Oceania and Visa for Havana

WOO HOO !!

They do come in handy

 

I had a O lanyard & it broke last cruise

LOL, price them on Amazon, and you will see what a special, meaningful gift that original Lanyard was.

I use them as well, for my cruise card and a few bucks when I don't want to carry a wallet.

To correct and clarify my original post, Oceania has finally sent us the online affidavit we needed to complete to obtain a Cuba visa from them. Their $75 pp charge also includes the medical insurance Cuba requires, so this is a plus. They now also tell us they will give us our visas when we check onto the ship, not just before we leave on our Oceania tour.

 

Oceania gave us no instructions with the affidavit form as to which reason or category of visit we should check. There was a box one could check for Group People to People travel specifically with Oceania but this box was not pre-checked by Oceania and we were not required to, or even instructed to, check it. There was a box for Support for the Cuban People, so we both checked that. The affidavit form was a non-changeable .pdf that we could not fill out online, so we completed our forms by hand, scanned them, and emailed them off to Oceania yesterday afternoon.

 

We will be interested to see whether Oceania gets back to us asking for a correction, if they issue the visas with Support for the Cuban People we have checked, or issue the visas with Group People to People with Oceania. Unless they get back to us indicating a problem, I guess we won't really know until we check in for the cruise and receive our visas.

 

We sincerely appreciate knowing from others that Oceania should allow us to walk off the ship without a designated group and that Cuba should have no problem with our walking around Old Town on our own. Also, that the US won't care unless we visit one or more of the prohibited government-owned sites, which we will not.

 

Thanks to all. Hope this is helpful to someone else.

Hi,

Thanks for your posting. We are going on an Oceania cruise to Cuba and I have the same question. Can we check off both boxes in the form for Oceania excursions " 515.565(b) Educational exchanges – group people-to-people through Oceania Cruises" and also the box " 515.574 Support for the Cuban people "? Since your cruise was in June, what ended up on your visa?

Thanks!

Laurence

Hi,

Thanks for your posting. We are going on an Oceania cruise to Cuba and I have the same question. Can we check off both boxes in the form for Oceania excursions " 515.565(b) Educational exchanges – group people-to-people through Oceania Cruises" and also the box " 515.574 Support for the Cuban people "? Since your cruise was in June, what ended up on your visa?

You're confusing the affidavit (an American government regulation) with the Cuban visa (a Cuban government requirement). They have nothing to do with each other.

The affidavit is where you check off why you're visiting Cuba (Support for Cuban People, etc.). This is required by the American government and the Cubans couldn't care less about it. The cruiselines provide this paper to you and take it from you when you fill it out.

The Cuban government requires passengers from certain countries to get a visa to enter their country. Most cruiselines will purchase these for their passengers ($75) and give them to you at embarkation or as you get to Cuba. The visa must be presented, with your passport, to Cuban immigration officials as you leave the ship in Cuba. Nothing about the affidavit is on the visa.

Hope that helps.

Hi,

Thanks for your posting. We are going on an Oceania cruise to Cuba and I have the same question. Can we check off both boxes in the form for Oceania excursions " 515.565(b) Educational exchanges – group people-to-people through Oceania Cruises" and also the box " 515.574 Support for the Cuban people "? Since your cruise was in June, what ended up on your visa?

 

Thanks!

Laurence

As mentioned in another response, this is totally to meet U.S. laws governing travel to Cuba by U.S. citizen. If you booked cruise prior to June 16, 2017 you can choose as many of the possible licenses available and it's up to you to document what you do in case of an audit by IRS in the next 5 years. If you booked after that date and are a U.S. Citizen, the rules changed and you should read the updated rules and regulations for travel to Cuba. Just Google "Cuban Assets Control Regulations" and you'll be guided to the tighter law. It doesn't appear than anyone is going to stop you from doing whatever you want, it's totally up to you how specifically you follow the current laws. We booked prior to June 16, 2017 and are doing two full days of touring in Havana with Tours by Locals guide, Oceania excursions in Cienfuegos and Santiago da Cuba, and in free time in ports wandering around and learning more about Cuba. Therefore the categories that we checked are all three listed as 515.565(b) as educational exchanges plus 515.574 (support for the Cuban people). Just print a second blank form and take it with you. If Oceania doesn't like what you chose, you should be able to fill out a new one when checking in.