access to Cuba. Some of them must want to get out and about. Plus, with a private guide, you get to ride in a '56 Buick!

All speculation, of course. I hope Mr. Del Rio is able to make it happen someday, for a whole host of reasons.

Originally Posted by DrHemlock View Post

I would rather be walking the streets on my own, wherever my feet take me, listening to music, ogling the classic American cars miraculously preserved out of necessity, lounging on the seafront while enjoying a couple of beers, watching the life of the city and the bay pass by, seeing some of the resorts & nightclubs enjoyed by Canadian and other non-US visitors. Basically, doing what I do in every cruise port: soaking up what I can without being handcuffed to a group by a rigid pre-arranged itinerary"

Is this not the best way to get the feel of a place never visited? I agree 100%, DrHemlock. One gets to meet the nicest folks this way. In Cadiz a couple of years ago with my sister, walking the narrow streets in the residential area, a woman invited us into her home and gave us a tour of this villa built in the early 1800's that she, husband, son and DIL just purchased and were doing some restoration work. Now that's something that will never happen on an organized tour. And all we needed for an invite was a smile and a hello! Such a cheap price for a priceless, never to be forgotten, experience!

Donna

Also wish we could cruise to Cuba. We have been there twice (illegally) and have to laugh at the perception people in the U.S. have of Cuba. We did see old cars, however, we were taken from Havana to Varadero in a late model SUV. When we needed an airport transfer, we were picked up by a Mercedes. More importantly, if the doors opened to Cuba today (wishful thinking), the infrastructure would not accommodate passengers from cruise ships.

The people we met in Cuba were warm, lovely people. IMO, the best way to visit Cuba is on your own -- not in a group of 1,000 of your friends:-)

There was a cruise line, Tropicana Cruises, until recently that was calling on Cuba, it stopped within the past 6 months or so due to financial issues, but is trying to reorganize. It's certainly not a line like Oceania, or even close, more like ship transportation with a room and some food, decent but not luxurious. Most of their clientele is Russian, but they are quite diverse; and a few Americans had figured it out and were using it. The ship they use is Adriana or Ariana, something like that.

Their usual itinerary is to sail back and forth from Puerto Morelos, which is a couple of miles south of Cancun, to Cuba, and back; this takes an overnight sail. You could buy a round trip, and spend a couple of nights with the ship docked in Cuba, and then sail back; or you could buy a one way, stay a few nights independently in Cuba, and then return to Puerto Morelos on another one way cruise.

Sometimes they switched up their itineraries and visited Jamaica too, and on occasion Campeche or Progreso, Mexico.

There was a cruise line, Tropicana Cruises, until recently that was calling on Cuba, it stopped within the past 6 months or so due to financial issues, but is trying to reorganize. It's certainly not a line like Oceania, or even close, more like ship transportation with a room and some food, decent but not luxurious. Most of their clientele is Russian, but they are quite diverse; and a few Americans had figured it out and were using it. The ship they use is Adriana or Ariana, something like that.

Their usual itinerary is to sail back and forth from Puerto Morelos, which is a couple of miles south of Cancun, to Cuba, and back; this takes an overnight sail. You could buy a round trip, and spend a couple of nights with the ship docked in Cuba, and then sail back; or you could buy a one way, stay a few nights independently in Cuba, and then return to Puerto Morelos on another one way cruise.

Sometimes they switched up their itineraries and visited Jamaica too, and on occasion Campeche or Progreso, Mexico.

Built in Greece as the Aquarious in 1972, and subsequently sold to the Yugoslavs who operated her as the Adriana in the Adriatic for a number of years.

In 1997 she passed into French hands and is now registered as Adriana in St. Kitts of all places.

At only 4500 tons (one sixth the size of an R ship) her passenger capacity is still a mind boggling 300 passengers.

Tropicana Cruises LTD operated her mostly as a day-boat last Winter, running from Cancun to Havana, but it appears that the venture failed. Tropicana has no future cruises scheduled and the ship is presently sailing in the Black Sea.

Canadian company Yourcubacruise.com has chartered an old Greek ship for (I think) the last three months of this year and the first three of 2014. It will make a weekly cruise around Cuba with one stop in Jamaica (perhaps so that someone we know can slip on board incognito. I've reserved the next cabin to ours just in case).

There are also flights in and out of Nassau, The Bahamas on a regular basis.

I wouldn`t worry too much about being "structured" on these cultural tours, if what you mean is being indoctrinated, lectured or harangued. We haven`t experienced that in Cuba on our visits (we`re Canadian, so we`re permitted). I don`t find that Cubans are very interested in trying to convert people to their political system. By the same token, they likely don`t wish for people from elsewhere to tell them why they should reject the way their country operates just on someone else`s say-so.

It`s a very interesting country. They do things like farming and manufacturing quite differently, so it might be worthwhile to see what they`re doing and why they think it works for them. One thing to keep in mind is they know a lot more about the USA and what it`s like than US citizens know about them and the way they live. I don`t mean that in a sinister way. They can pick up the internet and American TV. But most US citizens don`t see much unfiltered info about Cuba.

You should go soon if you want to see those grand old cars. The Cubans somehow keep some of them hanging on to life, but the revolution was in 1959. They`re almost 60 years old and they can`t last forever.

There are some European cruise lines that obviously don't visit US ports that call in Cuba, one being Fred Olsen Cruise Lines.

No one is pulling your leg. There is really a cruise around Cuba that just started in Dec 2014. Its being operated by a Canadian company. How do I know?? I am on that cruise Jan 27. So far it sounds like the first couple were successful. It leaves from Havana on Mondays and Montego Bay Jam on Wed Google My Cuba Cruise to see that it is a LOUIS CRYSTAL. Ship.

We were on this cruise starting January 17th. We had a wonderful time and really enjoyed 5 completely different ports in Cuba. The ship in most of the ports for longer than usual on cruises so we had more time to explore on our own. The staff onboard were outstanding. I have been on newer, more glitzy ships, but i have never been on a ship I enjoyed more. All the ship's staff made us feel that we were very special guests. The entertainment was really wonderful. The port stops were varied and interesting. am recommending this cruise to all our friends.

Sent from my GT-P5113 using Forums mobile app

We've been all over the Caribbean, and you can see the island as you pass it by but we can't pull into port. I too am very interested in visiting for the day when its once again legal to do so. Would sign up for a cruise very quickly.

Not only can you see it, but your phone can also hop onto its cellphone network Cubacel if you are close enough.

Bookings can now be made for the next cruise season,on the Louis Cristal, which starts in December.

We recently booked for Jan 26. We will fly into Havana and spend 3 days, followed by the 7 day cruise around the Island. Can't Wait!

We recently booked for Jan 26. We will fly into Havana and spend 3 days, followed by the 7 cruise around the Island. Can't Wait!

We are also booked on the Louis Cristal on the 7 day cruise around Cuba.

We fly into Montego Bay in Jamaca and spend a couple of days, sailing from Montego on 23 Jan.

Montego Bay, Jamaica 1730

Sat 24 Jan Cienfuegos & Trinidad 1100 1900

Sun 25 Jan Punta Frances on the Isle of Youth 0830 1430

Mon 26 Jan Havana 0930 2330

Tue 27 Jan At Sea

Wed 28 Jan Holguin 0830 1730

Antilla Bahaide de Nipe

Thur 29 Jan Santiago De Cuba 1000 1900

Fri 30 Jan Montego Bay, Jamaica 0730

For more information contact Your Cuba Cruise at http://www.yourcubacruise.com/