MichelleLiebler

51 minutes ago, pinkie60 said:

You’re making a big deal over nothing. If you take people to people you are free to go wherever and whatever you want to do. Is your purpose to make a political statement? If that’s your purpose this is not the platform to make it on.

Excuse me?  There is no need to be rude and make assumptions.  You are also wrong on two counts - no, I am not trying to "make a political statement" - I am simply trying to follow the regulations correctly.  And you are also incorrect about the People to People requirements - you are not free to do whatever you want under that reasoning.  I've read the OFAC regulations and they require you to go on a group tour with a US-based tour company/US citizen tour guide.  This is why I am trying to use a different reasoning - our travel will not fulfill the People to People requirement, and I want to ensure that I've followed regulations should we get audited.

1 hour ago, travelingtink said:

 

I was on MSC, not NCL, but here's my experience. 

 

I did use the visa supplied by the cruise line but did not book an excursion. We docked by noon, but since I did not have anything booked until the evening, I was in no rush to get off the ship. About 2 hours after our arrival, I was ready to go explore. I walked off the ship and ended up leaving at the same time as one of the excursions, so the lines were not as short as I had hoped. Even so, it only took about 15 minutes to get through customs and exchange my money. 

 

You leave the ship as normal, having them scan your cruise card. Once in the terminal you present your passport and are directed to one of the customs agents. This is where the lines are. There were about 5-7 agents available at the time I left and since i was behind an excursion, this is where most of my time was spent. I think there were about 10 lines total, which are probably manned when disembarkation initially starts. I presented my visa and passport to the agent, who reviewed the documents, stamped my passport, took my photo and sent me on my way. Next up is a xray and metal detector, just like the airport. 

 

At the end of the terminal is the currency exchange, which had about 15 people in line. However, our cruise director gave us a little tip. Go down the stairs on the left and there are a few more exchange windows. I went downstairs and there was no line whatsoever. 

Thank you!  This is extremely helpful!

27 minutes ago, pinkie60 said:

Do you mind me asking you how much you paid for your visa? We paid $75 per person.  

I think it was like $80, so definitely not cheaper.  Unfortunately I previously thought that the affidavit was tied to the visa, so we initially thought if we did the visa separately, we could avoid doing the P2P affidavit through NCL - so that's why we did it that way.

Hello!  My husband, young son, and I will be on the Norwegian Sky and visiting Havana on June 11. We've purchased the visa through an outside company instead of through NCL, so we won't need to do that through the cruise line.  Can anyone with experience tell me how long the disembarkation process is, and what the steps are?  What are the checkpoints we should expect to go through?  Is there a difference in steps and time if you didn't get your visa through the cruise line?  I'm trying to estimate when I should book our tour for.

Hello!  My husband, young son, and I will be on the Norwegian Sky and visiting Havana on June 11. We've purchased the visa through an outside company instead of through NCL, so we won't need to do that through the cruise line.  Can anyone with experience tell me how long the disembarkation process is, and what the steps are?  What are the checkpoints we should expect to go through?  Is there a difference in steps and time if you didn't get your visa through the cruise line?  I'm trying to estimate when I should book our tour for.

Hello,

Apologies if I am posting in the wrong place as this is my first post.

My husband, almost one year old son and I are on the Norwegian Sky for a cruise to Havana next month. Who has done this cruise and used the “Support for the Cuban People” reasoning?

I would like to select this option as the group People to People option is not something we want to do - with our young son, a long group tour with pre-determined stops is not ideal. Instead, we plan to book a private car tour through a local company, eat at private paladors, etc. I am quite sure that this is OFAC compliant after doing my research.

However, NCL is giving us a hard time and not allowing us to select this as a reason. I am pretty sure this is because we are trying to purchase the visa through them, since it’s really not legal for them to stop us from using “Support for the Cuban People”.

So then we can just purchase the visa through an outside company, that’s fine. But what is the process like to disembark the ship? I am reading horror stories of people being held up by the cruise line (not by customs) when trying to select “Support for the Cuban People” - is this only because they are trying to get their visas through the cruise line? Or is NCL doing visa/affidavit checks before allowing you off the ship, even if you purchase the visa from an outside source?

Hopefully this question makes sense - I appreciate any insight you all have.

Hello,

Apologies if I am posting in the wrong place as this is my first post.

My husband, almost one year old son and I are on the Norwegian Sky for a cruise to Havana next month. Who has done this cruise and used the “Support for the Cuban People” reasoning?

I would like to select this option as the group People to People option is not something we want to do - with our young son, a long group tour with pre-determined stops is not ideal. Instead, we plan to book a private car tour through a local company, eat at private paladors, etc. I am quite sure that this is OFAC compliant after doing my research.

However, NCL is giving us a hard time and not allowing us to select this as a reason. I am pretty sure this is because we are trying to purchase the visa through them, since it’s really not legal for them to stop us from using “Support for the Cuban People”.

So then we can just purchase the visa through an outside company, that’s fine. But what is the process like to disembark the ship? I am reading horror stories of people being held up by the cruise line (not by customs) when trying to select “Support for the Cuban People” - is this only because they are trying to get their visas through the cruise line? Or is NCL doing visa/affidavit checks before allowing you off the ship, even if you purchase the visa from an outside source?

Hopefully this question makes sense - I appreciate any insight you all have.